Goldenrain Tree Blossoms on Pavement at GSO Arboretum

One of my favorite trees in spring through fall is the Goldenrain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata).  It is native to Eastern Asia, China, & Korea.   As I was walking on the paved asphalt path @ GSO Arboretum,  I looked down to see the petals that had fallen to the ground -- as you can see a nice golden color in the image on the left. Unfortunately I did not think to take a closer image as I was thinking of this as a background when I get into digital imaging.. In another month there will be wonderful seed pods to photograph close up. I decided to do some altered art with this image because of the textures.  The image on the left I darkened and increased the contrast and sharpened.  The image on the right I wanted a more altered art effect.  So, I increased the highlights and midtones, sharpened to the max, then applied red color variation x2.   Taken in Camera + HDR mode.  I elected not to crop  the image.  This might be one to try to change to square , choose a filters and send in Instagram.  For more info, "Google" wikipedia.  

Sharon's Mandevilla Blossoms CU

This image was to have been posted 8/5/2015  - had power outage last night.  This year my neighor put up a piece of lattice by her mailbox and then planted some mandevilla.  It is a subtropical vine.  For more information about the plant:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandevilla
Camera+ app.  Increased higjhlights, sharpened with PSE 11.

Comfrey Blossoms Close Up

This is a close up some comfrey blooms taken in my neighbor's yard.   I had some too, but my blossoms were not the brillant purple color that these were. Taken with Jack's 5C iPhone, native camera, HDR.  Post processing with PSE 11, cropped, increased highlights, sharpened, and added small amount of vignette.  There were some artifacts in the leaves, so, used the clone tool to eliminate those.Unfortunately the wood chip mulch in the background is a bit distracting to me. The aperture was f2.5 which is the best shallow depth of field you can get with the 5C.
**This plant is a well known medicinal herb.  For more info go to
www. botanical.com - search on comfrey (Symphytum officinale).

Pink Rhodadendron at St. Francis Episcopal Church

Took Jack to his MS meeting on Wed.  There were Rhodadenrons blooming in front of St. Francis Episcopal Church.  They had pink, red, & white ones.  Took a shot of several blooms plus tried to take one CU.  Not sure the focus as sharp as I would have liked for the CU but it was a windy day-edited in PSE 11.

Redbud Blossoms - Tanger Garden

Redbud blossoms can be tricky to photograph, especially if it is windy.  These were part of the trunk and not a branch.   The image on the left was cropped, highlights increased, sharpened.  There is something on the trunk that I did not see when I took the picture but I am pretty sure it is not a butterfly but adds interest to the photo.  The image on the right  was an attempt to use an artistic filter in PSE 11 using the same image.  The filter used was  posterize edges and added a vignette. It would make a nice image to use as a note card.