i make things

Pacific Northwest Road Trip: Scrapbook: Trip Stats

The latest craze in design are infographics and I'm definitely riding that train. Being an accountant and all around numbers gal I'm in love with this. Using numbers as a base for a layout. Hell yeah! Of course I like to add color, pie charts, icons and different fonts too but the basic premise is numbers.

This was some serious fun and I'm not gonna lie, it took some time. Granted I fell down the rabbit hole and went way overboard with multiple colors, pie charts, rows, specialty borders. I started off basic but turned this bad-boy into something way more than simple. You don't have to. You could make this more simplistic than I did. One color, only basic icons, no pie chart.

I thought about doing a tutorial on this but it would take forever and a day to show you all the steps. What I am going to do is give you some guidance on the basics of how this is done. Then you can take that and roll with it, just like I did.

Step 1: Google or search on Pinterest for ideas. Figure out what type of infograph you'd like to do. Here are some examples of infographs I pinned.

• Infograph Tutorial in Photoshop - Barbara does an infograph of her trip using a picture as a background, white fonts and icons. She also includes a tutorial for how she created hers. I used this to get ideas on how to do a couple things that I didn't know how to do.
• Basic Numbers and Charts - Basic white background, charts, large numbers, horizontal and vertical descriptions, simplistic design and some color.
• Hawaii Trip - Photo as a background, white fonts and icons. Pie graphs, horizontal graphs, elegant and interesting.
• Zambia Trip - Picture background, white font, used several of the same icon to show how many. Examples: 2 shopping malls was defined as 2 shopping carts and 1 accident was defined as 1 car. Very pictoral and less straight out numbers-based.
• Handwritten Seven Country Trip - Beautiful layout using a background picture and the designer's own handwriting and drawings to display the trip stats. I almost went this route. Almost. I might do it in the future but I really wanted to work with existing icons.

Step 2: Write down what stats you want to remember. Write stats you think are interesting. Each person is going to be different in what they want to jot down. This was my basic list. I adjusted it as I went along. Some things I took out and others I added depending on space constraints or desire to record.

My final stats were: total photos, miles by type, states visited, bags carried, nature visits by type, cities visited, trails hiked, days on vacay, temperature high and low, spending, and gray whale count.

Other items you could do: fuel stops, gas tanks, elevations, different state license plates seen, different animals seen, inches of rain or snow, worst visit, best visit, activities completed (swimming, hiking, tennis, sleeping, running, surfing, rock climbing, etc.), time in different cities or states, time at the beach versus on the road...the list is endless.

Step 3: Pick out what font you will use and what color(s). I would stick to only 2 fonts at a max. I used Rockwell and Bebas in different sizes. Your layout will be busy with different icons and sizes so it's best to have 1 particular font to lessen the amount of craziness. In other words you will maintain some continuity and repetition that will bring your layout together by using a limited number of fonts.

I used dark brown as my main color but used a couple different accent colors including a light brown, gray, green, sunflower and turquoise. I made sure all my colors worked well together and had the same warmth before using them on the layout.

Step 4: Choose your icons. This part is definitely fun. There are tons of free icon .png files online that you can download and use. Some places you might have to pay or give the artist credit but most of the time they are free. I ended up going with 2 different sites: Flaticon and Freepik. Both require that you acknowledge them on your site. (click on links to go to the sites)

Some of my favorites:

I also used some .png files from Ali Edwards Story Kit.

Step 5: Design each statistic. I started with item and chose an icon, added a large number, a title and in some cases a subtitle. Then I changed colors of each item depending the size and how many components. I made sure to link each section in Photoshop so I could re-size that entire item should I need to. (click on each layer while holding down the shift key then right click on a layer and click on link layers)

A quick tutorial on the Hikes Taken Image:

Note: added gray border only for instructional purposes.

A. Open .png file in Photoshop.

 

B. Drag and drop onto your blank canvas.

C. Rotate image: Image/Rotate/Flip Horizontal (as necessary)

D. Add large number, resize and place where you want it.

E. Add wording.

F. Adjust image at your discretion. I moved the hiker close to the number and aligned the Trails and Hiked to be evenly distributed over the 21.

