Saturday, May 16, 2015

Vignettes from the garden



Often I dream about leaving the house with the camera and driving to
new places, but then reality sets in and I once again find that it's 
better if I stay home; safer that way.
I'm a believer that photos are everywhere if we look at our 
surroundings with "new eyes." Some times it takes looking through
the viewfinder to see the ordinary in a new way. 



A pot of Agave is interesting enough
but what if the image is layered with a photo of barrel cactus?



Two daily visitors in the yard are more interesting with
multiple textured layers subtly done.



A blending of various cactus and textures.



Every spring a few Orioles arrive. They're particularly fond
of the hummingbird feeder and let me know when it's 
empty. I've probably photographed around a 100 shots of them
and finally got a different one today. Eureka! Getting a side
view this good has taken years. 
Extracted from the boring background of
the hummer feeder and layered with a succulent image followed
by texture layers and my Saturday has gone from
bleak to one full of Joy!


Monday, May 11, 2015

Digital Expressions


Simple collage.
Photos from earlier this month of 
The Grand Finale of the
 Sea Urchin Cactus.



Moon over the Salton Sea.
The base photo is of the Salton Sea.
The train image was taken at the Salton Sea.
The weeds in the foreground are an image from
the Back Bay in Costa Mesa. The moon is from
last August.

The Salton Sea is rapidly disappearing and if
it's not saved the air here
in the Palm Springs area
will become toxic
resulting in 
numerous health issues. 




The base photo is a vintage portrait of a man in uniform. His hands are in his
lap and ended up blended with both the parrot and cockatiels claws.
Two texture layers were added along with text. 




The base photo is a double image of the Palatine in Rome; a magical
trip six years ago. 
Other layers are a Sea Urchin Cactus and a dove.

I dream of being in Rome again; birds
represent freedom to me, if only I could
take fight and appear in Italy!



The base photo is a Salton Sea building. 
Layers of textures. I create all of the texture layers I use. 

Note: I just recently became aware that some of my images have
been pinned on Pinterest, being that my work is original it's my
hope that my copyright is honored. Thank you.



Train near the Salton Sea. 
Building below the track is a miniature train building.
Two layers of textures.

There is a mysterious quality around
the Salton Sea. This image
evokes not only mystery but a
desolate feeling that
hits me every time I visit
 the Salton Sea. 


A manipulated vintage photo of a woman layered
with an image of a Gazania flower against
Barrel Cactus. 

The story goes that an aunt was a Ziegfeld Follies
Dancer who was known for her
dramatic approach to life.
This image is in honor of her.

Monday, May 04, 2015

Sea Urchin Grand Finale!


This morning I was greeted with the Grand Finale of the Sea Urchin flowers, something akin to the finale of a fireworks show. Spectacular! Seven flowers opening at the same time rarely happens, 
usually there are only 1-3 at a time. (the 7th one hidden by an agave.)



Against the Agave.


Love the abstract below.


Below: Against Barrel cactus and Gazania on the right.




The image above is one of two times this year that one
 plant had two flowers on it.



This flower is in a pot, thus the different background.


And one last version. Until next year  . . .