"Let's get the Heck out of here! There's another school bus on the horizon! I'm sick of this pony ride crap!"

Okay, so I'd been thinking like most of you...something romantic. But Dan just had to win. Slightly altered in the wording (but not much) because, after all Dan, my grandmother reads my blog! And whilst all of you were dreaming up names, I was busy fiddling a bit more with the photo, eliminating the fence behind them so they appear to be running free.

Couple of questions popped up yesterday. Vicki, it was taken while we were in Oregon last week. Barn Goddess, I guess that half answers your question, right? They're not mine. I wish! They're horses at the BLM corrals in Burns.

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I've had several people asking about the 'simple' way to cut and paste on photo shop, so figured I'd give you a small demo here today. You may recall that Geek Boy had tried showing me, but I couldn't remember all the steps. Then I got that photo shop magazine, which layed it out quite simply.

First thing you're going to want to do is have both of your images up on the computer. For me, that's usually a landscape and a horse. If the subject that you're moving has too many other things in photo with it, or if it's just a small portion of the photo, you can crop it down like I did with the Ghost.

Both images on my screen; the Ghost was cropped because there were more horses in the photo than I need.

Now, look down at your keyboard. Hold down the ALT key and the A key at the same time. No, you don't need to keep holding it. You just needed to give your computer the command that it's okay to shift an image over.

See that lady's eye up there on the right of my screen? Just beneath her eye, on the right side of the bar, is a little arrow. No, I don't know what that little bar is called. No, I don't know how to make it appear or disappear from your computer. I told y'all I'm not knowledgeable in this stuff. Not at all. It's just there on my screen whenever I pull up Photo shop and that's all I know.

That little arrow up on the right is what you're looking for.

So, you see that little arrow? Click it. It's a drop and drag function. Once it's clicked, move your cursor over the subject you want to move. Keep you finger on the mouse, and move your subject over to the background layer and drop it there.

The Ghost photo is now on top of the landscape.

You probably won't be too keen on how it looks. You may not like the remaining background image around your subject. Easy fix. Back over on that side bar is an eraser. Once you click the eraser, the task bar up above your images will change, and you'll be able to do things like select your brush size. This is important because you'll want a big brush for large areas, but it won't work so well when you're trying to get into tight spots. Select your brush size and begin erasing the background from your subject.

Click on the brush to get a drop down menu which allows you to select a different size.

I selected a large brush to begin removing the fencing behind the Ghost.

Once the background is erased, you can move you subject to wherever you want on your background by going back to that little arrow that drags the image around.

The Ghost now trots on water.

There. Now you know all I know. Actually, you probably know more. Oh...the reflection? Um...well...maybe later. Time to get Darling up for school.

Oh...Tomorrow? Creepy. Yes, you asked for it, and you'll be getting it. I'm headed to Briggets to photograph the creepy spider thing. I hate all of you! (Ha! Just kidding...I only hate those who requested the creepy thing!)

Think, think, think

Drive By Shooting from Oregon. Loved the gold colors!

Okay. Home from vacation, finished with the youth fair. Not sure I'm fully recovered, but I'm forcing myself to put on my thinking cap and dole out some thinking awards.

First off, though, I want to thank Dorothy (no, that's Kahshe Cottager), RoseMary and Sue for dumping...er, graciously thinking of me and giving me that lovely award! No, really, I'm just joking about the dumping part. I really do appreciate that you thought of me. I was just so overwhelmed by getting two in one day, the a third the next...and I knew I'd have to start thinking. Thinking scares me. But...thinking is what I've done. And here are the first five Thinking Blogger's I'm graciously handing this award to!

Granny Miller: Granny Miller always makes me think when I visit her blog. Her thoughts can be very thought provoking, she writes poetically, and today she's showing everyone how to make butter. The butter sealed the thinking award deal, as she got me thinking I needed a cream separator to make butter with.

Dixie: Dixie popped on over here after seeing a comment I'd left for Slick. I don't recall how I found Slick, but I'm glad Dixie found me! Dixie, without knowing it, I suspect, has reminded me of God's incredible grace. Dixie also reminds me that we're all a bunch of jagged, sharp rocks thrown into tumblers to get smooth. Currently, she's in a tiny tumbler with one particularly sharp rock. Honey, I feel for you, I really do! You're in my prayers and I know you'll come through, all nice and polished and pretty!

