Halloween Card - House

Happy Halloween!!  I hope you had a great day.   This is a halloween card I made for some friends. The inside sentiment was "Halloween is all about having fun!!" I took a photo of it with the card lying on a white piece of paper for the border.  Used 5C native camera and processed with PSE 11.   This same Stampin Up stamp set, Holiday Home, can be used to make a Christmas card. As you will note, my coloring with Copic marker of the houses could use some more finese. In the past if I did not want to make a lot of cards manually, I have used the photo image and made a post card with matte photo paper. Sometimes I will cover the front with contact paper to help preserve the finish

Leaves of Gold - Neighborhood & "Fresco Filter " PSE

This should have been posted Fri., Oct. 30th.   Have been looking for some nice yellow leaves that do not have a lot of brown in them.  I am not sure if this is hicory or beech leaves.  The were up quite a distance in the tree and I liked the sun highlighting the ones more in front.  I know I used digital zoom. So, it may  look like there is digital noise.  Digital zoom usually causes pixilation. Post processing: the image on the left had highlights increased, slight midtone decrease, and slight sharpening.  I know some people will not like that there is not enough border around the leaves.  Unfortunately this is not always something you can see well on the LED screen with bright sun. I admit I did not zoom in to check it.to review image.  The right image I used the image on the left and then applied the "Fresco" filter inPSE 11 which increased the outline of the edge with black.

Neighor's Rosemary in Bloom - Macro

This is a macro shot of a prostrate Rosemary officinalis (an herb)  in bloom this fall at my neighbor's house.   I actually have a cutting from this plant and am trying to get it to root in water.  I had a great deal of difficulty trying to take this image, especially trying to get the blossoms in sharp focus.  This is definitely my best shot so far. The bloom is very small --maybe 1/2 inch in diameter.  I used macro setting for Camera+ app. Edited in PSE 11.

Mushrooms on a Stump - Posterize Edges Filter

This should have been posted on Wed., Oct. 28th.  Another image I captured on Sunday on my neighborhood walk was some small mushrooms on a stump.  I shot the image in the square mode with Camera+ app.  The left image is just regular editing to increase sharpness and highlights. However, I did not think it gave enough detail so used "posterize edges" filter in PSE 11 for the image on the right.  I also thought the compostion looked better when I rotated the image 180 degrees.  I like the detail & colors in the right image --more like art or graphic illustration than a photo.
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Coral Mums Closeup - Neighborhoood JK

On my neighborhood walk, I found a pot of mums.  Mums are always a sign of fall.  I loved the size and the coral color of them. The angle gives depth to image. It was in a shaded area on my friend's porch  Took just a segment of them with iPhone 5C. Camera+  Edited in PSE 11: increased highlights, midtones, sharpened.

Lichen Colonies on Maple Tree in Neighborhood - Texture

Yesterday I was walking in the neighborhood and foiund some lichen colonies on a maple tree.  I was intrigued because there was a lot of  a golden color there.  I was disappointed that the images I took were not as sharp as I had hoped. Should have done a playback instead of relying on the LED screen. Oh well, I hope to get back and try again when there is more sunshine.  Sometimes you can salvage an image using apps.   Taken with Camera+. Post processing done with PSE 11.  Left image has just increase in highlights & mid-tones, then sharpened a lot to give texture.
 I had taken the image at an angle rather than landscape. changed mode to square, and tried to do macro which uses digital zoom--not as good as optical zoom.  The right image I used a "Saturated Film" filter in PSE 11.  You can even see the green moss in the cracks if you are able to enlarge the image.  

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Autumn Leaves on the Same Maple Tree in the Neighborhood.

This image is of the leaves in the branches from the same leaves I took yesterday on the ground.  It is amazing to see all these bright autumn colors on the same tree.  I took it late afternoon and so I did not have the bright blue Carolina sky.  Taken in Camera+.  I cropped the image so, you did not see the white sky at the top.  The left image was taken with the sun shining behind the leaves.   Edited in PSE 11:  cropped, increased highlights and mid-tones, contrast, sharpened.   The right image I applied an artist filter - "splatter"  so it has a more painterly appearance but may be difficult to see in an image this small.  

Fallen Maple Leaves in My Neighbor's Yard 10-24-2015

Leaves are falling from the trees. Sometimes it is just nice to take a picture of the fallen leaves.  I was walking in my neighborhood.  This maple had yellow, orange and various shades of red leaves on the grass. I tried to find a patch that had the leaves mostly facing forward. The left images is without editing and had a blue tone because late afternoon in the shade.  So, I had to decrease that in PSE 11.  I also wanted to give the leaves of this image more "pizzaz" which would make them appear brighter and more satrated with post processing.

