Jessica Sprague and Lessons 4, 5, and 6

I had to play catch up with my Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects class at JessicaSprague.com, Ekkkk

Lesson 4 - Clipping Mask (In this case I added the photo to a blue frame)

(Wordart is from Elegantwordart.com)

Michael had his arms out and was pretending to either be a plane or a bird...lol.

Lesson 5 - Textures (I used the same photo above but turned it Black and White and then added a few textures to it)

Lesson 6 - TTV

"Through the Viewfinder". To get a worn, faded look, photographers will actually take photographs (often using a macro lens and a light blocking device) through the viewfinder of an old camera. The result is a photo with blackened edges, distortion, scuffs and scratches and marks. We used TTV photos and layered them and then worked our magic, lol...Take the class to find out more.....Below is my attempt!
I've been out of the Art/photography world to long this is all new to me....But I'm learning new things and leaving my comfort zone, Ekkkk!
I always liked playing in the DarkRoom so I suppose I can play around in PSE 7 too!

Indian Point...and Birds!

Most of you know I'll take whatever time I can to stop and get photos of birds...Since it was Michael and I and no one to moan and groan (no names mentioned) I decided to stop at Indian Point and get some more photos...Not to say Michael didn't moan and groan but he knows he isn't going to win so he makes the best of it, lol...Gotta love my boy

I did have my trying moments though and that was getting photos of the birds before someone chased them off, grrr...Michael has his ways of getting me back!

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Below is a laughing Gull, just before Michael got to it, lol...

I am thinking someone has spoiled this brown Pelican as he flew right up to us and then circled a few times really close before flying off...He also looked as if he might have had his winds clipped at one time....

I'm outta here they didn't have any fish....ARGH!

Here's the little Blue Bird that chases off my photo subjects!!

He just keeps coming...

and coming towards me...

Ekkk....He really thinks he's bad...ha ha ha, ho ho ho...He's bad but Momma is the Baddest, lol...I can take away his Xbox, na na na...

Long Billed Curlew

Redish Egret, he was chasing fish and making us laugh with his antics!

Tri-colored Heron in the surf

And that Ladies and Gents was our mini-trip to Corpus!!

And still more photos from Corpus....

Am I boring you yet? I told you we packed a lot into a mini-trip.

I was so glad I got a hotel room for the night instead of trying to drive home as we were pretty well worn out...

The view from our room at night...

The next morning someone was enjoying themselves...Laying in bed watching Cartoons, sigh!!

His Majesty Michael!

We had breakfast and headed over to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History...We had never been there and were pleasantly surprised the place is HUGE and they have so much to explore

Michael found the Shark!

The Hat Pin collection was huge and I thought the bird headdress was cool.

We took a tour of the replica ships that Columbus sailed to the New World on...These ships were built in 1983 in Spain and made tours around Europe and the United States before being brought to Corpus Christi...

The ship above was the Santa Maria

We were allowed to go on and explore the Pinta.

I can NOT even imagine crossing the Ocean in one of these ships!!!

No sir, No way, No HOW!!

The Mast of the Pinta...

They are working on the Santa Maria

The Deck of the Pinta...

After our tour of the ships we headed to the Children's play area...

Michael enjoyed himself..

He loved fishing...

And hanging around like a bat, lol...

Then he found the canon, yikes!!

It was a really nice Museum and very Kid friendly...

Leaving the Museum it was lunch time so we went and ate lunch and then headed home...but wait Mom had one more place she wanted to stop, lol...

Short Clips from the Circus

I put a bunch of clips together into one just to give you an idea of what it was like...the music was awesome...They had their own band that played over in the corner...

The story behind the photo below was that Michael received about 15 clown noses and a clown hat and when we got back to the Hotel it was late but he still had to play at being a clown, lol....

The Greatest Show on Earth!

I can remember going to the circus when I was a child but I don't remember very much about it...This show was AWESOME and Michael agreed with me! The performers went above and beyond to make sure everyone was having a good time...Smiles everywhere!

The Ringmaster

The Clowns...

The ponies were Sweet

Michael loved the dirtbikes in the cage...There were 7 of them in there!

Tigers were beautiful

Michael was in Awe of the aerialist

The Grand finale!

We will definitely be going back to see this...and I would recommend this show to everyone...it was called "Over the Top"...

The real reason for our trip to Corpus...

Was to watch the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, YEEHAW!!

My main reason for going to the WaterGarden was to check out the train for the Circus...

A couple months back I reserved tickets for Michael and I to go to the Circus, he has never been...and to see his excitement at going to the Circus made my day! We decided to go to the pre-show and check it out and we were NOT disappointed...We saw the Elephants, Tigers, Ponies, Horses, Dogs, Goats, and performers...up close and personal!

This Sweet heart was 42 yrs old...and I don't remember her name either, lol...but the keeper I talked to said she was a favorite among the crew and a good old girl...She is an Asian Elephant (small ears) and could live to 50 or 60 yrs...They used no chains or electric fence to keep them contained, just a wire and they knew they were to say in their area...I was amazed at how content they seemed...After working with horse for years I can pretty much tell when an animal is content and these Elephants were content...They had sand to play and roll in, branches to grab and break up and plenty of other Elephants for company and room to move around in...Much different then when I was a child when they were kept in chains and bored, rocking from one foot to the other...

After checking out the animals we went inside and on the Arena floor they had circus performers that we could meet and watch...I was amazed that they let all these people down on the Arena floor it was too sweet!

You could get autographs and photos with the clowns!

I love this clowns outfit and hair, lol....

The man on stilts was wonderful...

Michael enjoyed the jugglers!

One of the Elephants did some artwork, which they had a drawing for...

And here is my son eating popcorn and slurpy down an Icee....Sheesh!

He did not want to go down and get his photo taken with the clowns and performers, he did not want to meet any of them...All he wanted to do was sit, Sigh!! So I went down to meet and see everyone and everything and kept a close watch on Michael! (Party Pooper)

I remember going to the Big Circus when I was younger and never remember a pre-show, it was amazing!!

Now on to the Greatest Show on Earth....

This Snapshot...

Stayed up way to late last night as I knew I had the right photos for a template designed by Jen at Jencropable.com .

It's all your fault Jen that I did NOT get any sleep last night, lol...But I love the layout and thank you for the template, YaWn!!

Templated designed by Jen and Jencropable.com

Wordart designed by Anna Aspnes at Designer Digitals (Foto WordART No1)

Brushes designed by fei-fei's stuff at Oscraps (Different strokes)

Assorted Papers from all over, lol....