Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 36

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 36, Smoke Mirror

Photo by Wendy Browne

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Wendy says:

Smoke and Mirrors
I have spent hours playing with Photoshop, Lightroom, and Topaz Studio this week.
Firstly, I finally treated myself to a Speedlight to help take the smoke images.
I took multiple smoke images and then made them into brushes in Photoshop.
The mirror was made by my youngest son in Woodwork classes at school. I took the picture and then selected the mirror and made a layer mask. I altered the wooden surrounds in Camera Raw to be darker with more texture.
In photoshop I made a fill layer that was dark grey and used several of the smoke stamps. I then flipped this horizontally to make a mirror montage. This level was placed below the mirror mask to become the background.
Then I added another fill layer in the same grey and different smoke stamps and did another mirror montage. This scale of this was then transformed to fit the hole in the mirror.
This produced my submitted image.
Next into Topaz Studio for some filter fun. I also played with some of the original smoke images in Topaz with some great results.
My fun can be seen here.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 36 - Radial Symetry

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 36, Radial Symetry

Photo by Joyce Edmunds

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Joyce says:

This is a tightly cropped image of a gazania flower in my garden. I tried many other plants but I loved the tightly packed radial symetry of the centre of the flower. Is it a Fibonacci spiral? Apart from the crop, the edits are basic LR adjustments.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 36 - Abandoned

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 36, Abandoned

Photo by Warren Lee

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Warren says:

With weeks above 108 degrees, vitality has been abandoned. This weekend finally has high temperatures under the century mark. These roses and other flowering plants will be revitalized within a few weeks.

Ricky's Challenge Photo

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 36, Smoke Mirror

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

This was incense smoke photographed with the smoke and the reflection in a mirror. That one image was then blended with a color gradient to add color. That image was then mirrored. The mirror image was rotated 90˚ and blended. That image was then rotated 45˚ and blended.

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Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 35

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 35, Still life

Photo by Pam Pengelly

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Pam says:

I thought I would try a little dark/low key to give the photo a little ambience. I think I should have filled the glass a little more to cover the wine label and reduce some of the reflection in it, otherwise pretty happy with the result. Apologise for not participating the last few weeks, waiting on a new computer, then had to set it up. Back up and running now.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 35 - Still life

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 35, Still life

Photo by Tim Bailey

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Tim says:

An Evening at Home

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 35 - Still Life

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 35, Still Life

Photo by Star Carpenter

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Star says:

This challenge was more difficult than it first seemed! After taking more than 20 photos with various compositions and mainly using the portrait mode with stage light, I decided to submit “one peach in a bowl of figs”. I applied different apps but like the original photo the best.

Ricky's Challenge Photos

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 35, Still Life

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Featured Quilt: Spooky Tree

Spooky Tree

by Ricky Tims, 2011

Tis the season - the spooky season that is. Spooky tree was a fun project to make. The idea was that it would be like Mr. Potato Head. The base is there, and you can create your own spooky or funny face. This is a super great project for kids. The appliqué can be stitched - or just fused in place.

I think you'll have fun, make a keepsake, and make a few memories along the way. This is a fun jigsaw puzzle to do with the youngsters too!

GET THE PATTERN HERE

click on quilt for full size view

TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Choose your own difficulty. Click the 9-patch grid to change number of pieces. Click the circle arrow to make the puzzle pieces rotating instead of stable orientation. Also, there are tips under the "?" on the upper right of the puzzle. If you'd like a full screen version, click the button below. Have fun!

Jigsaw Puzzle

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Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 34

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 34, Eyes

Photo by Lisa Flannagan

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Lisa says:

I was hesitant to use this photo because I look like an idiot. However, I think it shows the length that we go to in trying to capture an image. Especially tough when you have a small dog on a low chair who won't look up at you.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 34 - Focus Stack

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 34, Found Alphabet

Photo by Laurie Lee

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Laurie says:

I put in lots of thinking of this week's challenge. From word selection, where to find those alphabets, color theme, sizes and more. Well, "JOY" was not my first pick word but with my thought process keep changing throughout the week, here is what I have. My final plan was to use images from nature with square format for all letters, so a three-letter word would have a good visual balance in my humble opinion. All three photos were taken at our local farmers market with my phone so the image quality was not the best, but I love that bee's visit to add some interest to my capture

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 34 - Lamplight

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 34, Lamplight

Photo by Cyndi Johnson

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Lynn says:

The light shines early in the morning (5:30 am) on the concession stand at our football stadium. Soft but beautiful for so early in the morning.

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Featured Quilt: Summer Storm

Summer Storm in Clay CO, TX

by Ricky Tims, 1992

When I first began quilting (1991), I was smitten and obsessed. I delved into every technique that came my way. I also was rubbing two nickels together trying to make a dime and so my fabric stash was comprised of cut-up clothing given to me by friends. The fabrics in this quilt are scraps. My dad’s mom, Marble Virginia Chesher Tims, had recently passed away. She was a quilter. Dad went rooting through the attic in the old family farmhouse (located in Clay County, Texas) and discovered a box of Grandmother's fabrics and scraps. He brought them to me on his next visit to St. Louis and I added them to my growing fabric stash.

Somewhere I had read about creating a pictorial quilt by using traditional blocks and maybe one or two theme blocks. I sketched out a design on grid paper that included the old red-roofed farmhouse and used the pinwheel blocks to represent the windmills on the farm. I used my grandmother’s scraps to make the quilt. To this day, I love this quilt—and I love looking at the prints in this quilt. The cowboy and horse fabric are a favorite, but there was not much of it. The dark burgundy print was once, without doubt, one of Grandmother’s dresses. I hand quilted the quilt as I hadn’t really delved into machine quilting at this point. It was my first attempt at creating quilting textures. These were meant to enhance the furrows in fields and the wind blowing through the windmills.

I should note, North Texas is known for big thunderstorms and tornadoes. The fabrics were placed on the horizon to give the impression of an impending storm. This quilt has always held a very special place in my heart. For me it represent so much - memories, family, and a milestone on my quilting journey. In 2021 I finally created an online class…Gridified Art Quilts. The class is about this traditional method of piecing to create artful wall quilts. From time to time, this Gridified Art Quilt class is offered at www.letsquilttogether.com. If this appeals to you, I hope you will join me for a future class on this method.

click on quilt for full size view

TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Jigsaw Puzzle

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I'm Just Sayin

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 36

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 36 - Radial Symetry

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 36 - Abandoned

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 35

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 35 - Still life

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 35 - Still Life

Featured Quilt: Spooky Tree

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 34

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 34 - Focus Stack

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 34 - Lamplight

Featured Quilt: Summer Storm

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I'm Just Sayin

Photos of the Week - Week 36

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 36 - Radial Symetry

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 36 - Abandoned

Photos of the Week - Week 35

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 35 - Still life

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 35 - Still Life

Photos of the Week - Week 34

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 34 - Focus Stack

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 34 - Lamplight

More Articles ...

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 36 - Radial Symetry

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 36 - Abandoned

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 35 - Still life

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 35 - Still Life

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 34 - Focus Stack

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 34 - Lamplight