In The Paint

Now that I’m comfortable with my new camera I’ve been teaching myself how to use Photoshop. I was already comfortable with a couple of the tools on Photoshop but not many. So here is the before (top) and after (bottom) picture of Charlie.

In order to make Charlie stand out more by cutting out the clutter in the background, I cut and copied the dog and then desaturated and blurred the photo. I then pasted the dog back into the photo. I have since learned other ways to do this but this example was my first try.

So what do you think? Is this a successful photo?

About ten years ago I bought my first SLR camera. I had my budget but walked into the camera shop not really knowing what I wanted. I had always used my dad’s fully manual Pentax that I think is older than I am and was very comfortable using it.

I had trouble deciding whether or not to buy an old used camera similar to my dad’s, buy a new one that could switch from automatic to manual, or try out this new digital trend.

I ended up with a new SLR deciding that I was not ready to give in to digital (traditionalist!) and liked that I could use it as a point-and-shoot when I was not in the mood to think about aperture and shutter speed.
For nine years this was my camera and I was happy with it. I took great photos but didn’t use it too often because of the cost of film.

Fast forward to last year. It was time go digital. My husband and I saved up every extra penny, researched cameras, and decided on a Pentax K20D. Before this I had never even owned a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera and I couldn’t figure out why all my photos turned out pinkish or I had trouble with lighting. In general my photos sucked.

I knew that the problem was not my pretty new camera but my fear of all the buttons that I didn’t even know belonged on a camera. So my solution was to take a digital photography course at a nearby college.
Well my last class is next week and I finally feel like I’ve figured out this digital thing. I’ve even improved my Photoshop skills.

I took these photos recently at the Distillery District, a nice area in Toronto with shops and galleries.  Stay tuned for more photos.