Pink Gladiolas in Bloom in the Neigjhborhood - Close Up

This image should have been posted on July 3rd but I had family in from 
out of town and I was not spending my time on the computer.  
Gladiolias are blooming the lst week of July.in Greensboro, NC.  I was lucky to
catch this image walking in my neighborhood after a rainstorm.  Some buds had
not opened yet.   I was concentrating so hard on the image of the flower I did
not see an artifact near the right edge.  Used Camera+ app to take the image
It was about 7 PM EDST. Post imaging used PSE 11.  I cropped, increased
shadows and midtones slightly,  and sharpened.
** This image would make a nice note card.

Gazebo - Greensboro Arboretum (Winter - 3/9/15)

 While I was at the Arboretum, I decided to capture an image of the gazebo.  In the summertime this is a venue ised for weddings.   It was overcast and I did not change exposure. HDR mode was on but I felt the image was too dark when I really looked at it on my monitor. In PSE 11,  I decided to play with the highlights, midtones, shadows sliders and increased the shapening.  It is nice that the foliage was not out yet.  I should try taking this image in the different seasons.  Who knows if we will have more snow this year. Now it looks more like an illustration or a different HDR. With the square format, this would be a good photo to try to send in Instagram.

Wind Chimes Sculpture in Winter - GSO Arboretum.

Today I was at the Greensboro Arboretum looking for spring flowers or something I could use for my  challenge image.  This is a wind chime sculpture that has been in place for some time.  Recently they have added a ring walkway around  it. Usually there is green foliage in the background but I like the bare trees and blue sky.  I did take in HDR mode so sky is more blue.  I used the Camera + app to take the picture and to edit.  I cropped and used clarity.  It is not as noticeable on this small scale but there is a piece of wood leaning against one of the center posts.  On the small LED screen difficult to see.  I am not very good about remembering to enlarge the image to check for clutter/debris.  Then it shows up on the monitor and it is too late to remove and retake the image. At a public park removal can be an issue.