The holidays are just around the corner and for most of us, that means lots of pictures! Often, our holiday pictures include beautiful lights. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, strands of Christmas lights can make a fun backdrop for a picture. Here are a few tips for using lights in your photographs this holiday season.

 USING LIGHTS AS A BACKDROP

Christmas lights are a really fun way to add some interest to your backdrop. Place them over or under a sheer fabric and use the tips I’ve already shared for making your background blurry. This will create a sparkly look.

Lights under the fabric:

Lights on top of the fabric:

You can see that in the second set of photos, I got in closer to make the background blurrier. This is because you don’t want the cords from the lights to be noticeable when the lights are on top of your backdrop.

You don’t need an elaborate backdrop or setup in order to use lights as a background for your photos, though. Simply use your Christmas tree!

In order to get those big, round circles from your lights, remember the blurry background tips!

 

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE

For most of us, the focal point of our holiday decorations is the tree, so here are a few tips for getting great photos of your Christmas tree.

Turn off your flash! Your flash drowns out the pretty lights and makes crazy shadows everywhere. In these two examples, I used auto mode for both and simply turned off the flash in the second one. See what a difference it makes?

Use a high ISO. Increasing your ISO will make your camera more sensitive to light, allowing you to get a better exposure in such a dark setting. Even most point and shoot cameras allow you to change the ISO setting. 

Use a very small aperture. The smaller your aperture (the larger the number), the more “twinkly” the lights will look. Remember, if you are not comfortable in manual mode, you can use aperture priority. You can see in these photos (cropped close for comparison), how the star burst effect gets larger as the aperture gets smaller.

Remember, if your aperture is really small, you are letting in much less light and you will need to boost your ISO up very high. You will also need to have a slow shutter speed in order to get a correct exposure, which brings us to…..

Use a slow shutter speed (and a tripod!). In order to let in all that beautiful, twinkly light, you will need to use a slower shutter speed. The following pictures show you how shutter speed effects your photo.

Remember, when your shutter speed is very slow, movement (either from the person holding the camera, or the subjects in the photo) can ruin the picture. You will probably want to use a tripod to eliminate camera shake. If you are including a person in your photo, you will need to ask them to hold very still. If you are including a little person who doesn’t know the meaning of “hold very still”, you will need to sacrifice some of the “twinkly-ness” of the lights (by using a larger aperture to let in more light) in order to have a higher shutter speed.

Here are a couple more examples, along with their settings:

There you go… now you’re all set to go out and take some fabulous holiday photos! Don’t forget to use them in a layout and post them in the gallery so that we can see them too!

 

 

 

Correcting Pet Eyes

By Michelle Bradshaw

The world of photography is amazing. Digital photography just blows me away as with a few clicks of the mouse [and a program] one can transform and/or adjust many flaws from the original photo.

Have you ever taken a photo of your beloved pet and their eyes look like this???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even if you tried to use the ‘red eye’ tool in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements [which works…on occasion with people], have you noticed it doesn’t work on pet eye? I’m choosing not to get into the photography reasons of why, however hoping this tutorial will assist you in correcting those photos.

Let’s start first with duplicating the original photo. [Although there are always many ways to achieve results with Adobe, one thing remains constant—do not work on your original photo.]

1: Select the eye using magic wand, lasso, or elliptical marquee tool (your preference)

2: Hold shift key and click on the other eye. Select again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3: In the options bar (top) set tolerance to about 20 and make sure the anti-alias + contiguous boxes are checked.

4: Menu>select>grow

5: Menu>select >modify> expand, at about 2… and click – ok.

6: Menu> select > feather by less than above..in this example I chose -1.

 

7: Once here… ctrl [cmd on mac] J….then from the menu>enhance>adjust color> and hue/saturation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8: Move the saturation all the way to the left. The eyeball will look sorta white [don't panic]. And click ok.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9: Menu>Enhance> adjust lighting>Levels

Then move the slider from the black side (L) part way toward the right

Until it looks good to you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When all is said and done…go to Layer [menu bar] and flatten the image, or just save as with a different file name so as not to destroy original data.

Here is the final result, a before and after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please share your results.

Happy Scrapping.

Michelle

 

 

Getting the focus perfect in our photographs is something that we all struggle with. If you are particularly frustrated, or just hoping to improve, these tips should help!

