Thinking about Amy’s comment Whether you are a pro, semi-pro or hobbyist with an SLR, I am so, so excited to hear your story!”. I hang on to the story and the hobbyist part taking it to heart. Hobbyist combines with aspirations to some day be able to afford an SLR camera, the secret silver lining in every cloud. My older model Sony shoots a 6 megapixel shot. No cropping allowed. When I see the perfect shot, whip out the camera, I cross my fingers I’ve framed it just right to print. Sometimes inspiring and aspiring link together for me. I may aspire to be a better photographer. At the same time I’m inspired by the short comings of my own camera. The vestiges to become a photographer trace a little further back then the age of my camera though.

Vague memories of the dark room under the stairs in our family house in Virginia laid the groundwork for a love of photography. Funny smells, the red light, my Dad tucked away in the dark developing film right under my brother and my noses. Stacks of albums, loose pictures spilling out of drawers connected to stories all hold the key to shared memories. Remembering the shots growing up as my Dad set us up for a family picture on top of a mountain after a 7 mile hike during which we whined and complained the whole way. Then at the top, like a breath of fresh clean clear air, the surly faces captured at the half way point shine with smiles.

In high school I attempted to follow in his footsteps taking a black and white photography class. Wandering up and down the suburban neighborhood streets I looked, surveyed, knelt, crawled, leaned, every way possible while playing with light and perspective for each assignment. I found little encouragement in the class at the end of the semester. I feel the class hampered my little photographer dream more than I ever realized. Turning away from the camera, life passed me by.

Life just happens. So many intervening good and bad times from marriage, divorce, moving across the country, new friendships to blind dates, traveling abroad, deaths and births all fed back into the dream of being a photographer. Even if just a little one. My family now provides me the safety and the security to build on that little dream. I feel inspired most by their love and support that I can be what I want to be, sometimes it just takes a little time to get there. My old Sony helps paint the way more than I ever thought it would.

Photography means more to me than my 40 hour a week job. Hidden from the world in a basement office, photography offers an escape, a chance to view life with a new perspective outside the constraints of a day job fighting to make sure the mortgage and the truck payments get made. Moving to New Mexico, choosing a rural lifestyle, having a family of my own provides me with overwhelming inspiration to become a better photographer. Motivation to capture those same memories witnessed in my childhood for some one else to share forever with their family and friends inspires now more than ever. I feel inspiration comes from the inside then viewed through the lens and printed on glossy paper to cherish forever.

Popularity: 11% [?]

My little camera does not always capture movement gracefully. With a clunky shots per second rate of 3, I miss a lot. However, on the high speed shutter setting I did manage to catch my son tossing the ball to the happy dog jumping to receive it. The old fashioned adobe house in the background sure made a nice setting for the shot.

Popularity: 37% [?]

If you haven’t joined my fan page at Facebook please do.

I decided, belatedly, to get on the 365 days of photographs bandwagon and have been trying to keep track on my fan page. Check out the first week’s collage below.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Click the image to see the full size.

I ran across this excellent digital scrapbooking tutorial over at Open Scrapbook. Unfortunately they are a pay site so all the image files stay locked behind closed doors.

Never fear mine are free. Ok so their tutorial is far prettier than mine, but I think I get the gist across for anyone with some PS under their belt.

12 x 12 scrapbook layout in Photo Shop CS
This is my first, be kind.

Textures:
Gray
Old Photo
Pressed Flowers
Fonts from Kevin and Amanda

1) Open the 2 texture images and create a new 12 inches x 12 inches 300 dpi canvas.
2) Next drag each texture into your 12 x 12 space. Use ctrl+t to resize the
gray texture to fit your canvas. Rename one gray and the other photo. Click the eye on the photo layer and hide it for now.
3) Using the rectangle tool create one that is 8 inches tall and 12 inches wide. Then go to filter>sketch>chrome and apply.
4) Open the pressed flower images and selected the pink one and dragged it into the picture.
5) Select the photo layer use ctrl+t and size it to fit inside the chromed area to one side. Select the layer go to select>modify>feather>20 px. Next go to Select>inverse and hit delete several times to soften the edges.
6) To add definition of the space use the rectangle tool and draw a bar straight across and fill with black. ctrl+j to create duplicate layer and move it to the bottom of the chromed area. Change the adjustment to soft light double click to add a layer style of just bevel and emboss.
7) Select the gray layer and select the burn tool, change the brush tip to 1000 px. Run the brush around the outside of the gray layer and it should darken it up nicely adding some depth.
8 ) Find the picture you want to add to this layout and drag it over so the layer is on top of the photo layer. Size or crop your image so it fits how you like it on top of the photo layer. Select your image and go to select>modify>feather>20 px, select>inverse and hit delete several times to soften the edges. Select the photo layer and hit delete which will cut the image out of the photo layer.
9) Lastly add your text.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Click the image to see original size. Go here to see the original.
Created with Photo Shop CS
Resources
Texture from Andrew P Fund Used the white light and scratches
Old Books
CoffeeShop Eye Bright

1) Using the magnetic lasso tool select the boy, ctrl+j to create a new layer with the image of the boy on it. Then hit “y” for the history brush tool and clean up the edges. Then hit “e” for the eraser tool and further clean up the edges. At least to your liking.
2) Layer>new adjustment layer>selective color and play with the red and magenta layer until you get a look you like. I was going for a little less red in the face.
3) Layer>new adjustment layer>levels and shift the midtones slider to further lighten up the image. Then shift the dark slider a little to the right for a bit of emphasis.
5) Drag white light texture and scratches texture into the mix and rename the layers accordingly. Place the white light texture at the to of your layer box and scratches underneath it. Select the cut out boy and go back to these 2 layers and hit delete to make the cut out free of these 2 textures. Change the adjustment to overlay for white light and soft light with an opacity of 46% for scratches.
4) Drag the book texture into the mix. Place above the cutout boy. ctrl+right click in the boy’s layer to select go back to the book texture and got to select>inverse and hit delete. Change the book texture layer to overlay then move the levels adjustment layer underneath and leave the selective colors layer above.
5) Run CoffeeShop’s Eye Bright action. Make sure your original boy cutout layer is underneath the eye define, bright eyes, and white whites layers.
6) Lastly select the cut out layer and go to select>modify>feather 50 px. Select>inverse then select the white light layer and hit delete.

Popularity: 27% [?]