Wandering

The first day, we did a bunch of wandering and I was able to capture some very nice images.....

 

This first image is of a weed that reminded me of a variation of Queen Anne's Lace, and is the same type of plant that my "bee study" (previous post) included.  I just love the repeated pattern of the leaves of this plant, and the overall softness to it.

Isn't this a lovely little red bloom?  I was really glad I was able to capture it, and altho the sort of branch running thru the middle of the image might typically be considered "bad form" in terms of photographic content, in this case, I liked that it provided a sort of "base" to the quote that I found that really spoke to me about this image.

One of the things we did was to explore the lakeshore just down from our campsite.  As I wandered along the shoreline, the colors of the rocks there really jumped out at me, so, of course, I had to capture them!  Again, I played with this image with my HDR software, just so I could bring out the colors of the rocks that caught my eye.  Cameras are fabulous tools, but they don't always capture what we see with our own built in best camera - our eyes!

This last image is one of my favorites from this wandering.  I just love the little flower (ok, weed) that is just determined to not only survive, but thrive, in the midst of all of the rocks surrounding it!  We can all learn a lesson in persistence from this little bloom!

 

Enjoy!

A Bee Study

The first full day we explored, we were rather hindered by the lack of rain that the area had been having.  All the national forest back roads we tried to explore were closed due to the extreme fire danger.  However, I was able to spot a bee (actually, he was quite a large one!) working away at a weed, and was able to play with an image to get some different effects....

The first effect, above, reminds me of a sort of Asian feel to the image.  I can imagine this printed on some nice quality material....perhaps as a decorative scarf or something??

This second image is sort of a neon glow effect.  Not realistic at all, but a kind of bright fun perspective!

For this third image, I used a sort of painting type effect, but a pretty subtle one.  It really captures the overall softness that I originally picked up on when I decided to capture this little guy.

This last image of this series is probably my favorite.  I used a sort of poster edge effect, which really captured in sharp detail all the aspects of not only the bee, but the bloom as well.  I also cropped the image in a bit tighter to really focus on the bee and bloom.

 

Enjoy!



Day's End

It was actually quite rainy at Bluewater Lake State Park on our weekend, which ended up being a lucky break for us.  These images were all taken the first day we were there, toward the end of the day....

One of the things that I love most about New Mexico is the big sky.  Here I'm standing at our campsite, looking out over the lake at a rain storm that's happening in the distance.  I never get tired of watching the sky open up with a downpour, while I'm standing in absolute dryness!

 



Since it was so cloudy and rainy, we didn't get a spectacular sunset, but I really liked the peaceful feel of this shot as the day ended.

For the above image, I played around with my HDR (High Dynamic Range) software to create a sort of painterly feel to the scene.  I just love the detail that existed in the clouds.

 

Enjoy!

Water Dog !

Miki does love the water!  This past weekend, we camped at Bluewater Lake State Park, here in New Mexico.  We had to take her down to the lake at least a couple of times so she could play "fetch" with her stick - and, of course, it had to be fetching it from the water!

Here she is, just hitting her stride, heading out to swim and fetch that stick!

 Can you see the stick still in the air?  I just love how she leaps as she's racing thru the water.....until it gets deep enough for her to swim. 

Here you can see the stick splash down, and Miki's well on her way to it.

Success!  We all should be able to find joy in such simple pursuits!

 

Enjoy!

Digital Collages

Here are some new digital collage ATCs I created for a swap.  The theme of the swap was "Forgotten Places" and most of these have scenes from some ghost towns we've visited here in New Mexico.  Take a look......

 



This first image is of a door, specifically the doorknob, of a deserted building in the town of  Chloride.  Some of the layers include a watercolor background, a vintage postcard, and some brush-stokes in the shape of keys that I downloaded online.  Oh, and of course, the image of the doorknob.

This second piece is based on an image I shot in a cemetery in Cerillos. There are layers of watercolor, some background paper I made using the Citra-Solv technique, a music sheet, and the image itself.  The cemetery is still used, I believe, but this image was from a section of older graves.

