What is This Lensbaby Photo Of?

Canon 7D, Raw, Lensbaby +4 Macro Filter, 50mm, 1/500, ISO 800, Curves adjustment

What do you think of my little unknown object? Can you tell me what it is? I would love to hear your guesses. I came across this totally by accident and was very surprised at its appearance. It is unusual. I used my lensbaby. I enjoy seeing the images I can get with it. I did a curves adjustment in Photoshop just to make the background more white. It was too blue. I used a higher ISO because it was late in the day and cloudy. I am happy with the result. I love the Canon 7D and I try to learn one new thing about it each day. I will be taking many days to learn it all, if ever.

400/365

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!

388/365

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.

380/365

Heavenly Bamboo

I was out walking in my front yard today looking for something to photograph. There are a lot of things and I took a lot of photos. I took a lot of the little round berries, pods or whatever they are on the heavenly bamboo plant. None of them seemed to work. I went back outside with my lensbaby and +10 macro filter and saw this beautiful leaf. Aren’t the colors great? I am very happy with it. I love the lensbaby and maybe one day I can get one of there “better” ones.

359/365

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…

342/365

Back With My Lensbaby

I walked outside this afternoon and looked over at my rose bushes. I did a post a while ago where I stated that my neighbors have all the pretty roses. Well, I guess I was  wrong!  Isn’t this a beautiful rose? I used my Lensbaby +10 macro filter. It is so much fun to use. I think I finally got my diopter at the right setting. My focal point is closer to where I want it to be. I guess it will never be perfect as long as I have to wear glasses! I first wore glasses in the 3rd grade so I guess I am stuck with them!

340/365

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!

334/365

 

White on White

This photograph was taken with my Lensbaby 2.0 with the +10 macro filter. I showed you the buds the other day so now I show you the orchid as it is just beginning to bloom. To me it kind of looks like an alien space ship! Willie mentioned the body snatchers! I think it looks good and I like the white on white look. 333/365

Orchid Buds

Now that I am becoming obsessed with my Lensbaby Macro +10, I have another photo to show you that I took this morning. The white orchid is blooming so beautifully, I took a photo of a new blossom that is opening and then I wanted to photograph these buds. With the macro filter I was unable to include the flower and the buds in one shot, so I took this one of just the buds. Maybe I will show you the flower at a future time.

331/365

Macro View of a Cactus

I took this image with my Lensbaby, +10 macro filter. I was trying a few other things today and this is not quite as good as yesterday’s image. I like the colors and the composition. It is a very old cactus and we have had it for many years. The yard is looking pretty nice now as a lot of the geraniums are blooming and the fruit trees are full of buds. The lemons on the lemon tree look like grapefruits! Willie does a very nice job. There is always a lot to do.

330/365

Lensbaby Macro Shot

I am so proud of this photograph! I thought I would try my +10 macro filter on my Lensbaby 2.0. I had only used the +4 macro filter before. Now the +10 is  my favorite. I was finally able to get a good focal point and so lucky I was able to get this bee. Isn’t it great? When I went outside, there were a few bees buzzing around my basil plant that is very large and has a lot of flowers on it. I will work on getting closer to the bee next time, but they really like to buzz around a lot!

This is a great Lensbaby macro photo…

We had some of the fresh basil from that plant on the spaghetti I made earlier in the week. It was great! The day started out very overcast and even a little chilly. I have been waking up early, so when I went out to get the newspaper at 5:30, it was pretty cool outside, and oh so nice and quiet! Willie took the dogs for a good walk today at Central Park. He said Donnan was really good until they went into the dog park. Why can’t he learn from Kyla? Willie said Kyla kept an eye on Donnan and didn’t go very far away from him. The Dodger’s are playing the Cardinals – has not been a good series for them! We’ll see how it goes!

329/365

Is This A Succulent Jade Plant?

I am a little unsure of what this plant is. It is a succulent Willie has growing in a pot in our backyard. I am sure he got a little piece somewhere and stuck it in some dirt. Aren’t the colors beautiful? I broke out my Lensbaby with the +4 macro lens, put the camera on the tripod and the plant on the ground (a little hard on the back!). My sweet spot is still not quite where I want it to be, but it came very close on this photo. Willie looked at it from across the room and said, “It’s out of focus!” I pointed to where it is in focus and he came closer to look at it. He said. “ok.”  (Sidebar: When my mother was a little girl, she would get her mouth washed out with soap if she said “ok.”). I love the colors – they go from pale green to yellow to blue, purple and red. What more could one ask for?