Dan: Dan has a Blah-Blah-Blog. Dan makes me laugh. Not booger laughs, but he's so danged clever! Loved his video of doing taxes. But what Dan makes me think of most is cemeteries. And why is that? Well, Dan posted to my cemetery blog before he posted to anything else around here, saying he also enjoyed them and had photos of them. I cannot for the life of me find those photos of Dan's. I keep hunting through his photo albums, but so far no cemeteries. But hey, half the fun of cemeteries is in the search, right?

Vicki: The first time I visited Vicki's blog, I was taken~no, swallowed~by the photo in her header. A fence with a bit of horsey hair stuck on it. Yes, it swallowed me whole. I'm sure City Boy would barely have noticed it, but you know, right then and there I was certain Vicki was destined to be a friend. I hadn't even read a single word she'd said! Headers are very telling. Vicki has a new header now, and I think it's booger worthy. I swear I snorted boogers when I came home from vacation and read her new header.

Jocelyn: This is a funny lady. She should have won Diesel's recent caption contest. She's already got a thinking blogger award, but I need to pass the buck here, and Jocelyn, you're getting it. But you so deserve it. Why? Because you've made me think that perhaps the Booger Award ought to merge with the Thinking Award, and we'd have a Thinking Booger Award. Sounds like a match made in...um...well... Sorry, can't think of where it's made. I'm all thunk out.

And that, dearies, is it for my first round of Thinkers. Five down, ten to go. But not today. And not tomorrow, either. Because we've got funner stuffs to do, right? Right. Like manipulate photos so they appear different than they really are.

Do ghosts have shadows?

I think you could easily say I've become a little obsessed with this horse! I think I may need him just for the photographic opportunities alone!

The Counter's Ticking Towards a Party!

Have y'all been watching that counter? I have. I do recall saying something like "There'll be a prize the day we hit 5000"...and a party, too! So...will we hit it today? I'm thinking so. But of course, only if y'all come to visit.

City Boy bought me a couple of Photoshop magazines! I'm just having way too much fun (and it's completely consuming me...) Naturally, you recognize Ohren's picture above. It didn't start out that way. (Thankfully...as I'd be rather frightened to go outside and find one of my new lambs wearing a party hat.) The coolest thing I learned was how to cut and paste...the easy way!

Geek Boy had tried to teach me how to cut and paste before, but I'm a lousy student, especially where technology is concerned. So I just bagged the idea. Then in walks City Boy with the magazine...they're bloomin' expensive! I'd never spend that much on it myself, but I'm so excited he did. Of course, I'm now a total addict. I was only a partial addict before. He may be sorry he ever brought them home... Do you think there's a twelve step program? I hope not!

So, what other goofy things have I been up to with Photoshop?

Meet Pyscho Roo! He's one of the recent additions at the Cafe Press Store. This one here, however, has the Carpenter Creek name across the top, and he could be yours! Yes, I know...you're overwhelmed at the prospect of owning him...hee hee! Well, he'll come on a t-shirt, along with other goodies, if you're the winner of the 5000 Visits contest.

Okay, I'm going to go do something serious now. Maybe castrate a lamb. Oooooo...you guys are crossing those legs, aren't you? Well, maybe I will, and maybe I won't. All depends on Darling. She'd been considering keeping Ohren as a pet, and if she does, it'll need to happen. Don't worry, we'll document the whole thing for you! Then again, perhaps she'll decide she wants to get one of those little ewe lambs of Margery's. If that's the case, all of Ohren's body parts will be safe.

Y'all have a good day, and don't forget...you can't win if you don't leave a comment!

More Pretty Pictures

Is it cute? Or is it cute?

Okay, you're right...it's cute!

This is Darling's horse, Quiet Storm! We've made a silhouette from a photograph of her, then had it printed onto t-shirts and buttons and such. And if you'd like to see a few more (and perhaps even order), you can check it out at my new Cafe Press Store!

Here's the original photograph. Its one of Quiet Storm running across the pasture. I've got to tell you, I was pretty excited to get her eye in focus as she was galloping past! If you're ever photographing something that's moving, just follow along with your camera as the subject is moving past. Don't forget to keep moving even after you click the shutter, and your subject will be clear and the background blurred.