Fall Leaf Colors on an Unknown Shrub/Tree @Guilford Military Park

This post should have been for Fri., Oct. 23rd, 2015.   I stopped by Guilford Military Park on my way home from a meeting.  It was noon so harsh lighting was present.  I liked the colors of these leaves against the blue sky.  The left image is without any editing, but to show the colors like I thought I saw them I edited in PSE 11:cropped, increased highlights, mid-tones, sharpened.  I think I did zoom in since the branches were not at eye level and there seems to be digital noise in the sky which can happen when you use that feature on the iPhone.  I do not have a telephoto lens for the iPhone.
This image really reminds me of fall with all the colors on one tree/shrub. I do not know the name by the shape of leaf.  It soon will peak color in Guilford Co.

Burning Bush with Some Berries - GSO Arboretum

Last week I captured an image of the fall leaves. I also was able to get a few berries.  It was overcast and so the red color not as brilliant as often seen in the sun.  Canera+ app.  Edited in PSE 11: increased the shadows and midtones, sharpened.  

Cinda's BD Wire Wrapped Pendent - Outdoor Lighting.

Today I took a photo of the Pendant Cinda had wire wrapped for my BD minus the silver chain.   I used sunlight in L image and that made a highlight which was distracting.   Then I put the jewelry box in the shade out of doors and took the same image.  I also used an in camera app: PS Express to apply a Bueno filter which changed the colors of the blue a little. I only cropped the image, did not use any macro settings or sharpen as made the wire look wierd.

Halloween Ghoul - Neighbor's Yard (Randy T)

Halloween is coming.   My next door neighbor really enjoys this holiday and keeps making new things to put in his yard which makes it fun for the children and adults for "Trick or Treat" night.  Last evening before it got dark I tried taking a picture of his ghoul. I purposely made a dark exposure to go with the mood.  What you don't see in this image is all the electrical cords I cloned out in order to see his white clothing which would have also been too blown out. Some of the background is distracting and does not go with the graveyard venue.  He has put up a Pillsbury Doughboy blow up which does not go with the grave yard scene and other scary props. Edited in PSE 11.

Japanese Maple (Red Varigated Leaves) - Neighborhood

Looking for different colored leaves at this time of year.   Came across a Japanese maple that had some color variation in the leaves.  It was late afternoon and very windy but I did try to capture this image.  With close ups or macro, windy conditions not good and then when leaves are not all in the same plane, everything is not going to be in focus.   Camera+app.  Edited in PSE 11.  Lightness and darkness, contrast increased, needed some cloning, sharpened, also rotated 90 degrees right for better composition.  

Key Hole Rust - Rust #r6 Dumpster

Another Rust Image from the dumpster.  The left image is a close up of a key hole which also shows a lot of texture of the paint.  Right image is the original image which is very pale and without detail.  Did not see the highlights at the top of mount as an iPhone does not give you blinkies.  Edited in PSE 11: straightened,  increased highlights & midtones, sharpened.  

Autumn - Maple Leaves with Blue Sky GSO 16th St.

The maple leabes and beech trees are beginning to change color in the Triad.  I like to capture some of these with the "Carolina" blue sky.   However, since I don't have a zoom or telephoto lens for my iPhone 5C., it is hard to get the leaf detail.  It was windy but even a tripod won't help if wind more than 7 mph. Vignette helped to make sky darker. This was takein about noon in full sun. Camera +, HDR.  Edited minimally in PSE 11.  

Shrub with Pink Blossoms and Turquoise & Blue Berries - GSO Arboretum

Found a shrub with some unusual blossoms and fruit at the GSO
Arboretum last week.   Because of the way they hung from the branches it was difficult to get a composition I liked. Even though it was shady there were hot spots that could not be edited easily. . The fragrant flowers are borne on branching peduncles. Petals, are held within a green calyx which turns red as the fruits ripen. The fruits (drupes) are turqoise(left image) at first but turn to a blue black color (right image). Camera+ app, edited with PSE  11.   For more information search for: Clerodendrum trichotomum var fargesii.

White Camellia Sassanqua - Country Park

Went to Country Park in Greensboro on Monday afternoon and was very surprised to find a white Camellia sansanqua blooming.so early in October. There are fall blooming camellias and Jan & Feb (japonica) camellias.  Being from Ohio, the only camellias I saw there in gardens were in conservatories.  About 4 years ago I bought 2 of the japonica species: a pink and a red one but they will not bloom until Jan or later.  Some camellias are single petals and others have double petals.  If you look closely this one has faint pink edge.  I will be looking for more culivars to photograph. Taken with iPhone 5C,  HDR mode, Camera+ app.  Edited  with PSE 11.

