Glitter Ornament CU @ Wal-Mart

Christmas time is a good motif  to look for representation of the season or decorations.   I was shopping at Wal-mart and came across this glitter ball ornament.  I took it off the hanger and placed it on a grey colored shelf surface.  It was difficult to avoid tags as you cannot pull off price tags or labels.  Taken with native iPhone 6 in square format. Used Touch -Retouch app to get remove a gold string,  Edited in PSE 11.  There was glitter on the surface of the shelf, which I tried to clone out a bit but not perfect. Reminds me more of Mardi Gras colors.

Ornamental Grass - Green & White

Ornamental grass can provide textures to an image.  I did not want to take a picture of the standard upright look with sky etc.  This one I was looking down from the top to the middle of some stalks for a different perspective. You can see some close up details of the fronds. iPhone 5c, do not know if HDR on.  Edited with PSE 11.  Did Quick Fix, then enhanced green color under color variation as wanted to get rid of yellow color cast in the midtones.  

Red Berries - Autumn @ Sarah Duke Gardens, Durham, NC

There are lots of berries in the fall, but they are a challenge to photograph.            I have trouble seeing lighting with LED screen on the small iPhone.  Even on an overcast day berries are shiny and can reflect off light. The iPhone does not give you the blinkies like the DSLR.  I took this image at Sarah Duke Gardens in Durham, NC, a couple weeks ago.  I didn't see a sign to know for sure what these are.  My guess would be a Viburnum. Taken with iPhone 5C.  Edited with PSE 11, adjusted highlights, shadows, midtones, sharpened.

Pink Camellia CU & use of Ocean Ripple Filter in PSE 11

There were several varieties of camillias blooming at the Presbyterian Church Cemetery which can be accessed from the GSO Historical Museum.  This pink double bloom is one like I have but does not bloom until Jan. or Feb.It was a cloudy day. Taken in square mode with native camera  6 iphone. Edited in PSE 11.  Petals have a soft focus. The right image I added a PSE filter called "Ocean Ripple"  which makes the camillia look more like it was painted by Monet. LOL

Autumn Clematis Bloom CU with Seed Pods @ Trish's Lamp Post

Autumn Clematis is very fragrant, but after the white blooms in the fall there are strange looking seed pods.  Reminds you of tangled wires.  Tried to capture both in one image.  This was on my neighbor's lamp post.   iPhone 5C, edited in PSE 11  

Mexican Marigold Mint ( Texas Tarragon) CU Still Life

Image should have been posted on Thurs., Nov. 19th.  My attempts to capture the Mexican Marigold Mint (Texas Tarragon) image has been difficult.  It blows in the breeze because blooms at end of a long stalk.  The flowers are small and in different planes.  Decided I wanted to try to take a picture of them in a vase resting on a piece of white paper which would make it more like a still life.  iPhone 6 Left image edited highlights, mid-tones, sharpened in PSE 11.   Too bad you cannot smell a photograph. It blooms in the fall and has a wonderful anise flavor. I took in shade so white paper has a blue cast to it. and you can kind of see a blue rim of the vase.  The right image, I used eye dropper to select white area, then used paint bucket to fill in white background.  I also decreased the blue cast x2 in color variations and then lightened the image x2.  
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White Asian Lily CU - Stamens

Image should have been posted on Wed. Nov. 18th. Saw this Asian lily when I went to T'ai Chi class. Took a close up of the stamens.  iPhone 6. Edited with PSE 11 - midtones and highlights.  Slight sharpening.

Rusty Nails on Dumpster & Altered Image

 Image should have been posted on Tues, Nov. 17th.  Found these nails lying on dumpster with rust and shot for diagonal composition.  For left image, cropped, used light and dark sliders to adjust the mid- tones and highlights, sharpened in PSE 11. For right image changed the coloration with saturation and hue and made to look with grain by sharpening till I liked effect. Aperture 2.2 so background not as sharp areas of rust due to DOF.

Peeled Paint on Garage CU - Texture

These images should have been posted, Monday, November 16th. More texture images.. iPhone 6. Left image saved as "quick fix" in  PSE 11. Right image used posterize edges filter. Converted to B&W - darkened to make lines more distnct.

Peeled Paint on Garage - Slats in Landscape Mode (Sepia Tone) .