This is the original image. Not only did the eye end up in focus (sheer luck, I assure you), but her stride has her looking like the Ford logo, don't you think? I used Photoshop to create a layer, delete the (ugly) background, and then change the color of Quiet Storm to red (and black and pink!)

I'd love to explain how to do this, but to be honest I'm just learning it all myself. The Geek Boy, aka Grammar Nazi, has had to show me how to do this stuff. Several times. Over and over. Again. I believe I've finally gotten to the point of not running from the room crying when I get frustrated with it all.

The most important thing that Geek Boy has taught me is to create a duplicate copy before doing anything else. That way when I screw up (and I will screw up), I've still got the original and it's unharmed. I've been altering my images strictly through clicking the little auto contrast button, and that's made a huge difference...or at least I thought it had been. But the Geek Boy has shown me something new. Something called layers.

Remember the beach photos from last week? Well, I began playing with layers. The above photo was altered slightly to give a bit of a sunset using layers. Between the Geek Boy and Betty Jo (who gave me a tip on a particular technique using my new found layer skill), I re-worked the photo to look like this:

The second photo is really lovely when it takes up the full screen; it's got such a soft, romantic glow to it!

Another feature that I like to use are the filters. You can give your photo the look of a painting, which is what I did with the hay wagon below. Isn't that the coolest wagon, btw? It may appear a bit too small on the screen to truly see the 'paint', but hey, the wagon was so cool I had to post it anyway!

This is a better example of a before and after on the filters. The original is first, followed by the 'dry brush' filter.

Okay, then there's this one. I LOVE this photo! It was taken a my friend Nancy's place (the wagon above is her's, too.) We've had a pretty wet winter, and her little shed here was sitting in water, just crying to have it's picture taken.

I used the same technique on this photo that I used on the second beach photo, but the blurred layer on this one is stronger.

And of course...Geek Boy the Grammar Nazi himself! And what is it he's framing his face with? A very, very old computer hard drive! Aren't you glad they don't make them like that anymore?

Photographs

Pink Rose from a wedding bouquet.

I've become quite envious of some of the photos I've been seeing out in blogland of late, so tonight I attempted to play a bit with Adobe Photo Shop a bit more. I've come to a conclusion...I ought to just hire it done! There is such a huge margin between what I'd like to do and what I do, that I get frustrated.

Okay, so I've only been at this photo shop thing a couple of weeks. But I've been looking at the loveliest photos of horses, and their manes are simply floating in front of a black background. Now, that background wasn't black to being with, so someone had to come along and do the whole editing and layering thing.

Inspired, I pulled up a photo of Quiet Storm. She has this annoying habit of sticking her nose into my camera lens whenever it passes by. So, being the sort to make lemonade when I'm handed lemons, I decided tonight to fiddle with one of the famous eyeball shots.

Here's the first shot. Her nose is right alongside the lens, no doubt wondering why I haven't brought her a treat. She refuses to stand even two feet from the camera. Some wild horse she's turned out to be!

Below is my shoddy attempt at deleting the yucky barnyard background and putting in a sophisticated black. Um...yeah...well, it could use some work. I like that long eyelash that comes down beneath her eye; I managed not to botch that one up so bad. But there's still something not quite right, and I'm not liking the hair up near the ear. Perhaps I'll take the black in a little closer to the eye and see how that looks...but not tonight, as I'm half blind just from this.

Another one I've been working on tonight is of Sunny. This has been twitched in a couple of different ways... It's been cropped way down, I changed out the background and then created a painted look using a tool called 'dry brush.' I also played with the lighting angle. Actually, I rather like this one. Giving it the painted look covers up a multitude of photo shop sins!

Well, that's it for now. Darling isn't feeling so well tonight; she's got a migraine. It used to be she'd get them all the time, but we got this little blue wonder pill for her. Her pediatrician gave us three refills, but since they hadn't come very often the past few years, it took her three years to use up that one bottle.

Now she's out, and the pharmacy won't refill it because it's been so long. And to make things more difficult, her pediatrician retired! We tried last month to get a refill, but even though it was the same clinic, no one would call us back. So tomorrow I'm going to call the naturalpath and have him do it for us. I'm guessing Darling won't be going to school; she used to get terribly sick with these headaches. (Amazing how the headaches stopped when she started homeschooling, and now they've started again when she's back in school...coincidence? Guess we'll find out as time goes on!)