Edit Me: Week 25

Edit Me: Week 25

Well that was a panic. I completely forgot about the challenge this week and would have missed it if I'd not popped on to check out my blog.
I downloaded the image in a rush, edited it in a rush and just as I was blogging it I lost internet connection for a few hours. Wouldn't normally be a problem as blogger would save it BUT I, in my wisdom, started a stand alone page in Blogger for the Edit Me weekly challenge so it didn't save - Arghhhh!

So forgive me for the fact that the Edit Me challenge keeps moving around on my blog, it's no longer going to be on a stand alone page because no one knows it's there. lol. However, this may change in the future.

Any way, I digress.
This weeks image is one of my favourites so far. I love inaminate objects cos I figure I can't really offend anyone with my edits.
This weeks judge is Misty from 'Through a Photographers Eyes'. A cool looking mum who has a wonderful website filled with amazing images that I could only dream of achieving, tutorials and her own challenge titled SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT.
Take a mosey on over there and I promise you'll be inspired!

So here is this weeks SOOC

whimsical tracker (forgive the attempt at country talk)

and here's my edit

As for what I did to achieve it, well, in my defence I did actually save detailed instructions this week so yay for me. BUT I disposed of them after I had written them on my blogger before I realised that they hadn't been saved to the stand alone page. So, I'm going to have to give basics of what I remember.........for a change!

I opened the SOOC and a background image in CS5 and worked on the background first.
CTRL + I to invert the tones.
CTRL + A to select the image. CTRL + X to cut the image.
Create a new Alpha channel, select the channel, CTRL + V to paste the cut image.
CTRL + click on Alpha channel thumbnail to select all white areas.
Click on RGB channel to activate it.
Add new layer.
Invert the selection.
Alt + Backspace to fill the selection with foreground colour.
Create square area using polygonal lasso tool and feather 2pixel.
Duplicate selected portion.
Open Eraser and choose a brush to erase the edges as desired.
Open SOOC and desaturate the image.
CTRL + A then CTRL + C to copy the image to clipboard.
CTRL + click on previous layer.
Edit & Paste 'into' (not just 'paste'. Took me ages to figure that one out).
With photo selected used dodge and burn as desired and touched up with previous eraser brush.
Create new fill/adjustment layer, photo filter and then Sepia. Messed with the sepia and clicked 'preserve luminosity'.
Fiunally I flattened the image, saved as JPEG and Voila!
May seem alot of moves but there were many more. Some were tutorials from the net but alot I had to chop and change to suit.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for taking a look. Now head on over to the 'Edit Me' blog and look at all the other fabulous entries and you never know, you may be challenged to have a go yourself.