1. Faster shutter speed. When you end up with a blurry photo, the culprit is often your shutter speed. The shutter speed is just what it sounds like: how long the shutter on your camera stays open to expose the sensor to light. If the shutter is open too long (a slow shutter speed), your camera can’t “freeze” the image and you end up capturing movement instead. Setting your camera to sports mode (usually a little running guy) will make your camera choose a higher shutter speed.

On your DSLR, you also have the option to use Shutter Priority mode (and manual mode, of course), which allows you to choose your shutter speed.  When photographing people, you usually don’t want to let your shutter speed fall below 1/125, or even higher if you are photographing something fast-moving, such as sports or toddlers.

2. Give your camera more light. One of the reasons your shutter speed might be slow is that there is not enough light for your camera to work with. This means that the shutter needs to stay open longer in order to get a correct exposure. Open the curtains, go outside, or use a flash (if you absolutely have to).

3. Choose your focus point. If your camera has the option (if you have a DSLR, it does), change your settings so that YOU choose what the camera focuses on, rather than leaving it up to the camera. On my camera, this option is called single-point auto focus and can be found in the “custom settings” menu (on my Nikon D80) or the “shooting menu” (on my D3200).

(Ignore my grimy screen!)

Once you have changed this setting, you can move the focus point around in your viewfinder. This way, you can be sure the camera doesn’t accidentally focus on the background instead of your subject. (TIP: This does not work in any of the auto modes, but it works in manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, and program modes.)

You can see that in this photo, I moved my focus to the point over my son’s eye, rather than leaving it in the center or letting the camera choose. If it was in the center, it would have focused on the peacock. If my camera had been in auto, it might have chosen the peacock feathers to focus on because they offer such great contrast. Which brings us to….

4. Focus on contrast. Cameras see everything in terms of light and dark and they need contrast to focus on. If you point your camera at a blank white wall and press the shutter button, it might try to focus for a second, but then it will give up because it can’t “see” anything. This also happens if it’s too dark for the camera to detect something to focus on.

Our brains are drawn to faces and, more specifically, to eyes. When photographing people, the eyes are where we usually want to focus. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to have the eyes in focus, but the eye is a great source of contrast.

The camera’s love for contrast also means that you have to be conscious of what is in the frame. Be aware of focus-stealing objects and settings. If you know you are going to be taking pictures of your son, you might want to avoid dressing him in a striped shirt. If  you stand your friend in front of a brick wall, make sure she stands a good distance in front of it so the camera has an easier time focusing on her. In the peacock picture above, you can see that, because my son is a good distance away from the contrasty peacock feathers, they weren’t in danger of stealing the focus (as long as I had my focus point in the right place).

5. Don’t make your depth of field too shallow. The “depth of field” is the area in your photo that is in focus. The setting that has the most influence on this is the aperture. The larger your aperture is (or the smaller the F-stop number), the smaller your depth of field will be. It’s tempting to set the aperture as wide as possible for that great blurry background, but remember that it makes it harder to nail your focus when you do! If you shoot wide open, your depth of field can be less than one inch, which means that if your subject moves even a tiny bit, you will miss your focus.

6. Practice, practice, practice! When I was first learning to use my camera in manual mode, I would take more than 100 pictures a day! You don’t have to be that crazy about it, but if you use these tips and practice often, you will see an improvement in the focus of your photos.

I often hear people comment on blurry backgrounds in photos and wonder how its done. If you’ve been wondering the same thing, these tips will help you out!

Zoom in. One thing that will help your photo have a blurrier background is to zoom in. (Hint: This only works with optical zoom, not digital zoom. For instance, zooming in on your phone camera will not blur the background more.) These two photos were taken from the exact same spot, with the exact same settings. The only difference was that I zoomed in closer in the second one. (I gave them the same crop for comparison.) You can see that the background is just a little bit blurrier in the zoomed in version.

(None of my kids were willing participants, so I had to kidnap Mr. Potato Head.)

Get close. This might sound the same as zoom in, but it’s not. Zoom in with the lens on your camera, but also get physically closer to your subject.  In these two pictures, all my settings were the same, including the focal length (how “zoomed in” I was). I just got a little closer in the second one.

Use Portrait Mode. Most cameras have a “portrait mode”. It is usually represented by a picture of a lady with a hat on. In this mode, your camera will usually choose settings that blur the background better than it would in auto.

