The Francois Family

This was done in Photoshop using only filters and applied to the image as a whole without standard masking like I would usually use.

To start with I took a photo of my son wearing a shirt with blue highlights and holding a globe from a yard light that had a lot of blue swirled in the glass with a Sony Alpha A-55 set to blue-channe effects where it turned everything but the blue channel to black and white.

After that I took the image into Photoshop, 

1.  duplicated the base layer 
2. added the stained glass filter to that level,
3.  added a gradient fill layer from black to transparent from bottom to top
4.  reduced the opacity of that layer to 75%
5.  copied the original base layer and placed it on top and set the blend mode to lighten
6.  copied the gradient fill layer and rotated it 180 degrees (to get rid of the extraneous stained glass effect in the face.) and cropped the whole image to get just the focal character.
7.  added the crosshatch filter with the basic settings for a more artsy feel.

  note. you’ll probably need to look at the full size image to see the effect.

We were invited on a mini-vacation for Father’s Day Weekend with some friends in Branson, MO. It was absolutely wonderful down there, this is something we need to try and do at least once a year!

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Redid the water ponds, added liners to top part of the pond under the tree, and all liner to the pond by the house.  And yes, I know the grass isn’t that green, but what’s the point of Photoshop if you’re not going to use it!

Chey, Jayden and Brandon all just competed in a chess tournament. It was the first Tourney for Jayden and Cheyenne, and the second for Brandon. Jayden and Brandon tied in score at 2 points each, while Chey got 1.5 points. In their last game, Jayden and Brandon were paired against each other, with the game ending in a stalemate, so they split the point and still get to bicker over who is better.

We found a new telescope at Swap-N-Shop for $100. it’s a Orion 8" Reflector Dobsonian scope, Just waiting for some clear warm nights with some good objects to try it out. Jayden can’t wait, Diamond could care less, Chey is interested and Brandon not as much.

Jayden recently submitted his rock collection at a regional gem show. we’ll be posting some pics soon, especially of some of the great rocks he picked up at the show..