Purple Ornamental Kale - Ruffled Center CU - Neighborhood

Found a nice purple ornamental Kale when I was walking in the neighborhood.  Thought the center would look good as a close up. Camera+, iPhone 6.  Edit in PSE 11.  Sharpened to the Max to show more detail in the ruffled edges if you zoom in close can see the purple veins.   .  

Varigated Viola - Nannette's Garden

Took a close up of one of my varigated viola with some raindrops on the petals. We have had extremely warm weather for December in NC. The actual size of this bloom maybe 5/8 inch.  Square Mode,  iPhone 6, Camera+, Edited in PSE 11. Did some cloning and use of healing tool to blur out more of the background and applied vignette. The viola flowers are edible and can be used to decorate food plates, used in salads or crystalized to put on cakes and pastries. For more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_(plant)

Yellow foliage - Unknown Plant Autumn @ Sarah Duke Garden, Durham, NC

These images should have been posted Sun, Nov. 8th, 2015.  
Went to Sarah Duke Garden to see what images I could find of fall foliage.   I was disappointed in what was available as we have had some colder temps ( no hard frost) --some of the plants had brown leaves and flowers. Camellias were pretty good but even some of the edges of the petals were altered colors.  The terrace garden now has winter pansies, etc. which were recently planted. The toad lilies (a favorite in the fall) were toast!!  I found this yellow foliage in several different locations, but none of it had the plant name labeled.  I liked the bright golden color and that it looked like a firecracker.  Camera+, Edited  PSE 11.  For the image on the right, after I increased highlights and midtones, sharpened, I choose an adjustment filter called "invert".  Used color variations and increased the red which made some fronds more purple cast.   Lastly I used the artistic filter "posterize edges" to make the fronds stand out better like firecrackers. Unfortunately there are issues with focus--not all foliage is in the same plane. I really need to review images consistently after I capture it.  LED screen can be misleading.

Fall Asters at the Greensboro Arboretum

This should have been posted Wed., October 14th, 2015.  

Found some purplse fall asters blooming at the Greensboro Arboretum last week.  Did not see the cultivar designated but think it might be Aster amellus.  It was not very tall and the blooms were clustered together. Only a few past bloom time in this image. Since these blossoms were in cluster, could not really isolate one blossom for a macro image. This a good plant for butterflies.  Taken in square mode, HDR, Camera+, iPhone 5C.  Edited minimally in PSE 11 

 

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

Snail Vine Blossoms CU at Reynolda Gardens, W-S, NC

This is an image of a snail vine (cork screw vine) blossom that I captured at Reynolda Gardens, W-S, NC, on Saturday about noon. The botanical name is Cochliasanthus caracalla.  It is a perennial vine.  Because it is a close up the blossoms in the left area are immature and further back from the camera - not in sharp focus.  The mature blossoms should resemble the shape of a snail shell but this image does not show that very well.  Camera+ app, HDR.  Edited slightly in PSE 11.  

Monarda Citriodora CU (a Bee Balm) in Trish's Garden.

I have been admiring my neighbor's plant (Monarda citriodora) but did not really like the mulch background as I could not blur out that well. She told me it is a bee balm. It has many names, considered a wildflower with medicinal uses.  Unlike the monarda didyma, it keeps adding bloms the taller the stalk gets.  It blooms for a really long time.   I tasted it and it is very pungent aftertaste - almost pepper like. It has low growing foliage compared to the Monarda didyma.  Native Camera app - HDR.   Postprocessing PSE 11.
For more info: 
http://www.wildflower.org/clearinghouse/propagation/Mo
narda_citriodora.pdf

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).

Crepe Myrtle Blossoms Macro - Stamens

 More crepe myrtle blossoms. Yesterday, I was trying for macro still life.  The owner gave me some blossoms and decided to use window lighting and try to get better view of the stamens.  At least I did not have sun shining on my LED screen,  the wind was not blowing and I could stabilize my shot with restingmy arm against a chair.  Cropped the left imaged for better composition, sharpened.  Right image I increased midtones, sharpened in PSE 11. Both images look more pink than purple/ I probably could have experimented more with WB. At least these images you can get a better view of the frilly petals and the left image almost looks like a painting related to shallow depth of field.  

Purple Crepe Myrtle with Fence and Close Up of Blossom Cluster

 

I saw this purple Crepe myrtle - Lagerstroemia indica in my neighbor's yard. I liked the backdrop with the fence.  I have always had trouble getting a good sharp detailed image even with a DSLR.  I liked the fence but need to experiment in Snapseed app with mask to paint upper right corner and the top of the fence post. Post imaging for both images I used PSE 11, increased highlights & midtones, sharpened.  

This shrub is a popular resting place for wrens and song birds. I captured that doll hanging from the branches last fall. This shrub is originally frrm Asia.  In the summer leaves are dark green but change to yellow, orange, red in the fall. Tree trunks are smooth.  Flowers come in different colors: white, pink, mauve,  purple or carmine with crimped petals in panicles up to 4 cm.  Can growm to height of 20 ft,  There seems to be an ongoing controversy about whether to prone on not.    