Found a garage that had peeled paint in different formation for the slats. Sun was shining on the garage and wish I could have captured more detail.  Decided to try to change to vintage or sepia tones.   Sharpened moderate amount.  Taken with native 6  iPhone. Edited in PSE 11

House in Irving Park - Morning Sun

I have been admiring this house and finally the sun was shining on it. I took it from my car window and it just barely fit in the sceen with a little margin on both sides.  The problem is getting this house to look straight.I increased the highlights & midtones. The image on the right I edited in SKWRTbefore editing in PSE 11. This does help to correct the perspective. The roof is straight and sides of the house not skewed but other elements cannot be corrected any better.  Taken with Camera+ HDR mode.  Edited in PSE 11

Bare Tree - Leaves are Mostly Gone Nov. 12, 2015

Not the right time of day to capture this image as a silhouette. You can see the Carolina blue sky.   The last 10 days we have had some rain every day, or it has been windy.  Most of the trees have lost their color or completely lost their leaves.  In the color image on the left I see one leaf in about the middle of the image. Not sure if HDR mode was on.  Camera+ Edit PSE 11.  I decided to see how this would look converted to B & W.  Ended up chosing infrared,  Then played with red & green sliders for image on the right.  Possibly could also be an image you crop out sections and use for texture in a digital collage.

Beetle Larva on Milkweed Pod - Cherry Lane Meadow

Found a milkweed pod with beetle larva present.  I really did not like looking at this cluster of insects but it was kind of cool to see them in orange and black. If you look closely one has a different design and may be an adult. Took image with the pod on the diagonal.  It almost looks like a halloween monster.  LOL   Camera+   Increased shadows, midtones, slight sharpening in PSE 11.  Wonder how this would look at the library show for TOPS images?

Oak Leaves on Ground after the Rain - Neighborhood

Image should have been posted Wed., Nov. 11th, 2015  I actually took this image in landscape rectangle mode but decided to crop to square.  Love the these colorful oak leaves lying on the ground after the rain. No acorns present. Makes you want to walk through them and kick them around with your feet.   Camera +, Edit in PSE 11.

Culinary H.S.A. Luncheon - Food to Table Sweet Potatoes

Today the NC Unit -H.S.A. had their culinary luncheon which is always a gourmet experience.   The theme today was sweet potatoes and the herb for discussion was Oregano.  I made Trisha Yearwood's Sweet Potato Salad.   It was really simple and delicious.  The worst part was cutting the sweet potatoes in cubes.  My dish sample is between the 5 & 6 time slot.  I don't remember all the names for the food.   The red flower in the center is a nastursium.  It is edible and has a peppery bite to it. There is another plate that had 3 desserts.  It can be difficult to take a photo with a clear glass plate.  There are some reflections around the rim   Because of the low angle to see the foods the design of the carpet is skewed.  

Red & White Berries -Climbing Spindle Tree Sarah Duke Gardens, Durham, NC

Image should have been posted on Mon., November 9th, 2015.   Found these berries on an unlabeled plant at Sarah Duke garden on Sunday.  I took it in the horizontal mode, but thought with the arrangement of the berries I should really crop it.  As you can tell it is not an exact square.  I had to ask a horticulturalist at the garden about the identification of this plant.  See Comment.  The information from the web site she provided showed that the distribution of the plant is more likely to be in the Northeastern part of the US, i.e Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire. Camera+, Edited in PSE 11.

Yellow foliage - Unknown Plant Autumn @ Sarah Duke Garden, Durham, NC

These images should have been posted Sun, Nov. 8th, 2015.  
Went to Sarah Duke Garden to see what images I could find of fall foliage.   I was disappointed in what was available as we have had some colder temps ( no hard frost) --some of the plants had brown leaves and flowers. Camellias were pretty good but even some of the edges of the petals were altered colors.  The terrace garden now has winter pansies, etc. which were recently planted. The toad lilies (a favorite in the fall) were toast!!  I found this yellow foliage in several different locations, but none of it had the plant name labeled.  I liked the bright golden color and that it looked like a firecracker.  Camera+, Edited  PSE 11.  For the image on the right, after I increased highlights and midtones, sharpened, I choose an adjustment filter called "invert".  Used color variations and increased the red which made some fronds more purple cast.   Lastly I used the artistic filter "posterize edges" to make the fronds stand out better like firecrackers. Unfortunately there are issues with focus--not all foliage is in the same plane. I really need to review images consistently after I capture it.  LED screen can be misleading.

