Distractions needed

 Orvieto, Italy revisited. This photo was sent to the iPhone and edited using a lot of apps. of which I didn't take notes of. Too scattered.

 Taken with the iPhone and edited a lot! A cactus has decided that it needs to be taller than the roof top and it's nearly succeeded. I nearly missed a bloom that had grown for over a week and only opens for 24 hours. It's magnificent, but the background isn't.  Somehow I eliminated the cluttered background in PSE; I'm clueless about what I did, but it worked.

Another version of the same image.

So, why do I  need the distraction? I often think that I've aired too many personal things on this blog so when the latest challenge hit I went off of the radar. I don't even know where to begin so I'll just say that I'm dealing with breast cancer and so far I've had a mastectomy and will start chemo soon. It was discovered in mid-May. I'm still in shock.

Marilyn in Palm Springs

 The 25-foot high statue of Marilyn Monroe arrived from Chicago last month; she'll reside in Palm Springs for a year. We were driving by on the way back from the Aerial Tramway so I was able to get

2 photographs of her before the signal turned green. 

Digital Camera > iPhone > Camera+ > portrait. 2nd photo, Photo Noir. 3rd photo ?. 4th photo same as first.

 Earlier in the month, May 14th, downtown Palm Springs, Lulu's for lunch, outdoors. The misters were on, 109 temp, which makes for interesting photos.  Below, taken from same spot.

Memorial Day Weekend

 Memorial Day Weekend seemed the perfect time to finally take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to San Jacinto State Park; World's largest rotating tram cars. It was 85 degrees in the parking lot and when we traveled 2.5 miles in 10 minutes the temp plummeted to 35 degrees. It's been way too long since both of my daughters, son-in-law and 2 grandsons did something like this; it felt like a mini-vacation.

 We had an early dinner at the Peaks Restaurant and then ventured out onto the decks to take in the view and of course photograph.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a  very clear evening; the digital camera wasn't able to capture the images

I hoped for. I uploaded a quite a few photos to the iPhone and used Camera+ to improve the photos

with filters, mostly the clarity one.

 Lovely alpine mountains at the summit.

 The photo below: PhotoArtista > Impressionism.

It's Still Life begins June 3rd on The Pulse . I believe the Still Life I created will be posted 6/3. Thanks Seth!

May moon

 Usually the moon is either too high or low in the sky. And to think that I nearly missed getting some images with palm fronds in the foreground.

All hand-dyed, painted and stamped fabrics cut into strips and stitched together; it's a beginning.

 
Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.  ~Voltaire

Full Moon

 Nope, not taken with the iPhone. Full Moon, nearly.

Self-portrait. iPhone > Photoforge > grungestastic > image blender > camera+ filter, clarity.

Medium format camera, 1980's, black and white film, Shell Gas Station. Canon SX10IS, 2009, Italy. Fountain in Tarquinia. > iPhone > Image blender.

Garden Study

 As usual when the cacti are in bloom there is a race to take photos when the blooms are in shade and before they close up shop. This one nearly didn't happen. I was finished photographing so I barely aimed the iPhone and was blown away hours later when I discovered that the flower was perfectly positioned against a stone. Hipstamatic > Pic Grunger.

Photographed against the Agave is about all I know about this image.

Grapes on the vine growing up the post of the Pergola. Again, I don't know how many apps I used. Sometimes it's more fun to just try a lot of things rather than keep notes. (more photos over on my other blog. )

Apps. Recipe Book

A thirty minute study of the park next to the Library, La Quinta. Within a few yards I was able to capture numerous photos, all done blind due to the sun obscuring the iPhone screen. I was blown away by this one as I was only hoping for a decent image of the palm tree. Love the texture! The background was a plus. Apps: Camera+ image. and? I'm clueless as to what I did next.

 The goal for this one was to frame the Gazebo with the palm trees and hope that the fountain in the pond was in the image. Apps: Camera+ image cropped with clarity scene > ArtistaOil >; Oil portrait #4.

 Sculpture against mountains. Apps: Camera+ image > portrait scene.> and then?

Apps: Camera+ image > cropped > clarity scene.

More Apps recipes are posted below, on this blog, and on my other blog.

For this month's Apps Recipe Book be sure to check out the links on Dave's blog

Wing of an Angel

Sometimes it's good to sit at the computer and create with PSE. I'm enamored with the iPhone, so much so that I wonder if I'll remember how to take a photo with a digital camera; the brain cells aren't what they used to be.

Dave's April Recipe Apps Book

 April's Recipe App. Book will be posted on Dave's blog on April 25. I thought I'd get a jump-start.
Photo of twigs taken with Camera+ on the iPhone. Opened in Photoforge2 > pop! cam > color max cool > texture > paper 10 > frame.

