A Faux Photo Quilt

Tired of the "best photo" selection process from my Astoria trip, and enchanted by this wall detail, I veered off my photo selecting path into photo imagery.

    

 The more I looked at the wall detail, trying to explain to myself and to potential viewers why I saw this as art, I realized it reminded me of a section of a quilt.  Or the beginnings of a quilt pattern.  

Though I'm a seamstress, I've never felt one bit inclined to cut big pieces of fabric into little pieces of fabric just to give myself the task of sewing them all into one big piece again.  But what if I could make a faux quilt?  What if I made it from bits of photos I shot on the Astoria photo trip?

Using this wall art as a base, I added two (heavily Topazed) details from the Maritime Memorial under the Astoria Bridge.  Can you find them?  They're knots and a ship's wheel.  

It's easy to spot the salmon leaping out of the fish can labels from the city garbage cans.

Lastly, look for wave detail from a cafe sign on Marine Drive.  

Presenting my Faux Photo Astoria Quilt:

Liquid Abstracts

 Well, I have a new toy!  A Topaz Simplify Plugin for Photoshop Elements 9.  (Thanks, Jan Hagan!)

I've been playing with it in boat and seawall reflection photos I made on the second day of the Astoria photo trip.  I think I'm sick of the effect now.  But it's been fun!

Each one of these is upside down, I know.  That's because they're reflections in water.  I tried turning them "right side" up but that didn't work for me.  I'm willing to concede, though, that my brain, who composed these in the first place, is stuck on, "THIS is the right way up!"

My husband thinks the middle one looks like a flag.  I guess I can see it that way.

Let me know what you think.

Astoria Photo Trip--Day One

A week ago I took a photo trip to Astoria, Oregon, led by my teacher, Carol Leigh.  This is a sampling of some of the good photos from Day One.  Above is the Columbia Pier Hotel with reflection and pilings.

An architectural abstract at Maritime Memorial Park under the Astoria Bridge.

Astoria Bridge in cloudy, blue morning light.

Pilings in the Columbia River with ripples.  A slight wind combined with fast shutter speed makes them look frozen in ice.

Ducks in a row made into a watercolor using Topaz Simplify.

Her majesty, the John Jacob Astor Hotel in downtown Astoria.