Now For Some Pompoms With No Color

With the Les Brumes texture layer in Color blending mode 

(I don't know why it made the color go away though...)

 No texture, only Silver Efex with the Dark Sepia preset

No texture, with Photoshop's Black and White adjustment layer in High Contrast Blue

Too Much Fun

Barry's recent post inspired me to try adding a texture to a closeup of my pink pompom, and then play around with the various blending modes.  It is pretty surprising the different looks that result from doing that, and I thought I would post a few of my favorites:

with Les Brumes 30 texture in Soft Light blending mode

 with Les Brumes 30 texture in Multiply blending mode

and masked off of the flower

with Les Brumes 30 texture in Luminosity blending mode

Pink Pom Pom

 

Nikon D700, 60mm macro lens with +2 or +4 Hoya closeup filter at f4.8 and 1/500th, 

ISO 200, 2 exposures combined for more depth of field

Another tiny wildflower from my subdivision pond area.  Although they are only about 2 inches tall, these hot pink little spikes really stand out in the green St. Augustine grass and I finally got around to taking my macro lens and close up filters to try to capture them.  The first image shows the runner by which they spread, and the tiny fern-like leaves.  In that image though I combined 2 exposures for more depth of field, I still was not able to get the outer edge or the tiny hairs on the stem in focus.  The image below was more successful, don't ask me why.  By carefully masking or revealing different areas I was able to show pretty much of the structure of this botanical pink explosion.  For the last image I stacked 2 closeup filters, the +4 and the +2, but I think I may have only used one on the top image.

Nikon D700, 60mm macro lens with +2 and +4 Hoya closeup filter, f9.5 and 1/180th, 

ISO 400, 2 exposures combined for more depth of field

A Focus Malfunction

  
Another image from my Lowkey assignment portrait shoot of my sister playing her harp.  This shot is not sharply focused because I had trouble in the low light getting my camera to auto focus sometimes (Mike ended up turning on the lights to let me focus, then I changed to manual focus and he turned the lights off) but this is an example where I don't think it hurts the image.  There is actually a preset in the Photoshop plug-in Silver Efex with a soft focus treatment but I did not have to use it.  There is also a lot of grain because the original shot was very under-exposed but again, I think it gives the photograph a more vintage feel.  I increased the exposure in ACR by just under one full stop, and used a selectively applied levels adjustment layer in CS5 to get more of her face and the upper harp visible and also used one of the sepia effects in Silver Efex.

Only Stunned

Nikon D700, 70 - 200mm lens at f2.8, 1/2000th, ISO200

I found this female woodpecker (I think) on my front porch after I heard something hit the window above the doors.  She stayed on the porch a while but flew up into the tree when I came around to see how she was, so I am glad that she seemed to be OK.  This is cropped in a bit, which must have caused the haloing I can see around the bird.

More Maggie

Another of Maggie with a sepia conversion done in Silver Efex.  I wish I had made a note of what I used in that program because I can't remember and can't seem to duplicate it.  Once you accept the effect you have done you cannot go back into Silver Efex and change anything, you must start all over.  What I need to remember to do is at least rename the layer with the name of the preset I used, or the toning color, etc.

Dog Decorating

Nikon D700, 60mm macro lens at f3.2, 1/60th, ISO 1600


No, not decorating the dog, but decorating BECAUSE of the dog.  A decade ago when we needed new carpet I specifically looked for something that would hide dog fur as much as possible.  That meant a khaki-toned carpet since Maggie is a yellow Lab and we also had a Golden Retriever at that time.  And that dictated wall colors which in our bedroom became a darker golden khaki. For a while we had a nice comforter but since the dogs think it is their bed too, I finally got a white duvet cover that can be bleached and washed weekly. I know I am not the only dog owner who has gone this route!  I remember seeing new fabrics that are stain resistant and even have various dog images on them, though I have not gone that far...yet.  For my next house I am dreaming of sealed stained concrete floors with drains that can be hosed and squeegeed dry, distressed leather sofas, super-industrial central vac system (and Roombas in every room like my brother), an open floor plan with sliding barn-style doors that can shut off sections, some kind of screen door that the dogs can go in and out of, a dog-shower with hot water too, I could go on and on.  And all those things would work well with grandchildren too....someday.