~ Please Note ~

Unless otherwise noted, all photographic images in this blog are the sole property of Kim L Branson and therefore may not be copied or used in any way without expressed permission by the owner. Thank you.

Welcome to CLIQUE!

I can trace my love of photography back three generations, to the early 1900s and my paternal great-grandfather, Henry Mattson. I have a really cool photo that he took of the old family homestead in Minnesota, sometime before 1910. According to family history, Grampa Mattson frequently took photos of his world - the people and places that he loved.

It warms my heart to know that this love of photography didn't skip any generations as it passed down to me! I am blessed to have such a legacy and I hope to pass it on to my own children and grandchildren some day.

I experience a physical and spiritual thrill whenever the Lord shows Himself in His marvelous creation around us and in the people I meet. My dream vacation would be to spend a year or two just traveling around the US, stopping at little out of the way places and photographing the interesting characters and the beauty of nature to be found along the way - those things that draw me closer to GOD and help point others to Him, too.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Photo Color Cards

Thanks to my growing interest in Pinterest, I have begun making what I call "Photo Color Cards" - actually 8 x 8 pages featuring one of my own photos and six color tabs taken from the colors in the photo. Each of the tabs includes the hex code for that color, in case I or anyone else would like to use a specific color in a digital project.

Here are the seven cards I've done so far --

Taken in the Centenial Rose Garden, Anchorage AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer AK - Aug 2007

Taken in Waikiki HI - Feb 2010

Taken in Maui HI - Feb 2010
I've also been making "Subway Art Prints" -- check them out at my crafty blog Divine Inspirations

~ klb

Monday, December 5, 2011

Texture Tuesday ~ Celebrate eDition

Because we (here in the US) are in the middle of our Holiday Season (Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's), the theme for this week's challange is "Celebrate!" The most important reason to celebrate is the birth and life of Jesus Christ, Who was given to us as a Gift from GOD the Father. If we choose to accept this Gift, we will spend eternity with Him and with all those who have died in Christ before us, living forever in a state of joy, satisfaction and love; with no pain, no stress and no sorrow. Truly, a reason to celebrate!


My photo doesn't really reflect that type of celebration, however -- instead, I am sharing this fireworks photo that I took nearly three years ago (January 3, 2009). Alaska was celebrating her 50th year of statehood that day and there were state- and city-wide events happening all that weekend, one of which was this fabulous fireworks show held in downtown Anchorage. Normal low temps for that time of year are in the upper teens Farenheit - you can see in the last photo what the temp was while we were downtown experiencing the festivities!


Straight out of Camera

FORMULA --

* Cropped original image to 8 x 10 300dpi
* Ctrl J to Duplicate layer - Soft Light 55%
* Added Kim Klassen's "Look Upon" texture - Multiply 85%
* Merged layers and clipped to border mask
* Added text: CAC Shishoni Brush (Alaska); Gloucester MT Extra Condensed (50 years of statehood); Bernard MT Condensed (1959-2009)
* Using white type, applied Overlay blending mode @ 100%
* Added my own watermark (Beyond Wonderland & Tekton Pro); applied Soft Light and lowered opacity to 55%


Yes, that's 24 degrees BELOW zero! Just a bit nippy...


Be sure to stop by Kim Klassen Cafe and check out this week's fabulous entries!

~ klb

Sunday, December 4, 2011

MCP Actions

Just wanted to let all my blog followers and browsers know that MCP Actions is a fanTABulous place to visit for tutorials, tips, classes and ACTIONS - lots and lots of creative actions for Photoshop and Lightroom! They are currently giving away a new Canon G12 point & shoot camera - in the next few minutes!

Be sure to stop by their website MCP Actions and also to "Like" them on Facebook :)

Hurry! Hurry!

~ klb