Special Effects Projects Friday

Our next series will be on Special Effects. These images were all created by my students at the community college where I teach. I continue to be charmed and inspired by the creativity of the people in my Emeritus classes!

Filter Magic

Filters are easy to use if you understand Photoshop Elements, and the results are a delight! You never know what is going to occur when you start applying these versatile effects.

Below are three filter examples. The first one was done by Betty Malone. She understands how to apply the special features available to her and her images never fail to stand out.

Below she has applied the Cut Out Filter to a lovely image she took of tulips at the Dallas Arboretum. Then using a different set of filters, she turned her colored picture into a pencil sketch!

Valerie Jagiello is an expert with filters and presents them beautifully in her own special process called Pade Cell prints.

Can you see why it is so easy for me to brag about my student's creativity?

It is my belief that the wealth of talent that I see expressed in my classroom comes from many years of living. All of the colors, textures, people and places we have experienced combine into a well of creativity that can be tapped and shared to benefit ourselves as well as others.


"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" ~Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

A special thank you to Betty Malone and Valarie Jagiello for their contributions to our blog.

Tuesday Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.


Collaging Favorites
One of the things that continues to be a happy surprise for me is the spirit of creativity that seniors exhibit in my classroom. Betty Malone has been in many classes at the college where I teach, and her work speaks for itself.

She has numerous and varied interests which you will see portrayed in the images below...

whether traveling (a simple subject, enhanced with special effects)...

restoring and collaging old pictures...

creating images of new beginnings...



or working with pictures of beloved grandchildren, both traveling and...



just being themselves...

she does such a great job of preserving and enhancing all of those special memories.

Thanks so much Betty for sharing these images with us.

Niebuhr said, "It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life!"

Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.


Creative Montage

I am so fortunate to be part of the creative efforts of my students. It is my belief that seniors create in an especially powerful way, because of their innate talent which is enhanced by years of life experience.

Below you see a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Linda Baker has a great eye and strong Photoshop skills which is a combination that is hard to beat. I always look forward to viewing what she comes up with.

Here you see the Baker boys--the men in her family:

Using special effects with travel photos gives them extra zip that will have people doing double-takes! Here is a photo Linda took while traveling in Egypt:

And this one is from Singapore:

And last but certainly not least, a very cool collage from Ireland:

Getting older doesn't mean you should stop with your creative efforts...it means you should increase them!! It is such a productive way to be strong!!

George Bernard Shaw said, "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."

Thanks so much to Linda for sharing these great images!

Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.


Traveling in Style

I genuinely enjoy the classes that I teach for seniors at Richland College here in Dallas. Among my favorites are the Photoshop Elements Collage classes because they always refresh my memory about how talented our age group is!

Jane Kennedy travels extensively and so has lots of great photos. Combining them into attractive and fun collages makes them interesting and provides a glimpse of an entire destination in one image. Enough said--I'll let the images speak for themselves!

Here is a look at Capri:

Here are some scrapbooking images from China:





And one more collage about a trip to Slovenia:

How about that for a unique approach to travel images?!!

I am always proud to be part of this creative, hard-working segment of the population, but never moreso than with this last collage class!