Buddha Fingers - Citron Fruit @ The Fresh Market

A few weesk ago I was at the Fresh Market and saw a fruit called Buddha Fingers. The image on the left.  I took a picture of them in the produce bin because of the shape of the projections of the fruit. The lighting was overhead and I assume incandescent which gave a more yellow orange color to the image. After I got home I "Googled" the name for more information and images.  I finally got back to the store yesterday and there was no fruit on display.  I talked with the produce person, who brought out some from storage and told me this was an ornamental fruit used as a room deodorizer.  You keep cutting off the fingers as the smell lessens.  These were not as pretty because the tips of the fingers were starting to turn brown but I still had in mind as part of the iPhone challenge taking a picture of this fruit.  The right image is taken with iPhone 6 using Instagram with a white sheet as a background.  In images I have seen of them on a stalk the fingers are hanging down or the fingers can have more space between them. I have read more on wikipedia and about 5 things you can do with this fruit. I have not done any experiments yet.  I think I will try some zest in my Lebkuchen recipe.  

Mosaic Gazing Ball - Penn House, Reidsville, NC 12/05/2015

Thiese images should have been posted on Tues., Dec. 8th, 2015.. 
On Saturday I saw this mosaic gazing ball at the Penn House in Reidsville, NC.  I really liked the bright colors and thought it had great potential for texture.   iPhone 6, Camera +, edited with PSE 11.  Image on left cropped slightly, increased highlights, sharpened. Image on right was a section of the same ball to take CU of mosaic patterns.and color variation.  Increased contrast and sharpened to the max which gave it more shading of the glass pieces.  

Pink Poinsettia CU - Posterize Edges Filter

This image should have been posted Saturday, Nov. 5th.  Went to A & A Nursery, Brown Summit, NC,  yesterday and tried to take some pictures of a pink varigated poinsettia. This plant is native to Mexico.  Sometimes difficult to get macro mode sharp with Camera Plus.  This is a difficult subject to hand hold because of the shallow depth of field. The center was not sharp.  So, decided to go for abstract look. Camera Plus app - square mode. Edited in PSE - posterize edges with slight sharpening for more texture. Going to Mitchell's Nursery Sun. Nov. 6th.  Open House for a large display of poinsettia cultivars.  Have been there before and lighting not the best.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poinsettia

Peeled Paint on Garage CU - Texture

These images should have been posted, Monday, November 16th. More texture images.. iPhone 6. Left image saved as "quick fix" in  PSE 11. Right image used posterize edges filter. Converted to B&W - darkened to make lines more distnct.

Peeled Paint on Garage - Slats in Landscape Mode (Sepia Tone) .

Found a garage that had peeled paint in different formation for the slats. Sun was shining on the garage and wish I could have captured more detail.  Decided to try to change to vintage or sepia tones.   Sharpened moderate amount.  Taken with native 6  iPhone. Edited in PSE 11

Bare Tree - Leaves are Mostly Gone Nov. 12, 2015

Not the right time of day to capture this image as a silhouette. You can see the Carolina blue sky.   The last 10 days we have had some rain every day, or it has been windy.  Most of the trees have lost their color or completely lost their leaves.  In the color image on the left I see one leaf in about the middle of the image. Not sure if HDR mode was on.  Camera+ Edit PSE 11.  I decided to see how this would look converted to B & W.  Ended up chosing infrared,  Then played with red & green sliders for image on the right.  Possibly could also be an image you crop out sections and use for texture in a digital collage.

Lichen Colonies on Maple Tree in Neighborhood - Texture

Yesterday I was walking in the neighborhood and foiund some lichen colonies on a maple tree.  I was intrigued because there was a lot of  a golden color there.  I was disappointed that the images I took were not as sharp as I had hoped. Should have done a playback instead of relying on the LED screen. Oh well, I hope to get back and try again when there is more sunshine.  Sometimes you can salvage an image using apps.   Taken with Camera+. Post processing done with PSE 11.  Left image has just increase in highlights & mid-tones, then sharpened a lot to give texture.
 I had taken the image at an angle rather than landscape. changed mode to square, and tried to do macro which uses digital zoom--not as good as optical zoom.  The right image I used a "Saturated Film" filter in PSE 11.  You can even see the green moss in the cracks if you are able to enlarge the image.  

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Golden Rain Tree Pods - Greensboro Arboretum 10-7-2015

Went to GSO Arboretum a few days ago because I thought the Golden Rain Tree would be showing it's seed pods.   They were in the bright sun and the tree had been pruned since last fall.  I could not pull down any pods for close up image.  However, there were some pods on the ground I picked up and put in a limb area which also showed texture of the bark. I like the texture of the pods and the pinkish color.  The actual size of the pods are about 2 inch tall and 1 inch wide. In the spring time the blossoms are a yellow color. Taken with Camera+; edited in PSE 11.  I did not see the pine needles near the left most pod.when I took the photo because I was so concentrating on the texture of the pods and the
composition.  Hope I can find some more photo ops of this tree and the pods at other locations in the Triad in the next week or so.  .

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.      