G. Add color if you choose. I colored the hiker green and the verbiage dark brown.

Note: I choose my color using the Color Swatches (Window/Color Swatch/Select Color). Then I re-color using the Paint Bucket tool (select the image, click on paint bucket, then click on the image)

H. Then I grouped the images together. (Hold down the shift key, click on each layer, right click and left click on link images. You can also click on the chain link as well)

I. Now you can resize if you like or move the entire image.

Step 6: Arrange and re-size all your images on the blank canvas. You can do this any way you like. If you like more structure everything can be the same size and can be side-by-side or up-and-down. If you want certain things to be larger and more the focal point then you can do larger and smaller in whatever order you like.

Step 7: Add lines to differentiate each item. (This is optional depending on your taste.)

I started with the horizontal lines then did the vertical. The easiest method is to use lines from the shape tool in Photoshop. (under the draw tool)

I made dotted lines because I thought it looked less rigid and more fun. Here's how to do it.

a. Click on Brush tool.

b. Select Basic hard brush.

c. Click on Brush Settings: Fade, Hue and Scatter should be 0%, Change spacing to around 150% (Again this can change depending on your preference. Large percentage = larger space between dots.)

d. Click on the left-most end of where you want your line to be (I turn on the grid so I can get this straight and exactly where I want it.) Then hold down the shift key and click on the right-most end of the line you want to draw. The line you just made should fill in with a dotted line.

Finished:

That's it folks. Pretty easy peasy just a bit tedious...depending on how anal you are or how far you've traveled down the rabbit hole.

Hope you enjoyed this scrapbook page and tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Photograph 4th of July Fireworks

Would you like to learn how to photograph fireworks? Have your fireworks pictures been just blah or so-so in previous years?

Would you like to go from This to That?

If you answered yes to any of those questions you've come to the right place.

I'm going to give you a quick tutorial on how I like to capture fireworks.

With any good image you've got to have a couple of rules. Yes, I know, photography is an art and there shouldn't be rules when it comes to art. Rules can stifle you. In this case in order to get the good shot you need to follow a couple rules. The rest, as they say, is up to  you.

1. Tripod - you MUST have one.

Why? Because you need to leave your shutter open for a second or more at a time. If you are holding your camera you are going to get camera shake. What is camera shake? Camera shake makes your images blurry. It's that slight vibration or movement that you exert while trying to hold the camera still. Normally you wouldn't notice it but when you are taking pictures with the shutter open (the shutter is what allows the light into the camera), it's visible.

Trust me. If you try and hold your camera you're going to look like you're an alcoholic that hasn't had a drinkin 4 hours. Shaky like a groom on his wedding night. I could go on with the metaphors but you get the idea.

2. Camera with Manual Mode - MUST have

Why? Firework photographs need a long exposure (aka the shutter is open longer than a milisecond). Most point and shoot cameras including smartphones don't have this option. You need a camera with a manual mode that allows you to adjust your shutter speed (Tv) to a second or more.

There is a night mode on smartphones which will hold open the camera's shutter for a a little longer than normal but it's not enough time for you to get grand sweeping fireworks picture. What I mean by that is you with get "THIS" and not "THAT".

THIS is a staccato burst of light. Basically dots of the fireworks light emitted.

THAT is a grand sweeping emission of color. You know those huge chandelier-like fireworks? They come down like a weeping willow tree? You want the shutter to stay open from start to finish so you can capture that entire image.

Those are the two MUST haves.

Somewhat Optional Items:

3.  Remote Control Timer - I like to use this because then I don't have my finger on the shutter the entire time. Which can also cause a little bit of camera shake. You press down and then lift off. There is a little camera shake there.

I also like a remote timer because you have complete control of how long the shutter remains open. You don't have to change your settings constantly to get the right shutter length.

Each set of fireworks is different. Some are shorter bursts and some are longer (chandelier). You want to be able to start and end your shutter at your own discretion.