This image is not of a ghost town, altho the background of the room looks like it might be.  Actually, that tattered room is another of the Citra-Solv backgrounds I've come up with.  I included some text in what looks to be a child's handwriting.  The image of the young woman is from a vintage photo I have, altho I don't know who she is.  She is one of my favorite subjects, tho.  The little girl in the center of the piece is actually a photo of my Mom, taken when she was quite the young child.  Remembering one's childhood can stir up all types of emotions, and I think you can project your own onto this piece.

The non-existent town of  Waldo is the subject of this piece.  The only thing left of this town are the foundations of some old coke ovens.  The town was built right along the tracks, and the coke ovens were just on the other side of the tracks.  We actually had to climb over a fence to get here.  I'm sure we weren't supposed to, but, there wasn't anyone there to see us!  And, I just love the vintage photo of the young lady with her bag and a determined look in her eye, waiting to board her train.  I added that vintage postcard again, and decided the piece was complete.

The town of Fulsome is shown above.  The old main street really had a great feel to it, in terms of making you feel the spirit of the town as it once was.  The background was another of my Citra-Solv background, and I had to add the image of the raven.  The text across the top of the piece was text that remained after the Citra-Solv technique.  I thought it added such a good touch, I decided to just leave it there.

This last piece is another one that is not of a ghost town.  The background is another Citra-Solv number.  I added in the handwriting from (I believe) a vintage postcard.  On the far left of the piece is a vintage image of the young soldier who I'm imagining wrote the letter to his love, the haunting woman shown in the lower left corner.  This woman is actually a photo I took of one of the statues at the Cemetery at Ricoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when we visited there several years ago.  This statute is one of my favorite images from that cemetery.  As a little tidbit of info, that cemetery is where Eva Peron (Evita) is laid to rest.  No statute like this at her family's crypt, tho.

 

 

Enjoy ~

HDR Fun !

 

Over the past few days, we've gone on walks with Miki in the morning as the sun was rising.  I got some really pretty shots, but thought they might be good candidates to play with my HDR (High Dynamic Range) software.  I haven't done that in a while, and here are the results!

The above image may look familiar to you.  I posted the "regular" image on a post from a few days ago, but thought it needed something.  I thought I'd play with it with HRD, and here's the result.  I really like the sort of magical light that is in the image.  I know this sounds crazy, but the image sort of seems happier (I know, I'm nuts!).

This image was shot just a bit up the road from the first shot.  I just loved the way the sky looked that morning, and our friends' place just seemed to be the perfect setting for capturing it. The fence in the foreground also adds a nice rustic touch.  Oh, if you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll see a plane over at our friends'.  They were getting ready to take their nephew to the next stop on his summer travels, up to northwest New Mexico.  

 

 

This image was shot in almost the same place as the first image.  In fact, all 3 of these are taken around our friends' place (what a charming, picturesque place they have!).  This image was shot on the same day as the 2nd image, so the clouds were just lovely.  I wanted to capture the sun reflecting on the road leading to their house, and thought a wider view would just relay the nice warm feeling of coming home.

 

 

Enjoy!

 



Morning Magic

 

The past few mornings have been quite magical in terms of photo ops.....

The above image was taken early in the morning after a (somewhat rare) rain overnight.  The raindrops just seemed to glow in the morning sun, and the quote I found seemed to fit the image.  I played with layering the same image on itself, each time cropping it to make it just a bit smaller, so the layers could be seen.  I also made the lower and middle layers less opaque than the top layer.  I thought the result was rather cool.

This morning, Jeff, Miki and I took an early morning walk.  The sunrise had reached the point where it was casting some very soft light.  I really like this image of our friend's yard, with the sun reflecting off the horse corral in the background.  I think I need to play with this image more to make it pop a bit more.  

The sun and clouds created such a soft feel to this image.  I feel like if I could reach up and touch it, it would feel like the softest pillow one could imagine.  It seemed to beg for a quote, and this one seemed perfect.

And, finally, a morning surprise.  I planted some bulbs in a large pot that sits just outside our front door.  I actually forgot what I planted, and this morning, this gift was waiting for me.  How could I not take a photo of it?  I just love the shading and richness of the colors while maintaining such a soft feel to it.

 

Enjoy!