 Every year when this cactus blooms I grab the camera and and try to outdo the images of the year before. I didn't have the iPhone last year; the blooms only last from sunrise to sunset. The photo was taken with Camera+ and cropped before saving it and opening it in Photoforge2. I chose Photoforge2 as the go-to app for April. White balance > Clarify > Fx > Gothic > pop! Cam > color max warm.

 Agave shot with Camera+, cropped, saved > Photoforge2 > shadows highlights adjusted > white balance > Gothic > texture, Paper 9 > frame, white.

I used this Pompeii image last month for the App Recipe Book and after using Photo Noir a few times I thought this image might be a good choice for Noir.

There are a few more photos on my other blog.

More Apps

 The bougainvillea blossoms are white, of course. The image was taken with Camera+ on the iPhone and then Gungetastic manipulated using various textures.

The top of a 27 year old Saguaro Cactus that was only one foot tall when I moved here; it obviously didn't like living along the foggy  Monterey Coast. The Saguaro proudly stands at 3 feet tall now. I have no idea how many apps this went through until I ended up with this. It's time to start thinking about removing the Cactus from the pot and putting it into the ground where it will live indefinitely.

April? Already

 My family survived March without any major event to add to the calendar of losses or surgeries. Yay! The sewing machine desk is looking very abandoned.

 This two fabric fragments are sitting on the sewing machine desk; I don't remember pulling them out of a drawer nor placing them on the desk.

View from the bed; I've spent a lot of time looking at that view lately. And yes that is a tall cactus nudging the pergola. Roger bought it three years ago when it was under a foot tall. It's had a baby that is already two feet tall. Grape vine on the upper right corner.

 Nearly didn't get the camera turned on fast enough to capture one image of this beautiful visitor to the hummingbird feeder.

Another iPhone image using mostly the Grungestastic app.

Thank you to the people who commented last month either on this blog or by email. I don't think I responded to everyone.

Nostalgia

 I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today; one year ago today "my guy" passed. A few months before he had the strokes that in the end were impossible to come back from we went to Italy. Our first night was spent at Hotel Stanley in Florence. The black and white photos, above, were the view out of the window. All of the photos  have been fused onto a piece of black fabric discharged with Thiox. I have no idea what black fabric I used, but it discharged to tan/white.

 Near the swimming pool there was a greenhouse that was used for storage. The design was on a panel leaning against the window. And near the greenhouse was a lily pond. I don't have a clue where this fabric is headed. For now I've put it aside.

 I couldn't resist playing with some iPhone apps of the first image.

Sketchbook app, on the Kindle Fire, has a few fun brushes that I tried out. The blue image is completely sketchbook created. The other two are Camera apps on the iPhone using the
 imported blue drawing.

R.F's Rose. The first bloom of the year happened on this day last year; this year the first
flower bloomed two days ago which marked the 12th anniversary of my father's death. (Camera+ app shot > scenes > clarity > borders > vignette.)

Vintage Fabric Challenge

Last month (Feb 15) I posted some images of this quilt, in its infancy. Well, it's grown up now and made it to the finish line albeit 22 days late. Chalk it up to a little of this, a little of that, and more of that getting in the way of creative time.

 I was hoping for a curvy bottom closer to how the left edge turned out, but the bottom ended up slanting.

 Rather than attaching a hanging sleeve the finished piece is currently a dust cover for the Janome.

Thank you Karen and Rayna for the challenge. Check out Karen's blog to see more challenge pieces.

App Recipe Book at Dave's

It's time for Dave's App Recipe Book over on  http://www.clearerreflections.com/   Photo taken with a digital camera.Coliseum Pompeii, Italy. Imported to iPhone. Pic Grunger App > aged > border. This is more like Pompeii felt to me. I can't even imagine what the last days of Pompeii must have been like. For a collection of videos go here.

Another digital camera image of Pompeii. Two photos layered in ArtStudio; a fresco over a photo of columns Contrast adjusted > camera+> Scene > portrait.

This is the photo layered with the fresco, above. This version started in Grungetastic >; Style >; distressed #6.> Camera+ > scene >; clarity

Pompeii meets Orvieto, Italy. Another digital camera image. Layered in ArtStudio > adjusted for brightness. More photos on my other blog.

Decay

Sometimes when life isn't going in a doable direction a bit of decay seems to invade my brain; then It's time to breathe deeply and push the decay out before it settles in permanently. Apps turned what might have been a mundane image of two pink puffs on a vine into a depiction of how my body presently feels. And if I'm to believe Miller's quote, below, possibly the present condition will evolve into something wonderful.

quote:

I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth.”

Henry Miller  The white elegant blooms of the bougainvillea are difficult to photograph; the leaves are windblown and the brick wall often peeks through the foliage. This is the mood I was looking for when I photographed the spray of blooms at sunset. One layer of texture added in PSE was all it took.