Use a large aperture. The aperture setting is the most important setting for determining the blurriness of your background. If you are not comfortable using your DSLR in manual mode, you can choose “aperture priority” mode, which is usually represented by the symbol “A” on the selection dial. You will want to choose a large aperture. Remember, the larger the aperture is, the smaller the number is. Your number will be around f/5 with the kit lens, and even lower with other lenses.  The lower the number (or larger the aperture), the blurrier your background will be. In these two pictures, you can see the difference that aperture makes.

Now, experiment with some of these tips and see how they affect your photos. If you end up with some images you love, create a layout with them and post them in the gallery. We’d love to see them!

STROKES FOR PHOTO POP!

By Michelle Bradshaw

Have you ever collaged your photos and feel they just blend in too much together? Did you ever want your photo to pop…yet none of the frames “worked” for you?

This tutorial will demonstrate a very easy way to get your photos to pop and still remain individual.

At present, there are 3 photos layered on the page. The 2 smaller ones pretty much contrast with the larger photo yet with each other it is difficult to tell where the top photo starts.

Let’s try adding a drop shadow-

In PSE the drop shadow is located in the effects palette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In CS -From the menu bar- Layer >Layer Style > Drop Shadow. When the dialog box appears, adjust the sliders to your liking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is better, but the top 2 photos of my grandson are not distinct enough. Time to add the stroke.

With the layer for photo 1 active in the layers palette-

PSE- Edit > stroke outline selection >inside [this keeps the corners sharp] and I chose 25 pixels and select your color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CS- Edit > Stroke> inside [this keeps the corners sharp] and I chose 25 pixels and select your color. Click ok.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the final layout of my grandson and the big water slide!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Waterpark and Wonderland by Clever Monkey Graphics and Elise’s Pieces

Template is Challenge 3 for September by YB Designs

Photos- Michelle Bradshaw

I hope you enjoyed and will give this a try.

Happy Scrapping, m

Raised or Embossed Text
Michelle Bradshaw, Blog Team

Here is an easy, yet fun way to add a title or a different look to your journaling on a page.  I am using PSE8 for this example, the instructions should work for other versions of PSE and Photoshop as well.

Open any layout, photo or a digital scrapbook paper that you want to add text or a title to.

Duplicate the photo or paper layer where you want to add the text, ctrl/[cmd on a mac]+j. Make sure that the top layer of the 2 is the active layer in the layers palette.

Press T, or click on the Type Tool. Type whatever your text as you want it to appear. Color does
not matter however, consider a font that is somewhat bold for this technique to show. This font is Second Breakfast and it has been bolded to add additional emphasis. Adjust the size and leading until the text looks the way you want it to.

From the menu bar at the top: Layer >simplify (elements) or Layer >rasterize >type (cs). You can also right click on the active layer in your layers palette to simplify / rasterize.

 Move the text layer down, so that it is between the two photos or papers.

With the top photo/paper layer active, clip it to the text layer. This can be achieved from the menu bar at the top under ‘Layer’. In elements: Ctrl/cmd +g or, in CS ctrl/cmd +alt + g,
or hold down the ctrl key and click on the line between the two layers in the layers palette.

With the text layer now active. Add a drop shadow. You can stop here if that is the look you want or continue on to edit the drop shadow and add a bevel.

Now click on the layers style symbol on the text layer in the layers palette. This will open the Style Settings.

You can adjust the drop shadow and also add an additional style, such as a bevel to create an embossed look to your text. Adjust the settings here until your test looks the way you want.

Merge all three by selecting all 3, right clicking and choosing Merge Layers.

Here is what the text looks like with the bevel and a very small drop shadow.

Here is what Debby(debbysrose) did with the tutorial with a bit of journaling added to paper that looks like sand so that the text has the look of sand writing. She only added a bevel to the text without the drop shadow for this look.

Enjoy adding a different touch to titles and text!

 

Holly(HollyinPA) bringing you the Bingo Challenge for March 13, which is a signature challenge.  I’m challenging you to create a new signature for the forums.  If you’ve never made one, you’re in luck as I’m going to show you a tutorial on how to do this.  It also includes instructions on how to change your signature in the ScrapMatters Forum.