That's basically it for necessities. What type of camera you have, what tripod and what remote is up to you.

4.  Camera Settings: Obviously there is debate amongst photographers what is best. What I'm going to do is give you my images from the last 7 years and what the settings were so you can judge for yourself which setting you want to use.

A couple of basics for you:

• I use BULB mode so that I can control all of the settings as well as the shutter speed. If you use manual you will have to change the Tv (Shutter speed) manually. Remember, that is how long the shutter stays open and therefore how much of the image you will capture. To little and you'll get staccato images and too much you will get way too much color and it'll look like a blob.
• I like to manually focus my camera at the beginning. If you put it on automatic sometimes the camera won't be able to focus until the firework has started. I'd suggest using the first couple of bursts to focus then start taking pictures.
• Landscape/Portrait - either will work. Fireworks are naturally vertical so this set-up lends well to them. However, I occasionally will switch to landscape and get the entire background as well (you know people, cars, buildings. This will give your fireworks perspective and you can really see how big they are. Plus you can always crop a landscape image to portrait in photoshop later on.
• ISO - I ALWAYS use ISO 100. You want a crisp and clear image not a grainy one so don't be afraid to use 100 instead of 1600.
• Aperture (Av): Aperture is what decides how much light goes into the camera. Shutter is how long the light goes into the camera and aperture is how much light goes into the camera. Aperture is like your pupil. During the day there is a lot of light so our pupil is smaller, letting in less light. At night it's dark and we can't see well therefore our pupil becomes larger thereby letting in more light giving us the ability to see better.

            A small aperture (described as f-stops) is f/32 which allows the entire image to be in focus. An f-stop             of f/1.4 would focus on a small image and completely blur the background.

            I've used several different apertures (Av) ranging from 6.3-32. I mostly stay in the 6-12 range. That             seems to work the best for me and the pictures I like. You can play around with this as well.

• Shutter speed - Generally speaking I hold mine open for a second or two but it really depends on what firework is going off and how much of it I want to capture. This I will leave up to you. My advice, start with a second and work your way from there (assuming you don't have the remote and need to set a shutter speed.)

Now, onto the pictures. A timeline of fireworks form 2007 to 2014:

I hope you enjoyed this post and these pictures. Good luck with your fireworks photographs and please leave links to your pictures. I'd love to see them.

Happy 4th of July!!

Make your Own Kentucky Derby Hat

Making my own Kentucky Derby hat was so much fun. I had thought about it for years but never really had a reason to. Nobody was throwing a Derby party. I wasn't going to Churchill Downs or even Canterbury Downs.

But, I finally had a reason. It just so happened that the company I work for decided to have Derby Days. A contest for who wore the best hat. I knew right away this was my chance. I was going to make a hat. woot woot.

Most people I know would say, "Why make one? Why not just buy one?"

My answer to that is;

a. because I like to "make things".

b. because then I can customize it.

c. likely it's cheaper to make one.

d. likely I'll have better quality.

With that said I made one instead of buying one.

Here's a quick view at my process:

1. Go online and pin kentucky derby hats.
2. Go onto my Derby Hat board and see if there is a pattern. *Do I like 1 big flower? *Do I like several flowers? *Color favorite *feathers? *hat size *hat type
3. Watch video on making a hat. (for tips and tricks)
4. Buy Hat (I chose black because I wanted to wear a black dress.) I bought mine at Gordman's but I know that DSW has hats as well as many other stores.
5. Go to Joann Fabrics and pick out flowers, ribbon, accents, feathers, toule, and netting in the color I wanted. (teal for me because I love that color and I was thinking of working with peacock feathers)
6. Warm up the glue gun. Make sure to have extra sticks handy. I went thru about 2 sticks
7. Get to work on gluing on your accessories.

I ended up buying a combination of "stuff" from Jo-Anns including a huge flower, several accent flowers in different styles and sizes, different sizes and colors of satin and mesh ribbon, coated wire and feathers.

