Flowers for Dad ~ Floral Friday!

"Your One & Only"

Floral Friday is going to be a super busy day for me... so let's keep this short and sweet so I can hop on the train to Toronto and start this weekend! Whoo hoo! And on that note I'd like to dedicate this post to all the Dads out there for Father's Day! Yes, I know it's a flower image. Yes, I know it's pink. Yes, I know most dads would rather see an image of classic cars, hockey players, or their favorite golf course as the sun goes down whilst and at the same time the subject gets a hole in one... but you'll have to make do with this one. You're welcome!

I have had the privilege of having a wonderful and wacky father, a lovely father-in-law, and watching my husband be an awesome Dad to our two kids. Men who honor their families with everything they do, who are spiritual rocks you can count on, and who have worked to support all their family's endeavours with their whole hearts. Who could ask for more?

So to all the dads who cheer at soccer games in the rain, all the dads who've played chauffeur late in the night with a car full of giggling teens, all the dads that hand over the contents of their wallets for various and fully explainable reasons on a weekend and only complain a little about the volume of that "noise" they call music... this Sunday is YOUR day. If your dad has ever gone beyond the call of duty, or is someone you maybe haven't honored in a while for various reasons, nows the time. Cause you only have one dad.

Make this weekend count somehow folks, and dare I say honor him all year 'round and thanks for the ramble!

A Bloggy Break ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Poetic Profusion"

Here I am in the middle of my biggest editing week so far. It's been good but it's been busy. And next week will be much of the same. I've realized that I appreciate being able to blog more so during my crazy weeks than any other time. Why? Because for a few moments I can do something completely different from my work editing (which I still find exciting don't get me wrong) and just interpret a more personal photo my way. It's my equivalent of getting up and stretching for a moment at the computer in the middle of the work day. Some of us head over to the water cooler, I head into my personal photo files and take a deep breath... ahhhhh.

So here's a peony shot I took last weekend on a much needed break. I played with this in Corel... made a few layers and got some different soft colors, perfect for this flower. I duplicated the original layer in full color and converted it to sepia. Added a contrasting adjustment layer to it so to make the creamy areas pop slightly. But then I played with it's opacity a bit to remove any shadowy tones that were too heavy for this shot. Some slight pink was starting to show through from the color version underneath.

I unlocked the original layer underneath, then when back to the sepia layer and with my eraser tool I began to reveal certain individual petals from underneath that had nice color and could make the overall image include some depth. This wasn't as time consuming as you may think, and again, it was nice to just play without the pressure to please anyone but myself.

I liked the final result immensely and it was just the break I needed. I hope to be able to show you a shot or two from one of my sessions next week so you can see what I've been so busy working on for the last two weeks, but until then I'll get my fill of peonies!

How do the rest of you photogers relax from photography work? Switch to personal projects? Hide the camera away and have movie marathons? Take the family for a hike? Whatever it is, it usually feels good no matter how much you love your job. Glad to know we're all the same!

Thanks for the ramble folks! Have a wonderful and blessed Thursday.

Peony Love ~ Mono Monday!

"She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not"

(1/200 sec.@ F7.1, 180mm fl, ISO 160, 55-200mm Nikkor telephoto VR, shade)

I love love love peonies. Love them. Every aspect of them. Their scent is what heaven will smell like, I'm sure of it. That's heaven wafting through my window and across my work station right now. Their shape, their delicate profusion of petals like all the ruffles on a lady's skirt. Their sweet subtle colors. Out of everything God created for us to enjoy, I think the Peony is His most beautiful and poetic. Did I mention I LOVE peonies?

They're in full bloom right now in my garden which means I make time each day to run out there with my camera in different light and weather to get tons of pics. And I promise I'll try not to smother you in peonies all week... but hey, I'm prone to be a little less motivated to keep promises of that nature right now when they all look so darn delightful!

