NC Renaissance Festival - Lady in Costume with Picture Frame

This is an example of the mixed lighting at the Renaissance Festival.  Other than cropping and increasing highlights and midtones in PSE 11 - no additional editing. Could have possibly used content aware to take out the highlights of the ground behind her costume. You did have to work around not having tourists included in the image.  It is not like you can ask the people to move to get a better composition or eliminate distracting backgrounds.

Selfie - NC Renaissance Fair 10/22/2016

My sister and I went to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, October 22nd. It has been on my "bucket list" for several years.  I thought the booth of this vendor was very interesting with all the colorful feathers.  I used the full length mirror to take a "selfie" of myself with my Nikon P 600 camera.   I used PSE 11 to crop and fill in some blown out highlights using the paint bucket.  I used the "Saturated Film"  filter to increase the colors which did make my face a little more orange but I am OK with that. Unfortunately with events like this the lighting is not always in your favor for outdoor events. It was a briight sunny day but a lot of the venues had mixed lighting. You can not use fill in flash when trying to use the telephoto mode on your camera.   Participants were quite willing to pose for photos.  .

Close up of Chrysanthemums in My Neigborhood

Mums just say "fall is here".  Found two nice colors to photograph while walking in the neighborhood. They were in pots. Taken with Nikon P600.  Tried to adjust bright sunlight by decreasing exposure. Minimal editing in HP photo editing program. 

Wild Chrysanthemum taxa are herbaceous perennial plants or subshrubs. They have alternately arranged leaves divided into leaflets with toothed or occasionally smooth edges. The compound inflorescence is an array of several flower heads, or sometimes a solitary head. The head has a base covered in layers of phyllaries. The simple row of ray florets are white, yellow or red; many horticultural specimens have been bred to bear many rows of ray florets in a great variety of colors. The disc florets of wild taxa are yellow. The fruit is a ribbed achene.^[7] Chrysanthemums, also known as ‘mums’, are one of the prettiest varieties of perennials that start blooming early in the fall. This is also known as favorite flower for the month of November.^[8]  The flowers can have different meanings in different cultures, i.e. some like Italy mums placed on tombs signifying death.

Fall Leaf Colors Beggining 10/15/2016

Just starting to get some change of leaf color in the Piedmont area of NC.      I tried to capture a few images when I was out and about in Greensboro the past 2 days.  The left image was taken at a Walmart parking lot.  The right image at Rankin School parking lot.  Some of the maples and oaks have great red, orange and yellow colors.  Peak color will not be for about 2 more weeks. Image captured with Nikon P600 about 4 PM in afternoon.  Love the blue Carolina sky.  Did not use any photo filters with the camera  Editing done with HP media photo editing tool--saturation was increased  

Napkin Notecards with Different Lighting

I belong to a crafters group of the NC Unit of H.S.A.  On Monday we completed some napkin cards that we will be selling at the Unit Meeting this month.  I took a picture of the one I made with embellishments that has hot peppers which capsicum is Herb of the Year 2016.  The other is of some hummingbirds Modgepodged to white cardstock and ready to be cut into 2 note cards. Both images were taken with an iPhone. The left image I used outdoor lighting in shaded area which is more the white color it should be. The image on the right I used indoor incandescent lighting and it has a yellowish cast.  These were edited in a photo editing program that came with my HP computer. 

Birthday Desserts - #75 BD

For my special 75th birthday I made individual triffles for dessert since it was just Jack and I. My friend, Pat, had given me some lemon pound cake.  So, I made lemon pudding and I had some blueberries, then topped with Cool Whip and chopped pecans. I got the chicken roll ups at The Fresh Market to make Chicken Cordon Bleu-favorite. That is so much easier to just brown the chicken and make the wine sauce.  I got this recipe from a nurse friend when I worked at The Toledo Hospital.  I like mine better than some I have had at restaurants which are deep-fat fried and taste greasy and sauce ??   Did not take a picture of this as previously had done a photo of it.  We had Greek salad, Au gratin potatoes from a box, and fresh cooked asparagus. Then another day we went to Tasso Indian Restaurant in Burlington, NC,  so we could do their lunch buffet.  Jack was not impressed but I wanted to go someplace that I don't really make that type of ethnic food.  The lighting was poor, so I did not really take a photos.  Right image: for supper that night I served Jack and I a Black Tuxedo Cake dessert which I had purchased at The Fresh Market.

