Category: Texture Tuesday

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // abandoned tea pot

Abandoned // Tea for One {Photo Challenge}

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Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // abandoned tea pot

My girls love playing with all things girly – dolls, Barbie, Monster High ghouls, fairies, Disney princesses, make-up, spa, tea sets, etc. A couple of weeks ago they decided to take their tea set full of water and play with dirt. You guessed it… making mud pies. Yum! Being totally distracted with the mess made, I hadn’t noticed the tea pot was left behind. When I read the prompt “Abandoned” I decided to see what the girls might have left behind in the yard, because honestly, there’s always something left behind, and that’s when I noticed the teapot and the the little guest who decided to visit (on the handle).

As always, the Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Abandoned made me think about the theme. Seeing abandoned toys makes me wonder if the child who once played with it misses it? What about abandoned activities? Those incomplete projects we once started with good intentions but never circled back to? What about abandoned buildings? I’ll admit, I’m too much of a scaredy cat to go in them, although the images captured in some of those spaces are amazing! Have you checked out Leanne Cole Photography or Broken Light Collective? They have very artistic ways of capturing the emotions and depths of abandoned spaces. Not my forte, but I definitely have an appreciation for them!

Check out other “Abandoned” entries here. And you can see my other photo challenge entries here.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // dome of church from inside

Community // Beautiful Church {Photo Challenge}

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Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // dome of church from inside

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Community of course made me think of the many communities that I love and belong to – social, religious, photography, crafting, blogging, and so on. But the minute I thought of a photo to represent any of the communities, I thought of one of my favorite photos from my church. And then another photo, and then another, and another, but I figured I’d limit myself to two!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // dome of church from inside

In the photo of our statue and dome, I added texture and blogged about it here. Seriously, I love our gorgeous church, but not only for the amazing architecture, but truly for the sense of community it provides. My daughters were both baptized here. I was the Nursery Coordinator for our co-op parent run nursery when my first baby was a year old. I belong to the Ministry of Mothers, I was even on the board for three years! I’ve volunteered for many of our galas and vacation bible schools. We’ve been part of the parish for nearly 6 years now and I absolutely love the friendships we’ve formed and  family we’ve become through it!

What communities do you love belonging to? I’d love to hear!

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

PS. Check out the challenge and entries here.

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // Baileys and coffee with a touch of whipped cream, roaring fire, bokeh

Holiday Cheer

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Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // Baileys and coffee with a touch of whipped cream, roaring fire, bokeh, Kim Klassen "be still" texture

My family and I enjoyed some yummy treats while decorating our Christmas tree. Hot cocoa for my girls, Baileys and coffee for hubby and I. Actually, my hubby had Baileys and coffee, minus the coffee, add ice : ) Years ago (about 20!), hubby and I started the tradition of enjoying Baileys with a roaring fire and a Christmas movie – It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, The Nativity, Christmas Vacation, Elf, A Christmas Story, The Grinch… the list goes on and on. We try to do it several times throughout the season; some years it’s more frequent than others, as in we have to buy a second bottle that year! It’s one of those relaxing holiday indulgences we love and I’m so glad we’ve continued it every year. What are some of your relaxing traditions during the craziness of the holidays? I’d love to hear!

Cheers, my friends! Hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season! As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!

Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

PS. Craving one now? Just mix one part Baileys to three parts coffee. Top with a bit of whipped cream. Enjoy!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // sunflower and quote, with Kim Klassen textures

Sunflower {CY365 & Texture Tuesday}

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Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // sunflower and quote, with Kim Klassen textures

The prompt recently at Capture Your 365 was “Brown,” so I decided to grab a shot of the lovely sunflowers my hubby brought home recently for our 13th wedding anniversary. I’m really enjoying the daily dose of creativity to capture an image of something in our daily life. Definitely inspiring!

I also decided to use some Kim Klassen textures – love the look they give, such a finished look! I used Unleashed and Revolution. Kim’s really generous with her free textures. Check them out when you can!

