DIgital Art - 8/13/14: "Day Lilies"

NF Photography asks us to post a Digital Art creation.
Next week's prompt will be for an Abstract Photo.

This image is both a Digital Art creation and an Abstract Photo ---or rather several photos combined.

Find Photoshop tips at the bottom of this post.

"Day Lilies"
This image is obviously a representational abstract. I used four photos, taking
parts from each to resize, combine and overlap. I used several different
Photoshop filters and tools to end up with this result.  Some of the original
images are difficult to find because of the overlapping.
After using "accented edges" I noticed that there was a tiny strip of lighter
color around two edges, so I lightened the other two.
(See original photos below.)

All of these were taken in June at
Cranberry Township Community Park in PA.
I used this large Lily twice, once in the lower right,
then I flipped it horizontally and use it in the upper
right, although it is difficult to see there.

These lilies were growing in three huge planters.
When I took theses photos, there were only yellow lilies
and also many buds that hadn't bloomed yet.

Several days after taking photos of yellow lilies,
there were also orange and deep red ones blooming
along with the yellow ones. But I saved those
photos for another project.

I used this as my background. I also copied the large lily
and added it to the top layer so nothing would
overlap it and it would be the focal point
(or center of interest) of my final image.
Notice that I used the "Rule of Thirds" when I took
this photo and also in my final abstract creation.

For anyone who thinks they aren't good at creating abstracts, I have created 3 easy lessons on creating successful abstract designs in any media. If you are interested, you can find "Lesson 1: Color" by clicking HERE. Lesson 1 has a link to "Lesson 2: UNITY" which has a link to "Lesson 3: ADDING VARIETY."

I am a retired art teacher who spent more than thirty years teaching art in public schools ---from kindergarden to community colleges, but mostly in Junior High or Middle Schools.  I also spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in Brazil.

Photoshop tip:
Do you find yourself having to constantly move to the top of the page to choose a smaller or larger brush size?
As long as you want to use the same brush shape and hardness, it's much easier to just hit the open bracket key ([) to the right of the P to make the brush slightly smaller each time you hit the key. Move one key to the right for the close bracket key (]) to gradually make your brush larger.

Black and White Weekend: - 8/8/14: "Facade"

The Weekend in Black and White  

asks us to post a black and white photo. No spot colors. No sepia. Black and white, only.

Here's a view of the outside of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.  There are about 2000 windows in the 42-story building.

Less than a century ago, this kind of building was possible. Today, the labor to build this, plus the materials (the outside and the first floor used Indiana marble) would make a building like this so expensive, even the multi-billionaires of the world would not spend the money to build it, even in a third-world country where labor is cheap.

"Facade"
of the Cathedral of Learning at the
University of Pittsburgh (click on image to see a larger view and more detail)

Good Fences - 8/7/14 "Iguazú - Argentina"

Good Fences Thursday challenges us to post an image of a fence or gate each week.

Today we're going to Argentina.


Last week I posted photos from the Brazilian side of the border at Iguaçu Falls, along with many of the fences or railings there to keep tourists safe.

The Argentinean falls had a different feel to me. The Brazilian falls were wide and powerful. The Argentinean ones were narrower and higher (or maybe they seemed higher because they were narrower and I was closer to them.) Because they seemed to have more vegetation close and between them, it felt more like I was in a rain forest.

I saw no wildlife on the Brazilian side (other than birds), but saw coati on the Argentinean side, but it is debatable whether or not they were "wild."

Both sides of the falls were lovely and I was able to cross Iguaçu and Iguazú (different spellings in Portuguese and Spanish) from my bucket list.

If you want to see more photos of both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of the falls and view a very short video (less than 30 seconds) that will give you a taste of the enormous roar of the falls, you will find those by clicking HERE.


I just realized, tomorrow it will be exactly three years since I landed in Brazil for my 2011 trip. I stayed until the end of August 2011 to visit old friends, former students and cross several places from my bucket list, including these falls.

Iguaçu has 275 cascades compared to Niagara's 3.  The highest falls are about 60% higher than Niagara's, too.

You see only a tiny bit of the
fence/railing here on a bridge over a
narrow bit of falls.

Coati are related to raccoons. Despite many warning signs to refrain from
feeding them, I saw many tourists doing so. These little beggars didn't
seem very "wild" to me, but they sure were cute  ----here standing on
a wall (do walls count as fences?) watching tourists eat.

As in Brazil, there were many metal or wooden
walkways and bridges to help tourists
navigate to the best spots to view the falls.

With so much water rushing over the
supports here and everywhere, I
was a bit leery of standing at one of
these locations for too long. 
I wouldn't want to be swept
away by all of that water.

It drizzled all day but with the overspray
from the falls, one hardly noticed.

Abstract Photo - 8/6/14 "Step Change"

NF Photography prompt: Abstract Photo

"STEP CHANGE #1"

I copied the left side of the original photo,
flipped it to create a mirror image.
Then I just played with modes, colors, and filters.

"Step Change #2"

"Step Change #3"

Original Photo
Stairs to a high school
football stadium.
I took this photo after dark
under halogen lights, so
it was a ghastly green
which I changed to
black and white.

Black and White Weekend - 8/1/14: "Quatrefoil"

The Weekend in Black and White  

asks us to post a black and white photo. No spot colors. No sepia. Black and white, only.

Last week I posted a photo from Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. I love taking photos there because there are so many interesting shapes and shadows. It has the feel of a gothic cathedral or castle. Since I have so many images from there, I decided to post another one.

"Quatrefoil"
the first floor of the University of Pittsburgh's
Cathedral of Learning.