Small Landscape Waterfalls- Sarah Duke Gardens, Durham, NC

In September my photo friend, Pat, and I went to Sarah Duke Gardens in Durham.  There is a new small landscaping waterfall and I tried to use a slower speed with Camera+ app to make the water less sharp.  I think I need a lot more practice, but an iPhone is not like a DSL-R.  I really don't like that effect that much because in reality the water does not really look silky.  It was an overcast day and so there is nice color saturation.  I took the photo in the square mode, but only did some cropping for better composition.   

Birthday Roses 9/28/2016 CU and Bouquet

Wednesday was my 75th BD.  Jack got me these roses and I wanted to take pictures of the bouquet. I purposely used the square mode.  The left image is of the bouquet shooting from the top down on a background of navy polyester with window lighting. The right image I used the macro mode in Camera+ appt  to take a picture of one rose center and surrounding roses in the bouquet. Looking at the camera info I cannot not tell if HDR mode was on or not. I did see the shutter speed was 1/30 sec and the focus was pattern mode.  Lighting was a little difficult to be OK for both images because of the highlights with the areas of white or lighter pik.  These images were taken with an iPhone 5C Camera+ app. The left image. Post editing done in PSE 11.  I applied the paint bucket to get an even color of the background and applied a vignette filter   It would have required more time for me to set up on a tripod and try to bracket the exposures to try to do a true HDR and combine the images later.

Brugsmania CU Blossoms - P.J. Ciener Botanical Garden 9/19/2016

Brugsmania( Angel Trumpet Plant) blossoms are interesting blossoms to photograph. In NC, you need to winter over the plants in a garage.  Normally, you see blossoms hanging down.  I like seeing up inside the blossom or holding it to capture a different view.   I took these at P.J. Ciener Botanical Garden, Kernersville, NC.  It is a new small community garden within the last 5-10 years and areas are still being developed.  Taken with Nikon P 600.  Edited in PSE 11   They also have "Lunch and Learn" series with presentations by Adrienne Rothling, the Gardem Curator, or famous gardneners.   I purchased a Miss Elizabeth Ornamental Ginger Lily at their annual plant sale in May.  Today I saw some in the garden but they were past peak.  
For more information about the cultivar:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia

Agave with Cacti & Autumn Crocus Blooms- P J. Ciener Botanical Garden

Yesterday I took my husband, Jack, to see the P.J.Ciener Botanical Garden, Kernersville, NC.  It is handicapped accessible, but he had never been there before.  Not as much blooming there this time of year, They have some areas in the parking lot with cacti that will survive our winters here in Greensboro, NC..   I love Agave plants but I wanted to capture more of the surrounding plants and include the blue sky with some clouds. Autumn starts in a few days and there were some Autumn Crocus in bloom.   These are the kind that you can harvest the stamens for saffron, but these bulbs take a few years before you can harvest the flowers.  Taken with my Nikon P600.  Minor editing in PSE 11.  

Cardinal Flower in a Field & Close Up of Top Blossoms

I love the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis)  The bloom is seen in August and hummingbirds love them for nectar.  The left image was taken at  the Greensboro Arboretum or a field, The right image is from a different angle and close up of the top blossom.  It starts blooming from the base up.  The background for the image on the right is my concrete driveway behind.  I have 5 plants at the base of my mailbox. Editing done with PSE 11.  Left image has vignette applied.,  I probably could have cropped the right image to a square and done a circle black frane but because not much space at the top desided to keep it off center.

Milkweed Flowerhead in Bloom

My neightor had several native milkweed blooming in July.  The last couple weeks they have had seed heads with the milkweed insects but do not like to take pictures of those. Then the new neighbors just chopped them down.  Very sad about that since this is the milkweed the Monarch butterfly like.  I did get one pod with seed heads and will try to see if I can photograph it to post.
I will have to wait for a less windy day  I do have a Mexican Butterfly Weed in my yard but have not seen any butterflies on it.

