Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

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AdobeGenPro Digital Creativity Workshop: Photoshop

November 14, 2013 by kathi

I’d like to go into a little more detail about thought processes and technical notes for each one of the Digital Creativity in the Classroom weekly projects.

The Photoshop assignment

dog
Finished product: Dog

Creative Challenge – Big and Small: You’ll need to take two images of yourself and relate them to one another – one a supersized (or normal) version of you, the other a normal (or super-small) version.

I’ve had a recurring nightmare over the years where I’ve switched sizes with one of my pets and I’m being hunted down. That was my inspiration for this project. While this did not exactly meet the assignment given because I did not use two versions of myself (or two versions of the same person, animal, or item), I still felt it related big and small in a way that was more personally inspiring to me.

cat
Finished product: Cat

I did not have a good location to stage a hunting scene with any of my pets, so I skipped straight to where I was already captured for the next meal. Somehow I also skipped right over the fact that it was neither easy nor kind to ask them to pose with a partially filled bowl of food and do nothing but look in. I was planning to do the scene with one of the dogs and hope their obedience training would get us through the photo shoot. I didn’t expect the photobombing cat, but I ended up using his portion of that photo.

DSCN0062There were no other humans around to help me with photos, so the photo of myself was taken using the 10-second timer on my point and shoot camera. Why is 10 seconds so long when you are trying to fill it in a speech class, and so short when you are trying to get from one side of the kitchen to the other without hurting yourself? This was an outtake as the version where I have both hands outstretched worked much better.

kwI used the Quick Selection tool and the Eraser tool with a Wacom Graphire tablet to do a quick ‘n’ dirty outline and clean it up a bit. I admit to not using best practices in production: I did not use a mask, duplicate layers, or other non-destructive techniques. In an actual production situation, I like to think I’d be more careful!

Putting it all together

(1)
(1)

Here is the photo I picked for the “dog” version (1).

 

 

 

(2)
(2)

I cropped it down and made it the bottom (background) layer of my file (2).

 

 

 

 

(3)
(3)

I placed the outlined photo of myself on the next layer, rotated it counterclockwise, and erased my feet (3).

 

 

 

 

(4)
(4)

The bottom of the bowl was showing through where my feet should have been, so I added some layers with a few pieces of kibble outlined and pasted onto each, like this one (4).

 

 

See above for the finished product as well as the “cat” version. Click on any of the photos to display a larger version.

One of my goals is to add more graphics to any appropriate instructional or informational materials I prepare. I am not sure how often I will need to use photo montages but I will watch for opportunities to do so.

Filed Under: Computers and Technology Tagged With: AdobeGenPro, Axel, Oliver, Photoshop

Time change gets me every time

November 4, 2012 by kathi

No matter how long I’ve lived with “spring forward” and “fall back” it still seems to jet lag me. I have been tired and crabby all day, and if this year is true to form, I’ll start feeling normal around Wednesday.

So for now, please enjoy these gratuitous kitties enjoying a cat nap — something I’d like to enjoy as well!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’12: 4 of 30)

Filed Under: Non-Rottweiler Pets and Animals, Rants or Raves Tagged With: daylight savings time, Molly, Oliver

Petfinder – Adopt the Internet

March 15, 2011 by kathi

Yes, you’re in the right place. I know, I usually talk about my fancy showdog and other snobby purebred stuff. But today is to celebrate Petfinder’s fifteenth birthday and help them Adopt the Internet!

Petfinder Adopt-the-Internet Day

You’ve met Oliver the Kittyweiler here before. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that Dan found him on Petfinder. It was a supremely successful match. So we are one of the 17 million successful Petfinder adoptions, and I truly can’t imagine life here without our Kittyweiler.
DSCN0665a

There are more than 320,000 pets waiting for homes on Petfinder.com. I can’t promise you that any of them are as strange and quirky as our Oliver, but I do know that you can make a difference by helping Petfinder Adopt the Internet today and find forever homes for as many as possible, maybe even your own home.

Filed Under: Blogging and Social Media, Non-Rottweiler Pets and Animals, Rottweilers Tagged With: Adopt the Internet, kittyweiler, Oliver, Petfinder

The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop | Project 365

January 15, 2011 by kathi

My Project 365 is going pretty well so far. I haven’t improved much as a photographer yet, but we’re only two weeks into it. I haven’t missed a day yet, and I’ve been making an effort to use and learn more about my DSLR. Here are the pet-related photos from the past week:

IMG_0030    DSCN0440

Click photos to go to the blog posts

It’s that time again: Saturday Pet Blogger Hop time! As always, a big thank you to Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume for bringing us all together every weekend!

Filed Under: Blogging and Social Media, Non-Rottweiler Pets and Animals, Rottweilers Tagged With: Confessions of the Plume, Life With Dogs, Oliver, pet bloggers, Project 365, Two Little Cavaliers

Project 365 | The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop

January 8, 2011 by kathi

I mentioned earlier this week that I’m doing a Project 365 (photo-a-day) this year. Since not all of the photos will be about Rottweilers, computers, or even world domination, I’ve started a separate photoblog as well as a Flickr set for the project.

So far, I’ve been using my familiar point-and-shoot Nikon S51 and the camera on my BlackBerry Curve 8330 for the daily shots. But one of my goals for Project 365 is to learn to use my Canon Rebel XS DSLR to best advantage, so that camera will be added to the rotation starting next week.

I cross-posted my first Rottweiler-related photo earlier in the week. Here are the other pet-related project photos:
DSCN0411d    DSCN0413    DSCN0422

Click photos to go to the blog posts

Now that we’re concentrating on pet-related content again, it’s time to rejoin the wonderful Saturday Pet Blogger Hop! As always, this blog hop is hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging and Social Media, Non-Rottweiler Pets and Animals, Rottweilers Tagged With: Axel, Confessions of the Plume, Freya, Life With Dogs, Oliver, pet bloggers, Project 365, Two Little Cavaliers

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