Beyond Beyond 38- Triangle Composition

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I used more of my finds from my walk last weekend to create this still life, using a triangle composition, which was part of this week’s Beyond Beyond lesson. I then textured it with magicfilm, one of Kim Kassen’s magic textures from her Cloth and Paper collection.

Another part of the lesson was on using the Wacom tablet, which inspired me to hook mine up again.  I normally use it a lot, but I had not really arranged my desk the way I like it since I moved in- and the tablet wasn’t being used regularly.  I have carpal tunnel and other hand issues, so using a mouse isn’t a good idea for me.  My desk is now clean and organized, and my Wacom is back where it belongs.

Linking up today with Texture Tuesday

Melinda10 Comments

Hello, 2014!

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It all begins today- another chance to get it right this time.  Actually that happens at every moment, but the coming of the new year reminds us of our opportunities to start over or improve our lives.  I have no resolutions yet for this year.  There is an internet thing, at least among some creative folks, to choose one word to focus on for the year.  This didn’t work for me last year- I forgot what it was!  Maybe it was move!  Move would be a good one for this year too, in the sense of exercising more.  I’ve thought of health, commitment, create, do.  I can’t seem to make up my mind.  Kim Klassen also asked us to list 14 things we want to happen in 2014.  Maybe that one will get done (can you see why commitment might just have to be my word?).  I’m still pondering my list- but health and commitment are right up there.

Today’s photo was taken last month at my friend, Carol’s house (she will be surprised to see it here!).  It is textured with bamboo from Kim Klassen.

Much joy and happiness to you all in 2014!

Melinda2 Comments

Looking Back

I seldom take photos in our back yard.  When you look out our back windows you see a nice patio, a low wall, some rocks, a couple birdhouses- and then an abrupt rock covered slope.  One of this week’s Flickr topics is looking back, so I decided to do a literal interpretation and take a photo looking into the backyard. I actually looked UP and back and found a tree (ours? our upslope neighbors’?) which I liked silhouetted against the blue sky. I had fun doing a collage of two different photos of the same tree in color and black and white, then added two layers of anne and one of she loves you yeah from Kim Klassen.

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I’m linking up with Friday Finds on kimklassencafe.com.

Melinda3 Comments

‘Twas the day after Christmas. . .

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great day- full of gifts, cooking, and eating- and we even caught a movie! It was just the three of us- my husband, our son and myself.  We were sorely missing a big chunk of our family (our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons), but were able to connect with them through facetime, texted photos, and a phone call. All in all a lovely day.

Today’s photo is a detail from the beautiful and fragrant sage wreath made by our daughter for our front door. It is so pretty- and so special to us because she made it herself!  Thanks, Caity! <3<3<3

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Textured with ecru from Kim Klassen’s Cloth and Paper collection.

Melinda1 Comment

Catching up

Inspired by my friend, Carol’s posting of her overlooked (and gorgeous!) hummingbird photos,  here are a few of my photos from the last couple weeks that didn’t make the blog:

Another view from our driveway – notice the P for Prescott on the hill-

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A leaf on our snow day-

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Two more driveway views (I’m lazy that way. . .), at sunrise-

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Top photo textured with ecru from Kim Klassen; bottom photo textured with Mumbai, Depression Glass, and Brood from Jessica Drossin

Melinda1 Comment

I Heart Christmas

My talented and creative friend, Debbie, made this sweet ceramic heart for our Christmas tree this year. In fact, if you walk around my house, you will see quite a few items handmade by Debbie! We are so lucky! ❤

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Textured with rue, magic film, and desert from Kim Klassen’s cloth and paper collection.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday.

Melinda8 Comments

Carol’s Hummer

We are visiting California this week (my husband has a business meeting), so we spent the night at my friend, Carol’s house. Carol is an avid photographer and lover of all things BIRD. She rescues hawks, and is the official photographer for the California Foundation for Birds of Prey. She is also the proud owner of Bobo, an Amazon parrot who is the real caller of shots at Carol’s house. I have photographed Bobo before for this blog, so today I took some photos in Carol’s back yard, which is a haven for the hummingbirds who bathe in her fountain and eat out of her feeders. Carol let me play with two of her favorite lenses (attached to my camera), the Nikon 70-200 f4 and the 24-70 f2.8, both of which are fabulous. The photo below was taken with the 70-200 and edited with Snapseed on the iPad.

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Melinda3 Comments

Snowy Marigold

Our first snow seems to have finished off the last surviving bunch of marigolds, unwatered and forgotten, but still blooming out front.

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Textured with several layers of Kim Klassen’s rue, altered to have golden tones.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday.

Melinda4 Comments

Yellowstone Winter

The scenes below are now covered by a deep blanket of new snow (with temperatures far below zero), but, during my visit a week ago, only the mountains were completely covered.

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The top photo was edited in Photoshop with textures from Florabella and Jessica Drossin.

Melinda3 Comments

Looking at Ice

Being able to experience life through the eyes of a two (almost THREE!) year old was one of the pleasures of spending a week with my grandsons at their home in Yellowstone.  The snow was almost gone when we got there, but Henry had a great time stomping on ice and watching the cracks form as we took a walk one day.

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Textured with two layers each of cool grunge and sybil, from Kim Klassen for Texture Tuesday.

Melinda6 Comments

The Leaf

My husband found this beautiful leaf in our driveway and brought it to me, knowing I would want to photograph it.  I’m still experimenting with the newer version of Photoshop that I got through my Creative Cloud subscription, so I had a lot of fun adding an artistic filter and several of Kim’s textures, including two magic versions of 1301 I “created”, KK2, and partings.

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Melinda5 Comments

Beep beep!

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Roadrunners are welcome visitors to our yard; there were actually two running around the day I shot this photo.  There was harsh, contrasty lighting that day, so I had to bring out the shadows and lower the highlights to get a usable shot.  This version was also textured with grunged by Kim Klassen, and a black and white adjustment layer at soft light blend mode was also used on the feathers.

Why did I do so much editing on this simple image?  Because I finally got PHOTOSHOP CREATIVE CLOUD!!!!!  I was unable to get the low monthly deal before, because I had the educator’s version of Photoshop, making me ineligible.  I would have had to purchase the entire Creative Suite and pay $30.00 a month- NO WAY!  But there is a Black Friday deal going on right now which lifts the restrictions on the 9.99 photographers’ package of Lightroom and Photoshop until December 2.  I am finally happy with Adobe again. So, if you didn’t know about this deal- now you do!

 

Melinda4 Comments