About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Skywatch Friday - Trying something new

After reading David's blog today, I decided to try an experiment with one of my photos that I took one night last fall. I took the original photo and then used Adobe Photoshop to increase the contrast.
Original Photo

I cropped out the clock tower and I increased the contrast by 50%.

In the next one, I increased the contrast by 75%.

The contrast is increased here by 90%.

Finally, I increased the contrast by 100%.

I feel as though the picture becomes more and more like an abstract but I'm curious to know what you think.

(Skywatch Friday is brought to you by Dot at Strolling Through Georgia.)

61 comments:

Ruth L.~ said...

I think the clock tower is essential. I like the first few; I'm not so into abstract. Still, it's fun to play with the variations, isn't it?

Janice Thomson said...

When you increase the contrast you increase the noise which turns the photo into an abstract.
Like Ruth I'm not an abstract fan either but it is wonderful seeing what the different filters do. Have fun!

Carole said...

I'm always curious enough to try this with my photos too. I think the high contrast is interesting, but I like the original best.

david mcmahon said...

The original is great - but I like the second one too!

SandyCarlson said...

You did a great job. I like th effects. You achieved unique photos each time. The original was pretty darn cool, too.

Anonymous said...

The clock tower looks great..
Thanks for your comment, I love this picture too.
Greetings to British Columbia from
Guildwood (Toronto)
Gisela

Dottie said...

Like the originals...not so much the abstract. But it is cool to see the different effects.

dot said...

It's fun to play around but the first shot is just great.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful experiment! Isn't it great how blogging is educating us in so many areas...

Lissa said...

I like the first two, the blue and black together is nice.

Smalltown RN said...

It's all about experimenting isn't it? Find out what you like...what it is you want to portray...Like the others I prefer the first few..but then..again...what was it you were trying to achieve...all in the eye of the beholder .....

Anonymous said...

The transformations are pretty, but I do like the original best. Beautiful photo!

Paulie said...

I liked the clock tower in the photo also. I loved the sky accompanying it. I did not like the changes at all.

Lori said...

I like the first one best. It's fun to play around with contrast, etc. but I usually go for the original, real approach. Still...they're all neat!

Lilli & Nevada said...

Well i like the first one as well. Not into abstract either actually looks like a lot of pixels.

Unknown said...

I like the originals...

Daniel J Santos said...

I like the first and the second photo, interesting this work with photos.

jmb said...

I crop my photos all the time now and am a bit lazy about framing them since I know I will probably crop them. Unlike David who gets it right first time. He is a very talented photographer.

Increasing the contrast here is OK because it is a dark photo but I often find that it makes the photo too light. I need to take a course in this stuff.

It's fun to play though isn't it?

Casdok said...

I think its great to experiment! I like them all!

ArneA said...

Photoshop mix can be really good

Anonymous said...

It's a good experiment.
Maybe some "noise" reduction would help on the last one.

Edmund (the explorer) Nesbitt said...

Oooooooooooooh Auntie Leslie, very good. My mummy has just got a new camera and she isn't very technical so she is swotting up with the manual. I too have been reading some technical books in preparation for my expedition. I have been spending some time at Argument Cottage you see...anyway, I have a new companion, hopefully he will be coming with me to the Arctic. Do check it out over on my blog!

Exx

Tom said...

I like the last two.. and the last one the best... and thats with and without my glasses on.. ;o)

Great series for sky watchers to comment on.

FO - 2 said...

It`s fun to edit. :) Playing is fun. I like the original the best, though.
Happy weekend to you Leslie! :)

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

wonderfull leslie

I see that you are very creative today, I was having the same idea.

Greetings from JoAnn
Watch my SKYWATCH friday...

And have agreat weekend!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

wonderfull leslie

I see that you are very creative today, I was having the same idea.

Greetings from JoAnn
Watch my SKYWATCH friday...

And have agreat weekend!

Marie said...

Interesting to see, but i like the first one with the clock tower best.

Randi said...

I did like the original photo. But it is fun too see how the crop version too.

Sharon said...

I love the whole series showing the progress of the creative process! Wonderful.

Ví Leardi said...

I love the original because the clock ,makes a difference...but I myselflke very much altering images ...love the abtract result as well...

Michele said...

Hmmm... this is kind of cool. I like how you can do that so I like them all. The original is awesome and as you play with it, I like it as well in its own way too.... it's all pretty neat!!

Daryl said...

Interesting .. the last shot looks almost like a piece of fabric. While I occasionally crop - usually because I should have gone in tighter originally - I wouldnt have played with the contrast ..

Kerri Farley said...

I LOVE to play with my photos! So many different things you can do.
Very neat that you showed us what you did on each one.
Happy Friday!

DeeMom said...

It sure is fun to experiment...great post...

Uma por Dia said...

You changed it into a totaly diferent perspective. The last one seamed to be taken under the sea :)

Craver Vii said...

I love the creative use of those tools, especially when they are used artistically, to communicate an experience.

But don't distort the pictures of the new baby, when he or she arrives. We like babies just the way they are. :-)

Robyn Jones said...

Wow! Very dramatic shot of the clock tower specifically! I love it!

Berit T said...

Interesting!!!

Sharon said...

It's fun to play around. The last couple look abstract to me.

Nessa said...

Very interesting, but I would have liked the clock still in the photo with lots of contrast.

Misty DawnS said...

Very creative and great post!

Ruth W. said...

is it not fun to play with photoshop!! Love your pictures.

bcmomtoo said...

I like the first one, too. It's amazing all the different things you can come up with using PhotoShop. It was fun to see what you did.

Kim said...

I really like the clock tower, but the artistic post processing is really great too. It would look nice as a piece of art on a wall or something.

duopastorale said...

Nice progressions!

Anne said...

So strange...and so many things you can do with a picture.

Nice weekend to you, from Norway.

irish daisies said...

i agree it does. i love it!

KOSTAS said...

Splendid and full mystery the photographs of current SWF!

Preity Angel... said...

Hey I think I like the second one but the original is great.

Zizzi Molde said...

HEllo, and thank yu for commeting on my SWF post. It`s an intressting post you`re showing, it,s weird how thin can change.
Have a nice weekend.

Anonymous said...

I love the original photo. But it is interesting to see what you were able to do.

Small City Scenes said...

I think I like the first one. I guess I am such an amateur I haven't yet played around with my photos. I like them when they are real. But I will learn I suppose. MB

My sis lives in Kelowna, BC so she says hello. MB

Luiz Santilli Jr said...

Special sky in a special day (29)

Look my sky at BOA LEITURA
Thanks
Luiz

Linda said...

It always fun to try something new. Nice job.

Travis said...

I really like the abstract shots. It is not exactly my type of shooting.. but I enjoy seeing it. I also really enjoyed the clock tower.

Dick said...

I think the first one is the best, beautiful sihouette. Thanks for your visit.

Dancin Fool said...

They are lovely and thank you for the information. I am a keen photographer but still learning the scope that my camera and editing has. This looks like an oak tree, is it?

Andree said...

I like the 75% one best. You're right: as the contrast is increased, so is the noise. In fact, sometimes when I have something I like but it's a lousy photo, I'll do that with it. It looks better than my bad original and I can still use it occasionally. My SWF is here. Thank you.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Very interesting effects. I would make a real mess of it if I tried that!

Rob Windstrel Watson said...

Like a short story, you experiment, you alter something, you look at it anew and soon you know it's right ... That's when it's really right.

We can express our beliefs but you are the artist and your judgment is the one that counts so you are true to yourself.

GAWO said...

Fun :-)
Fut the first one is the best one :-)