April 2013

I believe ‘reflection’ is a fundamental part of recognizing what’s changed in our lives, and that this happens along a continuum of the almost instantaneous (the weather in Vancouver for instance!) versus change that occurs slowly over many thousands of years…rocks into sparkly rocks (diamonds).   I’ve approached this week in terms of what’s changed for me over the past few years, and without a doubt, the most significant change has to be taking up photography as a hobby.   This is evidenced by some very tangible clues..i.e.; my wallet is quite a bit lighter than before I started accumulating my kit; as well as subtleties like the way I’m always checking out the light, and how I find myself constantly striving to learn and improve.  The journey of improving my skills has, and continues to be, immensely satisfying while often frustrating, and much of what I try is based on the inspiration I garner from looking at the creativity and great work of other shutterbugs – which is one of the reasons I so enjoy being part of the WordPress community.

All this said, one area where I still have much to learn is ‘Photoshop’, and having owned this software for a while now, without knowing how to use it except for the basics like opening a file, cropping, adjusting contrast, black & white conversion etc, I figured I need to start to ‘change’ this and experiment.  I’m loathe to sign up for a class, as I would rather put the dollars towards a new lens sometime in the future, so I’ve taken to looking for tips & tricks on the web, and wouldn’t you know, discovered there are LOTS of folk out there willing to share their expertise!

As you’ll see below, I went a bit crazy trying out the different filters in PS, but was in fact able to change the look of the original shot in a number of ways, not to say that I like them all, but sometimes it’s just as important finding out what you don’t like – right?!