
I have been a life long learner, delving deeper and deeper into what has had an attraction for me. The subject of interest has held a secondary place to the process. Since moving into digital photography in 2005, I have read countless books, attended seminars and workshops and lectures; watched podcasts and webinars; etc., etc. I am finding that as I rapidly approach 80, this learning adventure has become not only increasingly difficult, it has held less and less fascination. Rarely am I willing to invest the money, or the time and energy, in a workshop. Can't remember when I last watched a podcast. Webinars seem to keep covering the same territory. The magazine subscriptions are gone. If I buy books, I often don't read them. However, every now and then, something appears that grabs me. Such was the case last Friday. For some reason, I decided to watch a webinar on textures. When the instructor talked about Blend Modes, he seemed most excited about those modes that photographers seem to rarely use. One of his favorites is Divide (which I have never used). For the heck of it, I decided to scroll through all of the Blend Modes for a texture called Brushed Rose. When I hit Difference, I thought, "Wow!" That is what you see here as it was applied to the photograph "Fisheye Grass." So I guess that the message is, "always remain open; you never really know what will grab you."