I Broke Out the Lensbaby Today

Canon 20D, Raw, Lensbaby, 1/60, ISO 200, Imageomic

I broke out the Lensbaby today to take this photograph of the Christmas Cactus that is just about to bloom. It was my mother’s plant and I know she would love what it looks like now. It is changing day-to-day and I like going outside in the morning and seeing what is new. I like the Lensbaby and it has been a few months since I used it. I opened the image in Camera Raw and cropped it a little. In Photoshop, I ran my Nik filter then I upped the green and red saturation a little, ran my noise reduction (I use Imageomic) then a little smart sharpen.

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Another Christmas Cactus

It is not really another one, it is the same one I photographed at the beginning of the month. My Sherpa (Willie) has been bugging me every day for a week to photograph the Christmas Cactus (schlumbergera bridesii) again because it is blooming so much more. It is a cold windy day so it was difficult to shoot. I had to take several shots so I would not have too much of a lens flare.  The colors and contrast are very pretty. I am happy with the results. I guess Sherpa’s do not steer you wrong!

A beautiful fuchsia Christmas Cactus…

We had a good time at Mary and Howard’s yesterday. My other brother (Frankie) was there along with nephews, niece and the whole crowd. The traffic was not as bad as on Thanksgiving and luckily there was not much rain. It is a beautiful day today. The sky is clear and the sun is bright. It helped make for a good photograph. Willie and I and the dogs will have a great day today!

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My Mother’s Christmas Cactus

This is my mother’s Christmas Cactus that she had for many years. I realize that it doesn’t look like it has been around very long. Two years ago it was big and beautiful with a lot of blooms. Last year some snail or worm or something ate it and it was very close to death. She gave it to Willie to see if he could nurse it back.  She died in January so he was not able to give it back to her. It is coming back and I wish it were on her patio instead of ours.

Christmas Cactus in the early morning sun…

Larry and Shelley will be leaving in just under two weeks. They are very excited (I don’t blame them) and ready to go! We will miss them, but that is alright. Larry went to England  with a friend at Christmas three years ago. They spent the time going to soccer games! We all survived! I finished my Flash project last night. It came out good but it was so much work for what it is. It was fun learning and that is the reason I do it. What will I photograph today?

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