Here's a quick animation on the process of making my hat. While you watch you'll  notice a couple of things:

• I start with the big flower first. It's the the focal point and I want to make sure I start with that instead of gluing it on at the end.
• I move things around a lot. I try out an accent first then I glue it down once I like what I see.
• I try to use the visual triangle or working in 3's design theory. (3 purple flowers) (3 loops of ribbon) etc.
• I try to build out my design. Big flower first, then I add the bigger items like the ribbon. Next I work in my other accents starting with the largest to the smallest. It's easier to fill in gaps with smaller items then to add larger accents at the end.
• I tried a couple of light green items which I thought took away from my focal point so I took them out.
• I also with work different textures, colors and heights. Notice that one of the last things I added was the peacock feathers. They stuck out the furthest so they went last. They gave my hat some dimension as did the other teal/blue/blackish colored feathers.

Here's my final "Kentucky Derby" Outfit.

I decided to wear a black dress and keep the jewelry simple because you want to highlight the hat not all the other stuff you are wearing. (p.s.  I haven't mastered the art of taking pictures wearing a hat yet. Please forgive me)

Side view. I really loved how it turned out. It's my favorite color. It's over-the-top gaudy but cute. It's not ugly-gawdy. I didn't want to do ugly. If I wanted over-the-top ugly I would have added a huge peacock head or horse-head.

Sassy.

Now I'm just having some fun taking pictures of myself. Which I don't do very often at all. Usually I'm just behind the camera.

From the other side.

If you notice the original hat didn't have a whole lot of bend to it but once you add the decorations it gives the hat some nice curvature which I love. It makes the hat seem like it has more character.

Here's some close-up images of the hat.

It's hard to see from far away but the large flower and some of the smaller ones have gems glued into the centers. I love that touch. I thought it added a little something extra.

Here's one last animation of the hat from all angles.

Tutorial: Change Part of a Picture to B&W - Photoshop Elements

In my December Daily - Day 14 layout I used a picture I adjusted in Photoshop Elements from color to black and white. I only changed the background but left my nephew in color which is a little bit trickier.

I'm going to show you how you can easily do this in Photoshop Elements. Right now I'm using Elements 12.0. but I know this will work in 9.0 as well and likely everything in between.

First you start with your color image.

First things first. We need to highlight my nephew and only my nephew because I want to turn everyone else black and white.

I use the magnetic lasso tool. It looks like this and is in the Select section of the Tools (circled in white below.)

There are 3 different lassos: 1. Lasso 2. Magnetic Lasso and 3. Polygonal Lasso. You want the magnetic lasso. It is very handy for selecting areas of a photo that have complex edges as is the case here. My nephew is surrounded by tons of kiddos and no distinct background.

First thing I like to do is zoom in on the area that I will be lasso'ing. I find that it's easier when the image is zoomed in and I can see where I'm drawing the lasso. It''s up close and personal.

To start, single click where you want to start the lasso. Then move your mouse around the object as close to the line as possible. The lasso will automatically select the edge (in this case my nephews shirt and body) as you go.

Note: When you get to areas where the contrast is less (where my nephew's hair intersects with the little girls' black dress - the contrast is low). Move slower and click your left mouse button as you go around the difficult section.

Then I start on one end and work my way around. In this case I started at the bottom left end of his shirt and worked my way around the left side around his head and down the right side. When you meet up with where you started you should see the line you made moving around the area. (I've heard it called "the moving ant line")

Next step is to Inverse Select your area. Click Select on the tool bar then click on Inverse. This will select everything else but the object you just lasso'd. In this case, all the other kiddos minus my  nephew.

 

Now you will convert the image to black and white. You can do this several different ways. The easiest is to use the built in conversion tool with Photoshop.

Option 1: Simply click Enhance on the tool bar then Convert to Black and White.

Option 2: If you have an Action you've gotten you can use that as well. I like Pioneer Woman's and A Beautiful Mess actions.

Wahlah!! Now you are done and can save your image.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Also, remember, be patient. It took me at least a handful of times to get the lasso tool right. Practice is perfect.

Also, these commands are using my Dell computer. I don't have a Mac so I can't comment on those functions.