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.      

Ornamental Grasss "Poof" of the Fronds & Altered Image - Neighbor's Yard

This fall I have been trying to capture pictures of different grasses  Not an easy task when they seem to be blowing in the wind. This grass poofs out as it matures. This one was in my neighbor's yard.  I tried to capture some of the fronds as part of framing the single focus.  Too bad a cloudy day as it would have looked better with a Carolina blue sky.   Then, I decided to go with the altered art mode and do an invert filter of that image.. I did sharpen it to the max to get more texture.  Camera+  Edited in PSE 11

Ornamental Grass and Clouds in Sky

I am way behind in my posting due to attending a Photo Fest in Asheville, NC .Image should have been posted Thurs., Sept. 10th. There were clouds in the sky last week and I noticed some grass in the parking lot near IHOP restaurant. It was very windy but bright sun, and I think this imaged turned out with the effect I wanted.  I definitely did not want the McDonald's sign in the image, So it was cropped to square format. Camera+ HDR.  Edited in PSE 11 with minimal editing.  Hope to find more grasses/weeds to photograph along roadsides this fall.

Blue Hydrangea Close Up

I was walking in the neighborhood and captured an image of this blue hydrangea.  The blossom heads have a tendencey to be close together and I only wanted a close up of one bloom.  Therefore, I have a narrow margin. I think I shot with square mode in Camera+.  Post editing done in PSE 11.  I cropped, increased shadows, used healing brush to get rid of some stray blossoms around the edge, and  lastly I applied a mild vignette.  I also cloned some artifacts out of the leaves. So far I have not found an in camera app that I like for post editing in iPhone camera. The Snapseed update has more functions, but I have not found a  program that will do cloning.  Need to experiment with Touch Retouch app as it is more like the healing brush.

Borage Buds and Blossoms - June 2015

On June 2nd I posted an image of some Borage buds and surrounding leaves.  The borage is now blooming. It was better lighting then late evening when I took the other image.  So there are 3 images. Another of the buds before bloom. One of a single borage blossom,  and one of  a cluster of several blossoms with a little foliage.  Used Camera+ to capture the images.
For the single borage blossom, I used the macro slider.   This blossom difficult to phtograph.  Any breeze aan blur the photos.  You can see in the upper right photo that these blossoms also droop. This was in my neighbor's yard and she was talking to me.  Post processing done in PSE 11: Slight cropping, light and dark adjusted with sliders as well as
mid-tones, minimal sharpening.  Applied vignette, but tried to make it very subtle.  My neighbor gave me some seeds to plant.  I think this is great detail of the plant with my iPhone 6 hand held.

Nigella (Love in a MIsrt) - Legacy Garden, GSO, NC

Nigella (Love in a Mist) is a really nice flower that blooms about mid-May in NC.
As you can see from the image they come in different colors,  The left image has various colors of blue, white, & purple.  The right image shows a close up of the center with a pink color..You can see in lower left hand corner the outline of a seed pod which in itself is very interesting.  I have some drying.
Camera+ HDR.  Post processing PSE 11.

Rosemary for Remembrance - Red, White & Blue for Veteran's Day

Monday was Memorial Day.  I took a picture of this red, white & blue bow secured to my Rosemary plant in a pot.  Rituals of remembrance for the dead are known to have involved rosemary in a variety of cultures. In Europe and Asia, rosemary has been planted at grave sites and sometimes used as mediums to communicate with ancestors. Rosemary wreaths are associated with Remembrance day. The backdrop was a beige cloth I  used over my banister on the deck.   Every day veterans and those serviceman who have serveour country, or those currently enlisted should be honored for giving us our freedom. Image shot with Camera +. Editing and text message done in PSE11.  

Rain Drops Falling on MyFront Car Window - Abstract Trees

Last week we had  a lot of rain.  I admit this abstract photo was not my original idea.  A friend of mine had taken a similar image and posted on FB.  She shot in shade and lighting was actually about this color. I used the front car window of my Prius to capture this image of the tall trees in my backyard with the raindrops out of focus. This image was originally shot in color but I decided to use color variations in PSE 11 to give it a different more painterly appearance.  The leaves were just starting to come out . If I ever get into using my phots for digital art, I am sure this would be one I might start with as a background, change the opacity. and try other filters. I did end up sharing the image on the FB page for the iPhone Photo Academy yesterday.  

Globe Thistle - Fake Sun Flare

I found some globe thistles at a grocery store and got permission to photograph them. I did not feel that gave me license to re-arrange...and so I shot with the celleophane wrapper in place. I knew I would not have time to take pictures at home due to time constraints. It was overhead lighting and the flare actually looks like it could be a hazy sun peaking behind them. (A serendipity moment I did not see until I looked at the monitor.) There was another flare at top that I used healing brush to remove. I cropped, sharpened, changed the midtones, and added vignette in PSE 11. Since this was a close up with shallow depth of field, the most forward globe is out of focus. I will have to pay attention to that more in the future and check my image closer before leaving the scene.
HDR mode was enabled.  

Ice Pattern 1 - Variations with Post Processing in PSE 11

I managed to capture a few ice designs on my iPhone the last few days...brrh!!   Difficult to push the buttons with gloves in place. The intention was to try playing with some post -processing adjustments. The darker blue less distinct pattern is the original image without editing.  It was late eveing and very slippery to attempt the shot--thus the blue cast which I did not really see when I captured the image.


The right image was a lot of different filters in PSE 11 and you might not be able to tell it originally was texture from ice patterns.  It ended up looking black and white. It took about 6 different filters/adjustments to obtain this effect.   Step 1.  Adjust Brightness and Contrest.  Step 2.   Lighten/Darken Shadows.  Step 4. Sharpen  Step 4. Change to B & W.  Step 5. Pencil Sketch Effect - Line Drawing. 6. Low Key



The image lower left I just changed light/dark sliders and did a moderate amount of sharpening to get the texture and lighter color I wanted. 

Birdbath blue Ice variation with Pixlormatic App

     
It is 9 degrees F in Greensboro, NC. My bird bath was frozen. I dumped out most of the ice and this is what remained in the bottom. This is the first time taking images with the iPhone 5s in cold temps. The original image did not have much negative space. I decided I needed to try Pixlromatic in camera app to see if I could find more texture. There were numerous color filters and opacity I could choose but this is Hagrid. Then if you click on it, you can select even more options with the blue variations. I am sure I will experimenting more with ice. No frost on the leaves this morning. No editing of original image.     Native camera iPhone 5s - HDR mode; square.