ADVENT ARTWORK

If you have windows 10, you probably have PHOTO which is the Microsoft app that enables you to manage your photos. It has gradually become more sophisticated incorporating some of the ability of Photoshop. 

This first picture is the original picture of some sort of interesting tall weed photographed against the sky. 

This next shot is what happens if you use the basic adjustments, much like the Lightroom part of Photoshop to contrast everything, making the colors deeper, and contrasting the elements. These are all in the basic Edit option.

Finally, this is what happens when you use the Edit in Paint option which is more like Photoshop

I used the bushes fill option which allows you to choose colors, either preselected or ones you choose by using the eyedropper to take a color already in your picture.

I first chose a yellow-gold from the picture to paint the deeper colors of the weed a lighter color. What was particularly important was that I set the opacity of the fill at about 25% which meant that it let the dark contrasted areas show through.

Finally, I changed the blue-sky background to a more Advent purple background, again by using the fill to change the blue parts, and also setting the opacity at about 25% which kept most of the cloud detail.  

I also used the two-dimensional geometric shape square option to put a back border around the edge.

So, if you have some photographs around and want to play with them without investing in Photoshop and spend a great deal of time trying to master its complexities, you likely have the tools already on you computer.

IF your computer works like mine, you can click on any of these to get an almost full screen picture that allows you to shift among the three photos.