Learning photoshop

I have always been interested in photography. With the digital technology of today, it really gives quite a liberation when it comes to taking photos.

One liberation is editing them.

Recently I acquired photoshop to edit photos. I have used other image manipulation programs before, however when I opened up photoshop I realised I had no idea how to use it properly.

So I also bought a couple of magazines with fun tutorials, and heck it is awesome.

Below I will demonstrate what I have learned. All original photos were taken by me at some point in my lifetime.

First was an HDR effect. So I chose this photo I took in Singapore to work with:

After applying some layers and filters as per the exact instructions of the magazine, I ended up with this:

I wasn't really that attracted to the final result, so I decided to grab what I had learned from the tutorial and try the same kind of effect with another photo without looking at the tutorial.

I chose the below photo that I took in New Zealand to work with:

 After adding the necessary layers, I ended up with this:

I think this subject suits the effect much more than the first photo I chose. I like how the contrast and colours are enhanced.

I felt like I was on a roll, so I continued onto the next lesson. It was about highlighting colours in an image. I couldn't quite follow the tutorial, but I managed to understand the concept, so I did the below.

I chose the following image I took in Perth. I remember trying to convey something with the image at the time I was taking it, but couldn't get it to show what I was looking at.

With the tutorial I was able transform it into something I was trying to convey. I was able to move the focus on the car and the graffiti on the wall at the same time, which is what caught my attention at time the photo was taken.

This is what I saw that day I was standing on that road. This was my focus.

Next tutorial was about mixing two photos together. The tutorial was very hard to follow and I am pretty sure some steps were missed because I didn't know what or where to click in the program. It was a crap tutorial. However, just with the above I learned the concept and tried to apply it my own way.

I chose the following two photos I took in New Zealand:

I then merged them together to create the misty background with the house in the foreground.

I thought this was a good attempt considering I wasn't sure what I was doing. I don't think I could repeat it. I did like the end result, though. I think this background suits the scenery well.

Next tutorial was to create a vintage effect.

I followed the tutorials instructions in full with the following photo I also took while in New Zealand of Mount Teranaki:

After following all of the instructions I was left with this:

I really like this effect. It reminds me of that time I found some postcards that were twice my age. I wanted to create more, so I chose another photo to see if I could create the effect on my own.

I chose the following photo of a pony I spotted in New Zealand:

 After some tweaking and some failing, I reached my end result:

I love it! I think I chose the right photo and all the filters were perfect (after a lot of trial and error).
I then decided to create a rounded edge effect so it looks more like an old photo format.


Photoshop... so many possibilities... so much to learn!

To get rich - first step, learn why

Normally I do not like spending much time reading. Therefore when it comes to choosing a book to read, I make sure it is worth my time. It needs to add something to my life. I need to learn something from it.

This is why I don't really like reading fiction. For me it isn't valuable as reading material. If I want a story I will just watch a movie. It takes less time and it is easier to visualise. I cannot visualise fiction in a book and find myself reading the same page over and over again.

However, I have decided to spend more time reading. The first book I picked up to start my habit is "Why we want you to be rich" by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.

I chose this particular book because in the past I have read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and found it quite interesting. I had also recently seen the TV show "The Apprentice", featuring Donald Trump, for the first time just a few months ago. I liked the way he spoke and his reasons for firing people.

My father had lent me this book a year or so ago to read, with other 'get rich' books. For many years now he has drilled money talk into my head. "Financial education is the most important education. Do not turn out like me, still working in my 50's. Be free quicker. Do not rely on the government, rely on yourself." This is they type of things my dad kept telling me, but in the past I had other issues in my head I knew I had to solve before I could focus on anything. Now that I am happy with my life, it is time to gain more. It is time to be free.

On our fridge my partner and I have a white board where we write our future plans. It is mostly things we have been invited to or shows we have planned. This is what I have on it now:

All other plans blurred because you have no business knowing where I will be at which date

This is a reminder of what is ahead. We will be rich, because we are both studying and researching. We are educating ourselves how to be rich, and most importantly understand why we need to be rich.

The 'why' is important. As per the book I am currently reading, too many people rely on others for money, mostly the government. People become dependent on their jobs. Then during retirement they become dependent on their pensions, which is money that comes from the government. There is no way the government can support everyone. This is why people should grow up and be independent, completely!

This 'why' has some conflict with my job. In my current job I place money from the government into other people's bank accounts for those who are eligible to receive it. There are so many people who rely on that money, even when they have a job and are still quite young. Many times I have clients calling and letting me know how difficult it is to pay their mortgage and expenses and they are in desperate need of that money. They have become dependent on the government for pocket money. This is sad. I often question why they are living beyond there means. I am the same age as a lot of them and am living very comfortably. Why are they struggling while I am not? I'm not receiving any cash from the government, yet I have more than enough to live on.

I have always tried to find a way to give those people the money faster, to help them out, but now I know that it isn't helping them at all. A lot have created a mindset that the money they are receiving from the government in a right. I see it as something that is limiting them. It is taking the easy way out instead of the better way out. It is creating dependence instead of independence. What happens when the government no longer has any more money to give? Or is trillion of dollars in debt because no one has the initiative to take care of themselves?

