Perfect imperfection and impermanence!
I was at the right place at the right time last week and was able to bring home this sweet bird nest that had fallen out of a tree at a friend’s house. Sadly, little egg shells were nearby. I intended to spend all of Mother’s Day morning in my garage studio photographing the nest (and beautiful Mother’s Day flowers from my daughter) using different lenses and backgrounds. However, rain and hail put a stop to the project after an hour.
Here are a couple lensbaby shots of the nest. More to come!
I finally upgraded my ON1 software to the latest version (there was a deal I couldn’t resist. . .), mostly because my photo group purchased some of their tutorials for us. I’ve just barely scratched the surface of the new interface and all the new filters (new to me, that is). One thing I have noticed is better performance than with my old version of the software.
I added a texture in Photoshop to this light box photo of weeds and then added another filter and a border in ON1 Effects. Fun! Now I just have to remember to use it . . .
I realized that I never did post the photo I used for my photo club’s self-portrait theme. So here it is:
I’m once again on the lookout for photos that have elements of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (imperfect, impermanent, incomplete). I recently gave a presentation to one of my photo groups on this topic, and next month we will all be bringing in our wabi-sabi photos. Here are a couple shots in and by the Drover’s Shed at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which show the process of weathering and decay over time.
The windmill:
The kitchen:
I had fun yesterday giving this butterfly a painted look with three textures and two different Topaz Impression filters. It somehow satisfies my childhood desire to be a painter.
Thank goodness I have some photos that have never seen light of day, because I have NOT been using my camera lately. Here is a shot of pussy willows from last month.
I’m back among the land of the living again! I haven’t quite returned to photography as yet, so today’s photo is a reworking of one I took last summer in Tucson. I played with it in Photoshop and added some textures to create a painterly look.
My friend, Debbie gave me some pussy willow branches, which I placed in water in the kitchen window. The buds are starting to open, so I took a few minutes to capture this one with my Lensbaby Velvet 56 in macro mode.
More branches in a jar. This was shot with the Lensbaby Edge 80 again, but then I used an oil painting filter in Topaz Impression and a Flypaper texture after that. Yup- just playing with sticks. . .
I had some fun with the edit on this iris photo. I took it into Topaz Impression twice (two different layers in Photoshop) and added a texture as well. This is therapy for me!