As for my photograph, do you see anything in the center of the sunflower? I’d love to hear! My hubby, daughters and I each see a face, but a face of something different! A lion, a bird, a dragon, a zebra. What do you see? Let me know in the comments : )

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

UPDATE: You can now purchase this image in my Society6 shop!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // door opening onto garden with textures and quote "Doors will be opened to those who are bold enough to knock" Tony Gaskins

Doors will be Opened… {Photo Challenge}

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Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // door opening onto garden with textures and quote "Doors will be opened to those who are bold enough to knock" Tony Gaskins

This photo has been one of my favorites since I shot it a few months ago at my church {it really is one of the most beautiful places that I adore photographing!} And it just so happens that several of my favorite photo blogs had challenges or themes that lent themselves nicely to this image!

It started with The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus. Door knob in focus, shallow depth of field on the background, okay, focus, check. Then I noticed Ese’s Voice recently started Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge – Open is the theme for the week. So, perfect, the door opening to the garden view. Another check. Awesome – two birds with one stone, right? Oh, it gets better….

I’ve been feeling/hearing a lot of knocking on my creative door lately {“hello, opportunity! Nice to see you again!”} so the quote above (“Doors will be opened to those who are bold enough to knock” by Tony Gaskins) felt just right, which played in nicely with Ese’s Quote challenge as well. Bonus checkmark!

Finally, I was at the gym this morning and was catching up on podcasts and emails when I saw two beautiful textures from Kim Klassen’s Cafe for this week’s Texture Tuesday. How could I resist playing with those?! I added both textures from the “August Endings” collection, and added “Unleashed” from a previous Kim Klassen collection, too. Thanks Kim! And hooray, another check!

So, I’ve said it before, but it really does feel like destiny when so many bits and pieces come together so nicely! What do you think? Does it all work together? As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

Medieval Texture {Photo Fridays}

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Would you believe me if I said my texture’s about to get medieval on ya? Well it did! Read on to find out how…

In 2010, when I started my photography certification program at UCSD, my first assignment was to photograph “home”. I decided to include some photos of my church, where I volunteer quite a bit. I absolutely love this photo, for so many reasons:

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I love that it was a tricky angle to get this shot. I love that the feather is pointing to the cross. I love the cream, blue and patina colors. I love the wispy clouds in the blue sky. I love the details in the St. Gregory the Great statue. Love, love, love!

While in Paris earlier this month, we visited Notre Dame. You know, that tiny little church, that’s just a few years old? No really, that amazingly large and beautifully designed French gothic, 850 year old Roman Catholic cathedral, near the Seine. There’s so much age, history and richness in those walls.

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What have those walls…

  • heard?
  • witnessed?
  • saved?
  • protected?
  • been scarred by?

While inside Notre Dame, I was inspired to photograph the texture of the walls, with the vision to add the texture to the St. Greg photo in particular.

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I wasn’t sure what result I’d get, but I have to say: I am so in love with the way it come out!

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How did I do that, you ask? I opened up both files in Photoshop (I use CS6). I dragged the texture image into the St. Greg image, creating a new layer. Selecting the wall/texture layer in the “Layers” dialog box, I changed the opacity to 69%, and changed the blending mode on the layer from “Normal” to “Overlay” – just left of the “Opacity” dropdown menu. That’s it! I saved the file and I’m all done!

Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 11.23.15 PM

So it takes all of 5 steps to Add Texture to your Photo:

1. Open both images in Photoshop
2. Drag texture shot into image you’re adding the texture to
3. Select the texture layer and change opacity to meet your needs (I went with 69%; use the slider)
4. Change blending mode from “Normal” to “Overlay” (or any other mode – play around – there are some really cool ones!)
5. Save as new file!

And that’s how my texture got all medieval on ya! As my girls say: easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy! If you haven’t added texture to any of your photos, you’ve gotta give it a try! Just be sure to save your file under a new name.

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day! Make it a very good, Good Friday!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c