Beyond Beyond 7

Our challenge this week was to start with a photo taken by Kim- and edit it our own way. I pretty much dreaded this one- not fun for me, because it brings up some nagging little fears of being compared to others.  I accidentally saw a couple edits on Flickr today while I was looking at my phone- oh no- they were really good!  I knew then that I had to start when I got home and not allow myself to look at any more.  Later, I will go back and learn from what others have done.

Here is Kim’s original photo- unedited except for white balance.

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I went several different ways with my edit- a vibrant punchy way, a soft dreamy way, and, finally, a black and white with purple added to the shadows, which is my favorite.

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I cropped and straightened, adjusted exposure and contrast, added a bit of clarity and grain- and then converted to black and white, adding a slight purple hue to the shadows.  In Photoshop, I did not add a texture, but used one of Kim’s new brush overlays (really like them!) on two layers, multiply and soft light blend modes.

So there you have it!

Melinda7 Comments

Pacific Beach

We enjoyed beautiful weather with temperatures in the high seventies in San Diego- it is much cooler now.  On our last day, we drove over to Pacific Beach- warm sand, crashing waves, and fun people-watching!  I had a great time photographing Crystal Pier and, according to my family,  was causing the lifeguard some concern as I was crouching in front of the waves trying to get the best photographic angle. I was in photography heaven and had no idea he was watching me. I would love to go back there at sunset one day.

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Melinda2 Comments

Beyond Beyond 6

The challenge for this lesson was “From Above”- taking a photo looking down at the subject.  Because of my San Diego trip, I didn’t have a chance to go through the lesson until yesterday, so am trying to catch up and get it done before today’s lesson is posted. So yesterday afternoon I stood on my cedar chest to take this shot of blossoms in a glass jar, placed on my mother’s marble top table.

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Textured with Kim Klassen’s Anna texture.

Melinda6 Comments

Orchids

The Botanical Building at Balboa Park was one of the highlights of our San Diego trip. Orchids were everywhere! For Texture Tuesday, I textured this image with 3 layers of Kim Klassen’s Sybil (my new go-to texture. . .) , using different blend modes and opacities.

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Melinda9 Comments

Baby Panda!

We returned last night from a short trip to San Diego to visit our son, Matt.  One of the things we were most looking forward to was a visit to the San Diego zoo to see the seven month old baby panda, Xiao Liwu.  We arrived at the zoo early, knowing that the baby was only on display for three hours in the morning, and we headed directly to the Panda Pavilion.  There were short lines to walk by baby and mama, and we were able to go through twice.  There were some unbelievably long lenses in the crowd- but I think I was able to get good shots with just a 200 mm.  The shot below is probably my favorite.

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Baby is learning to climb trees, and, according to the guide, falls many times a day, thus learning about gravity (!).  He was up pretty high when we moved on, and we were glad to miss the expected tumble.

Photography/computer note:  Before we left, I bought a new external hard drive for photo storage, because the old one was almost full.  Unfortunately, I don’t have enough room to upload all my San Diego photos until I get the new hard drive hooked up.  Expect to see more San Diego photos in the week ahead, as I get them uploaded.

Melinda5 Comments

CM Monthly Challenge- Food Photography

February was Month 2 of our Clickin Moms Monthly Challenge blog circle. Food photography (and cooking)- not my area of expertise, although I love to look at food blogs and collect recipes from online. Soooooo. . . I chose an easy subject- a scone from Heavenly Cafe and coffee from our new coffeemaker. And yes, that scone was indeed heavenly!scone layout

To see some yummy food photos, visit Misty’s blog and then follow the links from there to see the whole circle!

Melinda11 Comments

More Beach Photos

Today I’m posting a few more photos from when we went over to Bodega a week or so ago. I don’t know why these poles were sticking out of the sand, but I love the lines against the sky, ocean, and beach.

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We watched this surfer for an hour, and he never made it upright.  The waves were huge, and it seemed to take forever for him to get out past the big ones (which you can’t see in any of these shots).

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I said no seagull photos- but here is one anyway. . .

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Melinda4 Comments

Practice Makes Perfect

My friend, Tra needs a new headshot for her website, so I agreed to meet her and have a little portrait session.  When I got there, she told me she had changed her mind and just wanted to talk- so that’s what we did.  But, while we were talking I took a few practice photos.  This one is my favorite- I think it gives you a glimpse of her beautiful spirit shining through her eyes.

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Tra likes it too- so now we’re going to do another one- for REAL this time!  I’ll keep you posted!

Melinda6 Comments

Beyond Beyond 5

This week’s Beyond Beyond (2B) challenge was to find the best light in your house- and to practice some Photoshop tricks to add more light to photos. I am pretty familiar with the light (and lack of light) in my house at different times of the day after having done a Project 365 for two years, so concentrated on the Photoshop techniques.  I used the Sybil texture, as well as a white gradient to enhance the window light that was already present in this macro of a sea urchin from my shell collection.

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And here’s a black and white version of the same photo (almost the same processing).

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Melinda8 Comments

Hanging On

It amazes/amuses me to see bare trees with just a leaf or two just hanging on throughout autumn and winter when the rest have all fallen and been swept or blown away.  There’s a lesson there somewhere. . .

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Textured with Anna from Kim Klassen’s Downton Abbey collection.

Melinda4 Comments

More Blossoms

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The above is another view of a plum blossom- converted to black and white.

And below is a macro of a blossom on the verge of blooming!  I textured this one with two layers of Daisy and just a touch of Anna, whom I added because I like her so much better than Daisy 🙂 ( from the Downton Collection by Kim Klassen)!

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Melinda4 Comments