Fall Asters at the Greensboro Arboretum

This should have been posted Wed., October 14th, 2015.  

Found some purplse fall asters blooming at the Greensboro Arboretum last week.  Did not see the cultivar designated but think it might be Aster amellus.  It was not very tall and the blooms were clustered together. Only a few past bloom time in this image. Since these blossoms were in cluster, could not really isolate one blossom for a macro image. This a good plant for butterflies.  Taken in square mode, HDR, Camera+, iPhone 5C.  Edited minimally in PSE 11 

 

Pink Old Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) - near Nannette's Mailbox

I have an Old Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) shrub near my mailbox.  I bought it at a "heritage plant" sale for the Herb Soceity about 7  years ago and it has come back every year.  It is not a member of the Rosa family but of the Hibisucus or Mallow family.  Mine is a pink carnation type color but there are white cultivars.  It is believed this plant originated in China.  In the US, it grows mostly in the Southern states, zone 8-10.  It usually blooms less than 24 hours and is not suitable as a cut flower in water. This shrub blooms in late September and will stop blooming at the first frost. It can grow 8 feet tall and about 3 feet in diameter.  It likes a sunny area. Taken with Camera+ app.  It  has the saturated pink and greens because of the rain and shade.  Edited in PSE 11 which included cloning out some of the house next door or using the healing tool as I thought it distracted from the blossom. This was taken after it had rained and if you look closely can see the raindrops.  I had to climb on a steep stool to reach this bloom.  For more info about Hibiscus mutabilis:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/hibiscus.html
I am hoping for more blooms and to be able to do a macro that is sharp of the stamens.  

Oak Leaves on Ground at Country Park

This should have been posted, Mon., October 12th.  The leaf color is starting to change in the triad.  It will be about 2 weeks until peak season here.  If weather is good I may take Jack to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Thurs. which is supposed to be peak because of higher elevation.   These are oak leaves and had a more subtle color.  These were on the ground.  I took "as is" and did not try to change nature's composition.  Taken with Camera+ app.   For image on left I used smart fix color and sharpening in PSE 11.  This could be used for texture with digital images.   I played around with increasing highlights and mid-tones, saturated film effect and then excessive sharpening which looiks like the leaves have frost in the image on the right if you can zoom in.  

Funnel Cake CU at Dixie Classic Fair - Texture

Went to the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston Salem, NC, on Thursday night.  I decided I had to have a funnel cake.  I took a picture of the whole plate and then did a close up because of the texture.  I should have shaken off more of the powder and would have seen more of the funnel cake design.  I do not want to eat almost the whole thing by myself again.  My stomach did not like all that grease. They did have other flavors like pumpkin,  

Bicycle Wheels Wall Hanging @ the Melt Restaurant

When my sister was here visiting this week, we went to The Melt, which is a restaurant in Golden Gate shopping center in Greensboro, NC.  Where we were seated at the bar, the lighting was not good to take pictures of my food.or beer glass.  They have some unique bramds of beer and ale which
I would call gourmet varieties. On the wall they had some bicycle wheel sculpture that caught my eye.  The personnel said it was OK to take a picture.  There are some shadows and a peach glow to the left from reflections of the sun coming from outside the front window. It was taken about 12:30 PM EDST.  I still think it is neat. It will be good to use if I ever get into the digital image textures and collages.  Camera+ app, minor edits in PSE 11.

Rust #5 CVS Dumpster

This image should have been posted October 8, 2015. I am using a rust image from a dumpster at my CVS pharmacy.  It had an ivory base paint.  It has more rust stain and peeled paint too  The rust looks very flat.  It was an overcast day about 3 PM.  Camera+ without HDR. Left image edited in camera with Snapseed:  Tune Image Auto. It has large areas of rust which I felt just did not have the same artistic options I got with the smaller areas with more design in the blue green dumpster.  I did rotate the image so rust stain would be at the top of the image.

Golden Rain Tree Pods - Greensboro Arboretum 10-7-2015

Went to GSO Arboretum a few days ago because I thought the Golden Rain Tree would be showing it's seed pods.   They were in the bright sun and the tree had been pruned since last fall.  I could not pull down any pods for close up image.  However, there were some pods on the ground I picked up and put in a limb area which also showed texture of the bark. I like the texture of the pods and the pinkish color.  The actual size of the pods are about 2 inch tall and 1 inch wide. In the spring time the blossoms are a yellow color. Taken with Camera+; edited in PSE 11.  I did not see the pine needles near the left most pod.when I took the photo because I was so concentrating on the texture of the pods and the
composition.  Hope I can find some more photo ops of this tree and the pods at other locations in the Triad in the next week or so.  .

