What to do when the critters are hiding

[artshot]

Too much snow here for backyard wildlife, so I thought I'd post one from fall. The first is the shot at it was originally (mediocre, taken with a low res camera), the second has been turned into a "watercolor" just for fun. Well, I gotta keep busy 'till the spring thaw somehow, and this board seemed a little too quiet.

[checklg]

Nicely done. I particularly like the warm red-brown tones of the back. A real water colour wash.

[artshot]

Thank you, Graham! I appreciate the encouragement.

[tstovall]

Nice effect, Artshot. What program are you using for the effect?

Keep up the nice postings!
Tom

[artshot]

Hi, sorry I didn't reply back sooner, I never got an email that there was a message for me...

I only used the sponge in Photodeluxe. It's in both version 2 and 4, I think I used 2 for this. It's a cheap program, free with many cameras, but so simple to use with many useful abilities.

I know the whole world loves Photoshop and Elements, but I haven't been able to afford to get either one yet. I've been using the free Beta PSP8 though, and it's very nice.

[sasc]

Now that is really a cute shot. Digiartifying a photo that is good composition and subject but off focus or low res is a great way to save it.

[artshot]

Thanks! I was able to get some very close photos using a Sony FD91 with it's great 14x zoom, but since it has less than one mega pixel, many of the photos are just not sharp enough or can't be printed larger than 4x6. I found if I "digitized" them into a watercolor or sketched look, they could be printed without a problem, and those that were not so crisp could be "saved"

[checklg]

Originally Posted by artshot

I know the whole world loves Photoshop and Elements, but I haven't been able to afford to get either one yet.

A lot of people find full-blown Photoshop rather expensive and use Photoshop Elements version 2.0 instead. It's got a good set of artistic filters but I'm not sure whether it would match what you've done here.