What are you working on (in December 2022)?

[Michele]

Thanks so much, Susan.

[Sue Thomas]

Thank you very much Susan, also thank you husband for me.   I take it that you are ware that the moon only appears to be larger as it rises.  It's actually an optical illusion, known as polar Ponzo Illusion.  This illusion occurs when our brians perceive the sun or the moon on the horizon as being larger than  when it is directly overhead.  I think I may have said before, you don't need expensive lenses to shoot the moon.  I don't have any zoom lenses, as my camera does not support them. My camera settings are.   F4.5,  ISO 100,  SS 1,300,  exposure compensation -2/3    metering   spot.   zoom 600mm,  aspect ration 16.9, timer 5 seconds. I play with other setting, but those are my standard  moon settings.   Other settings  I will adjust will be sharpness, noise contrast and saturation.

[Sue Thomas]

Michele, another wonderful page.  You do surprise me that you didn't  already have Carole's Xmas punches !   :-)

[Ann Seeber]

I wanted to thank Trish for these wonderful glitter balls. Here's my design idea.

[Sue Thomas]

Thank you so much Suzy.

[Julie Magerka]

While Sue Thomas is out in the dark and the cold shooting amazing photos of nature and the larger world, I am soundly asleep and wrapped up warmly. I'm so glad she does what she does for people like me!

[Sue Thomas]

Awe Julie, what a lovely comment, I thank you from the bottom of  my heart, and others that appreciate my  photographic work.  I do what I do, because I revel it, including the challenges involved.  I'm not about to stop  any time soon either.  Well I hope not, certainly whilst I'm able anway

 

I directed you to one of the masterclasses to create a bauble, after you posted your page, which was lovely by the way, although the baubles were flat.  Check out Paintshop Christmas 3.  In that masterclass Carole demonstrates  how to create a bauble in detail, even  on how best to add images  using the correct size, which I think you will find very informative.

[Susan Ewart]

Thank you Sue for your settings.  Mine are similar.  I shoot in the middle aperatures (5.6, 8, 11, 16) as they are the sharpest on DSLR's, and pretty much always on spot metering.  I do know the moon is lit by the sun so the sunny 16 rule applies, althought I deviate with the ISO to get a faster shutter speed as I am using a zoom lens that isnt image stabilized (and I can be lazy and not take out the tripod, especially if it's cold).  Luckily I am shooting with a crop frame sensor so my 300 mm is more like 480 mm.  I remember way back when shooting the night sky, fireworks etc (using "bulb" setting), the saying was "F8 and be there".  I am always interested in the settings people use, thank you for sharing.  I have never heard of Polar Ponzo.  Have you ever done any long exposures of stars.  I havent yet, I'm too close to the city I think.  I got a new camera that I havent even taken out of the box yet.  the body is image stabilized so I'm interested to see the difference in the moon shots with my really old zoom lens.

[Julie Magerka]

Thanks for specific direction to the video, Sue. That's where I'm going now! I like to stick to something until I feel I have enough skill to use it well.

 

Update: I watched PSP Christmas 3 which I hadn't seen before. It was perfect to illustrate what you told me (Sue) about using bubbles to create a round ornament! Thanks.

 

There are so many resources within the membership! I get around to them when I can. I'm sure Carole has demonstrated almost every tool and technique before, and folks like me keep asking about something that already exists.

[cindy harris]

Hello All,

 

Well  Tried to do the lab 12-12  folded Christmas Tree and  last Few labs can never get there :(   I just try and try and try and well you get it.    I get stuck on the bottom I cant see how to get to image 1000  even though I am on a 2000x2000 size, it goes so fast for me.  I do it over an over till  well you see.    Ill try more just burned out on it like I burned myself out on the exploding cut outs   I never got half way :(    I try and try.  But all of You and our Teacher is the Biggest Blessings to me, since I found you.   When cov hit I had to stop going to see my Grandchildren it was just me and this last rescue dog alone but Carol helped me get thru that and the S hotline a couple times,  Thing is I know you always have to live another day to fight  lol.   I am a survivor lol so that's all I know to do.    I will keep tryin  I just an so looking forward to Q&A tomorrow my question is the last in the line but its there that's all that matters to me.   Hugs all   Iam trying.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

These photos from 2012...my Poppy cat...under the Christmas tree. I scraplifted a layout I saw on Pinterest.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Just some of my pickleball peeps...another scraplift....

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Template by Christine Aufty at Digital Scrapbooking...

[Mary Solaas]

OK - I'll post the elf avatar of me!

[Ann Seeber]

And here's the Elf Avatar of me!

 

 

[Michele]

Thanks, Sue. I'm also surprised I didn't already have those punches. I think I'm only missing one or two now. lol

[Michele]

This wonderful illustration is by the amazing Sunny Gu. I love her stuff. It's the first time I used Cass's Seamless Pattern script. I used the smart selection brush to "lift" some of the flowers from the original pic and made a png seamless pattern. For darn sure I'm going to be using that script more often, hopefully when I have more time to perfect it. The font is Trench and the text cutter tool with a few drop shadows using zero offsets got this result.

[Ann Seeber]

I came up with this for the Complementary Palette Challenge using the Corel freebie template - My Favorite Gifts. The font was part of the layout, so I don't know the name. I'm including Carole's color wheel. The family photo is from the year 2000 showcasing us and our nine grands.

[Marie-Claire]

Sue Thomas, you always take such beautiful pictures of the moon! I wish I could do it too. I always have a small fireball as a result. I also think the moon is closer to you than it is here.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Went to a local church's dinner theater with friends. Wonderful evening! Background was created with a top layer of solid color set to blend mode, overlay. Layer below was a scan of the program enlarged to fit the 12X12 page.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

I downloaded this template tonight from chantahliadesign.com and just had to play with it.

 

[Susan Ewart]

Mary and Ann, your avatars are dead ringers.

 

Here's mine.

 

Bonnie, love the the HO HO HO kitty layout.

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Thank you, Susan. It's a free template. By chantahliadesign.com

[Donna Sillia]

I am still working on flowers. After watching the tutorial on "Folding Paper," I decided to try and make a folded petal. I used the warp tool "snow" to eliminate some of the straight edges and the pen tool to round of some of the straight lines on the petal.

[Susan Ewart]

Thanks Bonnie, I found it along with some more cool templates.