playing around

So, tonight I'm playing around in Photoshop, giving myself permission to be completely goofy. My playful little pastel vignettes are inspired by this tutorial from Pugly Pixel, though she was actually showing how to use gradient to create an obre effect over the entire photo. I started out following her tutorial, but along the way I discovered the colorize button and had so much fun assigning different colors to my little photos.

I admit that I don't usually care for photos that have been messed with to this extent. But then again, I kind of appreciate the dreamy, long-ago quality.

Since Picnik is closing next month, I thought this would be a good time to download the free 30 day trial of Photoshop. I've been taking advantage of this time to mess around with the application as much as possible. I'm trying to figure out if I need Elements or Lightroom or the full on Photoshop. I've been frustrated that so many features don't work the way Illustrator does, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it, and coming to appreciate Photoshop's amazing powers. Uh oh.

Have you ever taken an online course? I would like to take Nicole Gerulat's online Photoshop class, but first I'm signed up for her photography course, starting next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

My best, Tracy