Red Clover CU - Neighborhood

The late afternoon sun was highlighting this red clover and it was calling my name to take a close up image.  Too bad there was not a bee on it. Camera+ HDR Macro mode.with Square Format. I increased highlights, sharpened, cloned areas of foliage to eliminate some tiny white specks, and applied vignette in PSE 11.

By some red clover (Trifolium pratense) is considered a weed in your lawn, but it is knowm to have some medicinal benefits. It is a berbaceous species of a flowering plant in the bean family, Fabaceae. It is native to Europe, Western Asia and Northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions.   For more info see en.wikipedia.org

Native Rubeckia Blooms in My Front Yard

I have a lot of "native" rubeckia blooming in my front yard.   Decided to take an image that would show more blooms but have some closer to the camera that could show more detail. It is a periennial and seems to have more plants every year.   Taken with native camera. Post processing with PSE 11. Cropped, shadows increased and midtones slightly, sharpened.

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.

Tuberose Bouquet from Yanceyville Farmer's Curb Market

Saturday I was at the Yanceyville Farmer's Curb Market and purchased a bouquet of Tuberoses from a vendor.  If you have never purchansed these, you are in for a treat.  They are very fragrant and will perfume a small room.  I took this image in a hurry thinking more flowers would open up and I could rearrange the bouquet for a better capture of the blossoms and maybe take some macro images. I used my kitchen window lighting.  Well, that didn't happen as my kitchen was being painted this week and I had used this black background which is the side of my refrigertor.  The blossoms really never opened up and the older blossoms started to not look fresh.  So, I will just have to go to the Market again this Sat.  Used native camera app. Increased the highlights and sharpened with PSE 11.

Wooden Yard Art in Neighborhood

This wooden carved yard art was in my neighbor's backyard,  Camera+ app,    app, HDR mode. The left images I cropped for better competition,  increased the saturation, sharpened slightly and applied a vignette in PSE 11. The right image I tried to convert to B & W and keep higher contrast between the B &W
(urban legend) .  You can't always rearrange the statue or change the background when in a neighbor's yard.

Pomegranate Blossom Midsummer - Azalea Leaves as Background

One of my neighbors has a Pomegranate (Punica ranatum) shrub/tree. His is an ornamental cultivar and the fruit is very small -no real pulp - just alot of seed.  This plant flowers spring through summer with bright coral, red,  or varigated coral flowers.  I picked one of the blossoms to be able to get a better close up shot with the owner's permission, and it did not include a lot of leaves.  It is difficult with an iPhone to hold the flower and then use the Carolina blue sky as a background to get a sharp image like I can do with my P & S digital camera.  So, I used my neighbor's azalea bush foliage for the background. Native camera app, HDR mode, no post processing.  Could have probably sharpened and cloned out the white area to the lower right corner or cropped to square format.  .  

Small Hen and Chick Succlent - Macro Center

Today I went to the Yanceyville Farmer's Curb Market.  One of the vendors was selling small succulent plants. I have always liked the texture or structure of the leaves of this "Hen & Chick"** plant.  I chose a cultivar with pink tones to the outer leaves.  The vendor said it will grow rapidly if I plant in a bigger pot with sandy soil.  I only wanted to capture the center.  Used square mode in Native Camera app with HDR.  Minimal editing in PSE 11.  Right image I decided to try for an altered image with the posterize filter which is my of my favorites.  I am sure I will be taking more images as this plant grows.  It is supposed to winter over.  However, succulents are great container plants.  It could be brought inside to enjoy in the winter.  
**See link for more info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_and_chicks