Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Wonderfulicious Wednesday!

It appears that it's been one year since the last
Wonderfulicious Wednesday post! 


 Sunflower Series! 
Experimenting with Hipstamatic
and my new iPad Pro! 
Sergio Film, Cheshire Film


The Hipstamatic capture was featured on an Instagram Hub,
@Picturetokeep_edit
Sergio Lens, Sergio Film and then
edited in Distressed FX


Hipstamatic, Sergio Lens, Cheshire Film
Love the frame that is created with 
this formula. though, I often crop
it off. 



Hipstamatic Sergio Lens, Cheshire Film



Hipstamatic Salvador84 lens
C-type plate film
Salvador creates multiple exposures.



Camera + app
Edited in Distressed FX



Featured @BPA_Arts on Instagram.
Hipstamatic  Sergio Lens, Blackeys 44 Film

Monday, June 12, 2017

Eleven Months Later!

I wonder if I should just call it quits on this blog, or start posting again? It seems like too much work to keep this blog going  . . . when there aren't many readers. This was a place to post my photos and some of my other work, but for the last year Instagram has taken priority. Much easier to post one photo immediately on IG than to create a post here. But lately, IG has started to feel  . . . can't find the word, but not satisfying comes to mind. Perhaps my mindset has changed again? I'm a moderator on two Hubs/Galleries and started my own hub, #gobeyondthe_capture where I feature photographers work. About a gazillion years I used to curate photo exhibits so I love presenting exciting edited photos to the over 500 followers of the hub!
My two IG accounts are #gailpe and #dezert365

I've taken numerous photo classes in the last year and find that editing on the iPad is like a meditation. I've never been good at meditating but when I edit photos the focus is off of the myriad of issues that would love to take over my life.


Red Oleander photographed against a white background. Then a background was created with iPad apps, mostly Stackables and Mextures. 



A different capture of the red Oleander. Taken with the Hipstamatic app. Jane lens, Ina's 1982 film and Triple Crown flash and the edited in Mextures. 


A macro of a tiny bloom on a Society Garlic plant. Edited in Mextures
and Stackables. 


Very angry Oriole! Her mate was hogging the Hummingbird feeder. For the last few years a pair of orioles visits nearly every day from around May to Oct. They enjoy the feeder as much as the Hummers do, but there is only room for one Oriole at at time. 
Edited with Mextures, Stackables and Distressed FX.



For those who  have followed my blog since the beginning, this month marks the 5 year anniversary of the Breast Cancer episode! A very emotional month for me as it turns out. 
Please leave a comment if you think I should start to post here again. Hugs! 

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Wonderfulicious Wednesday


What? I haven't posted since mid June?
These days I mostly post on Instagram at @gailpe.
Dancing Leaves, above.



I have a penchant for decay and or withered botanicals. 
My gardener knows that if I have leaves on the patio table that
they're not to be cleaned up. Often, a leaf needs another day or
two of weathering.


I'm not sure which version of the Plumeria leaf I prefer. 
The leaf was so delicate that pieces of it started flaking off
before I got it into the house.
I created all of the backgrounds.



My guy planted a yellow hibiscus 8 years ago that hasn't grown much
over the years, in fact, it's shrunk and has nearly died a few times.
It rarely blooms. This year I severely cut back a red hedge
of hibiscus and fertilized them, a lot. The bushes have filled out
and bloomed like crazy. But until the last few weeks the struggling yellow bush
continued to look pathetic and then suddenly it started filling out and 
producing flowers. 
The macro above is unedited. I know, rare for me . . .



The center of the yellow hibiscus is spectacular! 
There is another yellow hibiscus in the yard, but it's 
center is yellow, nice, but a bit ordinary.





Continuing with my love of creating a series of images 
the Mexican Bird of Paradise bush started blooming  . . .
I only have one bush this year after the other one
drowned last winter when the pot didn't drain. 
Decayed flowers, above.



A single flower, sculptural, went through a variety of apps
to achieve the painterly/sketch effect.


When a bunch of flowers scatter
on the ground they become precious to me.



The above flower went through a few apps to give
it a painterly/sketch effect and then it needed a background.
The background was a long process of layering and layering and layering
textures and images. I imagine I'll use the background again someday.


And finally, a macro of the Mexican Bird of Paradise 
in all of its glory! This image is only tweaked a little
to bring out the texture and colors. 

I must have flowers, always, and always.
Claude Monet

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Sunday Sea Urchin Series/study


The temp hit 118 today! I rescued the above Cactus flower from the shade
before it wilted. Three other blooms didn't fare as well.
I  normally photograph the Sea Urchins in the
 garden; I prefer natural light.



I had plans for the day but the flowers "spoke to me." 
I tend to listen when photographs 
need to be made! 



The wilted flowers, above, are just as glorious as the full 
blooms are. I felt that they were every bit as much a gift
as the perfect flower was.


Macros of the wilted flowers.




While I have taken hundreds of photos of the
Sea Urchin flowers, aka Echinopsis, I rarely 
take macros of them. 


Studying the flowers from different angles  . . .
abstracting the flowers with a macro lens on
the iPhone . . 
New perspective!



I used only one app on the iPad to edit all of the images.
iColorama.


I ended up concentrating on macros rather 
than full frame photos.




I probably could have taken more than a dozen photographs
but in the end a challenge to create twelve forced me to 
think about each photo  . . .
Digital photography makes it easy to make numerous 
photos and then choose the best. I come from an era when film
slowed down the process, something I don't often do anymore. 



"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in
an ordinary place . . . I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do
with the way you see them." Elliott Erwitt


Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Wonderfulicious Wednesday



A challenging week made better by transforming photos!
Date Palms are an abundant crop in the Coachella Valley: I don't know
what the HOA was thinking when they planted Date Palm trees
in front yards. These aren't taken care of properly, sadly. 
Right now the dates look more like olives. Of course I had
to run the image through a few Apps.



I haven't done any macro photos in awhile; the perfect
subject is a yellow
Hibiscus from the garden
And then both a yellow and
red hibiscus . . .





Palm tree Vignette before pruning. 
iColorama, Mextures, and Stackables were used.


One of the lessons in Susan Tuttle's course is Self-portraits.
I'm fond of the painterly effect of this one.



Sill-life study of three miniature roses not much
 larger than a quarter along with a
pewter goblet that was mom's. 


Womderfulicious Wednesday!

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Wonderfulicious Wednesday

Wednesday is nearly over . . . 


Washingtonian Fan Palms are plentiful here in Coachella Valley.
This is the time of year that they're heavily pruned back; I love the way the
light hits the plumes.





Garden Vignette - Desert Landscape.


Photograph taken from the front yard and transformed using
a myriad of apps.



Back in the day . . . I worked in B/W only and spent hours in
a darkroom. I even played with Pinhole Cameras, but these days 
I'm enthralled with apps that make easy and superb Pinhole Camera images!






Because  the Sea Urchin Cactus have bloomed longer this year 
I've been able to try a variety of camera settings in Hipstamatic. 
I'm beginning to love B/W photography again.



Three still-life images based on the Susan Tuttle 
course I'm taking. 








And finally, Plumeria in the garden.
Photo-transformation.