Sky Watch Friday

Skipping rocks in Hull, MA.

I either need more megapixels or I need to start shooting in RAW. Can you see all of those pixels?

For more skywatch shots head on over to SkyWatch Friday and add your own.
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New York City

I had a big post all thought out about layers in photoshop, but time flew by and I didn't get the chance to write it. Instead lets take a look at some of my favorite shots of New York City.



The hubby and I on the Brooklyn Bridge.



The hubby and I at the top of 30 Rock (I know he is blurry but this is the only photo where one of us isn't blurry). If you ever go to New York I highly recommend going to the top of 30 Rock. It has a great view of the city, central park, and the Empire State building.



Hubby and a friend at the New York Stock Exchange. I completely forgot to ask permission to use photos of our friends, so this is the only one I will post.

I am saving the other New York pictures for some Odd Shot Mondays and Sky Watch Fridays, so stay tuned for more wild and crazy shots :)

Where in the World was Carmen Sandiego (aka. Kim)?

Hello? Is anyone out there? Knock Knock, anyone there? Ok, so I decided to go on vacation and now that I am back I fear that I have lost any one who may have read this blog at one point or another. I apologize to anyone who has been waiting for my next post for over a week and got nothing in return. To make it up to you, lets play a game.

Where have I been for the last week and a half? If you can guess from these pictures then you will receive... verbal praise from me :) Ok, I know that isn't much, but I am a poor graduate student who has absolutely nothing good to give away and has no idea how other blogs can afford to give away fun prizes (if you know how, please fill me in).

Here is a picture from each of the places I was in (2).





Sorry about that last shot, I couldn't find a picture of me in the second location so this one will have to do. The hint is the red brick trail.

ABC Wednesday: "V"

Vast Views:

It is way too late and I can't remember the name of this place. When I get to school I will look it up in my field notebook. I do know that it is near Ferron, Utah. That's my friend Rich, "Hi Rich!"

edit: Ok, I looked it up and I'm pretty sure this is from Dry Wash near Ferron, Utah.



One of the most beautiful place I have ever been. The grass was amazingly green, the skies were perfectly blue, it was amazing. This was a taken at an overlook just outside of a ski resort in southern Colorado.



Finally, the husband at the Great Sand Dunes. One of his favorite book series is "Dune" by Frank Herbert. I'm pretty sure that if he could live here he would.



To learn more about the letter "V", or to post your own photos, head on over to Mrs. Nesbitt's.

I'm off to bed for now, see everyone in the morning :)

Whitening Teeth in Photoshop

This should be entitled, "Kim, why are you teeth so fricken yellow?", especially since I don't drink pop or coffee, but I will put myself out there for the sake of teaching Photoshop. How my beautiful, red headed, sister-in-law has such white teeth when she drinks coffee and pop is beyond me.

Let's look at three different methods, and then we can decide which one does the best job. Here is the original shot:



Some tips before we get started:

Always make a duplicate first, cuz we all make mistakes.

If you want to see the original image next to the one you are working, on so you can get a better feel for the changes, go to View>New View. Put both views next to each other so you can see them at the same time.

To hide the selection box (or the marching ants) click Ctrl-H

The first thing you should do for every step is to zoom in so the teeth fill the screen, aren't they lovely. Use the magnetic lasso tool to select around the teeth (This tool can be found in the tools box, second one down under lasso, click it and you should see the magnetic lasso tool.)



Let's try the Hue/Saturation method. With the teeth selected, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Now click the box that says Master and change it to Yellow. Then, turn down the saturation slider as much as you think is needed. Zoom back out to see what it looks like.



Here are the results:



Here is another take on that method. With the teeth selected, go to the layers box and add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, like so:



With master selected turn the saturation to -18, and the lightness to +18.



Changing the option to yellow, put the saturation at -100 and the lightness at +32.



Hit OK, zoom out, and check out the results:



Next, let's try the Selective Color Method. Go to Image>Adjustment>Selective Color. Change the drop down selection to yellow, and move the yellow slider to the left until you are happy with the color.



Zoom back out and check out the results:



The final technique is the Dodge Method. With the teeth selective pick the dodge tool (this is the one that looks like a black magnifying glass). In the top options pallete change the exposure to 20% and make sure it is set to midtones. Set the brush to a round, feathered brush that is bigger than the selection. Make one pass over the teeth and check out the results. Keep doing this until you are happy with the colors. Here are the results:



I prefer the Hue/Saturation Layer Method. It brightens the teeth, but still looks natural. Each person has their own preference, though. Which one do you like?

