Yesterday I spent the day outside power washing the driveway. So today me and my tomato hued skin are taking a break and hiding from the sun, which gives me a chance to play around a bit. A couple of the new-to-us Ascroft pics that have come out in the last several days are just lovely and possibly some of my all-time favorites.
Because I like them so much I want to be able to use them as wallpapers on my laptop. But I’m weird I guess, and pretty much refuse to center the image with just a random solid color behind it, or crop the image so that it fills the screen but cuts off a lot of the original picture. Because of that, I’ve been playing around with trying to figure out how to extend the backgrounds. I thought I would share these in case anyone else would like to use them.
I had trouble with the first one, so the background is stretched out rather funny, but in the end I like how it turned out:
The next one seriously might be my new absolute favorite RA photo ever. Jeans, t-shirt, Converse sneakers and a big, almost goofy smile. Yup, it’s a keeper (and my current wallpaper):
Gotta say thanks to RANet for finding and sharing the HQ version of all of these pics. They make playing with the photos in Photoshop so much more enjoyable.
Me, My Thoughts, and Richard Armitage 
These are lovely! Thank you! These are my two favorite pictures!
Thanks, Carolyn. These are two of my favorites from the Ascoft shoot, which is really saying something. 😉
Gorgeous, just breathtaking
Thanks, Leigh. I really am starting to think Ascroft should be the only one to take RA’s picture from now on. He did such a fabulous job!
Ooh! With the top one and the seeming rush of the darker blue background behind him it gives the image movement–as if RA is standing still and everything is rushing around him. Beaufiful!
It does kind of give that rushing feeling, doesn’t it? I hadn’t really thought of it that way.
Very cool Jas! Those are two of my all time favorite RA pix. I like your extensions 🙂
I hope your tomato hued skin is no longer painful!!!
Thank’s Itsy. I still wish I could figure out how to do an extension on the first one without stretching out the background. A tutorial for another day perhaps. 😉 The skins doing better, thanks largely to your tip about vinegar!
Extension is neat. I love it!
And yeah, that smiling pic. OMG, that smiling pic. Smile at me again, Mr. Armitage.
Thanks, Servetus! That smile really does just stop you in your tracks. I find myself frequently closing all the windows on my laptop so I can stare at the wallpaper.
I had a little of that yesterday when I supposed to be doing something else — kept bring up those pics to stare at them. Oh well. I did eventually finish preparing for class and reread all my notes. Just took me 3x as long as usual b/c of Armitage interruptions …
Just now seeing these. I love them. These are awesome. I hope you feel better.
I am feeling better! Aren’t these pictures great? I’m glad the backgrounds turned out decent.
These are great! The first one looks like he is by the ocean and in the background the water just keeps going on and on. The second one is fast becoming a favorite for me, I love the smile, t-shirt and jeans.
I’m so glad you like them, Katie70. I was a little disappointed with the background on that first one at first, but over time it’s grown on me. I hadn’t thought about it feeling like the ocean, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I see what you mean. The smile, t-shirt and jeans are all winners in my book. They just make him look like a normal guy who happens to be really, REALLY attractive. 😉
Beautiful. These new Ascroft pics are gorgeous. 🙂