A Good Lensbaby 2.0 Shot

Canon 20D, Raw, Lensbaby, 1/20, ISO 200

I could not resist taking one last picture of this cactus plant. It is a good way to finish off the month. Plus it is a shot I took with my Lensbaby 2.0. That lens is a lot of fun to use. I still have a lot to learn but it is great to play with! I see they have a new fisheye lens. Maybe I can move up to one of the newer lenses some day. It was a cloudy afternoon so I raised my ISO a little for more light. It did the trick.  I brought it into Camera Raw and made just a few adjustments. In Photoshop I made a levels adjustment and it was ready to post!

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Using My +2 Macro Filter

Canon 20D, Raw, f/5.0, 1/1000, 58mm, ISO 200, +2 Macro Filter

I was looking for something to photograph today. I wanted some inspiration. I got it looking in my backyard at the Christmas Cactus. What changes it made in 2 days! I wanted to use the +2 macro filter with a very shallow depth of field. I am happy with the results.  I upped the green saturation a little and the contrast. I like what that did. I also like the angle of the sun lighting the leaves.

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Another Great Cactus

I took this photo a few weeks ago with my Lensbaby. I keep going back to it because I like it. I finally decided to share it with you today. It is a photo of a cactus we have had  for many years and it is now over 4 feet tall.  Every time we have moved it also moves.  It  looks like it has white hair growing on it. I wish I knew what this cactus is called, but I don’t know that much about plants. Those thorns are very sharp, whatever kind they are!  Awed that it was a 2 inch plant when we started…

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Another Up-Close Photograph

This appears to be the month of up close flowers! It is not intentional but I guess I will need to intentionally put a stop to it! This one, in case you you could not tell, is with the Lensbaby +10 macro filter. It is a photo of my mother’s Christmas cactus. These are buds  from which the beautiful pink flowers emerge. We are going up to Pasadena tomorrow and that is always a great place to take photos!

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A Christmas Cactus Blooms in April

This is my mother’s Christmas Cactus. I do not think it normally blooms this time of year. But, today is my mother’s birthday and she would be 86 years old. I think this is blooming in honor of her. She was such a beautiful person and I miss her very much. I took this with my 50mm lens. It is a great little lens and I am trying to use it more.

A blooming Christmas Cactus…

We had a great day at Robin’s house. There were a few family members missing, but it was fun and we shared a lot of laughs! My nephew Geoff and his girlfriend Randi went horseback riding with Robin and her daughter Lori.  They had a good time. It is a lot of work to prepare four horses to be ridden! It was a very hot day today but it cooled down this evening. We got home about 10:30 so that is why my post is so late! I should have a few good photos for you to see this week. 

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Isn’t This Amazing?

As I was looking at this cactus this morning I was amazed at what I saw. It has all of these perfect little concentric circles with needles forming a perfect design. Nature is a very amazing thing, isn’t it? Such symmetry! Things like this are all around us and we never notice them. What is that saying? Oh, yes – be sure to stop and smell the roses. We need to pay attention to them.

A common form in nature…

I took this photo in bright sunlight with a close-up filter of +2. It almost looks like it was taken at night with a flash! I have my first assignment to complete for the travel photography class. I will work on it later today.  Kyla and Donnan are enjoying the nice weather playing outside. I am completely stumped. I do not know what to write here. Maybe I should give this up – my life is too uneventful for a weblog.

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Very Colorful Cactus

I took this photograph of some cactus in my backyard. I had not photographed them before.  After looking at it, I thought I would play around with some filters and make them more colorful.  I think it came out very pretty and colorful. Those needles coming out are very long and very sharp – they hurt a lot! We have had this cactus for many, many years, along with several others. I believe I have shown you some of the other ones. I like to go in the backyard and walk around to see what I would like to photograph.

Beautiful, colorful, but dangerous cactus…

I have been wanting to go up to Knott’s Berry Farm. They have some nice little shops you can walk around and there is one store where they sell  all of the jams, jellies, etc. I love their apricot/pineapple jam and it is the only place where I can find it.  They make a good steak relish. The shops are outside of the main entrance. Maybe we can go this afternoon. If we do go, I will take my camera with me. Today is Shelley’s birthday. Larry asked me to make a cheesecake that we will take to her this evening. Oh well – I won’t bore you any further.

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A Very Prickly Pear

I went to the Shipley Nature Center yesterday morning at the west side of Central Park. The park is divided east and west by Goldenwest Street. They have trails you can walk on to go around the center. They also sell plants and books and things like that. They have naturalists who work there and visit to give lectures and they also have school kids come on field trips.  It was very dry there since it is the end of summer. I could not find their little lake! I took a few photographs and here is one of them.

A Scary Prickly Pear Plant

The purple flowers are very pretty. As you can see, there is no fruit right now. I would not want to fall into it! I am sure they warn the kids to be careful. We are planning on going up to Olvera Street later today if it does not turn too hot. My friend Carol will be going with us. Hopefully we can make it to Philippes for lunch! The trip is planned for taking photographs. We should get a lot of good ones, which I will share with you! 

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One Great Looking Succulent

Willie and I were out walking with the dogs yesterday on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Huntington Beach. It was a great day! This plant caught my eye. I loved the colors and the texture.  Again, I do not know what it is. I guess I always thought my mother would be around to answer these questions for me! Do you know what it is?

A Beautiful, Colorful Succulent

After I said all those nice things about Kyla the other day, I caught her in the kitchen last night munching on a baby back rib she had taken off of a platter on the kitchen counter. Of course we took it away from her. Donnan didn’t know what was going on at the time. Later that evening they were outside and he was barking at her a lot. I told Willie it was because he was mad at her for not letting him in on her plan so they could have shared before I came in and caught them! I have a busy week planned – lot’s of good photographs to take!

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Is This Too Phallus For You?

We had a client years ago who gave us this cactus after we sold her house in Santa Ana. She was a very nice lady, a retired teacher and a widow. She gave it to us because it embarrassed her – she thought it looked too phallus! We brought it home and put it next to our other cactus of the same species (I do not know what that is).  The other one is very tall (you can see it at  28/365) but this one didn’t want to grow tall, it decided to propagate!

Another Great Cactus

I was attracted to this because of the sun shining on it and the shadows. The shadows are being created by a ficus tree, a hanging spider plant and some geraniums in a pot.  I love what shadows do to a photograph. You can see others if you look through my photographs. Big week-end for studying math and taking photographs!

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Look at This Great Cactus

This cactus has been in our family for about 38 years. It has grown from three inches to three feet. I was sitting outside yesterday feeding the dogs when I looked over and saw the way the sun was hitting the cactus.  You  know me and shadows – I cannot resist a good one when I see it! The only problem I had was how to present it – color or black and white?  Well, you can see below what I decided.

Beautiful Cactus

I am going to go look for a new tripod today. My friend Carol and I are going to Calumet and Samy’s (for some hands-on) and then to lunch.  I spent most of the morning online looking, then she emailed me yesterday afternoon and wanted to know what kind of tripod I have because she is looking for one! Isn’t it a small world?  Well, we will have fun playing around and we always have a good time when we go to lunch together! Did you check out that New Moom last night?

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