Purple Cabbage Head and Smaller Section - Macro

Decided to take some images of a red cabbage for textrure.I used outdoor lighting.  The turquoise background was a piece of 12" x 12" cardstock.   The one on the right is the head sliced vertically.  The image on the left is a section using macro mode in Camera+ app.  Both images I used lighten and darken sliders, and slight sharpening in PSE 11.   If you use filters can create different textures, tints, or colors for a more altered art appearance.  Now the cabbage going to be used to make German cooked red cabbage with some apples and craisins.  Yum!

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.

Clematis with Different Variations

My neighbor had these clematis blooming.  It is weird how the one in the forefront is a different variety than those in the background.  If a cultivar maybe reverting to one of the previous cultivars.  I waited till evening--maybe too late to capture the image because would have been blown out with the sun.  I had to do some cropping and editing -so more digital noise and cannot always remove with a denoise filter.  Did some cloning of artifacts.  Taken with Camera + .  Editing with PSE 11.

Purple/Pink Rhododenron & Native Rhododendron 5/10/2015.

At Sarah Duke on Sunday, I wanted to capture more than just a couple ghododendron blossoms.  The image on the legt was shot in the shaded area near the cafe. I thought the tree bark added some other texture to the imatge. Because it had rained earlier there was increased saturation  Shot in HDR mode.  The native azaelas (right image)  in the Blowmquist Garden were not as good as I had hoped.  Shot with Camera + app   Post editing in PSE11.  Adjusted sliders for shadows, highlights and mid-tone  Slight sharpening.

Iris Foliage Backlit

Was at St. Francis Episcopal Church when I took Jack to his weekly meeting.  I was trying to take advantage of different lighting.  It was about 9:30 A.M. E.S.T.  I wanted to capture the light shining through the left image.The light was more intense at the base of the leaves.  If I moved to eliminate the hedge in the background, would not have gotten the lighting I wanted. I did increase shadows and midtones in PSE 11. Slight cropping of iris image on right. It was bright sun fpr a clump of iris nearby.

Purple Pansy - Macro Mode with Camera +

I liked the light shining on this colorful pansy. Used Camera  + app to take the image. I cropped it slightly for better compostion.  Adjusted some midtones and highlights with sliders. Vignette applied. Image was sharpened slightly. Post editing done in PSE 11. It was necessary to use some cloning in PSE 11 to get rid of some stray artifacts I did not notice when I was  taking the image. It would make a pretty note card

Hyacinths in Bloom at O'Charley's - GSO, NC 3/25/2015

Jack and I went to lunch at O'Charley's on Wed.  The hyacinths were calling my name. However, the landscapers had just put down new mulch and so the leaves of the hyacinths had a lot of debris.  It prevented me from taking  a lot of images.There were also white ones.  I liked the multiple hues. Post processing  I think the images only had slight cropping and sharpening with the native camera.  There are times when you wish a photo could communicate the scent as well, especially with flowers like liliacs and roses.    

Viola Close-up with Ollieclip 21x Lens

Not a lot of choices for blooms in NC in the winter time.   I bought some pansies in Dec. Only one of
the 12 plants had a bloom 3/8/2015..  I put on my 21x macro (OllieClip 4-in-1) lens for my iPhone 5s to take a picture of this viola.  It was about 1 inch in diameter.   Because of the shallow depth of field and not everything being in the same plane, it is difficult to get everything in focus.  I wanted to see the texture of the petals and it took a lot of patience to get this shot.   I will show you the before and after.  I cropped,  cloned and sharpened the image.  I may have played with midtones a bit for a richer color.  Edited in PSE 11

Crocus in Bloom, Greensboro, NC - 3/04/2015 (Signs of Spring)

Found some sign of spring 3/04/2015. Was walking with Jack and Leo around the block and found some crocus in bloom.  Photo on Right, I actually took the image with Instagram camera app and did not edit.  I sent directly to Facebook to post. Will have to go back when I don't have an audience with me and can take my time composing, etc.   It was 74 degrees today but tomorrow may get some snowflakes.  Photo on Left cropped in PSE 11, darkened slightly,  added vignette and sharpened.   I think I need to try capturing the crocus with my Ollie-clip 4 in 1 macro lens.  Later on the way home I saw a daffodil and some snowdrops--more signs of spring.

Hellebores - Libby's Yard

Today I was at my friend's house for a meeting. Her Hellebores (Lenton Rose) had just started to bloom. She has white , purple , and pink ones.  I took a few images but may go back with other camera or lenses.  These were shot in HDR with iPhone 5s. These flowers are normally drooping and a challenge to photograph on a windy day.  Be prepared to use pipe cleaners to position upward.or lie on the ground and shot up.  This is not an easy feat with an iPhone - takes 2 hands unless you use tripod to stabilize the iPhone.The image to the left was shot in square format and would be good to send on Instagram.  The one on the right was cropped to almost square...also added vignette. Both images were sharpened in PSE 11.