Photoshop Feelings

Photoshop feelings


I have a little story to tell. Warning-it is not a short one, but it is packed with emotion, Fairy Godmothers, Dragons and yes, even a "little moral to the story" in the end. The story begins me, cast as the heroine(Okay- maybe that's not the right word- heroine usually is some beautiful young thing with long flowing locks.... I see myself more as the opinionated, wiser, more sassy mature character- Protagonist, Yah! that's what I'll call myself!) The setting is the computer room last Monday -Digital Techniques. 

Before I go on with the tale, you have to understand a little bit about the background of our main character (That's me)... I come from a land of Record players, 8 track tapes, and VHS. Computers are something only "rich" people had and keyboards were black and white and used to create music. Oh yah, and e-mails were only used when all other possible avenues of reaching someone (Phone and going to a person's house) where exhausted. And even then I had to find someone to show me how to do that! While everyone else was growing up with computer's I was lost somewhere at home amidst a pile of diaper's and children's activities.

Let's bring the story back to the future, Monday, April 6, 2009. I'm sitting in the computer room and in walks Cory, who announces he will be teaching us for the next 6 weeks the finer points of Photoshop. The lesson that day was to be able to "cut" an item out of a photo and place it else where- a different background. He proceeds to teach us the "tools" over the next couple of hours and then says he has an in class assignment for us to complete in the next 45 min.. Not just any assignment- the hardest. We had 3 pictures of bikes-spokes, wheels, seats, etc. that we need to cut around and place on a white background. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Well, he might of asked me to go to the moon-I mean I think that might have been easier!

Yes, shamelessly, I tried to pull the " I think I'm having a heart attack" card, holding my hands over my heart in a convincing gesture (really, I'm sure my blood pressure was spiking and I defiantly was having serious heart palpitations!) Cory just looked at me and said,

"After your done at the hospital-you'd still have to come back and finish the assignment!"

(I really was trying to envision him as casting him as "White Knight" but at that point the image of cruel Stepfather or Dragon kept popping into my mind.) And then, just to "stick the dagger" a little further in, he gives us an assignment where we need to photograph ourselves 5 times and put our images into one scene.  

As everyone in the class "whipped" out their "magnetic Lasso's" and "magic wands"(tools of photoshop) I put up my hand to ask:

How do I zoom in and out???(Command + or- , as I found out)

 Yes, I didn't even know the basics and I was to accomplish this assignment??? I resolved at that point that I would not leave the computer room until this feat had been accomplished- It probably come down more to the fact if I would have left, I might not have had the courage to come back to the task.

This is where the story turns, as in every fairy-tale, the emotionally charged evil plot begins to turn as "good " arrives in the plot and and the stage of hope is set. The turning point in this story hinges on the role of the Fairy God Mother played by our teacher's assistant Amanda O.(Fairy God Mother with the really good hair cut, I might add) Amanda was filling in as administrative assistant for Lauralee and came to my rescue with her helpful Photoshop tips, keeping me going in my quest to complete the assignment. I might add that Paolo was helpful in helping me "shoot " my assignment in the computer room as well. And yes, 4 1/2 hours later, so close to completion, Cory turned into that "White Knight", rode out of his office, leaving his studio job, to come help me complete my assignment. YES! I knew it, GOOD had prevailed!

 (This is the part where it get's "sappy" - Get the Kleenex!- that's what I love about the school- They push you to be the best you can be, even out of comfort zones, but they are there for you when you need them!)

But that's not where the story ends.

 The next day I picked up this completed photo from Labworks and showed my family at home what I had accomplished. The looks of Awe and Amazement was more than all the verbal praise in the world! My oldest son said-

" Mom, I'm running for a committee at school, do you think you could cut out me in some pictures and put me in others to make posters for the campaign?

I felt the corners of my lips go up, sure.. tomorrow is another day!