Day 233- Monday Morning

My husband and I took our coffee down to the water off 12th Street today and were early enough to wake up the Canadian geese and watch the fishermen setting up their poles.  I took some bracketed shots, thinking I would do some HDR work, but ended up playing with my Color Efex Pro demo that I got (for free!), because I’m going to see Scott Kelby Wednesday (love you, Scott- sorry about what I said yesterday. . .).  I’ve had the Nik Software collection on my wish list for over a year (it is EXPENSIVE!), so I’ve loved using this demo version for the last month.  I think it doesn’t expire- it is just not the complete set. I can report that it is all it’s hyped up to be.

I did my regular Lightroom adjustments, and then went into Photoshop to apply the filter (I could have gone straight from LR, but I needed to do a bit of cloning).  The filter I used on this photo is aptly called Monday Morning, and I love its “instagram-ish” look.  One of the sliders is called smear!  I turned it down a bit, but otherwise kept everything full strength.

Happy Monday!

And here is another shot that I also edited in Color Efex Pro- to bring out the color and detail in the shadows.

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Day 232- Flower Rebel

Yesterday I watched an episode of The Grid with Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski.  It was one of their blind critique episodes, which I always find a bit irritating (even though I have learned SO MUCH from those two- and this week I get to see Scott in person!).  They totally dismissed flower photography, because flowers are naturally pretty and all have been photographed before.  And you should never photograph a flower with spotty irregularities on it.  I get their point, but there are some wonderful flower photos out there.

My intention was to go down to the waterfront at sunset tonight, but I’m losing steam.  In desperation, I took some shots in our yard of an oleander just budding. I know, I know- it not only has flowers, but the most mundane of flowers!  But I liked how the late afternoon sun was lighting it. It was windy, which made my attempt to do a macro shot of a moving target a kind of comedy of errors !

Since the oleander is white and the background turned black when I shot it, I decided to turn these into black and whites.  Feeling rebellious, I chose to not use the spot healing brush on these flowers, which I normally would have done. There are specks of dirt on the blossom!!!

I like the lighting on this one. . .

 

and the shape (of the same bud) in this shot.

 

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Day 231- Saturday Scenes

Cloud formations and the promise of a good view led my husband and I to the vista point overlooking the Benicia Bridge and Suisun Bay this morning.

Here is a view of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet and Suisun Bay.

And here is my favorite shot- the Benicia Bridge with a view of Mt. Diablo.  After this shot was taken, we got in the Prius and drove across the bridge to buy new shoes for both of us- and to shop at the Pleasant Hill Farmers’ Market.  All in all, a good morning!

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Day 230- Low Carb/Schmo Carb

I have been going through my low carb cookbooks trying to get inspired.  I feel better and am definitely more healthy the more I stick to a low carb diet (and when I exercise).  Arthritis in my knees, hips, and feet has been my excuse for not exercising as diligently lately- and I have been very bored with my low carb diet.  The Shutter Sisters prompt today was cooking, which I certainly do- but I decided to focus on the low carb issue for this photo.  I chose these cookbooks, because the bottom one is 15 minute recipes (yay!)- and the top one has photos of wine and chocolate chip cookies on the cover (double yay!).  Please note that the cookbooks are placed next to the microwave, because some days (okay, MOST days) I just want to get the cooking over with and move on to the eating!

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Day 229 Tabletop

Tabletop photography is the topic for today in my Flickr group, Our Daily Challenge.  I could swear this basket was made by Shakers or some other very American group, but it was, not surprisingly, made in China.

 

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Day 228- A Walk by the Water

My photo buddy Carol and I took a walk by the water today- always a great place for photography, even at midday.

I couldn’t help taking fence photos on our walk to the park.

Anise is always abundant by the water; this time I converted my photo to a black and white.

My pesky Canadian geese friends were there again. I liked this view of them best (Carol got some beautiful shots of them in flight with her D800).

And here is Carol taking a closeup shot of a feather in the weeds!

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Day 227- Texture Tuesday


The theme for this Texture Tuesday over at Kim Klassen’s Cafe is Look Down.  The photo was taken looking down at the edge of my tub this morning.  It is textured with two layers of Kim’s subtlely yours, both using soft light, the second at 50% with some masking.  Two notes- I used my flash (it was just too dark at 7:00 a.m.), and I “stretched the canvas” using free transform, because I didn’t want the edge of the tub to show (and I actually knew I was going to do that when I took the photo!).

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Day 225- Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . .

Friday’s  photos of Olivia riding are still being culled and edited. I took way, way too many, most on burst mode, because I didn’t want to miss anything- and I am finding more and more keepers.

So I am posting a few more, followed by an animated GIF of her riding. I have no idea if the animation will show up on phones- so we’ll just have to see.  I put together a random sequence and realized afterward I should have used some of the later shots where she was doing some fancier stuff (cantering with lead changes). Next time- video!

And before I forget, here is my photo of the day of one of my fading mums, to satisfy the topic, delicate.

 

And now, back to Olivia. . .

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 224- Open

I’m sure I’ve written about my favorite piece of furniture before- the one hundred year old mahogany dental cabinet that belonged to my father.  It sits by the front door and holds drawerfuls of family memories- as well as some old liqueur glasses behind the little glass doors above.  I took this photo for today’s Flickr topic- open.

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Day 223- Olivia

Olivia has been a part of my life since before she was born.  I became friends with her mom, Barbara, when she joined our staff as a first grade teacher. At the end of the next year, Olivia was born.  My daughter was her babysitter when she was just a few months old, and I became her teacher when she went to first grade.

Olivia always loved horses- and still does at age twenty-one.  But how she got to be twenty-one so fast I do not understand! She goes to college, works at Fed Ex, is a Cross Fit trainer, and does work at the stable so that she can ride.  She is beautiful with a great head on her shoulders- I’m so proud of her!

Today, her mom and I drove over to Sonoma where Olivia gets to ride Peru.  I know nothing about horses, but I do know this one is gorgeous! I took over 600 photos during the hour Olivia put him through his paces.  Here are just a few:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 221- Pattern

Pattern is the topic for today. The tablecloth I had placed under my mums for my photo from the other day is still sitting out, and the pattern in the lace caught my eye.  I used my fabulous 50mm 1.4 to capture this shot.

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Day 220- Journey

Our son, Matt, is coming home tomorrow to celebrate his 35th birthday (a couple weeks late).  These are the shoes he wore on his first birthday.

My husband suggests I should have polished them before photographing them! There is a texture added- so they’re not quite as grungey as they look here!

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Day 219- Still Life

Still in the mood for still life. . .

I am attempting to not always go way in tight for a shot, which is my tendency.  I took photos of these mums from all angles and distances- and this one is in the middle ground, not too close, not too far away.  I added some textures for a bit of a painterly look.

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