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. 

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Wonderfulicious Wednesday and June!




More Photo Explorations.

 Windswept Photo-transformation created from 4 images and
apps. The barn is another of my Dad's birdhouses superimposed into a scene
photographed from a car back in the 90's; I was the passenger. 
The tree was extracted from a background. The birds-on-the-wire are an
app. iColorama painterly effect.


 

I  have a few metal sculptures created by a former husband. Talented.
I tried to superimpose the Victorian house into a landscape  . ..  nope, didn't work.
Brainstormed and at 2am an idea struck. 
The background texture was created by layering a lot of
textures in iColorama and Stackables then superimposed with the Victorian house. 
Deco Sketch for the lines, Reflect for the reflection and some fog added. 
The birds are from my collection of photos.




Cerseus blooms! If I don't get up early enough I miss the night bloomers!
The one above was in the process of closing up after spending the night in
full bloom. 


A record 14 blooms over 5 days!
Painterly effect for these 2.


Missed the full blooms, but
these greeted me early one morning.
Painterly effect.







Found Twig.
Tree series.


Another version of the delicate flower atop of a
prickly Barrel Cactus.