Learning Photoshop in 2020

Keeping Busy During the Pandemic

In spring of 2020, I stepped down from the Board of Directors for Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO). I had been a member for about five years. I "retired" a little before the end of April - I was planning to leave after our May tournament, but COVID-19 caused us to cancel it. 

I had promised myself that I was going to spend some time learning Lightroom and Photoshop in my post-WESO life. Many photographers learn and use both to enhance their images.

Over the course of the year, I took several online training classes, and the boys bought me a "how to restore old photos" book for Father's Day. Below are some of the projects I worked on. 

The Home Office "Hamilton" Poster

I imagine this is what the poster would look like if Lin-Manuel Miranda had written a musical about cats, dogs, and using your own bathroom during work hours. 

Home Office: An American Musical

The Tiny Planet of Don's Dwellings

This is a "tiny planet" with an image of each of the buildings/homes/apartments I've lived in. I started with an image of each house laid out horizontally (and stretched really tall) then put in some trees and the grass. [Edit: I found the horizontal image and added it below.] That was followed by the clouds and the "Home" in the middle. The special ingredient is love.

Tiny Planet of places I've lived

What the houses looked like before the rotation. 

Frankfort, Michigan Movie Poster

This is a tribute to the many years we've met our friends The Baroskos at Frankfort, MI for a beach vacation. The names are all either first/middle names of family members, or plays on names, or nicknames. Look closely and you'll see a reference to Sirius radio stations, and our hometown of Jackson. The title and tag line of the "movie" were suggested by Hannah. 

A Tribute to Pioneer High School's Marching Band

M is no longer at the high school, but when one of the parents with children there asked if I could put together something similar to the home tiny planet for the band, I couldn't resist. I was looking for Photoshop projects, and this was a good idea. Getting the symmetry right was a bit of work, but it was fun to go back through all of M's and K's high school pictures to find the ones that were used here.

Pioneer Marching Band poster

Soon there will be another post with restorations of some of dad's pictures when he was in the Marines. Stay tuned.