My Sweetest Things

This past Christmas I was very happily surprised with a new toy! A Canon Speedlite 430EX II. I am not a fan of using flash when I take photographs but there are times when setting up the tripod is not an option especially for a quick in home shot.  I did some research and heard good things about the 430EX II and maybe said out loud a few times..”I have been looking at camera flashes” and someone (my generous husband) heard me (there must not have been a football game on at the time) and now that baby is in my pretty little hands!

The flash is very easy to add to your camera. It slides right into the shoe on top and locks in place.  Of course I did not read the manual, I was anxious to try it so I just turned it on and took a few shots to test it out. Please note that these photos have had no color adjustments made to them. Just a slight sharpen and crop.

This is the first shot. This is Toby and it was DARK in our living room and night outside. No lights on. Pretty Neat Huh?

The 430EX II  head can be moved up from 0 – 90° (5 settings), left from 0 – 180° (7 settings) and right from 0 – 90° (4 settings). I turned the flash to face the back wall which is painted a tan color. See how the color changed? Don’t point at tan walls unless you like this color cat.

This shot is taken with the flash turned backwards.

This horrific photo was taken with the flash that is built in my camera. Terrible.

Flash is pointing straight up to the ceiling which is white. Looking Good! Most impressed since there are no lights on and it’s quite dark in the room.

I am very happy with the results! The Speedlite 430EX II is quiet. The recycle time is fast. 20% faster (as compared to the 430EX) and since it is compatible with Canon’s wireless E-TTL, it can be used as an affordable “slave unit”.

Thanks Nitsuj for this wonderful gift of light! (This photo also taken with the flash in dark living room.)

Thanks Toby Cat for being such a sweet model. (Photo taken with flash pointed at tan wall. Beware of tan walls.)

It’s all good. ~Donna

I learned a new trick this past weekend! I have been interested in learning how to add textures to photographs. I have photoshop and lightroom and I know the very basics of each. I spend time searching the internet and reading blogs to learn new skills.  There are so many wonderful talented people who are so creative and gracious!

I have been a fan of the  Coffee Shop blog and have been following it for months. Rita is a Texas gal who loves photography and shares many wonderful photo editing tips.  She has a great site full of information for folks interested in photography.  She had a blog post featuring ShadowHouse Creations. Now Jerry Jones is all about creating beautiful textures and art images. You need to stop by his site and take a look. So inspiring and just what I am interested in.

After trial and error I figured out how to add textures to my images!

Before

After!

The change is very subtle but I really love it and I am glad I tried.

How did I do it? Well, I downloaded the Elemental Grunge Texture Pack and created a file for it.

Once in photoshop I went into the file I created for the textures and I chose a texture I wanted to work with.

I opened up the texture in photoshop then went to my photos and selected one I wanted to try a texture with.

I opened that photo into photoshop so I could see both the photo and the texture. I used the rectangle tool and

copied the texture. I then pasted the texture over my photo. At that point I could see the texture over the

the photo.  I then had to right click on the photo with the texture and then I  had the option to free transform to pull the texture to cover the entire photo.

After the entire photo was covered in the texture I double clicked the photo to set the texture. I went over to layers  and and chose overlay and adjusted

the opacity until I was happy with the result. Whew! I did it! So can you!

I am having fun with textures and thanks again to Rita and Jerry for sharing their beautiful designs with us!

It’s all good. ~Donna