White Ginger Lily - Nannette's Yard

My white ornamental Ginger Lily just started to bloom  (9/24/15). I have been trying for days to get a good image but it has been raining for 3 days and windy.  So, I am going with the best capture I could get. I shot these with native camera   app for the iPhone 6. I did try to adjust exposure because of white blossoms.   The image on the left was edited normally in PSE 11. The image on the right I wanted to try for an altered art effect.  I  cropped to a more square image and used the lighten/darken sliders, sharpened to the max to show more texture in the petals and give a more painterly appearance.  I did not clone out the rain drops.  As a result of the super sharpening the grass in the foreground and background became more pixelated.  Too bad photography does not allow you to pass on the fragrance of these blossoms.

Autumn Maple Leaves - Backlit Rankin School

Today is the first day of fall.  Some of the leaves have a hint of color in Greensboro, NC, especially some maples.  It can be difficult to find them at iPhone level to get a close up.  One of my favorite things to do is to let the light shine from behind the leaves so you can better see the various colors of the leaves, plus the texture and the veins.  I stopped at an elementary school in my neighborhood. The Left image was taken about 4:30 PM EDST.  Camera+ HDR.  Edited in PSE 11.  Played with lighting, brightness, saturation and decreasing green in color variations. The Right image was cropped to a square and then posted on Instagram.  I had selected the "Hudson" filter.  I guess I like the Instragram one better because the red veins stand out more more texture. It was also a lot less work than  editing with sliders in PSE 11.

Milkweed Propellor - Excessive Sharpen for Texture Effect

Love walking in my neighborhood to look for images. Was out and about at noon and saw this milkweed propellor.  Not always the best time for taking photos due to excessive highlights. It was windy.  Pushed the sharpen to about 400 to get a texture effect.  Reminds we of a dancer twirling around.  Taken with Camera+ macro. Edited in PSE 11.

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.  

Inside of Milkweed Pod - Neighborhood & Posterize Effect

OK if this image did not have a title I bet you could not guess what it was? I am always looking for texture images and what kind of filters might change the look. I was trying to release milkweed propellors from a pod but they were not really dry yet. Then I noticed that the inside was moist with an abstract pattern. This
texture prompted me to take a closeup/macro image.  Taken with Camera+.  Cropped and edited in PSE 11. Probably could have tried higher level of sharpening and lightness/darkness sliders on the original image.  I decided to go with a posterize filter in the right image.  

Osage Orange Fruit - Green Monochrome

This should have been posted Wed. 8/19/2015.   I was walking in the neighborhood last week and saw that the Osage orange (Machura pomifera) tree fruit was starting to appear.  Because it is not ripe yet this made a monochrome image.  I was trying to do a close up in Camera+ but it almost looks like this fruit is floating if it were not attached with a stem.  When it is ripe it will be yellow and can have more texture.  Some people make bows with the trunks which can be very time consuming.  he neighbor said the first year it bloomed it was orange.  This tree has very sharp thorns.  In the spring it has pretty white flowers.  Post processing in PSE 11:  cropped, increased highlights, sharpened to show more texture.
For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Cedar Limbs without Leaves - Texture & Glow Effects

This image should have been posted for 8/12/15.   I was walking in the neighborhood last night and came across this twisted piece of cedar limbs without any leaves.   You could call this "Patterns of Nature".  I did not like the oiriginal because I took it late evening in color HDR and it had blue cast in the highlights.  Native camera.           The image on L I played with sharpness, conversion to black and white and increasing contrast/darkness.to make the texture of the limbs show up better.using PSE 11. I also played with glow color filter in PSE 11 to get the effect in the right image. It gives an eerie effect.  Played with the sliders to get the effect I liked.

Green Foliage at Tanger Garden, GSO, NC - Texture

I took this image about a month ago at Tanger Garden.  I do not know what plant it is but thought I might be able to use for texture.  I would class it a monochrome green image.  No, I did not use any color variations to manipulate..  I do not think I have done any post editing.  It would be interesting to see how it looked with various filters or to push lighten and darken, plus sharpen to the max.  Unfortunately, this a.m. PSE 11 was not letting me access my photos from the external drive.

Colonial Brick Layout - Highpoint Museum

This should have been posted for Wed. 7/22/2015.  In June my sister and I went to the High Point Museum.  Outside there were several colonial buildings on the site. It was an overcast day. I took this image because it was an example of how bricks were laid on some buildings in those times.  Instead of side by side, these were laid with the side and then the end which creates a different pattern.  Not sure that there was a structural significance for this technique. I liked the colors of the bricks as well as possible use as a texture or background.  No post processing. Did not take the time to use any filters or apps, but sure there could be many opportunities for different effects if you used Mega Photo or PSE.

Lichen on Laurel Bluff Trail and Invert Filter of Same Image

Another image of a lichen on the Laurel Bluff Trail, GSO, NC.  The image on the right was taken with Camera+ HDR.  I increased the contrast & sharpened in PSE 11. Then tried various filters and liked the invert mode in PSE 11 as I could see more texture even with the wood chips almost looks like ice or glass.--another image that may have potential in a digital college.  

Mushrooms on a Log + More Texture with PSE

On Sunday my family and I went for a walk in NE GSO on the Laurel Bluff Trail.  I saw these mushrooms and had to capture the image on the right.  It is unedited.  I liked the mushroom having layers and thought they looked more like flowers.  So, in PSE I increased the highlights and midtones and did some medium sharpening which resulted in the image on the left.   I like it better because it defines the lines in the mushroom and gives more texture to the log.  It is possible to sharpen more and increase the light and dark sliders to come up with a more graphic design effect. P.S. When you are on a trail with non-photographers, you do not have the time to "work the scene" and take a lot of images.