Tobacco Plants with Clouds - August 2016

Tuesday I was trying to find NE Park in Greensboro which is in a rural part of Guilford Co.  Tobacco* at one time was a huge industry in North Carolina.  This was before the effects of smoking tobacco caused significant lung disease and people were educated about the dangers to health and longevity.   I saw these plants not quite ready for harvesting as the leaves had not gotten yellow shade to them.. I did not see any plants with blossoms in this field.   It was a bright sunny day with fluffy clouds in the blue sky.   Taken with Nikon P600 - downsized for the web, but no additional editing.  You can see evidence of the red clay soil between the plants which is typical of this region of NC.   The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is *N. tabacum .

LeBauer Park - Overhead Sculpture - Evening Glow

Went to Sunday Music in the Park Concert tonight at LeBauer Park, Greensboro, NC.  This Park just openend on August 8th. An overhead sculpture was commissioned for 1 million dollars. The artist is Janet Echelman. The image on the Left was taken with the sun glowing on it later in the evening and is the original.  It was take at about 6:00 PM. EDST.  The image on the Right was cropped to get a vertical section of the middle, then saturated film filter was used to enhance x3.in PSE11. iPhone 5C with native camera used to capture image.  The image is lighted after dark with lights but I did not stay to see this tonite.  Hope to catch at a later time, perhaps the Folk Festival in a couple weeks.  See more info about the sculpture and artist::
http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/gotriad_extra/spotlight-turns-to-lebauer-park-sculpture-video/article_72e21074-a6d3-5b41-98f3-08e56192c69c.html 

Mushroom Designs - Neighbor's Yard - 8/19/16 World Photo Day

This was actually taken on World Photo Day 8/19/2016 but not posted till 8/21/2016.  My neighbor has some mushrooms growing around the stump of a tree.  I liked the design of the edges of the fungi.  It was a bright sunny day but we can't always choose the lighting but I did try to darken the exposure. .This was taken with iPhone 5C, Camera+ app. with slight editing in PSE to sharpen the edges more. I did try to takeimages with another camera and use a white umbrella for diffusion screen and will try to post that one to compare.  

Tree Limbs Fell with Storm and Removal in Progress

On Aug 6th during the night there was a storm and our maple tree out front lost 2 big limbs.   Tree removal guy came and said the tree was diseased and we would continue to have trouble.  So, we had it removed.  It is making a huge difference in the view of our house from the streeet. The image on the left shows the tree limbs with the missing length.at about 12 N and 3 P.   The image on the right shows the main tree trunk before the final removal, stump grinding and grass planted in that area. The are to the right of the house had a lot of rose bushes removed.  Images taken with iPhone 5C with minor edits of both images PSE 11.

Parsley in my Garden with Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

Look what was feasting on my parsley in the garden?  Some black swallowtail caterpillars. This is only one little plant and I worry what will happen when they eat up all the foilage. Taken with iPhone 5C Minor post editing in PSE 11.  The left image has a slight vignette applied.  Can  you see 4 in the right image?.

Rust on Mailbox - Texture + Prisma Postprocessing iOS app

Taken 7/26/2016 when I was walking in the neighborhood and spotted a mailbox with rust & paint on it.  It had just stopped raining and sky was overcast. The surface was damp. This rust had some texture and thought this would be an image   I could play with some filters in postprocessing. Taken with an iPhone 6, shutter speed 1/25th sec @ f22. (This setting is not really good to take a handheld image and the mailbox did curve in the area I was taking as a close up. I did try to keep in the same plane as much as I could). It would have been better to use a tripod.  The left image is the original as taken.   I did edit by increasing the contrast and sharpened to the max before starting to work with image on the right.  I used Prisma app to achiever the saturation in the R image.  If you can expand to see more detail, you will see all different kinds of texture that looks more like an abstract drawing with different colors.  The Prisma app is new for iOS phone and can render different types of artistic effects.  I don't remember the filter chosen as I had experimented a lot until I got the look I wanted.  This image was shown at the TOPS Camera Club on 8/5/206.

