Connie May 29th, 2008

This is the final in the three part interview series with Katharine as she continues to put up amazing photos in Flickr. Check them out.

I asked her what her favorite effects were?

I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite special effect. I try everyone of them out on almost every photo I take and ordinarily end up using a combination of several for my finished products. I will say that the “Mirror” effect is most frequently the starting point for creating my abstracts.

“Lizards In Luv” came about from a really boring day when I decided, just for laughs, to take a photo of a tiny little rubber lizard sitting atop a wax flower/candle. I’ve used the mirror effect and then, obviously, the “Contours” effect. Made for a pretty cool and definitely colorful poster.

I’ve just recently started experimenting with the “Solarize” effect which can also be used as “Lunarize”. I’m also quite pleased with the results I’m getting. It’s very nice for giving a textured appearance and lends itself well to experimental application. Then taking that image back to the contrast and color adjustments until I find what is ultimately most pleasing to my eye.

“Twelve Eggs In Carton” is an example of my ventures into using the “Solarize” effect. I was quite pleased with the end result.

One photo that I was particularly pleased with was a scan of a very small black and white photo taken of myself when I was a child. I used the “Sepia” effect on it as well as the “Mirror” effect and was then able to increase the quality considerably by adjusting the light and contrast and tweaking the hue a bit. I also used “blur” to soften it some.

My advice to anyone just getting started is dare to think outside the box! You can always click the “undo” button. Try out an effect and if you like what you’ve done (or even if you don’t), save that image. Then take the saved image and try out another effect on it and save again. Play around with light, contrast and color adjustments. Don’t be afraid to keep going. You might just end up amazing yourself as much as I have!

This one thing I know for sure… I LOVE my ACDSee… I’d be lost without it!!!

“Happy-Happy Tree-Tree” is another big favorite and I’ve had requests for this one printed out in a large size for framing.

I want to thank Katharine for sharing her photos & giving us some insight into how she creates her abstracts. You can see more of her work here.

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Connie May 14th, 2008

In the first post, I highlighted Katharine’s beautiful, abstract of Peacock Feathers created with ACDSee Photo Manager. In this post, I’ve invited her to share how her creative use of ACDSee Photo Manager has evolved, resulting in a variety of gorgeous works of art!

Katharine explains how she got started:

My first venture into “altering” my photos was with the “pixel explosion” effect and I have to admit, I went a little pixel explosion crazy! It was just so much fun to “explode” an image and then increase the contrast and play around with the hue adjuster to change the colors.

“Gallery Dancing Peacock” is an abstract created by using “Pixel Explosion” as well as the “Mirror” effect and then intensifying the contrast and coloring.

Then I started playing around with the effect called “Colored Edges” and I loved the textured appearance it gives. I don’t think this effect works well with most photos, but for some, it is the perfect touch.

“Southwestern Recollections” is a combination of “Pixel Explosion”, “Colored Edges” and “Mirror” effects with some dramatic changes in contrast and color adjustments. I loved how the Colored Edges effect gave the texture and appearance of a sand painting.

“Contours” is another effect that I have a lot of fun with sometimes, it’s great for creating posters. It took me awhile to find anything I liked using the “Furry Edges” effect on but when I finally did, I was beyond ecstatic! It was the perfect finishing touch to one of my all time favorite abstract creations, adding just the right amount of texture.

“You Tell Me” is probably one of the images I’ve had the most fun with. It was also my first experience using the “Furry Edges” effect. Who would have ever thought the finished version started from a weed growing out of the sidewalk!

“May I Have This Dance” is a combination of the “Mirror”, “Colored Edges” and “Furry Edges” effects, an example of how I use a little bit of this, that and everything.

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