The evening sunlight glowed off this tower that stands near the Connecticut River in Hartford.

Isolating the sign and converting the rest of the photo to black & white emphasizes the bleakness of the snowy woods and the hopeful message imparted by the sign.

It's snowing AGAIN! This farm stand is now closed, because nothing is in season in the dead of winter. But the bright green sign reminds us that the days are getting longer and our half of the earth is steadily tilting once more towards the sun.

This was done using a technique developed by Corey Barker. Make a copy of the layer (Control-J.) Then apply Glowing Edges. Adjust it so the edges are clearly defined. Click OK, then Control-I to invert. Use the eraser tool at different levels of opacity to paint back some of the original photo. It produces a nice watercolor sketch effect.

Yesterday, temperatures soared into the 40s. Liquid water appeared in puddles on the streets. This morning, I stepped outside into a world of birdsong. I know better than to get my hopes up--a New England winter will always break your heart, because it will never end when you think it should. But I couldn't help but be uplifted by the color of the sky--a shade darker than the usual pale blue of winter.

The Plaster filter had a very unexpected effect on the photo when the opacity was reduced a bit, bringing out details and making it look rather like a botanical drawing.

This magnolia leaf was lying nestled in a hollow in the snow.