Company Came!

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Yesterday we woke up to a couple inches of snow on the ground- which quickly became 4 or 5 inches at least, as it snowed steadily all day.  It is super cold, as it was during and after our last snowstorm, so snow is still on the ground- unlike in our first two winters here, when it all melted away by noon. We are experiencing a real winter in the Arizona high country!

Around noon, my husband spotted this hawk sitting quietly on one of the birdhouses. It was snowing lightly at the time, and the wind was blowing.  I’m not sure if he was just resting or was waiting for the birds that frequent the bird feeders in this part of the yard. I posted a shot of him on Facebook, and it was suggested he was either a Copper’s hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. I didn’t enter the debate (I have no confidence in this area), but I did read that even experienced birders have trouble telling them apart.

For the above image, I cloned out all the distracting branches and the rocks on the hill in the background, and then added a texture at low opacity to make the background less stark. Below is a more natural photo- with the branches and background clutter.  Both photos were taken through a bedroom window, and he was definitely aware of my presence!

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Life in a Christmas Card

When I woke up this morning, our neighborhood looked like a Christmas card.  As a California transplant who has never lived in snow until the last couple years, I am enchanted by the transformation that takes places overnight. It snowed here a week ago, and parts of town were still covered- but we only had snow left in patches until this morning.  I put on my boots and went out with my warm jacket over my PJ’s and took some photos with my Nikon- but my favorite shot has to be this iPhone panorama.

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I did a quick HDR edit in Snapseed and posted it to Facebook.  As usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so brought it into Lightroom for some brightening and noise reduction. I then took it into Photoshop and applied some Topaz filters. First, I used Simplify to create more of a painterly look- and then Texture Effects, where I did a “from scratch” edit to bring in a texture that made it look like it was snowing.

And now it really does look like we live in a Christmas card!

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It is highly unlikely that we will have a white Christmas, but we are certainly enjoying the pre-Christmas snow!

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Mammoth Morning

When I’m staying with my daughter’s family at Yellowstone in the winter, I never get tired of going out on the porch in the early morning to check the view- the snow, the sky, and any wildlife that might be there.

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Painterly effects added in Topaz Impression, textures in Photoshop

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Home Grown Abstract

It was sooo cold when I went out front to shoot these curly tendrils on my spiky plant (someday I’ll find out what its called…) with my macro lens.  Although I’ve photographed them before, my attention was caught by the combination of curves and lines hit by the morning light.  The colors you see in the background were present in my photograph and accentuated by the Color Burst preset in Topaz Texture Effects, turning it into a little bit of art for a Wednesday morning.20151211-MMA_6849_melinda_anderson-Edit

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Hello, Sheep!

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I had fun with some creative edits on the above two shots using Topaz Simplify and textures.

The one below is probably my favorite edit. I used both Topaz Simplify and Impression, as well as textures. I desaturated the bright blue sky to create a monochromatic look, which is more pleasing to my eye.

20151128-MMA_6486_melinda_anderson-Edit-Edit And here is an edit of my sheep image from last Thursday’s post with a similar edit.

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Texture FX Fun

I love editing with textures, and the new Topaz program, Texture Effects, is giving me a whole new way of approaching the process.  You can start from scratch, making basic adjustments and then adding dust or scratches, lens leaks, vignettes, borders, and/or textures OR you can start with a filter preset and then adjust everything from there. There is a masking feature, which works well, except that you can’t use the bracket keys to control brush size (I usually choose to mask in Photoshop, because it’s easier for me).  You can upload your own textures into the program, as well as create your own presets, which you can choose to share with a community of other users of the program.  To be clear- it’s not just about textures- it’s other effects as well.  You might decide to not use a texture, but just other effects- or add your own textures in Photoshop afterward.  It’s a very flexible program! With that said, I will add that many members of the FB group devoted to this program have had technical issues with installing it and getting it to save their edits.  I have had no issues, thankfully.

So here’s an edit of a macro photo I snapped last weekend in our front yard (I think I used a filter and added 3 textures in Texture FX and then masked in Photoshop).

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A Weedy Walk

My husband and I took a short walk at Willow Lake last week.  We were hoping to view some migrating birds, but they seemed to be avoiding us. Of course there were weeds to photograph- one of my standard subjects for photos.  This weedy image was edited using the new Topaz Texture Effects, which I downloaded on a 30 Day trial.  It reminds me of some of my iPhone apps- what a fun new filter! I have only just begun to explore what it has to offer.

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Blowing in the Wind

Today’s photo was shot with my lensbaby and includes a couple leaves, part of a bunch I gathered while walking down our hill, and some old books of my mother’s (yes, I love to photograph old books!). Way in the back is a little clock- a gift from my god-daughter for hosting her wedding shower (8 years ago?!?). The wind was blowing into my garage studio, causing the pages and leaves to shiver and shift while I took the photo, making focusing with the lensbaby a fun challenge. Fall is slow to arrive this year, but it is on its way.

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