Here is my new signature, which uses the kit “Eat Cake – Boy” by KimBroedelet(Kimb’s designs) and Jen Reed and is available in the ScrapMatters store.  You can also get it in pinks using the Girl kit and there is even a bundle AND a HUGE bundle that includes a lot of extras like other Alphas, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kayla ( keepscrappin) created hers using LDrag’s Enjoy Life kit and the alpha from LDrag’s Lovestruck kit

First, this is my first tutorial, so please be patient with me   I am going to go step by step and you may or may not need this.  Just skip whichever steps you don’t need.  Second, I use PhotoShop Elements (PSE) 9 so your screen may not look like mine.  If you need help with a particular step or use a different program altogether, just do a Google search for your program and the item and you should be able to find some help.  You can also check in the SM forum for help with a particular program.  I have a little experience with PS but not a lot and Fireworks but that’s it   Okay…here we go!!!

Step 1 :  Open your program and create a new file.  I like to do 3600×3600 Pixels at 300 dpi with a transparent background for anything I’m creating.  This way I have room to work and can always make things bigger or smaller and then save for web.  Here is a screen shot of what pops up when you hit “File>New>Blank File”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve decided what kit and/or alpha you’d like to use, you’ll want to have them ready in the bin or at least open on your computer so you can drag and drop.  I like to use an alpha that is enough and fits the theme I’m going for.  I chose this kit because I decorate cakes as a hobby and when I saw this kit, I knew I had to make a Siggie with it!!  I usually pick out the letters next and turn on the grid so I can line up the letters how I want them.  I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I often have to have things on the exact line, etc.  Here is a screen shot of my name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time I chose to slant the letters for a fun twist.  Next I like to add something that will tie it all together, like a ribbon, string or other element.  You can choose as little or as many elements to add to it until you’re satisfied.  Here is my siggie with a few elements tied in with a ribbon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like how it is looking but it needs something, so I’ll add some type of filler, like confetti, beads, or a splatter.  Here is a screen shot with some jimmies added behind everything. I also added a background color layer so it will match the SM forum colors.  I used the eye dropper for this.  Definitely looking better…don’t forget to add  your shadows (like I did until the end!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I added the Creative Teams I am on, but you could put personal information, like your kids, hobbies, etc or you can put links to your facebook, galleries and blog, etc.  There are tutorials out there on how to do split links and more…a little too complicated for me right now, but they sure are neat!  I also cropped my image at this point.  You can do it however you’d like, but I try to get a nice amount of the background, making sure it is centered.  ScrapMatters siggie size guidelines are at a maximum of 600 x 250 pixels and that includes any blinkies or other graphics you may have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will want to upload your image to Photobucket or other similar online photo hosting site so you can use your signature at any forum or web site without using a particular site’s hosting space.  Once you do that, you’ll want to have a separate window open for the host site and then one for the SM site.  When you go to the ScrapMatters forum to upload your signature, you want to log in and then go to the link that says User CP (#1 in image below) and then choose Edit Signature (#2 in image below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From your host site, you’ll want to choose the “direct link” and copy the link.  This should start with http.   I like to center my siggie, but you can have it left or right justified if you want. (#3)  You will then click on the “Insert Image” button (#4) and paste your link to your siggie on the host site and hit enter.  You can then hit “Preview Signature” at the bottom of the box and see what your signature looks like.  If it is too big or small you’ll have to re-size it in PSE and then re-upload it to the host site and try again. If you’re satisfied, you can hit save.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all there is to it!!  Hopefully you found this to be informative and easy so you can create your own signature to fill into spot number 13 on your March Bingo Card!!  If you have a questions, please feel free to PM me in the forum or leave a comment here!

There is ALWAYS something to look forward too. Things we are waiting for:  A baby, a wedding, a birthday.  Recently, my children and I counted down to Daddy coming home from deployment.  Now we are counting down to Halloween.  (We are also counting down to our Return to DisneyWorld–been saving for 3 years.  We are leaving on Nov. 1)  That would be a great idea for countdown blocks!  But what I have to show you are my Countdown to Halloween Blocks!  I used several pieces from the October Mix a Kit.  Here are the main kits I used. This one I loved because it gave more more variety in my numbers.

I loved the Frightful word bits too.

This alpha reminds me of a fat squishy pumpkin.