#4 Rust Dumpster

Rust #4 - Dumpster   I love that the base color of this dumpster has a turquoise background but painterly effect. When I took the image I thought this looked like finger projections but after seeing on the monitor, feel this looks like some dancers with streaks of rust color being their costumes. By sharpening the rust areas, it also gave more digital noise (grain) to the background.  
iPhone 5C Camera+ Edited in PSE 11 Cropped, Exposure, Sharpened
I tried experimenting with color variations. The right image I decreased red. - more altered art.     

Rust #3 Dumpster - Quick Fix

Rust #3  image from dumpster in downtown Greensboro.  The left image was taken in portrait mode and you can see the original colors and design of the rust with muted tones on an overcast day.  Taken with Camera+ app.with iPhone 5C.  Not sure if HDR mode which I usually leave as default.  Then I decided just to do a simple enhancement in PSE 11 by using choices in Quick "Smart Fix" for exposure and sharpening.  The image on the right was the result of my choices which give more texture & color.  This was the same subject but used the square mode.
I definitely need to try to capture more images when sun shining on the dumpster, preferrably about 9 a.m.  

Rust #2 Dumpster

2nd image of rust on a dumpster in downtown GSO, NC.   This rust image reminded me of grass when I looked at in on the computer monitor. The orignal image was muted colors of the image on the left with less texture.   I edited in PSE 11 using sliders for light and dark, midtones to get the effect I wanted.  Then I sharpened to 100.  I further enhanced the colors by using Saturated Film effect x2.  The image on the right I wanted to try to work with Vintage effect in PSE 11. Using the edited image on the left,  I played with hue and saturation and wanted more orange/red tones than browns. It ended up as a monochrome.  I should have left more space at the top when I took the image. I will be revisiting this dumpster if the sun ever shines.  If I get desperate, I can always make my own rust by watching You Tube videos.   .

Rust Image #1 Dumpster

Last Thursday I was in downtown Greensboro and saw  rust splotches various places on a dumpster.
I spent at least 1/2 hr taking images of these because of textures and designs. I knew when I was taking the image that I would want to be using some apps or altering the images--just in case I ever get around to making digital collages.  So, this week I will post a rust image every day.  Some I used the native app or Camera+ and I did not take notes, don't remember if I did HDR or not since it was an overcast day but it is usually the default setting. Some I was showing my husband various filters and the program did not save a copy.  So, you do have to be careful about destructive editing.   The left image was clarified in camera in PS Express and I am not sure what filter I applied to get the colors. This image was rotated 90 degrees as I liked that composition better.    I can't show the original but you will see others with a muted turquoise background.  The image on the right I rotated to the right another 90 degrees, sharpened and then in PSE 11 I changed enhancement in color variations the color by decreasing red highlights x2 which resulted in blues and greens.which reminds me of a churning sea.      

Red Lobster BD Luncheon - Shrimp Fest

On Tuesday my husband I celebrated my BD by going out to lunch at Red Lobster.  They were having the Shrimp Festival special.  This is my initial platter with the famous cheese biscuit in the left upper corner.  There were saute'd in oil green beans, breaded shrimpm cocktail sauce, and shrimp scampi which I liked a lot.  Jack had some shrimp Alfredo and I did try Shrimp Teriyaki.  After the lunch, we went to see the movie "The Intern". There was high overhead lighting for this shot.  Taken with Camera+, edited in PSE 11.

Acorns& Oak Leaves from Neighbood Walk - More Signs of Fall in NC

Found some acorns and oak leaves on my walk around the block last week.  Acorns can have different sizes and shapes. I do not know one oak tree from another and last week I did post an image with the bur oak branch and acorns.  These acorns are small and have points on the bottom.  They were not very shiny either.  The Native Americans and  Pioneers used these ground as food source like flour.
I tried using the macro mode in Camera +.  The image looked sharper on the LED screen and you can only sharpen so much within PSE plus the image was downsized.  I did like the posterize version where sharpness doesn't matter.  Before I did editing in PSE I did clarify & applied an orange tint in the native iPhone 6 camera app. The image on the R is the posterize filter in PSE 11 - an altered image look.

Pink Firetruck with Names of Survivors at Festival Park 10-1-2015

This image should have been posted on Thurs., Oct. lst.   I went to a Breast Cancer Awareness Event in downtown Greensboro. I knew there would be a pink firetruck there.  Could not get the entire image.  This image has the corner of a vendor selling shirts, etc.  There is a woman with pink pants and boots writing her name on the truck.  It was overcast.  Taken with Camera+, edited in HDR.  I did take some other images with a P 600 camera that has a  zoom.  Taking pictures of people is not my forte and you do not have to be up close like the iPhone. .