Typical Scene

This scene is fairly typical of what we saw along our fall drive.  This is actually on the main highway between Ridgway and Placerville rather than on the Last Dollar Road.  But cattle were plentiful everywhere as they haven't yet been moved to lower elevations.  There was a bit of snow here and there and some foliage color mixed with the green.  Kinda makes me want to spend some time in that little cabin--but only in the summer months.

Backdrop

This isn't too shabby as a backdrop for a ranch--in this case the Last Dollar Ranch.  It clearly shows the lack of color in the aspens although some yellow and red are present in here and there.  We don't often get the color with the snow-covered peaks so that was a nice change this year.  Nice of the ranch to build that fence which leads the eye right into the photo.  

Autumn Art

We took a little drive over The Last Dollar Road so check out the fall colors.  It was a little disappointing in that many of the trees hasn't changed color and it seemed that many leaves were drying up and falling without significant color change.  I suppose someone seeing it for the first time would still find it pretty but it lacked it's usual outstanding brilliance.  Still we made many stops and took a lot of photos.  This piece started with a closeup of some leaves that actually had some color.  I went for a painted look which I blended into a patterns background.  Finished it off with some shading on the edges, color on one side, a simple frame and a bit of text.  It could be a greeting card.

Another Word Art Photo

This photo of potted plants was taken in Lake Oswego OR
in early June.  I placed a color blend over it which muted the colors and highlighted the center.  It created a sort of retro look that I thought was unique.  Then I added the word art which I thought was a needed element to fill that bit of space with a little interest.  It's so much fun to play with photos.  Much more so than packing and cleaning.

Word Art and Blending

Using word art with some blending techniques was new in this class.  I started with a photo taken outside the grocery store to which I blended some color.  I erased the blended color from the pumpkinds so they became the focal point.  Then I added the little line border and text.  I thought it was an improvement on the original photo even though I liked the photo as it was shot.  The pumpkins in the field have already been "frosted."  Winter seems to be coming early this year.

Blending With Texture

This photo was taken in a grocery store.  Tt was blended with a colored texture.  It's near the end of my second blending course and this was the first technique that was similar to my first course.  However, I didn't remove all of the texture from the flowers like I did before.  The change in color and muted look is rather nice I think.  Pretty yellow flowers can take a lot of abuse.

More Vintage

Here's another return to the vintage photo look.  It's a matter of changing the sharpness and toning down the color.  In this case I think I actually prefer the vintage look with its more concentrated focal point and muted color.  But I only want it for special occasions. In general I'm not willing to give up my modern technology.