I used almost every piece that Dream Big Designs created for the Mix A Kit. Here is a look at just the papers, but the super cool alpha that is glittered around the edges is worth checking out too.

Here is another alpha that my son loves and picked out for me to use.

These aren’t even all the goodies I used, you can find all the parts of the ScrapMatters October Mix A Kit here.

Let me show you my finished project.

Yes, these are the cutest little blocks. You maybe have seen them all over.  Usually they are made of little wooden blocks.  But mine are made out of 3 pieces of cardstock and some Glue Dots.  Don’t get me wrong I love the wooden ones, and I think they would last longer.  But if you are anything like me, even if you went through all the trouble to make the wooden kind you wouldn’t be able to find them next year, and would have to make them all over.  I think if I were giving these as a fancy gift I would go the wooden route.  But these have held up great to my 3 elementary kids so far, and since they were so easy I will want to make more next year anyway.

I designed my own template for this little project.  And I will definitely tell you how I did it.  I am not going to go in to full out detail, because when I upload thing that I make for my own use to share I always worry that in all my excitement that I have messed up something.  So I have sent the idea to Krisi’s Kreations, and I think that she is going to fancy it up a bit and quality check it and all that jazz and have it in her store.  (I am thinking Christmas countdown).

Let me go ahead and tell you how I did it for now.  I use a regular printer at home, so I needed to be able to print on regular paper.  To do that safely, I found the blocks could be 1.75 inches.  This isn’t the way I made my template in the beginning but through trial and error this is what worked.  You know it is one of those things that took me all day-but had I known then what I know now it would have been as simple as this.  You need to create a 1.75 x 1.75 inch square in your program.  I use Photoshop Elements 7, but it will be the same idea in any program.  I recommend filling it with color. Then all you have to do is duplicate it five times.  Then line them up like this.  You can draw the flaps on afterward with a pencil.  I have put them on the template to give you an idea-but you won’t see them after they are assembled.

You will need 2 square blocks.  Then for the base you will need a rectangle block.  This was the part that took me so long, but in hindsight it wasn’t hard.  But boy did it elude me at first.  Using the block template layered file, You just turn the middle squares into 1.75 x 3.5 inch rectangles!  Leave everything else the same.  My base looks different because it is rotated, but don’t let that confuse you!  Just remember that you will see the squares too, so decorate them as well.  Here are my flattened square blocks and rectangle base.

Your first block will have 0,1,2,6,7,8 (but you have to use a font that will let the 6 also be used for 9.  Your second block will be 0,1,2,3,4,5.  This will let you count down a full month.  Or hey, you could make this a perpetual calendar too!  I had so much fun with these little countdown blocks. I hope you will too!  I am sure to be back with Christmas Countdowns.  Here is one more picture.  And thanks so much for looking! Tamara.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the Hybrid Corner!  Fall is my favorite season of the year – the changing of the leaves, children back to school, the kick-off to the holiday season.  Lets do a quick run through – Thanksgiving in Canada, Halloween, my birthday (yes, everyone should be celebrating that), Thanksgiving in the USA, then the onslaught of Christmas parties.  And no it doesn’t end there – we have New Year’s parties, Chinese Christmas, Ukrainian Christmas – I digress.  With all this parties, festivities and gatherings, that’s a huge opportunity for decorating!  In July, Melanie did a fabulous tutorial on banners; if your party requires a banner (and what party doesn’t) check out this thread.  So lets get creating.

There are some fabulous templates in the store- my favorite is Lets Party by Krisi’s Kreations.  Lets Party is a fantastic template package because it takes the guess work out of what scale items should be.  Also, Krisi creates complete templates – just by simply clipping your papers to her templates and printing you will end up with a beautiful finished project.  I’ll show you some minor changes that will let you add your personal touch to your parties decorations.  I’ll be using my birthday as a theme for my decorations.

I’m a big fan of napkin rings as they can also double as place cards.  In the kit, there are 2 sizes of napkin rings, but I chose to add a little flair with some ribbon.  Instead of trying to stuff my napkin into the ring, I’m going to center the ribbon on the back of the name tag and tie the loose ends in a bow to affix the napkin ring to the napkin. To stiffen the name tag, I’ve added a small piece of cardboard.  Since it’s on the underside, I didn’t feel the need to embellish is further.

