What made me happy today (post yours)

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Ok i pinched this thread from another forum.

For me its the fact Nancy retires today, she actually stopped working (that should be gave her job up, women never stop working) nearly two years ago. Since then we have been living on savings and my pension, from today we have another source of income.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
I got the free dash cam my wife got from the casino working despite a very abbreviated manual and no internet support for this brand of camera (can't even find the distributors address for this cheap Chinese made dash cam)
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Learned a cool new technique for removing the dreaded Flash Shadow using Photoshop.

Not that I ever NEED to do that sort of thing, of course. *cough*
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
state tax return deposit in our account today, still waiting of the Fed.

Dont know why i am happy i will probably never see it. ;)
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
You are such a tease! :loyal: Pics please! ;)

Hark, you know I can deny you nothing!

This girl is wearing a costume she designed and built herself from scratch for a class assignment, "Wearable Paper". Students were told they must design and "model" a garment that can be worn on the body made entirely of paper. Adhesives and folding were allowed but mechanical fasteners (staples, straight pins, fishing line, etc.) were not.

I've removed the flash shadow from the top of the frame down the right side to around her elbow. This is a work in progress and there are areas that still need work but I think it's a good example.
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Before:
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Before.jpg

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After:
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After.jpg
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Hark, you know I can deny you nothing!

This girl is wearing a costume she designed and built herself from scratch for a class assignment, "Wearable Paper". Students were told they must design and "model" a garment that can be worn on the body made entirely of paper. Adhesives and folding were allowed but mechanical fasteners (staples, straight pins, fishing line, etc.) were not.

I've removed the flash shadow from the top of the frame down the right side to around her elbow. This is a work in progress and there are areas that still need work but I think it's a good example.
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.....
Before:
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View attachment 307598
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After:
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View attachment 307597

:eek-new: Care to explain especially with which tool was used? The results are stellar! :)

I've spent a lot of time with the clone stamp tool as well as the healing brush to make this type of fix. But it is a tedious process. Can it be done in PCC 2018? I'm running Windows 7, and the newest version of PCC isn't compatible from what I've read. By the way, thanks for the image! :encouragement: No doubt other members will be interested as well.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Congrats @mikew ! Pat is getting better every day. Her surgical wound is all but completely healed and we go to the neurologist today to see what the MRI has to say, followed by dinner in the big city of Lexington with the friends that have been shuttling us around! God is good.

Oh yah, and I am enjoying getting to know the Z 6.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Congrats @mikew ! Pat is getting better every day. Her surgical wound is all but completely healed and we go to the neurologist today to see what the MRI has to say, followed by dinner in the big city of Lexington with the friends that have been shuttling us around! God is good.

Oh yah, and I am enjoying getting to know the Z 6.

Thanks, pleased things are going well,just hope when Pats memory is sorted she remembers saying yes to the Z6 :D
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I'm happy to hear that one of my former students, and an athlete that I coached in middle school, has gotten an athletic scholarship to the college of his choice. Go Prairie Wolves! :)
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
:eek-new: Care to explain especially with which tool was used? The results are stellar! :)
Thank you!

I've spent a lot of time with the clone stamp tool as well as the healing brush to make this type of fix. But it is a tedious process. Can it be done in PCC 2018? I'm running Windows 7, and the newest version of PCC isn't compatible from what I've read. By the way, thanks for the image! :encouragement: No doubt other members will be interested as well.
The technique is rather simple really, but very clever in my opinion. Also, pretty much any version of PS should be able to do it since it only requires a couple layers, the Clone Stamp Tool and the Quick Select Tool. Here's a brief explanation...
.....
Open your file.
Duplicate your Background Layer.
Create a new, blank layer and position it between your Background Copy and your Background.
You should now have three layers; from top to bottom they should be: Background Copy, Blank Layer and Background.
Hide the top layer, the Background Copy. You should now have your bottom two layers visible.
Click to activate/start working on the Blank Layer.
Select the Clone Stamp Tool: 100% Opacity, 100% Flow, Sample All Layers.
Select a clean source to clone from and start cloning out the flash shadow.
BE SURE you wipe your brush OVER the subject a little... No need to nuts here but clone OVER the subject.
Do NOT Panic.​

Here's a quick screen shot to show what things will look like at this point. I've worked from the head down to the elbow here. Clearly I could have done a better job with selecting my clone sources in some areas but this should give an idea of what I'm talking about:
.....
Step 1.jpg

.....
.....
Keep Clone Stamping until you're happy. Subject will NOT look good but that's okay. Just make sure the background of your image looks good and all the flash shadow you want to remove is cleanly cloned out. For the next step I'm going to assume you know the finer points of making and refining a selection, which is what you'll do here. If you don't, that's another conversation. Now, let's get back to work...
.....
Hide the New Blank Layer, but keep the Background layer and Background Copy layers visible.
Select the Background Copy to work on.
Using the Quick Select Tool, select the Subject.
Once you have the subject fully selected, SHIFT+Click the "Select and Mask" button on the top toolbar. This will open a Properties tab.
This Properties tab is where you'll feather the selection and generally refine it.
When you're done scroll to the bottom of the Properties tab, find the "Output to" drop-down menu and select, "New Layer With Layer Mask".
Click "OK".​
.....
Step 2.jpg

.....
Selecting your output will take you to your editing screen and you'll see you have a new top-most layer, complete with selection mask. You'll also see the flash shadow but Don't Panic: It's magic time: Hide the Background Copy layer and... Voila!

