Stephen Starts a Photoshop Blog

We'll I have been thinking about starting a blog on Photoshop for a long time. I tried to start one more than a year ago, but the interface wasn't as simple as this interface. After a couple months blogging on here about our family, I decided that this was easy enough and working well.

The interface wasn't the whole story, I was just busy. I figure I still am, somewhat, but I do have enough time now to try again.

Now, I am sure there are plenty of Photoshop sites out there. I've even used them myself. So I doubt I'll supplant any or become the most comprehensive, or more unique, or most of anything. I am sure that much of what I will discuss is a repeat of other's writings, etc. But I do know that I have some tricks that I have never see elsewhere, and I am willing (I think) to share them.

My first post isn't anything special. I figure I have to cover some basics first, and even then I am sure some of the basics will be news to someone. For example, I know for a fact that about 80% of the people I talk to don't know what the difference between PPI and DPI is, and I discuss that in the first tutorial post.

So here is the link to it:

The Photoshop Guru

A Laundry basket makes a wonderful boat!

Last week Joseph decided that he wanted to make our laundry basket into a boat. Then he wanted Aaron to sail with him. He would sing Row, Row, Row, Row. I think he forgot there was more to the song. Then he would use his hand as a paddle and pretend to push himself along. So here are a couple of pictures and a video of them sailing in their boat.

Music Hour at the Bair's

Joseph is warming up more and more to songs, especially now that he is getting to know and remember them more and more. I sometimes walk by him watching a TV show that I didn't even know he had ever seen, and he knows half of the theme song.

He has been into music actually for a while, but more playing the drums. In these videos he shows just how much he loves to pretend to play instruments. He loves the drums most of all. You do catch a glimpse of him playing a fake guitar (pens are the props throughout, so he is strumming a pen while mommy does the drums). Not captured on camera is the occasional wind/ brass instrument. I don't know which it is, because he doesn't know the name of the instrument to tell me. But since a pen is used, it looks like a clarinet. (EDIT: you actually don't see him strumming the "guitar," but you see Jen, and she does it the way he does it).

And finally we got him to actually sing. He did great until I started to help him. I think being helped/ corrected makes him shy. The same shyness showed up on his birthday. It really isn't that he hates us singing, I think he doesn't like it when he feels left out because he doesn't know the words and it is new.

Have fun.

Chutes & Ladders

One of the games Joseph got was Chutes and Ladders. Here are some videos from the first board game he has ever played (and the fisrt time playing it) on Sept 28th.

Some Birthday Stuff

When there is more than one birthday in any given month for my family, we tend to have one birthday celebration for all the birthdays. In September we have Joseph, Jen, my sister-in-law Miriam, and Joseph's cousins Jacob & Desiree. Also in October is my sister Tamara, so we threw her into this party as well. It was on Sept 28th.

Here is Joseph getting his gifts parts 1 & 2 (the camera shut off during transfer, so we started it up again)

Playing Soccer

We've heard that some of you are not liking the fact that our move has kept us from blogging. I also understand that photos have been requested. I don't have many photos to share (funny, because I am a photographer) because the family candids are shot on a camera that I don't possess. I use our point and shoot camera, sure, but Jen knows where it is when we are at home, and she stores and catalogs the photos.

What I do have access to is my (poor quality) cell phone videos. They aren't anything to write home about, but they do the job.

This was at Sandra Buhler's blessing luncheon. Sandra is related to Joseph, because her mother is my 3rd cousin (Megan's maiden name is Bair), but (as many of you know) we know Megan really because she was Jen's room mate.

So there you go: