Bring the outside in

When we have cold windy days you have to bring the outside in. For years I hardly ever brought my flowers into the house, I think it was because of the kids and my allergies. My sister Starla brings new flowers in every Saturday and my Sister-in-law Jeannie always has flowers in her house, so about 2 years ago I decided to try it and see what happens, if one of us is miserable than I'll know not to bring that one in again. So far it's only Lilacs, Hibiscus and Peonies that make me sneeze uncontrollably so the rest of them are in the house. It's really fun to see what new vases I can find and where to put them.

SOOC

I don't have time to learn any new things on Photoshop so let me teach you one of my tricks that I do with almost every photo.

Open your photo in Photoshop Editor

Do your color adjustments or whatever else you want to do

Add a duplicate layer (Layer - Duplicate Layer)

Change the blending mode to Multiply (your photo will look too dark, don't worry we'll fix that)

Click the Rectangle Marquee Tool

Draw a rectangle inside your photo about .50" from the edges

Right click

Click on feather

Change pixels to 180 and click ok, or hit enter

hit the backspace key

Your photo now has the darker edges with the center being light. It adds a very slight drama and accent to the center of the photo. If you want the edges to be darker hit CTL J as many times as you like, that will repeat the process. Don't forget to flatten your images after you have the look that you want.

The same photo with my darkened edges. This simple trick gives the photo a little more dimension or life. Or is it just me?