Tuesday, July 5, 2011

.the vintage effect

.the vintage effect

As requested by Sarah

There are various ways for you to achieve this effect using photoshop, or any other software for that matter, I'm just going to attempt to explain this in the simplest way possible, and by explaining certain steps that will help you later on in editing even if you don't want the vintage effect.

It's basically a washed surface of the picture, distorted edges, yet the colors are still vibrant and saturated


the easiest thing for me to do , is to give you this image, and ask you to fit it on a picture


because it will achieve almost everything, except one thing, you practically haven't learned anything.

so let's move on to the real deal :D

I will use this picture because it's a daffodil, and they are awesome


The first thing you're going to do is add the desired texture, I chose a very light old paper texture, try to choose one that is not too grungy, that is not a work of art itself, something stable and works like a fine base for the beigey overall tone you're looking to achieve, but has a little bit of grunge to add texture to the photograph and complete the old photo effect.

this is the one i have used



 as you can see it's very simple, more like a color filter

Now, the complicated process that is adding to the photo :@ lol

Adding the texture

I am not going to add a screenshot for this because i have too much respect for you, so all you have to do is download the image, open it in photoshop , Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C

Go on to the main image you're editing, and paste

and since you had a problem with this step, if the texture doesn't already fit your picture completely ( which is the usual case ) fit it onto the photo using the transformation points, they should appear as soon as you click the texture .



Now after they're layered evenly , choose the texture layer ( make sure it's the one selected ) and change it's blending mode to Soft light, here's how you do that



Drop the circled menu and choose Soft Light

Here's the result in this case ..



You can see that the picture has a slightly beige undertone now, and it looks more washed out but it will be fixed later, also, you can notice the caused by the texture

Solid Color Layers

These layers are going to affect the shadows and undertones in the photo as well, since the above is washed out and the colors are pretty dull, these are meant to add more color, yet not enough vibrancy, this will be controlled later

now go back to the layers box, you will see a small icon in the shape of a circle half black and half white
clicking it, a menu will appear, choose Solid Color



After choosing the color, you're going to work with the blending modes again

so just a simple explanation of the colors you'll be using and what blending modes to set them to

Choose a Violet color, like this one but darker , and set the layer's blending mode to Exclusion  
and change the opacity to 70%
Choose a golden orange color, like this one but deeper, and set the blending mode to Multiply 
and it's opacity to 20%


These two colors will balance each other out while giving more color to the picture, and softening it's shadows

this is what it looks like so far



the colors have changed but it's still washed out, now time to add the contrast


The Black and white layer

I love using this to add contrast because i think it it automatically highlights and emphasizes the shadows of the picture without adding a contrast that is too harsh to all the points. It's extremely simple

Go back to the Adjustment Layers button, and choose Black & White

after the layer is added, set it's blending mode to Soft light


Now to the final step, or two steps actually

right click any layer in the layers list, and choose the option : Merge Visible , it will merge all the layers into one, you will be doing this so the next effect will take place on the finished photo and look stronger

Vignette

Go the Filters menu, and choose Lens correction, If you happen to have an older version of PS, this would probably be under the filter Render>Lens correction
I am currently using PS CS5, If you are, then great !









once you choose it , this box will appear , in older PS version the custom window is selected by default, in CS5 however, it is not

As for the amounts set in the screenshot, they are not necessarily obligatory , to be fair i just keep decreasing the first and increasing the second till i get the satisfying result !

aaand you're done !

voila :)


Thursday, June 2, 2011

الحاله تعبانه.

الحاله تعبانه.

مش عم بلاقي باب مفتوح..
كله مسكر ، او عم يوهمني انه مفتوح ،و يضحك عليّ و الاقيه مسكر، و تخرب الحالة بزيادة

الحالة النفسية بالحضيض
العاطفية متضامنة مع اللي فوق
الماديّة شكلها هيّ اللّي لمّتهم عليّ
الصحية بتقدم طلب انضمام 



بس ياللّه زبطّنا اللغة و بلشنا نكتب عربي
عربي  نص كم، و لا العدم

فَرَجك يا عالي .....
:(

Sunday, May 29, 2011

في إحدى الحضانات.

