Just Alone

I totally indulged myself yesterday.  I went to a park and forgot about time.  I brought my journal, but I have found that when I come here, I end up thinking more and writing less.  There are some places that seem to encourage one to get lost in thought.  When the birds are singing, the bugs are sounding, and the breeze sweeps through the rustling leaves, it doesn’t take long for the peaceful surroundings to take its effect.  What did I think about?  There was probably not a subject untouched as I watched the wind and the sun play a shadow show through the leaves.

Hmmm...I'm not a videographer, but I couldn't help wanting to capture my surroundings.  Actually, good videography amazes me, and I love watching a creatively captured video such as The Piano Guys and Tim Porter.

The Park from Alyssa on Vimeo.

Stay refreshed and inspired.

Blessings,

Alyssa

Photoshop Favorites

I have recently become a member of the Photoshop addicts.  I've only owned it a few months, but there are already certain techniques that I keep going back to.  One of my favorites is...

Gradient overlays:

The original--pretty cool, but when I added the blue and orange gradient overlay, I fell in love.

For an old-camera-light-leak look, use a linear gradient with at least five colors at various widths.  Set the layer mode to overlay.  Finally, add a black and white gradient mask to make the streaks fade at the bottom.

I rarely set a gradient layer to screen mode because it washes the picture out, but when you are looking for a sunny effect go with screen mode and lower the opacity to your liking.

Creamy light

{original}

I found this tutorial online, and I'm looking forward to using it more.

I decided to use this technique because the original look way too dark as a thumbnail for my profile pictures on Blogger and Pintrest.  I think it helped lighten it up without compromising the quality of the picture.

Tilt-shift/Iris blur

Photoshop has pretty advanced blur options (although you'll never get the bokeh you might get naturally).  I use a tilt-shift blur when I want to subtly create a point of interest.  Rarely do I use the iris blur unless it is very subtle (such as here).

Grunge brush and texture overlays from Shadowhouse Creations

Shadowhouse Creations has lots of awesome textures.  In fact, I think he is the king of grunge.  This picture has one of his old canvas textures set to overlay mode with the opacity adjusted.

He also has this amazing grunge brush set that I use all the time.  In this picture, I used it as a border.

Do you know of any great Photoshop tips?  I would love to learn more!  Just leave a comment or a link.  :)

Blessings,

Alyssa

Beautiful

My theme the last two years has been that everything is beautiful.  Even during difficult times or times that I did not understand, I learned to look forward to the end when God would reveal the beauty of his works.  In some circumstances, it took only moments to understand and see the beauty, but often it took weeks or months before I could see any good come out of the situation.  We can be assured, however, that everything God does is beautiful.
As to the second part of this verse, this thought of eternity has also been on my heart at least a year or more. I remember one night, while in prayer, I received such a deep impression of eternity that I realized nothing in this life really mattered much compared to eternity.  The only things in this life that has any lasting value are those things done toward eternity.  Clarke's Commentary also has a good explanation: "God has deeply rooted the idea of eternity in every human heart; and every considerate man sees, that all the operations of God refer to that endless duration. See Ecc 3:14. And it is only in eternity that man will be able to discover what God has designed by the various works he has formed."

Just keep in mind: He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Blessings,

Alyssa

Photography Friday

Is it Friday again already?  Sorry that it looks like my blog has been over-run with photography.  At least I limit myself to once a week.  Besides, I'm looking forward to settling down (not running off every other weekend) and working more on my other art forms.  I can take my camera almost anywhere and snap a shot in a few seconds, but painting or sculpting takes a little more dedication.  I am also working on an article, but it might be a few more days until I am able to complete it.

My first GIF animation! :)  I know, I know--small accomplishment, but it's something. :)

This week, all my pictures are from my trip to a small town called Myrtle, MO.  What was my attraction to a place so out of the way?--a camp meeting that has proven over the years to be enjoyable and spiritually a blessing.

{click to enlarge}

My sister stopped on the way so that I could take some pictures.  We missed the chance to get a shot of the beautiful rolling Ozark hills, but at least I got this one.

From a Wal*Mart parking lot.

I love how the little acorn resembles the pine cone.  An oak and a pine are nothing alike, but the Creator chose to echo a pattern in these two seeds.

I love my Bible!  (like, actually love it)  I love how it feels.  I love how it looks.  Of course, I love what it says.  I asked my sister to take this picture for me.

Blessings,

Alyssa

Photography Friday

Busy, busy, busy...but:

{busy sorting supplies to ship to a Kenyan orphanage}

{and busy spending 10 wonderful days at one of my favorite places in the world

{love bees}

{see my finch?}

{delicious clouds that dropped no rain}

I have exciting artsy plans that I've been planning all summer:  some are new ideas, and some are old dreams.  I can't wait until they start developing so I can share them with you all.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and we had better hurry and get ready for school to start.  Anyone excited?

Blessings,

Alyssa