Photo Op

Sunsphere World's Fair (1982) Park in Knoxville, TN

For the past several months, I've been participating in a weekly meme known as Wordess Wednesday. If you're not familiar with this hop, then allow me to explain how I perceive the way it works.

Your objective is to post a photograph - yours or borrowed without any words. Hints the "wordless" part, but I have found many, including myself cannot refrain from including some sort of descriptive content.

I think most folks do not mind one way or another, just as long as people are sharing in the fun. Which ever you choice to do - wordless or not-so-wordless, you then link your post URL to any number of WW linky parties in Blogosphere.

This brings me to my point. I created my own Wordless Wednesday blog button and would like to invite  you to join me. Feel free to snag the code below....
<center> <a href="http://cathykennedystories.blogspot.com/search/label/Wordless Wednesday" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa445/Cathy_Kennedy61/SshWWButton.jpg " border="0" alt="SshWWButton"/></a></center>

At the top of my blog, you will see a Wordless Wednesday tab. There you will find others who host WW linky partys for anyone wanting to hook up and display their photographs. It's a lot of fun and an excellent way to meet new people who enjoy the same passion.

I count myself as a novice shutterbug. It's interesting how owning a camera has changed my perspective of my surroundings. I now see things around me through new eyes.

Other than enjoying capturing that perfect (or not-so-perfect) picture, I also love to do photo editing. Didn't I say, I was a novice photographer? Dah, I need all the help I can get.

There are a few freebie online photo editors, if you wish to spare the expense of a software purchase by taking advantage of  BeFunky, PicMonkey, and  FotoFlexer - all of which I have used and like.

Let me be frank, I don't have a natural eye to properly frame my picture so my the focus on my subject is more tight. What this boils down to is, I leave things in the picture I really don't want. That's where photo cropping pays off in spades. Sometimes, I get a shot slightly out of focus. I have yet to find a photo editing program, which will correct this problem, but instead I can create an new artsy image by using special effects like water paint.

I corrected this image by using the above techniques,
turning my not-so-perfect picture into a masterpiece (or at least in my eye)!

The cool thing about special effects in photo editing is I can take any image, even a perfect one and change it any way I want. Like from color to black & white or sepia or tint the image or adjust the highlights and shadows (silhouette effect). There is just so many things you can do with photo editing in the digital world that is amazing.

Two for one - tint & silhouette features creating a new image effect

By selecting grayscale, I turned my color image into a black & white photo
and then I added a vignette matte to put the focus on my subject - the soda can

My photographic eye is still in training and has lots to learn. It gives me great joy to hop around each week to visit more experienced photographers and to see their latest photographic exhibit. Right now, I am not as good as these and maybe I never will be, but I do find inspiration and delight in exposing myself to the possibility of "I think I can do that!"

I am not looking to be a world renowned photographer. I only hope to enhance my life through the pleasure photography gives while I improve one picture at a time!  

1. What is your favorite thing to photography?

2. Do you like re-creating your images through photo editing? If so, what is your favorite special effect feature & what photo editor do you use?

Visit Miss Jenny and the rest of the Alphabe-Thursday classroom for more homework assignments of the letter P and while you're hopping around, be sure to play along with Miss Amanda in her latest edition of Thursday Two Questions.