Friday, September 30, 2011

Foto Friday | Books

I ought to take new pictures for this prompt, but I got so busy, so I decided to check the vaults again...

IMG_1375

I took this last January as part of my Project 52, which I wasn't able to continue when I hit a prompt that I couldn't do. I am planning to continue or may re-do it next year. Anyway, the prompt was "Books," and I just gathered some books I have to take this picture.

I first posted this picture on my personal blog, I am Janujennifer. Like what I said there, I wasn't really a bookworm as my parents didn't cultivate the habit of us reading books (other than our school books) - because times were rough and we didn't have money to spare for books, which were (and still are) quite expensive (there weren't thrift shops back then that we knew of). Aside from that, our house was way too far from most establishments.

I may not a be a bookworm, but I do have some books, books that I was able to buy and acquired. Currently, I am reading "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene, but what I am reading is the e-book version, because the book itself was way too expensive here in the Philippines.

Bookish

I took quite a lot of pictures that day, so I decided to turn it into a digital scrapbook layout, using a pre-made template I download off the Internet. I forgot who created this, but the template's name is "Freshly Squeezed."

Have a great weekend ahead!




Thursday, September 29, 2011

Edit Me! | Week 20

Edit Me! Week 20 - SOOC by Kala

This week's very pretty picture is from Kala of The Wishful Lamb. Before I saw this picture, two of my photography pals just had their baby shoot, and I can't help but feel a little jealous because taking photographs of babies was something I dream to do. I was able to take a few pictures of Jamy (my friend Charmy's first born), but it wasn't really a shoot, but some pictures taken when mom and I visited her. I still dream of doing a baby shoot - complete with props and all, just like what Kala did here.

Edit Me! Week 20 - Sepia Selective Edit

At first, I wanted to do a black and white edit, but playing around GIMP brought me to this sepia edit. Not complaining at all... as I also made another edit in black and white, but in the end, I still chose the sepia one.

What I did:
  • Made a selection around the headband using the Path Tool, then feathered the selection.
  • Inverted the selection and Desaturated the image, using the "Luminosity" as my choice.
  • Scaled image to 640px on the longer end.
  • Ran the Ancient Warm action.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Portrait Sample" set to Overlay at 100%.
  • Ran the Burn Tool, set to shadow at 10%.
  • Ran the Manny Librodo sharpening script, levels adjusted to my liking.
  • Added my name stamp, flattened, then saved the image.





Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Love Edition

A very strong typhoon hit the country yesterday, and parts of Luzon (including Metro Manila, where I am from) didn't have electricity the entire day. Currently, the typhoon is located north of the country, and even if electricity was restored last night, I still wasn't able to post my take for this week's Texture Tuesday challenge because Internet was fluctuating.


* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *

This week is about Love, and for this challenge I am sharing a two year old picture - something I took the first time I tagged along a pre-nup shoot. I wasn't able to take that much pictures that time, but the few I took I love (of course). The only problem was that the sun was way too bright that time, and since my camera back then didn't have the full manual setting, I only settled with very low ISO. I took colored pictures, but when I finally posted the full album on my Facebook account, I converted it all to black and white so it would look a little subtle.

What I did for this edit:
  • Converted image to black and white, using the Black and White Film tool, choosing Ilford HP5.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Chamomile" texture, set to grain merge at 70%.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Yesteryear" texture, set to screen at 80%.
  • Ran the Manny Librodo sharpening script, adjusted to my own preference.
  • Ran the Burn tool, set to shadow at 30%.

The sharpening tool added some noise to the image, which I think made the image look as if it was printed on a newspaper. :)




Monday, September 26, 2011

Master Your Time, Master Your Life

Time quote

I already posted a similar picture a few months ago, but this set had the "best" clock pictures I took, so for this week, am going to use another picture from the set.

I have read lots of quotes about time, but the quote I used was the one I can relate to the most. I often complain about having misfortunes in life because of my weight, but the truth is, I didn't master my time well. I spent many days of my life sitting around, eat out, and do nothing when I could actually spend those time working out or plan my meals, etcetera.

