Caladium Close Up - Queen White & Group @ my Mailbox

This year I tried growing 3 varieties of Caladiums by my mailbox which gets only late afternoon sun. Image on R taken with Camera+ HDR - macro mode.  This plant was originally from South America.  It is a member of the genus Araceae, commonly known as Elephant Ear, Heart of Jesus, and Angel Wings.  There are over 1000 named bicolor cultivars.   I took a md-section image of the Queen White cultivar with macro mode.  This reminded me of a city street map.  I really like the patterns of a veins.in this close up view.  The image on the right is the group image of my caladiums at my mailbox.  I just sharpened and increased the midtones in PSE.  Will have to pay more attention to these plants at nurseries and gardens for more photo opportunities.
**For more info about Caladiums:  en.m.wikipedia.org

Winter Texter - Foliage CU + Artistic Cutout Filter

Another texture taken of some winter plant foliage (close up) in a container. I do not recognize this plant. I thought it would make a great background when I get into doing digital collages.Original does not have as much depth.


 I cropped, adjusted midtones & highlights, sharpened and then applied artistic cutout filter in PSE 11. Other filters also showed interesting effects. 

Nandina Berries & Orton Effect PSE 11

Nandina berries are not that easy to photograph but at least this image does not have bad glare I sometimes get. I like the concrete background that separates the foliage. One of the best images I got was with some snow, but we have not had any measureable amount in GSO, NC, this winter. Also the birds love them and then berries are missing. I did not edit this image but HDR mode chosen. I did try to use an Orton effect in PSE 11.Can't remember if used a glass filter   However, I need to perfect this. Better than carrying a piece of glass around for a Monet effect.      

Varigated Yucca Variations

One more photo from the Legacy Garden. I used the variagated yucca foliage as my original image. I wanted to get the lines leading into the center but slightly off center. In post processing I increased the saturation. Then I decided to see what I could do to change it using saturated film filter and excessive sharpening in PSE 11 which gave it a psychodelic look. Then to practice with Pixlromatic app within the iPhone. I picked a B & W filter. My daughter, Ginger, thinking of using the colorful image as inspiration for her art journal.

"Angelina" sedum - Winter foilage

Last week at the Legacy Garden@ the Guilford Co. Ag. Center,  I found this plant with very colorful foliage for the winter months. I said I was going to try some different venues than flower & flora but they keep calling my camera for a closer look. My friend, Elaine, got a Master Gardener to help ID the plant. I really want one of these for my garden but sounds like this plant may be hard to come by.  It is a Sedum called Angelina".  I did minimal editing.  I may try some other apps later.  The LED screen was in bright sun and I did not notice the leaf at the top  but I would not have wanted to crop the image closer.  If I have a chance this winter, it would be a great picture with a little snow and the foilage peeping up above it. This web site has some interesting info about plants. http://awaytogarden.com/a-plant-id-order-sedum-angelina/ 

Ornamental Kale

This year I bought some small ornamental kale when I went to the poinsettia open house at Mitchell's Nursery, King, NC. Today I am sharing an image of one of the white ones to show you that despite low temps at night the last few weeks they are surviving. It is probably about 6 inches in diameter. Maybe if you concentrate on the center you can see a face smiling at you. Image was rotated to help see this better. LOL. I did sharpen a little just to show a sharper vein structure in the outer foliage. I also used clone tool to change opacity of dirt in some areas. Editing done with PSE 11