في إحدى الحضانات.

"المدرّس الشرس" الذي ضرب 25 طفلاً في حضانة مصرية



I couldn't bear to see the video screenshot again, that's why I only posted a link


I wonder why there's still no law to have teachers go under a psychological health examination before taking off teaching kids, especially when the ages they're supposed to be "teaching" and "taking care of" are this young and sensitive.

But apparently, anyone who agreed to hire this psychopath, needs to be examined as well, so that shows how deteriorated the situation is.

What makes me wonder even more, are the people who actually film this kind of crap, and so proudly post it online, what the frack is so entertaining about 4-5 year old children begging for mercy that is not in anyway given to them, not from the monster who is abusing them in the name of teaching, not from the animals recording this video which can't be considered anything less than a crime, and even when they get back to their homes to find relief from all this suffering they get to go through when they shouldn't even be hearing about, they go back to parents - who according to the article- don't have any problem with what's occurring in that trash shaped kindergarten.

So , 2 more groups in need of serious help.

Reading the comments, some people justify this by saying that they've experienced the worst when they were young attending public schools and they turned out fine, especially that this could be the only way to deal with some students, so the video content isn't much.
Ok, so,, I got hit by a bus and turned out fine, I should throw my kids on the street and let them experience it to prove my point ?
This does not even qualify for a justification, this does not even qualify for an opinion.
I have attended public schools in Jordan, and I know this actually does happen, but thank God - and unlike some people- I have enough rationality and intelligence to know that if it's happening that does not make it acceptable, I know the emotional and mental scarring these experiences can cause, just ask anyone who was humiliated once or no matter how many times by a teacher in high school and listen to how bitter they sound when telling the story, imagine children who have not reached the age that allows them to tell the story properly.

So to those people, congratulations, you'll be joining the other groups in the same category, I don't think you'll mind it TBH.

This is sickening, by all means, it's awful enough to see child abuse, but to see it recorded, enjoyed, intentionally shared as entertainment material and agreed upon, is just too much to take.

I know that if I ever have children, I will seriously go "Egyptian KG teacher" on anyone who comes near them  , be it abusive language or even daring to touch them, I can't imagine how people would have the heart to let something like this happen to their own children.

As for that idiot, I'm not wasting my breath by praying for him to rot in hell, that's probably happening anyway. 

phew

Saturday, May 28, 2011

.tamagotchi

.tamagotchi

I hate it when i intentionally turn down a pretty purchase, and then when it crosses my mind for whatever reason I start whining on how much of an idiot I was by not getting it, always happens. always will..

Being in large malls or stores freaks me out for a reason, I get the feeling that they're designed like that for a reason : pushing the consumer around and forcing them to buy things whether they want those products or not
* That ginormous roof is staring into my soul*

That's why I decided to have some self control when I walk into these stores especially if they're ones I actually like, but the last couple of times I did this, I thought it back and wished those forces were stronger than I was enough to let me buy those things.



they are

an awesome feather ring that looks almost exactly like the one above but in silver, that wasn't an issue for me until I started craving things that had feathers on them.

but then..
The Tamagotchi

I don't know what kind of  idiocy took over the moment i decided NOT to get one when since the moment I have heard of them I have wanted to get my hands on one, I do have several portable game devices, but this is just too awesome to miss out on.

Dear Self : let yourself go next time, I already forgive you for being the push over of corporate agendas.


Friday, May 20, 2011

.Amman

.Amman

I always believed, and probably forever will do, that Amman is the most beautiful city in the world, every single inch of it is astounding in it's own way and color, and my dear and amazingly talented friend, knew well , how prove me right.

Even with all colors washed out, you managed to be beautiful ..


Thursday, May 19, 2011

.this is how I troll

.this is how I troll

I surf forums, blogs, vlogs and whatnot on daily basis. As I do, I notice that there are people who are just so sad, sad enough to put such great effort into putting people down. I blogged about this earlier, but whatever.

