# Yarn Woven from a Feather



## Abbey08 (Dec 14, 2012)

I've been getting a kick out of altering an original image into something unexpected. The original image was a tiny feather, no more than 2 inches long. It was shot with a macro lens on a tabletop setup consisting of a base of white foam board and natural light coming in from a window across the room. In Aperture, I changed the saturation/vibrancy to make it more monochromatic than it was. I took it to Photoshop Elements to clean up the base it was shot on.


View attachment 3733




I returned the cleaned up image back to Aperture and cropped. I call this image 'Variegated Yarn.'

View attachment 3734



I took the cleaned-up original back to Photoshop Elements where there is a Stylize Filter called Glowing Edges. When I was a kid, an elementary teacher had us do something similar to this for a Friday art project. We drew a scribble drawing in pencil on manilla paper. Then we laid crayoned color into the spaces, much like cloisonne. We laid thick black crayon over the color. Finally, with a sharp-pointed instrument(scissors, a straight pin), we scraped away the black crayon, leaving a colorful design against black. That is the effect the Glowing Edges Filter gives. I call this image 'Beaded Shawl.'

View attachment 3735


----------



## Gumby (Dec 14, 2012)

Those are beautiful, Lorraine. Keep them coming.  I like how you are adventurous with your work, it can produce some stunning results.


----------



## Don V Standeford (Dec 16, 2012)

Beautiful. A very imaginative take. Never seen anything quite like it before.


----------



## tepelus (Dec 16, 2012)

Very pretty. I always like to try to capture teeny tiny details of tiny things with the macro on my camera. They don't always work out so well. Reckon I need to use a tripod and learn to use my camera better. I like the subtle, delicate beauty of the feather you captured so nicely.


----------



## Abbey08 (Dec 16, 2012)

Don V Standeford said:


> Beautiful. A very imaginative take. Never seen anything quite like it before.



Don,
I'm so glad you like this. 

Lorraine


----------



## Abbey08 (Dec 16, 2012)

tepelus said:


> Very pretty. I always like to try to capture teeny tiny details of tiny things with the macro on my camera. They don't always work out so well. Reckon I need to use a tripod and learn to use my camera better. I like the subtle, delicate beauty of the feather you captured so nicely.



Tepelus,
I use a dedicated, 1-1 Macro Lens and of course, the tripod. Before having a dedicated Macro, I used a lens that had a 1-2 Macro with it; it works well enough and you can always crop in closer with post. My hubby just bought me a new tripod that has a portion that rotates the camera 180degrees; it's perfect for this kind of work. 

Thank you for appreciating the aspects of this feather that I saw when I retrieved it in the woods 

The best to you as you work with your photography. And just remember, a photo that seems to be lacking initially can be transformed to beauty in post.

Lorraine


----------



## Terry D (Dec 17, 2012)

What camera do you use, Lorraine?


----------



## Abbey08 (Dec 17, 2012)

Terry D said:


> What camera do you use, Lorraine?



I use a Sony A550 DSLR. Back in 2008, I bought a Canon 40D. The kit lens was image stabilized. But the Canon image stabilized lenses are very expensive. At the time(and heck, even still today)I had a dislike for using a tripod out in the field. They are heavy, clumsy, and slow for me to put up, take down, get in the right setup. So, I used the Canon kit lens until I got a 50mm macro lens; that purchase pushed me to the tripod-driven, tabletop setups that marked that period of image making.

I got tired of the Canon kit lens, and of the fact that my husband could shoot using any lens without the darned tripod because he uses a Sony A700 that is image stabilized in the camera body itself. Jealous doesn't even come close to how I felt about that. Then in 2010, I came over to the dark side and purchased my A550 and my 100mm F2.8 macro lens and haven't looked back. We share a 16-105mm, 70-300mm, and the pride of our lens collection, a Sony 70-200 F2.8. His go-to lens is the 16-105mm and my 100mm pretty much lives on my camera.

We talk about buying a full sized sensor Sony(that would be an A850), but we're both pretty happy right now the way we're shooting.

Lorraine


----------



## Terry D (Dec 19, 2012)

I'm just getting back into SLR photography after about ten years.  I just purchased my first DSLR (a Canon T3i) and am getting use to it.  I feel like a total rookie even though I started shooting back in 1971 with an Canon TLb.  I'm also a big fan of macro photography.


----------



## Abbey08 (Dec 19, 2012)

The very first DSLR we bought was Canon's first Digital Rebel. I had used a Minolta film camera in the '70's and early '80's and did not make the transition over to the DSLR easily. My husband embraced the new technology faster than I did. We owned a nice Minolta setup in the '80's that was film; during that time, I stopped doing photography in 1982(I know that because of the processing date on an envelope of prints)and did not pick it up again until 2008. Long story for another time.

Good luck in learning the DSLR; it's a bit different than a film camera. But you know they say that it's not the equipment, it's the eye and mind of the person looking through the viewfinder. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work 

Lorraine


----------

