Note: I should make it clear that I am not working in my photo editing class to make perfect or beautiful photos. I don’t offer them so people can decide if they like them or not, or which is best, the original or the re-thinking. I’m doing it so they can witness the process, right out in the open, good and bad. I didn’t expect or need thanks, but I didn’t expect to be crapped on either. This is a learning experience, not a gallery show. By definition, it will be imperfect and unpolished but should get better over time. I’m not putting up any more hostile posts. Being called a liar or incompetent or too sensitive to get better is not helpful right now. I can handle it but shouldn’t have to and don’t care to. I haven’t yet learned how to deal with these assaults, but the way I’ve done it really sucks.  I hope I am never so insensitive as not to feel them.  Sensitivity is very helpful to writers and artists. That is also part of my learning curve. Thoughtful feedback and observation are very welcome and much appreciated. Personal attacks won’t get through.That party is over. 

Above is a re-worked image of the old Coila General Store, not far from me. The original photo below lends itself perfectly to my masking class today with Andrew Koehler of MacNurse in Stowe, Vermont. I posted it last week and got a strong and positive response.

Today, my assignment was to explore Lightroom’s innovative new tools for masking photos that have straight lines in them, and this was the perfect opportunity. I had to make nine different masks to re-color this one. I should say that old photos show that the Coila General Store was initially white, and the ground floor consisted of large windows with a door in between.

First, I painted around the window frames to distinguish them and separate them from the rest of the structure. Then I meticulously painted the molding around the edges of the building and the roof. Finally, I selected the rest of the system and brushed it red. This isn’t because I love that color or wish it to be a standing work of art photo; it’s because this is where I learned to paint cleanly and neatly, unlike early images, which were messy, as many people were eager to point out (it did seem rather obvious to me.)

The original general store, the original photo of it.

The third photo below was Andrew’s challenge to do it all by myself. Except for one thing, a misplaced brushstroke, I managed to do it alone. These are not the colors that had anything to do with the original general store, nor are they colors I might select in a different context.

I learned more today than I have learned in the other classes, and I did more today than I have done in the other courses. I loved this class and learned a ton. I can’t wait to set out to take the significant photograph. I know I have it in me; I have the ego, just not the skills, not yet.

Learning how to treat the windows were the trickiest part of this lesson.

The other day, when I posted the first draft of Maria’s studio in yellow, there were numerous holes about spillover and feathered windows. I couldn’t find the right tools. Andrew showed me some tricks for getting the lines straight. In addition to figuring out the editing tools, much of the class today focused on my using the sliding to create different colors, perhaps the trickiest part of the Lightroom masking program.

This class was a breakthrough for me; I’m gaining confidence and mastery of the tools and commands and how they are used. Each change gives its mask title, and I can go back as many times as I want to add or subtract colors, details, and lines.

It’s exhilarating and exhausting. Soon, I think it might even be fun.