Don't like a blog ? Don't read it
Don't like a video ? Don't watch it

Why drain bandwidth anyway ?

It's just nauseating,you're on your way to post a comment on an interesting entry and all you see is " you're ugly " uhmm, seriously ? Bet you enjoyed that as much as you did throwing the chances of having a real life into the dumpster.

Worst case is when the person being cyber-bullied is a teenager, I have to admit a lot of those kids should have their computers taken away from them for posting crap they can't even realize the meaning of for everyone else to see, but they'll seem far more mature than the morons attacking them non-stop.

It's just despicable, some of those bloggers/vloggers work actually several days to put together an entry especially those who rely on them to provide a decent income, I can't imagine what they have to put up with when after all the hard work some idiot comes along to hurl word shaped mental vomit.

beh :\ 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

. heartaching

. heartaching


Beautiful ~ "I will take my grandma back to her home", he said.
This was taken at the Lebanese borders with occupied Palestine on May 15th, 2011, 63 years after she was forced to leave her home.





It is very terrorizing and threatening for you to dream, or to shout out demanding your simplest rights, apparently , according to Israel.


So that justifies them killing unarmed protesters in Gaza and the Syrian Golan heights.


   I too, am very tired..

Saturday, May 14, 2011

.little seedlings of hope

.little seedlings of hope

When i was almost 10 years old, I decided to take off agriculture and see how that'll turn out, for no reason other than having too much time on my hands at that time and wanting to fill it with something useful, which is surprising, giving that now, I'm doing the exact opposite.
However, that didn't last long, everyone sure knew how bring me down by convincing me that I should seriously give it up since the soil i was planting in was layered above sub cement ( jeez ), and thanks to the abundance of worms that lead me to having an unbelievable fear of them till this very day, the looks of those earth worms are not meant to be forgotten :'(

I completely forgot about planting anything there, i knew i planted a lot and as a child it's either instant results or it didn't happen.

One seed in particular though, which location I so specifically remember, managed to make it, and it grew so beautifully, in the past couple of years I ignored it because the child that apparently didn't follow the path the seed took to grow up, was thinking : either gigantic tree, or it didn't happen.

But this gorgeous peach tree, is now screaming : you don't want to come closer, your loss, it's so beautiful, and I'm very pleased :)

Look !




And for 63 years now, a holy tree that was planted in our hearts and will forever grow, has been stolen, and is craving light, not from sunshine, but fire, knowing that it's the only way to take back what's rightfully ours.

God bless you Palestine, my everlasting love ..


نهار العصر ثوار 
وأحلام يزينها دم الزيتون والغار 


Friday, May 6, 2011

. it can too, get much worse !

. it can too, get much worse !

Monday noon, I got out of one awful oral surgery, the -still ongoing- pain is just unbearable, it's been days since i have slept or eaten anything..

Later that day, as I was wishing I had thought through going with surgery, I started to question if this could get any worse,,

phone rang, got the news : your uncle died

so yeah, have hope if you thought bad things in your life would stop at one point, they won't




May your soul rest in peace and be granted immortality in paradise.


Friday, April 29, 2011

.beauty and it's exact opposite

.beauty and it's exact opposite

This time of the year is usually when the International Communities Fairs are held all over Jordanian Universities, the one in YU started a couple of weeks later than others, but, oh well..

Over-excited ? First time to attend it ever, knowing that I'm junior who also used to make semi-monthly visits to this University before entering it as a student, I always miss it due to being surrounded by jibber-jabber on how unexciting it is and there's a absolutely no reason to waste several minutes of my life there, and this of course, is always followed by the regret of not going after being surrounded of non-stop comments on how beautiful these events are.

Thanking God for sending me a fun friend who's always on the look out for anything new, I got to go check it out.

Generally it's not all bad, the good thing about it is of course the gorgeous cultures and the amazing settings designed and prepared by the students themselves, which is probably why they turned out good since no one who is assigned by any authority jumped in on the process.

