From time to time, and by popular request, I will post “before” and “after” images. The mystery of transformation is as enticing as the final image itself, therefore I hesitate to spoil it!

However, you are my friends, and will not think less of me for revealing a sliver of my secret. So, here is a rather straightforward transformation. My grandson was playing “hide and seek” with a blanket, and I shot this photo:

It’s cute only for we who love my grandson, but in itself it is dull, so I played with it. Here is the first transformation, upon which I settled after trying out several dozen images:

This is nice; I like it, so I played more, and after another several dozen images, all of which would have been nice, I settled on this:

Now, I am addicted to circle-making, so I had to make a circle out of this, and after I had done so, played with the circle to get this:

I was pleased with this, and decided to go one step further, and I ended up with an image that seemed to have potential, so I saved the image, and then adjusted it for light, shadow, hue, levels, saturation, etc. I burned and dodged various points, and ended up with this:

I like this image; I think I’ve tired of playing with it.

I love using dull, ordinary snapshots to transform into stunning, colorful, abstract images.  Of course, photo-editing software is a must, but I have learned only a part of what can be done. I have lots more to learn about digital image-making, but it’s fun, and cheap, and I can do it anywhere and anytime, and it serves as an avenue to express my artistic nature.

Some of you have expressed interest in trying your hand at digital image-making. The software is easy to learn, and not expensive (if you buy Photoshop Elements). You’ll need the plug-in called Plugin Gallaxy, and you’ll need a few ordinary snapshots. That’s it! Have at it! And post your images!