I think you are sooooo funny

I found some old photos of my nephew today - taken at his first birthday party. I was never so fond of the them from a creative point of view (of course the subject was lovely but they were a bit dull creativity wise). I had a tinker about with them today and came up with these 2.

My nephew

My nephew

Layer it on

I've been playing about with layers in Photo Shop elements. I find Paint Shop Pro sooooooo much easier to use and am not a fan of elements at all but think I *should* really try and figure it out. I have discovered though after all this tinkering that the result was exactly the same as with Paint Shop Pro. So guess what? I'm sticking with Paint Shop Pro for layer work :)

Highlight Mid Tones

I discovered how to get the kind of look I've been trying to get. I discovered that in Paint Shop Pro I can highlight mid-tones to achieve the effect. I've been playing about with it a bit recently. Have a look.

Old Style

I have been wondering for a while how I could make new photographs look old. For some reason I really like that faded and discoloured appearance and also the slightly spotty look of the old photos. The 2 photos below were taken in about 2002 I think. I have aged them using the methods described below the photos. The instructions refer to Paint Shop Pro (version 9).

Effects browser>adjust>colour balance>black & white points>sun faded

And then (optional)....

Effects bowser>effects>artistic effects>half tone>half tone factory default

That adds a kind of dotty appearance to the picture if you look at it close up.

And here's another one that I was tinkering with. I thought it looked pretty authentic but then hubby said it didn't look old at all - so back to the drawing board I think.

Minimalism

I discovered a new form of art/photography a week or so ago. Its called minimalism but I haven't tried it yet. I liked it. Its basically stripping a photo of anything at all unnecessary to the effect your wanting to create. I need to find some examples so you no what I'm talking about.

More later........