I ventured no farther than my back deck today to take this closeup of my wind chimes. I then had fun with Aperture and Photoshop changing things up a bit- creating a black and white image with textures and pink tones.
Day 287- Buzzzzz
Not sure what this is- bee? hoverfly? But there were a bunch in the camellias today.
f/5.6, 1/200, ISO200, 85mm
Day 286- Just look!
Hadn’t done my photo yet, husband comes home wanting us to go to the gym, want to get a photo quickly, go outside, watch birds and squirrels, then come across THIS!
I know I’ve done webs and “fairies” before- but WOW- look at that bokeh! There was just ivy and a fence behind it, no water drops, no colored lights- no clue where all that bokeh came from. It is amazing to me the things you see when you LOOK! And now- off to the gym! 🙂
Day 285- Leaves and Bokeh
Awhile ago, I joined a Flickr group called Bokeh Wednesday and haven’t participated. I like having a topic to fall back on for those days when my photography mind is blank (uh. . . that would be most days. . .). A busy day is ahead of me, so I considered my options, grabbed my zoom lens, and went outside early this morning in search of BOKEH.
Of course, there has to be an interesting foreground subject as well- a little difficult in my backyard these days. After zooming in on boring green or bare branches for awhile, I finally settled on the few colored leaves that are way up high in our oak tree. And thank goodness there is a small degree of bokeh-ness in the photo as well- nothing to submit to the group, but the topic got me started today.
f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 320, 200mm
Day 279- Magnolia Fruit
Since I didn’t participate in Texture Tuesday this week, here is a textured treatment of a photo I took today of the fruit of the magnolia tree (looks like a pinecone). I split-toned the image in ACR and added Kim’s bent edges– my favorite of all her textures.
Day 272- No place like . . .
I took a morning walk today, determined to get out of my rut of taking photos in our backyard. I spent some time on shots of our neighbor’s Japanese maple, as well as pampas grass, fences, bees, flowers etc. in the neighborhood. As I returned home, I liked the way the plantings on the edge of our front yard look like a forest, so I took a few shots. And those are the ones that I ended up using. No apologies, no excuses- I just like this photo best!
Day 270- Autumn Love
Texture Tuesday’s theme is LOVE this week. Since I LOVE autumn (my favorite season), I went outside, looked down and snapped this quick photo. Why did I look down? None of our autumn colored leaves seem to stay on the trees in our yard- they just immediately fall off. . .
I textured this photo with two layers of Kim’s autumn burst and 2 layers of fall in. Follow the link on the right to Kim’s Cafe some beautiful textured photos.
Day 269- Down Under
TGIMM!
(Thank God It’s Macro Monday)!
I seem to be drawn more to the details than the big picture, so it’s a big relief to me when Macro Monday rolls around. I always forget to link to Lisa’s Chaos, where Macro Monday resides- so this week I’m not! If you have time, follow the links on that page to some beautiful macro photos.
Day 268- Branch Bokeh
The drooping branches of my favorite Maytens tree often provide beautiful bokeh backgrounds for photos taken in our backyard. Today, I decided to use them as the foreground to go along with the theme for my ODC Flickr group- Starts with B.
So- now presenting Black and White Branches with Bokeh!
Day 265- 100 More Days!
Project 365 2011 is 100 Days away from completion! I am feeling such a sense of satisfaction from having honored my commitment to take a photo every day and post it, while improving my camera skills! I’m celebrating Day 265 by changing the look of my blog (or not. . .). I’m experimenting with WordPress themes, so not all my links are showing up. Bear with me as I play with this!
Today I am using the topic from Our Daily Challenge on Flickr- From Ground Level. I took a beach towel and lay on our lower patio, aiming the lens one of the leaves that is starting to litter our grass. Definitely a bug’s eye view!
Day 264- Hummmmmmm
My constant backyard visitor. . .
Day 263- Shrouded
Yes, I know I have photographed these webs before- but our yard is SHROUDED with them, and the spiders are HUGE! I feel like I am in a science fiction movie.
Today is Texture Tuesday, so I added one layer of Kim’s tattered texture using the color burn mode. This was the first time I had used color burn, which I thought did a nice job of adding some interest in the non-bokeh part of the photo (I masked off some of the texture in the rest of the image).
Day 262- A Good Sign?
I spotted this yesterday in the bushes by our driveway. I think it’s supposed to be a sign- good things to come? an angel nearby? Anyway, it made me smile, so here is my macro shot for today-
f/3.8, 1/200, ISO200, 85mm
Day 261- I spy with my little eye. . .
I seem to have a yard full of spiders- there are webs and BIG spiders everywhere! I was very glad to spot this little guy, who was eyeing me as I was eyeing him! FYI, WordPress thinks eyeing is misspelled- but dictionary.com says eying and eyeing are both correct. Just so you know. . .
f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 200, 85mm
Day 259- Hard at Work
I found this rather large spider working hard in my garden this morning (with two more nearby!). I didn’t really get the shot I wanted (a closeup of a spider spinning a web- all in focus). When I increased the depth of field (closing down the aperture) on later shots, she was moving too fast for the slower shutter speed required. So, I settled for the shallow depth of field. BTW, this photo was not cropped, other than making it square (yes, I was THAT CLOSE!).
Big news in my Flickr world: yesterday’s photo of the day was “Explored”! Not really sure what it means, but I know it’s good. . .
melinda anderson photography 