motion

For 52 of You this week we have the challenge to show motion. I created this simple animation from 12 stills. Now I'm anxious to try others.

white roses

Roses are beginning to bloom. I'm fascinated with the layers of petals, the variations of colors, and with some, the lovely scent. Even amidst vibrant colors, I'm attracted to the whites with the oh-so-subtle tinge of pink or yellow.  Here, I've used "embossed fabric/cool" by Melissa Gallo to provide the necessary contrast to highlight their delicacy. I'm stopping "to smell the roses" as much as possible these pleasant spring days and of course, snapping photos too. Enjoy the scents of spring.

last tulips

I cut a few of the last tulips of the season today. Their lovely colors brought hope for the warmer days which are finally here. Now, the irises are taking center stage unfurling some spectacular, vibrant colors which I'll be sure to show you next week. With the tulips, I first added one of my painted textures in pinks. This intensified the color more than I intended, so the next layer was turquoise and green. The image was taken with my phone and processed in photoshop.

Life is Good

It's warm, the birds are singing, the flowers are in bloom, I got this new bag, and it's my birthday. Life is good.

Memories

It seems my mom has saved all the roses ever sent - a nice remembrance of occasions. This last time I was visiting, I decided to put some of those memories into digital form. I chose a cake plate she received as a wedding gift sixty years ago to place the roses on. The photo was taken and processed with my iPhone5. Snapseed is the first app I go to for exposure, contrast, and saturation. I then played in Laminar to achieve the crackled, antique look. All the processing choices available in apps makes for a lot of fun play and a huge variety of possibilities.

Bouquet on the Counter

I have a favorite bakery/deli that always has the prettiest flowers on the counter. I'd take a photo each time I visited, but didn't really know how to use them until discovering gaussian blur. You can obliterate conflicting backgrounds by applying a blur to a duplicate layer, creating a layer mask, and painting back the subject you want clear. This also allows you to alter the opacity so as to create soft edges. Colored and textured layers can then be added to get that painterly look and the contrast needed. Now, I not only admire the flowers while there, but have fun creating an image that I can look back to.

withering rose

I'm experimenting with layers that I paint and am having fun making the image look like a painting. This one has three layers of the same violet painting, each with a different blend mode and opacity. I sometimes use a gaussian blur for the background if I didn't do it with the camera. This is an image from last summer that I've reworked.