Visit with Mom

On the way back from Tommy's cancer operation in Sacramento, CA, we stopped by the nursing home in Placerville to visit mom. Even though Connie and I hadn't seen for for a couple of years, she still recognized us in spite of her Alzheimers and dementia. Nearly 94 she look surprisingly well.

Cousin John

I took this picture of my cousin John while we were having breakfast on a visit he made to us in March of 2007. I created soft oval edge effect and the “aged newspaper” effect using Paint Shop Pro. Even though it appears a little out of focus, I felt that it somehow added a softness to the “aged” effect that I was trying to create.

April's Wedding Day - 30 June 2007

I found a video on the Internet that showed how to create this effect with any photo. Though it was a fairly time consuming process, I like the effect and have often wondered how it was accomplished. Using PaintShop and the original photo on the right, I first converted it to a black and white, created a series of “masks”, performed a gaussian blur on the background, then brought out the color with the eraser tool, directing the viewer’s attention more to April, the real focus of the picture.

My Cousin John Coxon

I created this from a picture I took of John while we were having breakfast on a visit he made to us in March of 2007.