Watching the Biggest Loser, one statement hit me like a ton of bricks. One contestant shared, "Have you ever seen an old obese person? That's precisely the point, obese people don't get old, they die young." I am now 31 years old, and while I am thankful that despite my frame and despite the abuse I have done to myself, I still haven't had any major illnesses (aside from PCOS), and that I haven't been rushed to the hospital; I guess I could see that as a blessing and a wake up call.

I will be the master of my time;
I will be the master of my life.


Quotography at {My}Perspective

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 092511

Yey, am early for this week's post. :) Actually, I was supposed to post this after I eat lunch, but mom asked me to cook snacks for her group because they will do the prayer meeting here... one chore led to another, so it was just now that I can sit down and have my own Internet time.

The first four pictures were taken today, the last one was taken a few days ago. Here are my interpretations:

Low Key

01. Low Key

Like Ashley, I also consulted Google for this. However, I wasn't able to understand the deep terms, so I just made a search on Flickr. From there I just set up this shoot with my cat Oreo, which was so kind to let me violate his privacy (I used the desk lamp as my source of light), but throughout the shoot, there were times that he had to attack either my camera or the lamp.

*Linking this picture to Camera Critters*

Parpol

02. Monochromatic / Analogous Color

I wanted to make this a selfie, but when I went out of the house to air out the newly washed bed linens, I saw mom's purple shoes. Since the shoes weren't my size, I woke up my sister to ask if she could try to fit her feet into the shoes because I needed to take a picture. My sister's such a trooper... I just gave her a few minutes and she was up and ready to help me take my shot. The umbrella, bag, and shoes (sadly, I chose to share this image, but she did wear the purple shoes, and her other hand was holding the bag) were mom's, the dress was my sister's, the necklace and the earrings were mine. I am not sure what's my sister's favorite color, but mom and I surely loved purple (all shades of it, but lavender is my most favorite shade).

Eraser

03. Circle

I tried to take a selfie for this prompt - me drinking water from a glass (the glass' bottom is circular) - but I wasn't able to pull it off, so I just took out these pencils and took a picture of the erasers.

Peek-a-Boo

04. Scarf

This was an accidental shot. I went inside mom's room to borrow a scarf, and when I got one, sister entered the room and I wrapped it around her and took a test shot. It seemed okay, so I already settled with it. :)

Sony Ericsson K800i

05. Phone

Our land phone didn't look good, and I already shared a picture of my cell phone, so I decided to share an image taken by my cell phone. This was taken during one of our jogging days... sister was able to jog past me and when I met her at the street corner, she showed me this sight. I really, really love the look of the rays (whenever I see one, I always take a picture of it - as long as I have the camera), so even if I had to use the digital zoom, I still did it just to capture this sight.

Night time is now longer than day time, so one of these days, I'd bring my camera so I can take sunrise shots again. :)

See you next week! Thanks for hopping by here.




Friday, September 23, 2011

Path to Heaven

Path to Heaven

The "S-Curve" is this week's prompt, and while I am not really sure if this will pass, I am submitting this as my take on the challenge.

I took this at Colinas Verdes while jogging with my sister. The place attracts many joggers because this proposed housing project still doesn't have houses (though there are many model houses for people interested to buy a unit. Though the place is still bare, roads are already laid out - making it a perfect place to jog. Clean air, less people to ridicule you (well, people there are all trying to be fit so regardless of how you look, it doesn't really matter already) - just you and your willingness to be fit.

My sister and I jog the usual route for a few days, and as our way of shocking our system, we would change routes every weekend. For this particular day, we were able to discover this new route, and stopping for a while to discuss with sis the path we would take (because I jog faster than her), I was in awe of this particular sight - it was like a path going to heaven! :)

This coming weekend, we are about to change routes again, and we might try going to the Clubhouse so I could take pictures of her for this photo contest I am planning to join.