Tiger Lilly & Carolina Lily in Bloom - Neighborhood

My neighbor has a lot of orange lilies, blooming along her fence. Some are the common tiger lilyHemerocallis fulva. that you see along the road sides near ditches and would remind you of a daylily. Some have single petals but the one on the right has double petals.  It was taken later in the afternoon.  The left image is Lilium michauxii often referred to as the Carolina Lily and the state wildfower of NC. Some people confuse the blossoms that hang down with another wildflower know as Turk's Cap Lily which has a defining characteristic of a star shape with the stamens in the center.  Commonly found at higher elevations along the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC.  I have seen some pink/red cultivars at Duke Gardens.like the image on the left.  Taken with iPhone 6.  Edited in PSE 11.

Green Coneflower or Is It. Compared to Echinacea Purple (Purple Coneflower)

I was walking in the neighborhood last Thurs. The blossoms on the left I saw were like a green cone flower....but it had some weird foliage growing out of the top of it.  First of all the color was green.  I am much more familiar, with pink, yellow or coral/orange cultivars.  If I took a picture of the flower oin the stalk it would have been too monochromatic and not enough negative space.  The best I could tell from an internet search and response on the Internet is that the plant might be "Green Envy" coneflower.   The native Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpura) is the image on the right.  The image on the left has the flowers in a small vase.  In the forefront of the image is a green looking cone flower with very little projections noted in the cone head,  but if you look at the petals you may see some slight pink in the center.  Theses petals do not hang down, nor are the as close together as the purple coneflower.  The depth of field is shallow, so, it was difficult to get a sharp image of the foliage in back but you can defiintely see it has projections not normally associated with the coneflower. Taken with iPhone 6.  Edited in PSE.   .

Banana Blossom CU - NC State University, Raleigh, NC

This image should have been posted  about August lst. On Sunday July, 31st,  I went to J.B. Raulston Arboretum.  This Arboretum is associated with NC State University in Raleigh, NC.   There were summer flowers in bloom and I was lucky enough to find a banana blossom to photograph.  I took a Close Up with my iPhone 5C.with Camera+ app Macro mode.   Edited in PSE, minor cloning, increased highlights and midtones, black vignette applied.  

Monarda citriodora CU (Lemon Mint) and Monarda fistulosa CU (Wild Bergamont)

Bee balm culitivars can be seen blooming the summertime and are pollinators for bees. . The image on the right is Monarda citriodora (Lemon Mint, Lemon Bee Balm)  which is a plant I got for my garden from Deborah Crumpton when she had her summer open house.   You would not think of it as a monarda as it has stacked blooms.  The image on the left is the Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamont)  which is growing in my neighbor's yard.  These blossoms have one pale lavender bloom at the top of each stem. Both are herbaceous perennial plants and members of the mint family. Taken with iPhone 6 Camera+ app.  Edited with PSE 11.  The image on the right has a vignette applied to make the colors stand out.    

Yucca Blossoms - Summertime. + Prisma App Artistic Effects

Yucca can be a pretty plant to photograph in the summertime.  However, their blossoms don't last long.  Trying to get in close for a macro shot of a single blossom can result in getting pricked with the leaves which have spines and are "ouchy".   This was growing in my neighbor's yard.  The left image was taken about noon on a bright sunny day.  I did try to decrease the exposure to prevent blown out highlights- no additional edits.   The image on the right was an attempt to play with the Prisma app which gives images artistic effects depending on what filter you choose.   I did change the image to square.  After I choose the filter, I did some additonal editing of contrast, sharpness in PSE 11. This looks like a modern art painting and you are able to see more texture.
.

Ornamental Peppers and White Blossom CU

I was at Friendly Shopping Center last week and saw several large containers with different kinds of flowers. Since Capsicum is "Herb of the Year 2016" I saw an ornamental one with 3 different colors of small peppers.  It had some blossoms which are very small and usually hang down. On the right I tried to take a macro image of it.  The actual size of this white blossom was about 3/8".  If you see the purple ornamental peppers, their blossoms can be purple around the edge.  I did not have a tripod with me and so a macro image can be difficult to photograph. especially with an iPhone.  I did not try to use the self timer or the volume control button to capture the image. There is definitely digital noise present which I could not really decrease in PSE 11.  I did try to use clarify filter to bring out more texture in the blossom but I think it also gave it a more painterly effect  I did label the blossom using the text tool in PSE 11. It was about noon and the subjects were in bright sun.  Maybe sometime I can capture when overcast or late afternoon. Ornamental peppers can be eaten but they may not have the flavor of jalapeno, serrano. Some like NuMex can be as hot as a habenaro. They definitely add an element of color to your garden.      

