Another Succulent in My Backyard

Canon 7D, EF-S18-55mm, 30mm, f/4.0, 1/250, ISO 100

This gorgeous succulent flower was in my backyard this morning. I just had to take a photograph. I like the way the light is hitting the top of the flower and shining through. Bringing this in to Photoshop,  I did up the saturation  so you could easily see the blues and greens and the reds around the edges of the outside petals. I don’t know what it is called. It grows long stems (look to the left of the flower) with flowers on top. There are no leaves, but I don’t know of any succulents that have leaves! I hope you enjoy it.

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P.S. Lily is 5 months old today!

In My Front Yard

Canon 7D, Raw, EF-S18-55mm, 28mm, f/4.0, 1/125, ISO 100

When I stepped out my front door this morning to get the newspaper, I saw this beautiful bloom. My house faces North so there is not much sun. My bougainvillea rarely gets any flowers. I thought I better take a photo. I like it because it shows the pinks and the oranges. I basically just did levels and contrast adjustments. I like being able to see the texture on the petals and the stamens. In general, I am very happy with this photo. Let me know what you think!

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What Can You See When You Look Up?

Canon 7D, Camera Raw, 17mm, f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 200

This is my neighbors tree in their parkway. I noticed one day how intricate and intertwined the branches are. You can’t see any of this just looking at the tree straight on. I went in the house to grab my camera and Willie wondered what I was doing. When I showed them to him, he said he had never noticed this before. I did increase the saturation and contrast in Photoshop. It did not need a levels adjustment. I then cropped it some because the sky looked white at the two bottom corners of the photo. It was too distracting and I wanted you to be able to see all that is going on with the tree. I hope you like it. Tonight there is a full moon. I am going to try to get out and take a photo. Why don’t you do it too and we can all post tomorrow and compare. Also, go outside and look up to see if there is anything interesting to photograph!

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A Star Wars Robot

Canon 7D, Raw, 38mm, f/8, 1/320, ISO 200

Well, not really, but that is what I thought when I saw this on the pier. I was at the beach yesterday, an absolutely beautiful day, and I took several photos. I put a new photo up at the top of my blog today also. I will take some more down there maybe this week. I converted this to black and white to give the image a more industrial look. It is actually a very bright turquoise color. Maybe when I change a photo like this, I should put a little thumbnail here of the original? Like a before and after. What do you think?

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A Light Pole in Central Park

Canon 7D, Raw, 17mm, f/9, 1/320, ISO 200

It was such a gorgeous day and after having lunch with Larry, Shelley and Lily, Willie and I took the dogs and the camera to Central Park to go for a walk. We certainly were not the only people with that idea! I took some good photos which I will share with you. I put this one in today because Willie likes it. I like the shadow and the rust and texture on the pole, but I am having difficulty looking at it. My eye keeps going off the page. Start with the base of the pole and follow the shadow. Then go a little left at the top of the shadow and follow the trees to the pole. What happens? You go right off the page! There is nothing to lead you back down to the base and off again. Compare this image to the black and white geraniums I did last. You should be able to easily see what I am talking about. Let me know what you think of this image.

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From the Desert, the Ocean or Both?

Camera Raw, 45mm, f/11, 1/100, ISO 400, Nik Silver FX Filter

I walked outside with my camera today and said to myself, “What are you going to photograph?” I walked around and then I saw this. Isn’t it gorgeous? How many little creatures do you think have lived in and on this rock? How old do you think it is? In post processing, I changed it from Raw to DNG. Isn’t the texture and the depth fantastic? I made a few adjustments in Camera Raw and then brought it into Photoshop. There I used a filter from Nik Silver FX to convert it to black and white. I then used a high pass filter to bring out the edges and changed my layer blend mode. That made all the different levels of this image really pop. 

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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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Morning Shadows

Canon 20D, Raw, f5.6, 1/40, ISO200, Smart Sharpen, Nik Vignette Filter

I walked into my bedroom this morning and saw the sun casting a shadow on the front of a dresser. I really liked the look of it and how it made the grain of the cherry wood stand out.  My first thought was, “I want to photograph that!” I got my camera and took several photos. I liked this close-up one the best because of the wood detail. It has a lot of texture also. I didn’t have to do anything to the image except I sharpened it a little in Photoshop and added a very faint vignette so the center will stand out a little more and your eye will not go off the image.

