More on Experimental Photography...

IslaGringo made this comment on my previous blog post on "Experimental Photography:"

"Nice, very nice. The detail in the second pic sure stands out now. I would have like to have seen the originals for comparisons sake. The problem with everyone knowing how to do this is that we will have bloggers only posting their versions until we could gag. As it is, just a few of us knowing this technique keeps it fresh. So tell me how to do this! LOL!PS. I have only seen this done with reds. Does it work with other colors too?"

I have a 20-pound turkey to make with all the trimmings today, but I'll take a moment to post this before I start.

First off, here are the originals to the two enhanced photos I posted previously.

This one has always been one of my favorites...taken early in the morning before they opened. There was a trash can sitting to the right of the Coke umbrella which I moved out of the way before taking the picture. The people I was with laughed at me for doing that, but I'm glad I did!

As for me, I didn't change the original color of the subject I highlighted. I'm sure you could if you wanted to, but I prefer to keep the original, like these before and after shots.

Now that I look at this one, I think it might have been more effective to highlight just Frida herself rather than including the white background on the chair. Next time.

It's an easy technique...you just have to have a steady hand when you trace the area you want to remain in color. I used Photoshop Elements to create these. There are probably other programs out there that can be used as well.

Thanks, again, Jamqueen. You got me hooked!

Now I have a turkey to tend to! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Experimental photography...

Fellow blogger and photographer extraordinaire Jamqueen sent me instructions on how to turn part of a photograph into black and white, leaving another part in color. Her examples were very impressive, so I was curious about trying some on my own...which she wanted to see. So here are a couple of my efforts, Ann...and, no, Coca-Cola is not paying me to do these...lol. I just happened to love the contrast in color/non-color. This could be addicting...and I would love to see what others can offer in this area...especially with Isla photos!

Thanks, Ann! This was fun!

Weekend Warrior

Welcome to HGTV! Well...at least Deb's version of it for this weekend.

I have this problematic issue in my house...namely, the kitchen window that once looked out onto the back yard. An addition was put on the back of the house, off the kitchen, so now the kitchen looks out onto the added room instead of the back yard. So, what do you do with that??

Here's the view from the other side.

My son used the added room for a bedroom for awhile, so, during that time, I created this "portable" ceramic tile backsplash to give him privacy and to create a more aesthetic look.

Now that the room is vacant, I wanted to open it up, so I became a woman on a mission this weekend to create a different look. I came up with this idea to put a stained glass window in to give it kind of a dated but more attractive look. I took some stained glass lessons when I lived in South Dakota about five years ago, but haven't done anything since. So I did some on-line research and some shopping and started my project.

Here are the beginnings...

And after all the glass had been cut.

I went with a simple project on my first endeavor...no curves. I kind of like the traditional stained glass look, anyway.

So, here's how it turned out. I wanted to frame it out so that you don't see any of the real window frames...like it's the way it was meant to be. The picture doesn't do it justice...it actually turned out really well...especially when the light comes through and you can really see the colors.

I must have gone to Lowe's about 10 times this weekend. I'd go for something...get home...and, Damn!...needed to go back for something else. Thank God it's only about three blocks from my house. The whole project turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be, but I think it was worth it. It's still a window into another room, but it looks better than it used to.

I passed by this rug about 5 times during my trips to Lowe's. At $14.99, I almost bought it several times. On my last trip, it was marked down to $7.50. Oh, yeah...there's a sale. New window...new rug.

Now I need to think about doing a stained glass of this:

Old Roca Mar

This photo was sent to me by a friend who's been going to Isla for over 20 years. This was his room at Roca Mar when it cost about $16 to $18 a night. He said it was where M&J's sits now. Look how close the water is through the doorway.

And this was M&J's back in May of this year. I heard the restaurant has moved due to the Roca Mar renovations. I'm thinking they're probably not going to offer a "Super-Saver" rate of $16 to $18 a night after the renovations are finished.

Bound for Isla...

Well, not any time REAL soon, but at least it's in the future...a little less than 200 days away. But who's counting? I was surfing the net the other day, just curious about airfares to Cancun...not having anything in particular in mind. More wishful thinking than anything. I did a check on VivaAerobus and found fares for -$.01. Yes, that would be a negative one cent. Knowing how VivaAerobus lures you in on these unbelieveable fares, then charges big taxes, I was skeptical. I plugged in some dates and got this fare in response: $117.90. "That can't be right," I said to myself. So I acted like I was going to buy it to check out the whole fare...and that was it...taxes included, round trip from Austin, non-stop. Whoa. I couldn't help it...my finger took over with a mind of its own and clicked on "Purchase." Now I am the owner of a flight to Cancun the end of May. And since that's the low season, I have no worries about finding an inexpensive place to stay. It must be karma. The only negative thing might be that I may have to sit on the wing. My son also suggested that I might have to buy gas for the plane before we leave.

Oh, and one more thing. On my last four trips to Isla, I have wanted to take little side trips to Playa del Carmen, Tulum or even just Contoy...but never did. You know how Isla has that hypnotic effect on you...you get there and all you want to do is...nothing. Walk around the island...take pictures...have a nice meal...take pictures...have a cerveza or eight...take pictures...lay by the beach...take pictures...take a dip in the pool...take pictures...off to see Romi for a couple Margarita's...take pictures. You know what I mean.

So THIS time...I'm going to Playa del Carmen first...then Tulum...THEN go to Isla. I know that's the only way I'll be able to see other places. I have plenty of time to plan. Oh, yeah...I be Isla bound.

There's a whole world out there...

Okay, so this is kind of a random post for me tonight. I was just about to shut down and I noticed a link on blogspot for "next blog." I clicked on it and got a blog from somewhere across the globe. Then I kept clicking. I could have gone on all night looking at blogs from all over the world. It really made me realize how many people are out there, and how we just don't think about it on a day-to-day basis. We live in our little worlds...along with all the other people who live in their worlds. I "borrowed" some of the photos of just everyday normal blogs to remind ourselves that we are just a small part of what's out there.