Rose of Sharon - Neighborhood

I love Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus synuacus).In the USA, you can see this deciduous flowering shrubs blooming in private and public gardens in the summertime.  There are different varieties.  I took these two images of a pink double petal one which the center is less evident and then a white single petal with elongated stamen.   These blossoms do not last long.  They will not do well as a cut flower in a vase.  If it is raining or cold in the morning they will wait until temperature warms up and sun comes out. It is the national flower of South Korea and a member of the Malvacea family not the Roseacea family of plants. Both images were taken with iPhone 6, Camera + app.  Since it was bright noonday sun I did try to change the exposure using the exposure slider.  Further adjustments which included healing brush & clone tool used on the white image using PSE 11.  The white one has a vignette appled.   

Sea Holly - Nannette's Garden

This year I decided to grow some Sea Holly.  I have seen the blossoms on stalks as part of dried arrangements.  I thought it was a tropical plant and some culltivars are.  The one I have is Eryngium amethystinum and is the hardiest species. It can be referred to as puryngium amethystinum, the amethyst eryngo, Italian eryngoor amethyst sea holly. It is a clump-forming, perennial, tap-rooted herb. Its stem is 30 to 50 cm long. Because I only had one plant with 2 stalks I needed to support with a stake.  It is light blue to purple in colour. It has a basal circle of obovate, pinnate, spiny, leathery, mid-green leaves. Remind you of some thintles. It flowers in mid to late summer with cylindrical umbels, 2-3 cm long atop silvery blue bracts and branching stems. The plant is native to the eastern Mediterranean and prefers dry places and soils that are rich in calcium. It can grow in zones 2-10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_amethystinum  The image on the left is closer to the real color which was taken lateafternoon with iPhone 6.  The image on the right I used the native iPhone 6 app with changing the tint more blue and then using flourescent filter to get the color I liked as an altered image.   I did use a black vignette Resized for blog posting.. Minimal post processing done in PSE 11.  

Monarda (Raspberry Wine) & Borage

 This should have been posted the week of July 3rd, 2016.   Now that it is July, summer is here and we are seeing some of our periennials blooming. Cone flower are another great summer flower. Will post some of those later.  These two CU images are of flowers in my garden.  The image on the left is of a "Raspberry Wine" Monarda cultivar.   The image on the right is of the Borage blossom. Both are considered herbs.and their blooms add color to your garden.         The borage blossom is very difficult to photograph because it usually droops down and is blowing in the wind.  When the weather gets really hot the plant tends to bolt in NC.

Both images taken with iPhone 6 and edited with PSE 11.    

Daylilies Blooming in June - Greensboro, NC

Daylilies have been blooming in the Triad area of NC for several weeks.  Some are along the road sides and considered a weed. There are are many cultivated in personal gardens or public gardens.  Both images taken with iPhone 6--edited in PSE 11.   The image on the left is a tiger lily with a double blossom  which I found in the First Presbyterian Cemetery  in downtown GSO.  The image on the right was taken at the Julie Luther Pure Energy Gym.  A vignette was appled to the left image.  I purposely took a vertical image on the right to show not only the close up but that it was part of a stand of lilies near the parking lot.

Asian Lily CU - Neighborhood

In May and June Asian lilies are in bloom in the Triad area of NC.  I captured thr images with my iPhone 6. - Camera+ app used and edited in PSE 11.   The image on the left was in a neighbor's yard and it was late evening.  It had just been purchanse by the owner and not very tall.  The one on the right were my lilies in bloom on a cloudy day. This was the 2nd year they bloomed.  I used the square more.to capture the image  I purposely did not try to make one blossom look bigger as the"rule of thirds"on the right which does have a vignette applied.   .