I am always inspired by those photographers/artists that can tell an amazing story using a photograph(s) and their imaginations. To get a better idea of what I mean check out Living The Photo Artistic Life, a publication on the Issuu app (an awesome app for all sorts of free resources, btw). Another self-taught process for me, I am slowly learning how to translate the story I imagine without it getting lost in the reality of the image.
“Our House” is one of my photos that has such a story and that I have been working on translating. When I saw this white house with its blue roof, standing all alone, looking lived in – but not, inviting – but with no access, charming & quaint – against a drab backdrop of bare trees and gray sky, I was intrigued… what was its story? Why is there a house here with no driveway, who lived here and when, where did they come from…where did they go? Of course, I will probably never know its real story; heck, I don’t even know the name of the road (or town) where this house sits to research it. So I have to come up with my own story. If I were to write it, it might go something like this…
A little white house sits all alone on a little rise where one can see for miles in any direction. It’s long and winding drive stops at the wobbly front porch as a welcome to all. And from that front porch, we sit lazily watching travelers pass us by.
…well, something like that, which is why I think I’ll stick to developing my storytelling with pictures.
But finding those words only came as I continued to rework the image to uncover the story stuck in my imagination… I thought drama, maybe, as a B&W.
but I don’t see the world in B&W. I thought vintage, 
it is from a time long ago after all, and put a touch color back and added and element or two. Although adding some elements helped the story start to unfold, those feelings ~ that made me stop the car cold, trespass in someone’s drive, and stand on a roadside with no margin for error ~ were the elements I needed. I needed the whimsy, quaintness, and quizzical nature of this dwelling that I saw when I clicked the shutter.
Borrowing the title from a tune by Crosby, Stills and Nash that played over and over in my head while I worked on this image, Our House… now has my story.
Until next time,
Maria
♥acknowledgements♥ special thanks for helping me find my story 2LO texture artists, Jai Art, Florabella actions, and the gang at Topaz Labs.
With dogs in tow, I took a couple shots with my phone ~ actually a few more than a couple, because (a) I cannot see the screen on my phone when my transitions darken, and (b) insurance that I am holding my phone steady enough – a challenge also when holding two dogs. Fingers now sufficiently frozen, we turned to head home and then there it was… the pond, frozen, with these large circles of ice where the snow did not stick, making a beautiful design all across the pond. Fingers too frozen to break out my phone again and the sun still too strong (talk about blown highlights), I knew I had to revisit it later that afternoon without two dogs and fingers thawed and crossed that my timing would be right and the sun wouldn’t warm things up enough to change the ice patterns. Almost 4:00, I was pretty sure I missed my opportunity (and the sun on the pond), but I was all bundled up, so what the heck – maybe I would see something else I hadn’t seen earlier. But oh my! When I got to my destination, the sun was hitting the pond like a stone skimming across the water and all those circles were now glistening discs. Andif that weren’t enough, I had a backdrop of wispy winter clouds and a touch of beautiful blue sky ~ I have my landscape.
So what’s one more…
I definitely did not pick it for it composition qualities. I picked it solely for my model’s hair and to try out the Remask tutorial. First, a good crop and a quick touch-up using the Portrait Professional plug-in. Then I moved on Remask.
, I still wasn’t getting the result I was looking for. I was left with a green halo – backlash from using the green screen/background. But not only did it leave a green halo in and around her hair, her complexion, the dress, and flowers all had a slightly green hue (i.e. color cast). 
I know my mistake now… not only was the backdrop behind her, but she was standing on it. Did I mention I rarely do studio portraits? Lets just say working with lights (other than natural) and backdrops is an education in progress for me. To deal with the green color cast I tried a variety of methods from using levels, to color balance, to color selection and masking – all just falling short of the mark; whites may have gotten whiter, but skin tones and hair suffered or vise-versa. After a few trial and errors, and a number of complete do-overs, I finally came across this You Tube 
using the hue blending mode. Turns out not only is it a quick and simple technique, but very effective. 
Once satisfied that my model no longer looked like she was suffering from a bad case of seasickness, I could get to work on some finishing touches, although not 100% where I would like it to be, I’m a lot closer … and a lot less green. 
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