Unhinged
Spotted at the Independence Mine in Alaska
Born to Be Wild
Until we moved to Arizona, I had never heard of Apache Plume- but now I photograph the seed heads every summer. We have a big shrub of this native plant in front of our house. I can’t say it is lovely to look at as a landscape element- but the craaaazzzy seed heads and little flowers are quite captivating!
Exotic
I can remember a time when orchids were considered exotic- and I only saw them in corsages, which I thought were pretty ugly. Now you can buy them at the grocery store, although I’m sure many species ARE exotic and are only available from specialty nurseries. I like them now, although I still think they look like they have mean faces.
Les Fleurs
Spring is here- so I’m continuing on with flowers today. Here is a lensbaby daisy photo in black and white. I recently updated Lightroom and decided to use one of the new “artistic profiles” for this image. I’m not thrilled with where they have placed these in the adjustment panel (or even that they are IN the panel. . .), but I do like the improved ability to preview changes- and also adding Dehaze to the basic panel (where it belongs!).
Pastel
A return to doing what I love- soft and dreamy flowers. For this one I used my Lensbaby Velvet 56, which I have never fully explored. When I joined my photo group, it seemed that there was such an emphasis on sharpness- that I started working on my landscape photography more and more- and I mostly left my lensbabies behind. It has been fun this week to once more embrace my love of BLUR!
More Bits of Autumn
A lensbaby view of the trail in Watson Woods
White
My beautiful Valentine’s Day tulips are fading, so I took the time to trim stems and take a few Lensbaby shots.
Out of Context
As I look out at the melting snow, this image seems out of place- yet I did take it a week or so before Christmas. Let it serve as a reminder that the days are now getting longer, spring is on its way, and the strange, turbulent, and sad year 2016 is almost over.
Shot with Lensbaby Velvet 56
Keys . . . and Twigs
The theme for my AAUW photo group today is Locks and Keys. I selected several past images of padlocks to bring, but then I decided that, since I wanted to play with my Lensbaby Edge 80, I would take a couple photos of keys to bring as well.
After taking a few shots of keys spread out in different configurations, a small branch I have on my shelf of props caught my eye. I ended up hanging keys on twigs, and came up with these two images:
When I was all finished shooting, I combined two other images in camera, which I then converted to a split toned black and white in Lightroom. What looks like an added texture is actually the garage floor!
Lost and Found
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!
Lensbaby Tree
I love trying to create impressionist effects with my Lensbaby.
I took the photo above a bit farther by editing it in Photoshop and Topaz Impression.
Out of Town!
On Saturday, Lonnie and I got OUT OF TOWN! After a couple weeks of illness- and then a water leak which will eventually lead to our floors being replaced- we were more than ready for an outing. We didn’t go far- just southeast to the town of Superior to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, where we walked and walked and walked admiring all the different cacti and wildflowers. It is a beautiful spot! I took dozens and dozens of photos; it felt so good to get out and use my camera again.
These rocks form the backdrop of the state park, which is right by the highway. Octotillo was in bloom everywhere!
I brought my Lensbaby Edge 80 along too, which I used on these flowers (along with a bit of enhancement from Topaz Impression).
Flower and Sticks Times Two
I was somehow compelled to stick a sunflower in with my branches and kind of liked the contrast between the shapes (and of course the lensbaby blur). So here is the result- two ways.
Playing with Sticks
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. . .
Tulip Impressions
What can I say?- I am in the mood for BLUR!
These photos were shot with the Lensbaby Velvet 56; the resulting softness was further emphasized by editing with Topaz Impression.
