Beyond Layers Day 28 : 1 Photo 3 Ways

"Once Upon a Time at Cherokee Marsh"

My first web movie (sort of)!

On New Year's Day, I fell in love with ABC's new series, Once Upon a Time.  Even the title/episode slides were captivating to me--the same blue moonlit woods, always with a clue about the episode.  Sometimes you'd see Rumplestiltskin's spinning wheel, or Prince Charming riding through the woods on a white charger.      There was always somethings familiar about those woods ...
     When I lived in Madison, WI, I would often go out to Cherokee Marsh to watch the sun set over the water and behind the trees.  Walking through the woods to get to the water was like moving through a channel to another world.  Through the trees, I could catch glimpses of beautiful colors that whet my appetite for the magnificent light show to come.  I would walk faster to my favorite viewing spot so I wouldn't miss anything.  That is sacred ground for me, and one of my favorite places on this blue Earth.  I would bring a candle lantern with me to light the path on my way back through the woods after the sun had gone down.    Maybe it did give me a feeling of being back in fairy tale times ...
     Now that I no longer live in Madison, I still try to make an annual pilgrimage to Cherokee.  That view through the trees at Cherokee was the inspiration for this series.  A few weeks ago, I took this "stock" photo of the light through the trees, reminiscent of Once Upon a Time.  With my newly-acquired PhotoShop Elements skills, I wanted to create many moods with layers and textures on this one image.   Here are the photo processing recipes for each image :

 

Here's the original photo straight from my camera at mid-day.

This is the black and white scenic landscape version which served as the basis for the other versions.  This worked because I was going for more of a silhouette look with the trees.

 Sunset

This is the first one I worked on.  It was supposed to be short and sweet.  It was!
Layer 1 : Black and white scenic landscape as background and background copy.
Layer 2 : Texture by Eddi Van W.   Multiply blend mode at 100% opacity.

Moonlight

Layer 1 : Black and white scenic landscape as background and background copy.

Layer 2 : Kerstin Frank's Paradise Texture.   Multiply at 100%

Layer 3 : Text.  Font : Evernight Stargazer. Linear Dodge blend mode at 100%.

               "Magic is coming" is a nod to Once Upon a Time's season 1 cliff-hanger.

Sunrise

Layer 1 : Black and white scenic landscape as background and background copy.
Layer 2 : Gradation (black to white from bottom to mid-point).  Multiply 63%
Layer 3 : NClaey's Just Peachy Texture. Multiply 100%
Layer 4 : Lost and Taken Summer 5 Texture. Overlay 100%
Layer 5 : Jerry Jones' Texture Square 91. Soft Light 100%
Layer 6 : Gaussian Blur (for a morning misty look)  Normal 100%

About the short film at the header of this post :
I used Picassa to create a movie of these images looped to a soundtrack, then uploaded it to YouTube.
Easier than I ever thought it would be! Just takes a little patience to load.

Enjoy!