Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - Bill Perry's Garden

 This should have been posted on Sept lst, 2015.  Took this image in my neighbor's backyard on a cloudy afternoon.  The butterfly was on the move and this was the best I could do for sharpness.  It is a tiger swallowtail.  Taken with the native app, HDR mode. Butterfly bush in the background not sharp due to shallow depth of field.  PSE 11 for editing:: cropped, midtones increased, sharpened, and slight vignette applied. I would like to try early morning and perhaps can find some Eastern swallowtail butterflies...maybe less active when cooler. This image was posted to Photo Nuts and the iPhone Editing FB sites.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies with Milkglass Plate

Took lavender shortbread cookies for lunch at the Herb Sale for the NC Unit of the H.S.A. I used outdoor lighting and square photo format. The plate of cookies  was placed on a purple tee shirt. This milk glass dinnerware I inherited from my Mother. It was common to obtain with gas purchase at the filling stations during the depression or shortly thereafter.  ??Pattern unknown.  I only have salad plates, cups & saucer, creamer & sugar container, and large serving platter for cake or cookies.  Because of the sheen of the glass at different angles it was difficult not to get some highlights.  I added some sprigs of lavender blossoms.  The original photo showed the background more blue than purple, so, I used PSE to change the background color to purple and applied a vignette.