You may now delete the Background Copy layer and flatten the image, or continue editing as you see fit.

Hope that helps!
 

Danno

Senior Member
Thanks, pleased things are going well,just hope when Pats memory is sorted she remembers saying yes to the Z6 :D

Me too Mike.. Me too. We joked about that for about 2 weeks as I mulled over the spend... I guess we will have to wait and see. ;)
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
At least I have an Atomic wrist watch that automatically adjusts it self so I can use it to set my other clocks accurately and saves me the effort of getting the correct time on my PC, and is one less clock to set. :cheerful:
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
We got the kids together for two of the cross country teams Lorraine and I coach and each kid signed the championship banner for their team. These will be displayed in the school gym.

Go Knights! :)
 

pnomanikon

Senior Member
Thinking about a list of things that I want, and realizing nothing on the list was a "thing". I need nothing, and that makes me happy. On that short list - world peace and a return to civility.

I'm happy with my thrift store clothes I bought 10 years ago. I'm happy with our 50-year-old house with furniture we bought after our wedding in 1985. And, most importantly, I'm happy to be blessed with my loving wife and son (a very successful aerospace engineer). That's a good feeling.

My only wants include travel now that we are retired - we have a trip planned to the SouthWest (Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Zion, Rt 66, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Arches, Dead Horse Point, etc) after Easter that we have been wanting to do for years. In the future, my "wants" for travel include Glacier NP/Banff/Jasper (and maybe continuing on up to Alaska for the 3rd time driving it) and Trans-Canada from Lake Superior east to Nova Scotia.

I guess I have to add one thing to my list of wants - I would like to have lunch with my parents and grandparents. Guess I'll have to wait a few years for that one.

.
 
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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Thank you!


The technique is rather simple really, but very clever in my opinion. Also, pretty much any version of PS should be able to do it since it only requires a couple layers, the Clone Stamp Tool and the Quick Select Tool. Here's a brief explanation...
.....
Open your file.
Duplicate your Background Layer.
Create a new, blank layer and position it between your Background Copy and your Background.
You should now have three layers; from top to bottom they should be: Background Copy, Blank Layer and Background.
Hide the top layer, the Background Copy. You should now have your bottom two layers visible.
Click to activate/start working on the Blank Layer.
Select the Clone Stamp Tool: 100% Opacity, 100% Flow, Sample All Layers.
Select a clean source to clone from and start cloning out the flash shadow.
BE SURE you wipe your brush OVER the subject a little... No need to nuts here but clone OVER the subject.
Do NOT Panic.​

Here's a quick screen shot to show what things will look like at this point. I've worked from the head down to the elbow here. Clearly I could have done a better job with selecting my clone sources in some areas but this should give an idea of what I'm talking about:
.....
View attachment 307604
.....
.....
Keep Clone Stamping until you're happy. Subject will NOT look good but that's okay. Just make sure the background of your image looks good and all the flash shadow you want to remove is cleanly cloned out. For the next step I'm going to assume you know the finer points of making and refining a selection, which is what you'll do here. If you don't, that's another conversation. Now, let's get back to work...
.....
Hide the New Blank Layer, but keep the Background layer and Background Copy layers visible.
Select the Background Copy to work on.
Using the Quick Select Tool, select the Subject.
Once you have the subject fully selected, SHIFT+Click the "Select and Mask" button on the top toolbar. This will open a Properties tab.
This Properties tab is where you'll feather the selection and generally refine it.
When you're done scroll to the bottom of the Properties tab, find the "Output to" drop-down menu and select, "New Layer With Layer Mask".
Click "OK".​
.....
View attachment 307605
.....
Selecting your output will take you to your editing screen and you'll see you have a new top-most layer, complete with selection mask. You'll also see the flash shadow but Don't Panic: It's magic time: Hide the Background Copy layer and... Voila!

You may now delete the Background Copy layer and flatten the image, or continue editing as you see fit.

Hope that helps!

Yes, it does! Thanks, Paul. :)
 

pnomanikon

Senior Member
Not today, but just last week.

My wife found a pack of 2-year-old Peeps marshmallow candies in the cupboard, aged to perfection. Nice crisp "snap" when broken in half. Mmmmmmm.

Maybe I should plan ahead and buy some leftovers and sock them away now for 2021.

.
 
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