There is nothing worse than grabbing someone else’s drink at a party.  Help your guests avoid that awkward situation by providing them with straw decorators.  These also come in handy to help remember the names of the other guests!

If your party has drinks that don’t require straws, check out the wine glass labels in Label Me Up: Bottles and More.

Finally, when I head to a party, I worry about what food is going to be served – will I recognize the dishes?  Help ease this anxiety for your guests by adding food tags to your dishes.  To make my food labels re-useable, I plan on laminating them.  This way I can make any last minute changes to the menu using a dry erase maker.  How you incorporate the food tags into your menu is dependant on the style of serving dishes you’ll be using.  I’ve taken some tags and punch 2 holes in them and weaved a straw through the holes.  Or you could also punch a hole in the corner and using ribbon tied the food tag to the serving spoon handle.

Thanks for tuning in.  Check out next weeks Getting Hybrid Challenge where we complete our party decorations with party favors.  Today’s projects were made using Celebrate by Elise’s Pieces.

Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s Saturday Special. Have you ever had a picture that you wished was black & white? Maybe you have the perfect kit for your picture but the colors just don’t seem to work together. Or maybe you are looking for the elegant look that black & white pictures give. There are many ways that you can convert your color picture to black & white. One of the most common ways to convert it is to change the color mode to grayscale under the image menu. This tends to leave your picture fairly bland though. Today I’m going to show you a way to convert your picture without losing the contrast and making you picture look flat. (The screenshots and directions are in Photoshop Elements 5.0.) First open up the picture that you want to convert to black & white. Duplicate the picture by right clicking on the thumbnail in the Photo Bin and selecting Duplicate. This is so you are not working on the original and accidently save over top of it. Press D to set your foreground and background to the default black and white. Make sure that the black is in the top box. If it isn’t press X to switch them. Now go to the top of the Layers Palette and choose Levels from the Adjustment Layers menu. When the box pops up don’t change anything on it right now, just click ok. This will add a layer to your Layers palette named Levels 1. Go back to the Layers Adjustment menu and this time chose Gradient Map. Check to make sure the Gradient map is set on black to white. If it is not click on the arrow next to the gradient map and choose the correct gradient from the popup menu. Click ok. This will give you a layer in the Layers Palette named Gradient Map 1. Just going this far will already give you a better black & white picture, but we are not done yet. In the Layers palette, double-click on the Levels thumbnail in the Levels 1 layer. This will popup the Levels box. From here we are going to edit the individual colors, starting with red. So go ahead and choose the Red channel from the drop down menu. Grab the black (shadow) arrow under the Input Levels and slide it right. This will increase the shadows in the red channel. [IMG]http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm313/p_a_sandbulte/red.jpg[/IMG] When you think you are satisfied with this edit, go back up to the drop down menu and choose the Green channel. On this one we are going to slide the white (highlights) arrow to the left. Again when you are satisfied with this edit, go back up to the drop down menu. This time we are going to work in the Blue channel. Go ahead and move the highlights arrow to the quite a bit to the left. Move the shadows arrow just a little bit to the right. Not every picture you convert will have the same settings, play around with the sliders a bit until you get the effect you are looking for. When you are happy with how your picture looks go ahead and click OK. One last step and then we are done. Go to the Layers palette, click on More. From that menu choose Flatten Image. This will flatten the adjustment layers into your picture. You can also use ctrl+Shift+E to do this. Check out the pictures side by side. The one on the left I just used the grayscale mode to convert the picture. Look how much of a difference there is in the one on the right. Here is my page with my new black & white picture using LDrag’s Blessings of Life and Stolen Moments & Rosy Posy’s Here and Now. Check out these great pages by the ScrapMatters’ CT. Kayla made this cute page using WM Squared’s Inspired by Fran templates and Full of Joy and Add-on by Band Geek Designs. Here is a sweet one by Chel. This one by Ophelia uses Jennifer Labre’s Full of Life and True Blue Studio’s Summer Garden Templates. Here is one from Tamara using Amy Stoffel’s Make a Move. Challenge reminders: -For the month of September you will receive two points for posting in this thread & in the Saturday Special gallery. You can receive an additional two points for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points! -You have until the end of September to complete this challenge for September MOS points or wait to post in October for October MOS points! -Remember no double dipping… layout must be unique to this challenge. -You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but remember your SM gallery must contain at least 50% SM product beginning July 8, 2011.