In my line of work, we lodge an average of 1.5 million dollars into people's bank accounts a week. That is 1.5 million dollars leaving the government every week. We are only one department that offer government money. There are others that give away much more money away, not to mention all the pensions. I don't understand why the people complain that governments are spending too much money. They are spending a big portion of it on the people because the people are too lazy to get their own money. To the people: grow up!

It isn't entirely the people's fault. They probably have no idea that they can be financially independent. A lot of times people hide behind excuses or do not realise that they will not be physically and/or mentally able to work for the rest of their lives. If a job is your only income source, what happens when you no longer work? Why are people okay with relying on others to feed them? Why do people work so hard their entire lives instead of working smarter? Why are people just accepting one way of acquiring an income: a job?

I found this article on the Internet from yourlifechoices.com. In a nutshell, a pensioner committed suicide because the money he was receiving from the government was not enough to support himself. It is a tragic story. What is more tragic are the comments. People blame the government for not giving pensioners enough money after all their hard labour during their lifetime. What the people do not understand is that not everyone makes the life choice to do hard labour their whole lives. Some choose a better option and do not end up relying on the government for pension money. Some people choose to work smart and not hard. What would you prefer? Working hard your whole life in a job and then be dependent on the government and other people? Or work hard at first, researching, educating yourself about money, learning how to use money, until eventually you can use money to generate more money without necessarily going to a job every day, then not rely on anybody for money until the end of days? Would you rather be a victim with victim mentality? Or would you rather be a winner with success in mind?

My father is nearing sixty. He has worked very hard his entire life, since the age of 11. Only a few year ago when he was unable to work did he realise that that was a mistake. He was working hard for nothing. In his early 50's he learned that he should not rely on the government for his pension. That is a high risk choice with no guarantees. In other words, it is a stupid strategy. So he started reading books and learning during the time he was out of work. He decided to become financially smarter. He now has 3 properties and building another. He says he could easily retire with the income he is receiving from them without relying on the government. He did this in about 7 years, which shows me that it is not too late for anyone! However he is still working hard in a job, because of me. He is delaying retirement to make sure I have something other than a job. He wants me to have something working for me instead of me working for others. He will not rest until I assure him that I will not go down the same path he went down  most of his life. He is helping me and sacrificing himself on the way, and I am grateful for that. In his sacrifice he will be giving me half a fish while also forcing me to learn how to fish for the other half. 

My father will not be anything like that Greek pensioner who committed suicide. However, if he did not go without a job in his late 40's to early 50's and was forced to find another way to gain money other than a job, he very well could have ended up the same as that Greek pensioner.

I understand very well why I need to get rich, so that is my plan. Next step is to read, learn and educate myself! I do not want to take the high risk of relying on others for my pension money. That's just crazy!

I will be occasionally writing what I learn, to revise and also to demonstrate my process. This way I can look back and see exactly how I got to where I will get, and others can also follow.

Accepting unfinished lists and creating new habits

The main reason I created this blog was to gain some motivation and focus on the things I want to complete. I always start projects without finishing them. There's a huge list, and it keeps adding on.

Sometimes I wonder what the importance of completing it is. Is it the task itself of the feeling of self accomplishment? I really think is so that the list gets smaller, but I know that is never going to happen. Ever!

Lately I have been thinking if that is a bad thing. Should my lists reduce? Or should I keep adding onto them?   There are times people have said to me that if they didn't have a job they would be at home bored with nothing to do. I wonder how that can be. I can think of hundreds of things to do! Therefore there is never a time one can be bored at home. My job is keeping me away from it!

So I have decided that having this never ending list is a good thing. It keeps me occupied. It gives me something to do, whether or not it gets completed. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

One of the things that has been on my list for about a decade now is to read more books. I have never really been into fiction books because I cannot visualise fantasy as well as I can visualise real things. So at a very young age I found myself in the non-fiction sections of the library a lot. Younger age versions of me was reading books on arts and crafts, origami and cooking. Slightly older version of me was reading books on Greek mythology or Ancient Egypt. Older still, starting in my teens, it was books in Psychology and Science.

All these reading came from curiosity, not from entertainment, that's why fiction wasn't appealing. However this form of curiosity also took up time. I was never really a persistent reader because it hurt my eyes and I got easily distracted with other thoughts in my head. Then with the demands of high school and its reading, then university, reading for my own personal curiosity declined. There were also other methods in acquiring information, such as the Internet.

Even though I have not been to university in a little more than 2 years, my reading habit for curiosity has not come back. Mostly because I have forgotten how good books fulfil curiosity. There's information in books that is not as easily accessible on the Internet or other forms of information collecting. Also, on the Internet there is less focus. Too many things are distracting in the internet. Too many subject matters. Too many easily to click links. Too many funny cat videos.

One of my biggest issues has always been lack of focus. For example, this post was supposed to have been about something else than what I have just written. I became distracted by my own thoughts. However, at the same time these thoughts has given me some insight. I need more focus. I need to read.

Do something that requires focus to create the habit of focus. Sounds like a good plan to me.