I'm Back

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all of my mommy friends, you guys are great. Second, Congratulations to one of my bestest friends, Dayna, on the birth of her new baby boy, Brody. I saw pictures and he is the cutest little guy ever.

California was great. I had an enormous room, two tv's, two bathrooms, and if I pulled out the bed in the couch I would have had two beds. Way too much room for little ol' me, but it was great to spread out and walk around in my underwear without worrying who was going to see me :)

The plane ride there was empty, so I got to lay out over three seats and sleep. That was lucky, seeing as I didn't go to bed until after 12 when my flight was at 6am (it took four times as long as usual to pack since everything I own is in random boxes that are all located in random spots throughout the house.) When I got to the hotel they let me into my room early and my first task was to find food. I ate the first thing I could find, which happened to be sushi at a strip mall food court, but what the heck, it tasted fine.

The actual conference went well, but the highlight of my week was going to LA and hanging out with one of my good friends from NMSU, Yvonne. I got to the 3rd street promenade before her so I went to the largest forever twenty one I have ever seen (three stories) and bought a cute dress and a belted blazer. Then we ate Thai at a very empty restaurant, which was good because we got the chance to talk. It was really great getting to see her again. She is what got me through my physics degree. She understands me when I say I skip all of the equations when I read a textbook or paper. I really miss having her around.

I think I will stop boring you with my uneventful trip and show you a picture of Yvonne and I. I am saving my beach photo for Skywatch Friday.

Welcome Home

A quick note to say Welcome Home to a high school friend of mine who just spent 15 months in Iraq. His wife, who is also a friend of mine, has been raising their baby girl on her own while he has been away. They are amazing people and deserve all the love they can get. So head on over and welcome him home: My Longest Year.

PS. It doesn't really matter how you feel about the war. What matters is that he is safe and home with his family, so please don't leave any negative comments.

Thank you to all of our troops who keep us safe here at home, and to their wives who have to live without them for so long (they really are the strong ones).

Whatch out, he bites

In our haste to get over to the new house and get work done I forgot my camera. I had planned on showing pictures of our awesome painting skills (and by awesome I mean semi-horrible), but it looks like I will have to show you another time.

Today you get the best picture of me feeding stingrays. Thanks D for taking the pic. I had to filter out all of the pictures of me making funny faces and settled on the one that doesn't show my face at all. These things were awesome. They would slither up the side of the tank and climb halfway out to get a fish. The hardest part was finding its mouth. I had no idea that its mouth was halfway down its underside. One little guy hung out for quite a while letting me pet him. I have developed a new love for stingrays (although they are still behind my love for the walrus).

ABC Wednesday: "I"

These weeks letter is the letter "I". Today I have a variety of pictures. The first one is from our trip to Johnson's Space Center. This is a mockup of the ISS that was in the astronaut training room.




These next two are from our field course last summer. The first one is of some friends standing on an igneous rock (granite). The last one is some Iquanadon tracks formed in the Muddy Formation on Alameda Rd. in Denver, CO.





Make sure to visit all of my friends over at Mrs. Nesbitt's for more wonderful I pictures.

ABC Wednesday: "F"

This weeks letter is the letter "F". My favorite "F" is my friends, this one is for you D (I miss you). Since I am in this picture it means I didn't take it, so I give the credit to Derek, my husband :)



Next I have Ferron, Utah. We went here on our summer geology field course to learn about the sandstones. There are some really pretty areas near Ferron, you just have to know where to look (The Wedge).



Finally we have fun. It is really fun jumping off the side of the Great Sand Dunes. Just make sure you don't get any sand in your camera :)



Check out more letter "F" blogs over at mrsnesbitt's place
and show them some love.

Oh Wow

Ok, so the holidays have kept me busy, and now I have my sister and brother-in-law staying with us in Chicago. So, I haven't posted my promised picture a day. To make it up to you I'll post a couple extras today. These are all from this summer's field camp.


Selective Sepia picture of D at the Great Sand Dunes


Another selective sepia picture, this time with my friend in Colorful Colorado


A Ferron sun. We were waiting for some construction on some middle-of-nowhere road in Ferron, Utah when the sun peaked through some clouds. In the desolate surroundings it was actually very beauiful.

My friend, the super model

She's not really a super model, but she might as well be she is so beautiful. So is her baby, isn't he adorable.