Can someone tell me what the name of this plant is…?

Willie had me help him set up his own weblog today. It took us a while to come up with a name he liked that was available and then to select a theme. As soon as he has a post I will put up a link so you can check out his work. This is my first post I have written on my new PC. I have found that Vista is not that different from XP. It is just going to take me a while to get organized. Willie is feeling better today. I am sure he will be fine by tomorrow. We are planning to go to San Pedro on Friday to take some photos and maybe walk the dogs around. I am sure it will be a nice day. Until tomorrow…

315/365

Food Photography With the Lensbaby

Well, I have done Lensbaby a few times this month and food photography a few times this month, so this image uses them both. I messed with my diopter yesterday to see if I could get a better focus with my glasses on. I tried today and it is a little better. Can you really get a sharp center focus with the Lensbaby 2.0 and have  it flair out from the center? That is what I was trying with this image. It is a little better. My last two food images were of healthy fruit, I saw this and thought, what the heck, let’s use something not healthy!

Colorful, forbidden “fruit”…

Watching the Dodger game now – they are beating NY Mets 5-0, 5th inning. We’ll see how it ends! Willie just left for Long Beach. The full moon rises at 8:35 tonight. Maybe I will go take a photo. But, when you have taken one good full moon photo, another one is not going to be any different! Filled out Willie’s means test today for the VA (he is a Vietnam veteran). He will see his doctor tomorrow about his smashed finger. I am not sure what time. I forgot to say that I used my +4 Lensbaby macro filter on this image. I tried the +10, but I would have only shown you about 1/2 a dozen candies in the middle! I cannot believe Gary Sheffield is still play baseball!

308/365 

A Staircase of Red Geraniums

I realized as I was downloading this image to my gallery page (I always do that first), that this is the fourth post in a row of a Lensbaby photo! I promise to do something else tomorrow. I thought the red flowers looked very pretty and appropriate for this 4th of July holiday.  These flowers are all in pots along a staircase, again at Fashion Island. They looked beautiful and I could not resist them.

Red flowers for this July 4th…

Well, the first firecracker went off at 4:35 P.M.  Both dogs are panting and we just turned on the TVs very loudly. Willie had the dogs over at Larry’s for a couple of hours running in their backyard and then took them for a walk. They were very tired when they got home (Willie included) but I tried to play games with them to keep them awake (the dogs). I want them all very tired for later tonight. A benadryl will help that. Help me get us through the night!

305/365

A Fountain of Crystal

I am very happy with this photograph. I took it with the Lensbaby and I believe I got it just right. I have the focal point where I wanted it, and that makes me happy! I also really like the black and white. It looks like beads of crystal to me shimmering in the sunshine. In actuality it is a water fountain behind the carousel at Fashion Island! I am very pleased with it. I hope you like it. Please let me know!

Beautiful beads of water shining like crystal…

The dogs got all cleaned up today at the groomers. They are all foo-foo and smell good! They were gone for three hours and it was so quiet around here. We went to the store and then came home to have lunch. We are going to have spareribs and potato salad tomorrow. It will be so good! We will need to stay home because of the dogs being such big scardy cats! Watched the movie Taken last night. I thought it was good. Probably watch Cadillac Records tonight. A friend said it was good – we will see. Have a fantastic 4th of July, wherever you are!

304/365

Carousel Horse

This carousel is at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. It is a beautiful carousel and very popular. It is fun walking around Fashion Island and people watching. Many people bring their dogs also. I was there today with my friend Carol. She wanted me to bring my Lensbaby. She wanted to see how it works. She looked through and messed with it a little but didn’t bring her own camera to try it out on.

Another Lensbaby photograph…

I took several photos and I may show another one tomorrow. You can see the ocean from Fashion Island and there is always a nice breeze. Carol and I had a great lunch, then we walked around a little bit and ended up at Starbuck’s for a latte. We sat and talked for a couple of hours. It is always a great time. Carol and her husband Bill are also going to be on the PhotoWalk in Laguna Beach on the 18th. It will be fun!  Until tomorrow!

303/365