Catching Up
Posted: March 18, 2017 Filed under: effects, Fine Art, Flowers, macro, manipulations, Nature, photography | Tags: botanical, close up, colourful, creativity, Flowers, hawthorn, Plant Portraits, tulips 2 Comments
I must admit I was quite shocked to see how many months have gone by since I last posted here – so now I must catch up and will start with some Hawthorn blossom.
I went over to the Pond last week , but it was very cold and very lean pickings for any water birds etc. The saving grace were lots of blossoms on the many Hawthorn trees around. They were actually all white but I fancied doing something different with them and discovered a set of ‘Retro’ effects in my PSP that I haven’t used before. I was pleased with the lovely pink colours and that it harmonised the background colours too….
I bought myself some tulips – I love their sculptural qualities and strong colours. The black background suited them very well I thought.
Other tools I haven’t really used are the Dodge and the Smudge Brushes. I really enjoyed using them to get these blending , softening effects.
I will endeavour to post again soon. blessings, Eileen
Tulip Portrait
Posted: April 1, 2016 Filed under: digital, Flowers, macro, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits | Tags: botanical, close up, colourful, Flowers, image background, macro, nature, photography, sculptural quality, tulips 6 Comments
I love the sculptural quality of tulips because they make such clean, simple images … you can’t go wrong really, can you? I find this type of flower lends itself well to using a black background. Removing a petal allowed the stamen etc to be photographed from the front instead of from above.
One of the challenges of photography is to present something that is a common and favourite subject for photographers in a fresh way – otherwise it can be a case of ‘if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all’. As with all ‘Art’ – in the end it’s all about Ideas.
Could have been a little bit sharper, but I quite liked the softer look – a bit more dreamy perhaps ….
That’s all for now folks, see you again soon I hope. Your ‘likes’ and comments are always very appreciated, Eileen
Mothers Day Flowers
Posted: March 9, 2016 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits, Roses | Tags: botanical, close up, colourful, Flowers, photography, Rose 2 Comments
I always look forward to receiving flowers on special occasions for obvious reasons. Roses, of course, are a classic subject for photographing against a black background, so here are my offerings ….
Please feel free to leave a comment or constructive criticism – it’s always nice to hear other people’s take on things. till next time, Eileen
Daisies
Posted: July 1, 2015 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits | Tags: botanical, close up, colourful, Daisies, Flowers 2 Comments
My favourite daisy
Coreopsis
Hope you enjoy looking – I had a lovely time photographing them and getting a bit ‘artistic’ too.
see you again soon dv Eileen
Seed After its Kind: Gen1:11
Posted: May 4, 2015 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: botanical, close up, Flowers, photography, still life 2 Comments
I’d set up a still life with a Dandelion clock in a small pot and took a few shots, then I had to leave it to attend to other things. When I came back, the card I’d used as a back-drop had fallen on top of my set-up so I thought that was that!
However – it wasn’t completely demolished, just a broken stem, so I decided it would add interest to the image. Here are a couple of shots before the near disaster happened …..
I tried a variation by transferring the dandelion to a similar pot, this time coloured blue/green …. this made a lot of the seeds scatter all over the place , so I did a little bit of re-arranging.
Daffs
Posted: January 30, 2015 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits, Still Life | Tags: blue, botanical, colourful, daffodils, Flowers, yellow 2 Comments
I bought myself a huge bunch of Daffodils and enjoyed myself taking photos of them. As ya’ll know by now – I like to ‘enhance’ my shots in Paintshop Pro. This allows me to bring a bit more creativity into what can be just another run -of- the- mill subject … I hope you like the results. I’m really grateful for this modern technology that allows me to share something that I would otherwise just tuck away in an album somewhere. Ha ha – it’s a substitute for plying someone in my home with all those snaps that you have to be polite about! Bye for now, Eileen
Rain Drops
Posted: August 2, 2014 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Plant Portraits | Tags: botanical, close up, colour, colourful, digital, Flowers, green, image, intelligent mind, monochrome, nature, outdoors, paintshop, Paintshop Pro, photography, photos, plant, plants, rain, raindrops, sculptural quality, sedum, succulent 2 Comments
What I love about Sedums is the way rain drops collect and stay put on the leaves – so convenient for taking photographs. The plant has fleshy, succulent stems and leaves and as it’s clump-forming it makes it very easy to control and also to propagate. I found out by accident that if a stem breaks off you can just stick it in the ground and it will grow into another plant …. even better – you can give them to your friends [if they want them].
So, after the downpour the other day, I saw the sedum covered in bright droplets, looking like little jewels with the sun shining on them. My photos don’t really do justice to what I saw as they can’t completely capture the beauty of God’s creation. Just shows you though what marvelous inbuilt lenses He gave us !