Spikey Weed - Meadow @ Kathleen Clay Price Library

This images should have been posted Sat. Nov. 7, 2015.
Do not know what this weed is.  I photographed it back in August at the Kathleen Clay Price Library meadow.  I liked the monochrome colors and so there is a blue tone to the image despite being taken about 4 p.m.  There were no labels of the the plants in the meadow. This plant was in a shaded area. Camera+   Edited in PSE 11.

White Double Petal Camella - Neighborhood

These images should have been posted on Fri., Nov. 6, 2015.  I saw this white camillia blooming in my neighbor's yard.  It is the Camillia sasquanqua which blooms in Oct. - Dec. here in NC.  When I lived in OH the only time I ever saw these were in a Conservatory. Camera +.  Both images edited in PSE 11.  The image on the left I cloned battered leaves, increased brightness, decreased contrast, sharpened to the max because it had soft petals. Last applied a vigmette.  The right image I then applied an urban B & W filter but reduced the sharpness to about 29 -- petals appear softer. 

Virgina Creeper on Neighbor's Fence - Autumn

Image should have been posted on Thurs. November 5th, 2015. I saw this Virgina Creeper( Parthenocissus quinquefolia) vine on my neighbor's fence. Normally during the summer all the leaves are green but in the fall the leaves change color. Sometimes a more brilliant red than the ones I captured. This is one image after seeing on the computer, it makes me think I should have tried with a selfie stick so I could take a view from the top down.  Camera+.  Edited in PS11.  I did clone out some spots in the leaves.   For more information about this vine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocissus_quinquefolia

Autumn Display with Scarecrow - Neighborhood

I have been admiring my neighbor's fall display with a scarecrow.  I finally was able to find a time when it was overcast. When sun is shining had dappled light, etc. Since in the neighbor's yard, I did not have the opportunity to try to staighten up or rearrange the main display to change the composition. I will admit to turning over the white and green striped gourd because it had white highlights on the other side.   Taken with Camera+ - slight sharpening in PSE 11.

Halloween - Portrait on My Porch - Neighbor

One of my neighbor's was dressed up as an old lady with a wig and actually had a walker which I could not capture with the logistics of my front porch.   The background competed with her "portrait" (original image on left) and so I had to use PSE 11 to do some cloning out of the background, slight sharpening, and applied a vignette.   I know there is digital noise as the info says 1/15 sec, ISO 800, f2.4.  I used the porch light for lighting.   Now I know I can practice selfies on my porch.  LOL   The good thing was I had her body turned slightly sideways but she is looking at me which avoids the football shoulder look. Her make up was such that she wanted to look old.  With the settings used it kind of gives her a soft focus.  

 

Halloween lighting - Deep Green St. GSO, NC

I went to an area a friend recommended to see some halloween " creatures" hanging from trees and different lighting than you might see for Christmas because of the subject matter. It is in a residential area of GSO. I admit I am terrible with low light scenes with an iPhone.  I did not want to take a tripod and this dsplay was on private property.  Ideally, I should have tried to be there when there was still some ambient light.  This at least captured the Halloween spirit but that whole yard which was not yet completed was something to be seen through a child's eye. Taken with Native camera app.   Edited with sharpening and cloning out some light flare in PSE 11. Have to try to figure out how I can revisit this next year.   It competes with having to stay home and pass out treats at my house on Halloween.  The display put up one day, Halloween, then taken down the next.  This takes dedication.  Maybe I can talk to the owner further.

Halloween Visit by an Alien

Last night was Halloween and I tried to take some pictures of halloweeners that came to my door.  I am not good with this iPhone taking pictures in low lighting situation It was not something I could really use a tripod as these "creatures" are all about getting to the next house for more loot.  Aso bad that I cut off his feet and part of his helmet.  Lighting was with my porch light.  Taken with iPhone 5C.   I did send this one on Instagram.  I think I used the Hudson filter. Definitely need more practice.  There is always next year. Just found out about an app that can tell me the metadata in detail on my iPhone or iPad --only 99 cents.  It is a deal for when you are out actually taking the photos to see this info.   ViewExif   It will also work with Google Drive.   I don't know about Google Photos as that relatively new feature.