A Beautiful Winter

[Norm F]

We are having an unusually mild winter for the Canadian prairies. The river has been unable to freeze and we have been under a heavy fog for the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, the sun shone bright. Here's a picture of what the fog left behind.

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=3599

I took this photo around 1:30 pm. By the time I returned home at 5:30 most of the frost had fallen to the ground. For a full week every tree in the city looked like these. It's been so white that it hardly seemed dark through the night.

[Jodi Frye]

Indeed that's a really lovely scene. I really like your bike shot as well. The snow has been stuck to the trees and branches here as well for the past few days and it it weren't for those blasted power lines I would also be taking some shots. The whole idea of having to clone out the lines (lots) is a real joy kill.

[Wendy]

Hi Norm ...

Wow that looks just so amazing ... its a great shot and I bet you were delighted with it :)


Wendy

[jvolpe]

Yes, Norm, it is beautiful. Our winters in RI have been pretty much like your picture. It rains first and then snows, so it's sticking very nicely to the trees. I too like your bike picture. I like the way you bent the paper. What's the trick of doing that?
Janis

[Wendy]

Hi Janis ...

I don't know how Norm bent his image but possibly he used the Shear Filter ... if you don't know how to use it then I did a mini tut on it a while back. It is in Wendy's Mini Tutorials (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3641) ... "Using the Shear Filter" is about half way down the list.


Wendy

[NMarti]

Norm,
That is really beautiful. I wish we would get some snow here in IL. It has been such an awful, dreary, rainy winter. It has either been very cold or drizzly rain almost every day in Dec and it's no better so far in Jan. I just want something pretty instead of all this blahhhh. Thanks for posting it.

[Norm F]

I did indeed use the shear filter (filter>distort>shear). I got Scott's book for Christmas so I've been trying some new things.

Wendy, I recall a discussion about the shear filter which you used to create a warping effect on a film strip. If my recollection serves me well you did a photo that had a strip running down the side and across the bottom of the image. I want to give that a go. I wondered if that photo is posted online somewhere. It would be helpful to have something to reference as I work on it if you wouldn't mind.

Thank you all for the kind feedback.

[Carbone]

Superb pictures, indeed!

Ray

[Wendy]

Hi Norm ...

I have just added it back into my Gallery ... The filmstrip was quite a lot larger than the part shown in the image, I first used the Shear Filter on it and then rotated it until it looked OK :)

Wendy

[Pauline]

Norm that is one gorgeous photo. I love when the trees frost up like that. The framing is perfect for the picture.

[Norm F]

Oh, you are a sweetheart Wendy!! Thank you very much.

[Wendy]

Norm ...

Glad to help :)


Wendy

[Kathy]

Beautiful photo Norm.

Kathy

[kayser]

I noticed your bike in the snow photo earlier, and this one is beautiful too!

Also, in case you weren't aware, this is a filmstrip tutorial in the subscriber area. It's a three-part one, with the third part having the download (after you've learned how to manually create one.)

[Norm F]

Thanks so much Kay...and everyone else. You are all terrific for a guy's confidence.

That bike is sitting about 15 feet from a very busy walking and biking trail which runs along our river bank. It's been there for months and I've noticed it many times as I've driven by. When fall turned to winter and it got covered in snow I thought it was time for a picture. I just thought it really odd that it had become part of the landscape in such a high traffic spot.

I have viewed the film strip tutorial and I've actually prepared one to work with. Wendy's picture is a bit unique in that the film strip is curved and that wasn't covered in the tuts. That's what I was hoping to explore.

Thanks again.

[virgo1]

Norm,
Wow! Great shot and work. It's beautiful! :)
Eva ;)

[CarolLHB]

Very pretty, Norm-
Ray, isn't all that snow lovely???:twisted:

[GaryK]

Norm

Great shots.

I think I stayed at the hotel in your last pic. Downtown Saskatoon??.. I can't for the life of me remember the name. I was there in the winter so I didn't get out to the river, but I remember thinking that it would be gorgeous in the spring/summer.:)

[Norm F]

Hi Gary,

Thank you. Yes, that is the Bessborough Hotel. Built by the Canadian National Railway in 1935. Beautifully restored to its original glory (at about 10 million bucks) by the Delta chain. It's the one building in Saskatoon that everybody who owns a camera photographs. If you ever get back this way try to make time for that walk. There's about 10 km of paved paths both ways and it is truly a gorgeous river valley.

[Carbone]

Carol,

It snowed almost all day long.
It snowed last weekend.
It'll snow again next weekend.
It'll snow until I jump at the next bridge.

Stay tuned.. ;)

Ray
(just kidding)

[Norm F]

Ray,

My goodness! You guys are taking a real pounding out there aren't you? I am not normally so delighted about winter either as we are usually up to our necks in snow and dealing with -30 temperatures. This winter is pretty easy to take out west.

Hope you can find your way out from under it all.

[CarolLHB]

Ray-
Please make sure it's all gone by the time I get there in April!;)

[Carbone]

I complain, but really, we're very lucky. The temps are very high, abnormally high that is. It was -5C today, when it should be closer to -10C. I won't complain... all the metal plates and screws in my face don't like cold (and, of course, I don't like it when they don't like it... ). So far, waiting for the bus hasn't been a real pain but only on 2 occasions.. yay!!!

Just 10 more weeks of winter (more or less) to endure.. :)

Ray

[Carbone]

April is tricky... it could be so hot you'll have a drink outside (after the 15th) or so cold that you'll enjoy watching TV on a Sunday afternoon, in the comfort of your home :)

Ray

[GaryK]

Ray

I hate to say it... but it will still snow after you jump:D It's just you won't care.:D :D