In spite of the monochrome colouring, the sculptural quality of the plant makes it really interesting [at least, to me] and it wasn’t until I uploaded the pics to my laptop that I saw the ‘debris’ in the close up shots of the single raindrops.
Then I had a go at isolating a green droplet against a black and white leaf and stems. I love my Paintshop Pro software! Always found it easier to fathom out than Photoshop – cheaper to buy too….
Bye for now – you are very welcome to comment by clicking the ‘comments’ word at the end of the opening paragraph info. Eileen
New Arrivals
Posted: July 29, 2014 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Portraits, Wild Life | Tags: botanical, brown, butterflies, close up, colour, colourful, digital, drama, Flowers, Gatekeeper, image, image background, insects, nature, orange, outdoors, paintshop, Paintshop Pro, photography, photos, plants, purple, red, sedum, weather, Wild life Leave a comment
For weeks I’ve been bemoaning the fact that I haven’t had any butterflies in my garden – well today there have been several fluttering about and even resting long enough for me to take some pics. I think this particular lot are called Gatekeeper [Pyronia tithonus] because they have twin black eyespots with white pupils on their forewing. Anyway – I only know that because I did a google search! I’m delighted – especially as I’m getting more used to using the zoom on my camera instead of the macro setting [which I still haven’t figured out!].
I amused myself no end cropping and trying to be generally more ‘artistic’ without it looking too artificial … BUT – I do try to get the best pics I can ‘in camera’ as is always recommended. I tend to take loads of shots and discard the majority as many of them are almost the same – it’s just a matter of choosing the best of the bunch. It’s been a bit on the windy side today, so as well as the butterflies and bees being on the move all the time – so are the plants they land upon unfortunately.
I’ve deliberately kept some images high key to reflect the beautiful sunny weather – although I appreciate some butterflies suit a bit of drama more.
Even though this Sedum isn’t in flower yet, the butterflies are obviously attracted to it. I’m fortunate in having several Sedums which I love – especially this dark red variety called Purple Emperor.
I’m looking forward to posting some photos I took through the window during a downpour yesterday. I was going to post them today but the butterflies took priority!
see you soon, Eileen
Busy Bees
Posted: July 25, 2014 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Portraits, Wild Life | Tags: bees, bit of fun, blue, botanical, bumblebees, bumblies, close up, colour, colourful, digital, Flowers, image, Lavender, macro, nature, outdoors, paintshop, Paintshop Pro, photography, photos, plants, purple, Wild life Leave a comment
I love lavender plants and so do the bees …. ladybirds and butterflies are in short supply in my garden – well, non-existent really – but the bees are out in force. So, I thought I’d have another go at practicing with the macro setting on my new camera. Hmm – very disappointing I must say – goodness knows what I’m doing wrong. It must be because I’m treating it asin ‘auto’ mode I guess – I don’t know if I’m supposed to be selecting other things to help.
Fortunately I’d read tips from someone about using the zoom lens for flower close ups instead and so I’ve contented myself with experimenting with that. These are the results, but I know I could do so much better! I found it wasn’t much good my trying to set the camera for fast-moving objects either …. I find it all very frustrating as I really hanker after lovely sharp images. However – as I’ve said elsewhere – I try to make up for that with being more ‘artistic’ when sharpness isn’t crucial. And as I enjoy using my Paintshop Pro it becomes such a pleasure to do. I try to get as good a photo ‘in camera’ as I can though and I don’t like to be too obvious in ‘enhancing’ images. But there are instances when it’s ok to go to extremes and a lot of fun too.
Next time I hope to post something completely different to my recent wild-life offerings. More ‘still life’ or abstracty. See you soon, Eileen
Ladybird
Posted: June 17, 2014 Filed under: Flowers, Nature, photography, Wild Life | Tags: achillea, botanical, close up, colour, colourful, digital, Flowers, image, insects, Ladybirds, nature, outdoors, paintshop, Paintshop Pro, photography, photos, plants, Wild life Leave a comment
I’ve been having second thoughts about digging out this achillea plant completely – I may just divided it up instead. My change of heart has come because the Ladybirds have obviously taken a fancy to it. It’s still yet in bud, but the Ladybirds are out in force today.
The sun is so bright that I couldn’t really see anything on the screen display of my little camera, so it was simply a matter of pointing closely on the macro setting and taking a complete chance on whether I’d captured anything or not…. equally, I do find camera shake a bit of a problem as I can’t keep my hands so steady as I used to. I know my tripod would help, but by the time you set these things up the insects have moved or flown. So – I just hope for the best.
All things considered I feel quite pleased – especially with the depth of field. I tweaked the brightness/contrast a bit with my paintshop software afterwards.
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