Happy Anniversary!

Canon 20D, Raw, f10.0, 1/60, ISO 800, 31mm, Nik Pro Contrast filter

I gave this post that name because today is our anniversary! We went for a little walk and came across this tree at the park. There is a lot of moss and some strange cuts on it. Plus it looks like it could be a space alien with those long tendrils coming out at you. No wonder Donnan barked at it!

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Radio Flyer

I saw this and thought it would make a great photo for the weblog. I believe I was right! I really like the black and white. It shows all the texture and the vignette around the edges looks good too. I didn’t really do any planning to take this photo – sometimes those are the best, the spontaneous ones. Please let me know what you think of it!

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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.

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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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Allen Ave Under the Overpass

I believe I told you I would bring something different to you today, and I truely believe I have. We were in Pasadena today and when we get off the freeway at Allen there is an entrance to the metro link gold line. I have been wanting to take a photograph of it for a long time. The one I am showing you today is of the freeway and metro underpass. The entrance is behind me. This photo I had not planned on taking until I turned around and saw it. There is a lot of texture and angles. I hope you will appreciate all that it shows.

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Late Afternoon Summer Sunshine

Now that it is officially summer, it is time to catch some images with sunshine as the main focus. The sun here is reflecting on an aluminum chair and it has created an unusual image. I got up from my computer chair this afternoon and looked over to see this unusual reflection. I went to grab my camera so I could take the photo before the sun moved too much. Willie was here and grabbed the tripod for me. I did need it to complete the shot.

Sunshine streaming…

What do you think of this image? Willie is not too keen on it! I try to look for unusual things to photograph. I think this one qualifies. I get unusual images like this when it is spontaneous and just happens. We do not have summer weather here yet (which is fine with me). It is still more like Spring – in the mid 70’s. Kyla and Donnan were shaking in their boots last night because of some fireworks. Kyla started it and she has transferred her fear to Donnan. What are we going to do on the 4th of July? Tomorrow I will give you the link to the wedding photos. I downloaded them on Zenfolio but I want the family to approve them first. Is that ok?

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A Nice Tribute to Unconditional Love

I was finishing up the wedding photos today when Willie wanted me to take a break and go to the park with him and the dogs. I said ok, then no, I wanted to finish, and then I agreed to go. So Kyla and I went to the dog park and Willie and Donnan went for a walk around the lake. I needed to get outside so I was glad I went. I see the beautiful tribute path every time we go and have thought of taking a photo. Today I finally did. What a wonderful way to remember “man’s best friend.” I would say this was done over 20 years ago as you look at the dates. Maybe it is time to add another section?

A beautiful tribute…

All of these tiles look hand made and there are many, many of them. It gave me some practice on lens distortion and warp. It was a beautiful day today in the mid 70’s and I am glad Willie got me to go outside. As I am sure a lot of you know, time really flies when you are on the computer and life passes you by. Tomorrow is Friday, and I am hoping to drop off copies of all the wedding photos to my brother. I am going to a birthday party Saturday evening and then a Father’s Day barbecue at Larry and Shelley’s. My social calendar is so full!

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A Beautiful Springtime Lily

Larry gave me this great plant two years ago on Mother’s Day. It is now blooming again and I wanted to share it with you. I used my +4 Macro filter and I am happy with the way it came out. I did all of the post processing in Camera Raw. That is the first time I have not taken an image into Photoshop. I feel that is a step up and a big accomplishment. Of course I like the shadows and the texture of the stamen. Isn’t it pretty?

A mother’s day Lily….

I am sure this Lily has a specific name, but there are so many different ones, I do not know what it is. I just know it is very pretty. The plant is so tall, Willie has it leaning up against a ficus tree! The day started out gloomy and foggy, but ended up all bright and sunny. I took Kyla to the dog park today and she had a good time. Of course I was unable to take Donnan. I wish I could but he does not know how to behave! Making meatloaf for dinner – one of my favorites. It will be good, I know!

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