Artful Images

Here are some images from this weekend that I’ve made over into more art-like images.  Take a look -

This first image was taken during a hazy sunset.  Who would have thought a dried bloom could look so artistic?  The quote by Leonardo da Vinci is perfect for this image…….

This was taken as we hiked along trails at Rockhound State Park (and off trails, too) looking for interesting rocks.  As I took my eyes off the ground, I saw a beautiful landscape.  The quote about inner guidance just seemed to speak about this image, once I created a more painterly effect.  It seems to be more and more like what I’m doing…..

This image of a flowering branch was made softer by adding what I call a tissue effect.  I used a brush tool in PhotoShop Elements with a very, very pastel color and used a very low  opacity.  I used a large brush size and gently dabbled it all over the image.  I then added the quote about happiness, and love the overall impression……

I used a colored pencil effect for this image.  The bold  graphic of the original image just lent itself well to the colored pencil effect.  The quote about the past is also appropriate for this image…….

Enjoy!

Goldleaf Mine Road

Today, we explored the back roads in the area where we are camping, and came across an old mine along what’s called Goldleaf Mine Road.  Check out these images -

 

Before we found the mine, we came across an old windmill in the Cooke Mountains.  Love the feel of yesterday…….

And, here we have a window into yesterday……

We drove up the mountain to the actual mine when we came to it, and this great shot of a shaft resulted….

Altho we think that gold was probably mined here (why else call it Goldleaf Mine Road?), there were some very cool rocks left over….

 

Enjoy!

Beginning and Ending at Rockhound State Park & a Treasure in Between

Today started out with a walk around the campground and some really cool dried blooms and leaves, and then a discovery of a little treasure called the town of Mesilla, New Mexico, near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and ended with a cool sunset thru the screen of our RV.  Take a look......

Love this dried bloom.  I think it's a variation of a yucca, but I'm not certain.....

Here are the leaves at the base of that dried bloom.  I just love the neutral tones of this plant.....

And, in the town of Mesilla, we have bright vivid blooms.  Spring has definitely sprung here....

There was a lovely little café, winery, and antique shop (not open today, tho - darn!) called Josephina's.  Love the front entry gate.....

Aren't these happy little flowers?  Just loved them all grouped together at the base of a tree....

And, the day ends with a really cool sunset, as shot thru the screen door of our RV.  I was just curious as to how it would look, and it's kind of interesting.....parts toned down, but not the sun!

 

Enjoy!

Sunrise and Sunset

The day started out with an early morning walk with Jeff & Miki, and ended with our first evening camping at Rockhound State Park near Deming, New Mexico.  Check out the images!

We didn't think that we'd have any sunrise at all, but were surprised.....

I just loved the little cloud just sort of hanging there above the mountain.....

The sunrise did get more spectacular, and I love the silhouette of the tree......

Here's the hazy sunset at Rockhound State Park.  Love the silhouette of the dried yucca bloom against the sun going down.....

Here's the broader view of the hazy sunset......

 

Enjoy!

Three Reasons I Love Living Here

Three reasons I love living here - all from this morning as I woke up!

I stepped out onto the back patio and here was the big beautiful sky that I love!  The cloud formation really adds to the expansiveness of this image, doesn't it?

I also love the way I can watch the sun as it warms up the sky.  The glow from the east hasn't quite reached over that cloud formation yet, so we get the mix of a warm and cool sky.

And, finally, I do love my mountains!  And, here is the last of the rosy glow over the San Pedro Mountains, and specifically, South Mountain.  I can't believe we're lucky enough to live here!  And see all of this from our back patio!

Enjoy!

Morning Walk

A couple of days ago, Miki & I went for a morning walk, and I got some lovely images that I thought I'd share with you.

I really love the way the sun slowly warms up the sky from below.  Clouds add to the texture close to the horizon line, and then the sky opens up above.  The contrail added just the perfect touch.

Dried blooms aren't generally very pretty, but these just seemed so gentle and almost happy as they sort of shifted in the early morning light breeze (and a "light" breeze is somewhat of a rarity here in New Mexico in the spring!).

There are quite a few yuccas growing randomly around the airpark, and I liked the feel of this one with the sun rising directly behind it.  The day is really starting now.

I loved the way the sunlight just highlighted the tippy tops of the dried grasses in this photo.  What a nice warm feel to this image due to that early morning sun!  Can't you almost feel them starting to sway in the breeze?

Here's more of the shrubby grasses that grow here in patches.  Again, the rays of the morning sun just make them more noticeable.  In this image, I also liked the sort of abstract feel to the arrangement of the grasses.

Enjoy!

Creative Cropping

I've been reading the book I got on Photoshop Elements and found this great new cropping tool called "Cookie Cutter".  It allows me to crop with uneven edges.  Take a look -

The above image was cropped with a lot of feathering.  Feathering allows the edges to soften - in this case quite a bit.  I like the feeling of this image cropped because I think the soft cropping adds to the gentle feeling of the flowers themselves.

This image doesn't use any feathering in the cropping, and I think it gives a sort of "torn from the pages" effect that I kind of like as well.  It does create an entirely different feeling, tho, doesn't it?

This one was kind of fun!  I used a circular type crop and also didn't use much feathering.  I think it will work well, as long as the image lends itself to a somewhat circular shape.  I didn't do much feathering here, either, as I felt the feathering would reduce the circular swirling feel to the crop and image.

And, finally, here's a photo of a daisy (Rocky Mountain Townsend Daisy).  The crop isn't feathered here, either, but the type/shape of crop really felt a bit gentler and seemed to match the edging of the daisy. The petals don't really have soft edges, but still have a gentle feel to them, as does the cropping. 

Enjoy!

Morning Treasures

Morning walks seem to present some pretty good photo op's.  Here are a few things I noticed and photographed in the morning -

The above photo is just a little "intimate landscape" as photographers sometimes refer to scenes like these.  I happened to look down and saw this lovely little dried grass set up against a colored textured rock.

This photo was taken just at the edge of our property - it's really just dried wild growth (a weed, flower??), but I thought the sort of rusty orange dried bloom was really pretty, especially surrounded by some other much tinier and more delicate dried blooms.  I just couldn't resist!

Not everything is dried out here, tho, even tho it is winter.  As Miki (our German Shepherd) walked along, I stopped to take a photo of one of our neighbor's fence.  I just love the line that this creates, just sort of pointing at the lovely sky.  It creates a nice sense of 3-D.

Technically, this last image wasn't taken during a walk, but it was early in the morning!  I just loved the soft colors, and the wispy clouds.

Enjoy!