Personal favorites : Bahraini Coffee ! Oh my, I stood for a second after the first taste to check if this is real life lol
The looks of Thai food, most of the sections had very delicious looking food, but this one was very varied and colorful, bad thing i didn't have my cam and took the pictures using the cell phone's, obviously awful

Now to the ugly part, OUR contribution to this event ?
Ignorant individuals who apparently breathe idiocy, I can't believe such mentalities get accpeted as university students, life puzzles me
Mocking people from every culture, calling them names in Arabic thinking they wouldn't understand, guess what you imbecile, they speak Arabic better than you ever will.

I'll never know how those people's brains ( if existed ) function, I felt terrible for the students who just want to represent a beautiful image of their countries that they are away from most of the year leaving behind their friends and families, and they ended up having to put up with mere crap.


Palestine

Amen !



Turkey 




Bahrain



Thailand




Indonesia



Syria




South Korea
(and wrest de Foof)




 United Arab Emirates




 Russia




x

Saturday, April 23, 2011

.Rio

.Rio





Today, I got the chance to watch one of the most exciting 3D movies ever, Rio!
Overall, i give the the movie a 8/10, the minus 2 is for the predictable ending movie makers apparently love.
Other than that, eye-popping graphics, very interesting story, and my personal favorites : stunning musical and voice acting performances, which is pretty odd for me since the thing I hated the most in Tangled was the music, nothing personal :D The songs were just too long and boring, the samba feel to the songs in Rio however, is enticing ! 





you'll literally be doing this after the movie
image













(a GIF from the movie)







Monday, April 18, 2011

.wishlist ✰

.wishlist ✰

Constant cravings, and whatnot ..


one of my most important daily activities is stuffing as much Mackintosh Quality Street chocolate pieces into my mouth, I love most of the flavors but my super fav is the Chocolate Fudge ! this is what I imagine heaven tastes like ..

If I could ever send a special request to them it would be to make boxes filled with nothing but pieces of chocolate fudge, I don't feel like being distracted by another piece on my to grab one so enthusiastically :D
the wrapping alone is perfect for your appetite, how pink and pretty  ❤

 
I want and OWL, yes, a real one ..
I think owls should top the list of God's most awesome creatures, they're mostly underrated or not generally favored and accepted, but that will never change the fact that they are an epic species.
In our middle eastern cultures, the common belief that owls are bad luck and a sign of near possible depression, where do they get these ideas, I'll never know ! When I see an owl (or an image of one) it makes me happy :) so go blame you bad luck on someone else, because these creatures are two awesome to take the blame.
I guess i can postpone working on this wish though lol, I can barely find an owl shaped necklace let alone find an owl to purchase.






And I wish I could see my 2 weeks old  niece, I didn't get to see her in person since she lives so far away, and seeing her pictures made it even harder to stand that fact, and her being so edible is not helping either lol.

~sigh

..

..

Friday, April 15, 2011

.le procrastination

.le procrastination

As it turns out, I need to study 24/7 from now on so i can afford the damage control i'm supposed to do to my average at school, I have slacked off enough, and I need to take action If I'm really considering taking the scholarships seriously.
Thinking about it again, and even though i do have an amazing knack to procrastinate, I think pessimism is what's holding me back, through my life I have come to believe that nothing good is destined to strike me, ever !
It's not a logical nor healthy thing, but looking back at my life, I can't help but jam this thought into my mind even deeper, I try not to, It's deep enough to fight back !
I hope that one day something good will happen, some hard work would pay off, and I'll start believing in something, for once


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

.the current addiction

.the current addiction



Beautiful music, a voice to kill for, an amazingly gorgeous and inspiring young woman. She is the British singer/songwriter Adele Adkins, and she is my new addiction.

Introduced to her voice thorough her latest hit Rolling In The Deep , he voice literally stunned me, I had to look up the song in search for the singer behind all that beauty, while at it, I had the privilege to listen to several others by her, apparently the song that blew my mind was just a jewel in her talent crown.

On a completely unrelated note, this was my favorite show when i was a little girl, Madelene


We love our bread
We love our butter
But most of all
We love each other