Mono Monday, so I have taken one of the close-ups I got this weekend and converted it. But a straight conversion didn`t yield the nuances of each petal the way the color version did, so some layers work occurred. After creating a duplicate layer of my initial conversion to the platinum B&W in PSPx2, I made sure I took the original layer into the adjustments menu and really brightened the overall image, more than usually necessary. Then in the duplicate layer I applied the B&W to the Curves option, taking the highlight and shadow points to areas where they made both extremes pop. The duplicate layer`s opacity was opened up slightly and then I proceeded to use the eraser tool to reveal the really bright layer underneath only in areas where there were natural highlights on the edges and topsides of petals. The image began to take on a depth it needed from the original conversion into B&W. A little time consuming, and required some vision as to what I really wanted to be important to this conversion. Am thinking already that I need to do this again in a really true B&W option now, that I may like it even slightly starker than it is now.

And that`s okay. Some images evolve. Your vision for an image will evolve, change, improve, become riskier. It`s called art. And more than peonies, I love art. What do you love? And have you pursued expressing it lately? Or taken the risk to show it to the world? ....More peonies anyone?

Thanks for the ramble! It`s an editing week for me, so except for the blog I may be off the grid for a bit... so have a fabulous Monday! Oh, and shameless plug here - please be sure you click on the pink vote button on the right side of the blog for Circle of Moms to place my photography in the Top 25 Photog Moms! You can vote daily! Thanks!

Drizzly Days ~ Floral Friday

"New Peonies, New Rain"

(1/800 sec.@ F/2.5, 50mm fl, ISO 100, 50mm prime, rainy overcast light)

Today's image was inspired by the rain. I use the word inspired loosely. This is because for the last number of days, and a great deal of the last two weeks even, we've had wet, soggy weather. If it's not snowing, it's freezing rain. If it's not freezing rain, it's fog and sleet. Fine mists, and steady sheets of the wet stuff. It keeps coming. Even my brain is water logged. No comments from the peanut gallery.

So I thought why not post an image to acknowledge that even the rain can be beautiful. When it dots the tender buds of new plants, when it puddles in the fresh new grass, or when it washes away the grit of winter. I get especially excited when I spot new shoots popping up out of the soil for the first time. Before my garden has a chance to turn into a wilderness out of control. Usually around July I'm rendered useless against the wildflowers and weeds, and I start spending more time keeping them watered then keeping them orderly. But from April into June, everything looks great. And it's usually got nothing to do with me and everything to do with the spring rain.

So, next time you feel compelled to be frustrated with the weather, remember the flowers are coming! And then remember your umbrella. And your galoshes. And your rain coat. And your need to fore go all the gear and just stay indoors with a good book.

Did I mention the flowers are coming!

Thanks for the ramble folks! Happy Friday!

Floral Friday!

Late Summer Peony

(1/320 sec @ F/6.3, ISO 200, 110mm fl, 55-200 mm Tele Zoom)

I'm thinking about devoting themes to my blog. To help keep me focused on the different areas of photography I love to work in. And I'm thinking Fridays will be floral... hence "Floral Fridays". A fun way to go into the weekend, to add some color, drama, and beauty to our final week day. I'll add links to great places to photograph flowers and fauna. And local botanical events coming up. And always include a botanical image for your viewing pleasure. What do you think of this idea? Let me know in the comments below.

I particularly wanted to post something floral today. Here in Southern Ontario, we've had snow, snow, and more snow. And as fun as that can be, I'm just hankering for color! The image above was taken this past summer. It was part of my job to capture the color and beauty of the Perennial Beds at Gage Park, overall AND up close and I will admit the close-ups are my favorite part. And I love peonies. This was one of the last fresh blooms of the summer, and was pristine. I composed the shot in the late morning shade before the bright day's heat had a chance to wilt her. I set up the tripod and remote shutter release, and used my telephoto for the close-up so I could soften the shot slightly without losing too much detail. Almost like photographing a beautiful lady.

Using public greenhouses and nature centers through the winter is a great way of making sure those photog skills don't get too rusty while you're waiting for the nicer weather to come along (unless you're one of my many friends living in a toastier climate for much of the year, you know who you are) so keep an eye out for local bulb shows, orchid societies, and growers associations having exhibits. Many of them are free, and hoping to see more of the public come out. You'll stay warm, and get some great images to lighten your winter!

So thanks for letting me ramble on, and drop me a line to say what you think of themes through the week. Gosh, now I need ideas for Monday.... hmmmm.

Have a good one folks!