phew! that's better...

I thought it was looking a bit too cramped over here.

Some of the information that I was posting really just wasn't relevant to you. It was probably boring.

You really just want to see all the pictures and sweet adventure stories.

So pictures and sweet adventure stories you shall have!


All of those information dense posts about travel and teaching are now on a different site, which you can still get to by clicking on either of those tabs at the top of the page. But you do not have to if you're not into that sort of thing.

All of the other stuff, the good stuff, the most interesting stuff, is going to stay right here.

Organization!


This week I will be posting pictures and stories from our visit to Belize. There will be chocolate, there will be nature pictures and cave swimming, and Mayan ruins.

Until then, here is a picture to help take your mind away from the cold and rain/snow in your world.

project pictures

True to my word, here are the pictures I've been working on for Pioneer Woman's photography/Photoshop contest.

The original:

My first edit:

And my final edit:

Yes, all the same picture, just different editing.
I'd have to say that I like my first edit better. I like things to be as true to what we see in real life, which is probably why I will never do any of the crazy photo editing that you sometimes see (ex: black and white with one color as the focus, usually red or yellow).

I wasn't chosen in the first round, but maybe the second? I think it would be neat to win, but I'm doing this more for the practice than anything else. When I get good and familiar with Photoshop, I will be bustin' out blog entries with photos left and right. But, for now, we have to go at a snail's pace for I am not so proficient.

If  you have any input on my photos, or have any sweet Photoshop tutorial sites for me to check out, please do not hesitate. I need all the freaking help I can get!

my project

One of the things I was talking about the other day when I wrote "procrastination" was my laundry list of pictures to edit so that I can put them up for you to see. Some of them are all right as they are, but most of them need a little help, especially the ones taken at the beach (mad over exposure everywhere). SO, I feel I must do it.

The problem is, or has been, that we don't really know how to Photoshop. We have the program, but we don't know enough, or haven't known, to actually do anything.

Luckily, I have Pioneer Woman to help me out.
Have I told you how much I just love her site? OMG. True.

So, we have gone through most, if not all, of her tutorials and have them saved for us to look at quickly. But, with the photos I feel I need to edit being in the hundreds, I haven't felt confident enough to tackle the challenge.
This is going somewhere, I promise.
All right. So, sometimes she has these photo contests in which you submit your photos, edited or SOOC (straight-out-of-camera), and she chooses her favorites, or we vote, and the winner gets a prize. I jumped on the bandwaggon right after one of these said contests, so I haven't been able to participate. Until yesterday.
Pioneer Woman posted a photo that she has taken and asked us to Photoshop it how we see fit and then submit it.
So, with only one photo to edit, I started. Yesterday, I tinkered and fiddled and came out with two photo edits that I like. Today, I am going to do some more messing around, trying to get a feel for Photoshop, where everything is, and what certain tools do. It's getting easier with practice, as with most things.

I will post my edits later today for you all to see. I'm sure they are not as good as some, and that's OK. I am a beginner and I have a lot to learn. But, I think they look nice, and that's what really matters, right?