Snow Tire Tracks & Altered Image 1/23/2016

Walked in the neighborhood on Sat. @ dusk.  We had about 5 inches of snow by 6 pm.  My iPhone 6 showed the left image lighter & without the pink cast which appeared on my monitor-- almost reminds you of beach sand.  I took the image because of the texture/pattern. & depth of tread. For right image decided to convert to B & W (infrared image) in PSE 11. Then used filter "inked edges" for more detail.  Used the healing brush to remove some artifacts within the spaces between the elevated tread. Used "inked edges" filter to create altered image-- looks more like a graphic design when you try to get a more close up enlargement of the image - again more texture.

Snow on Deck Surface - Texture 1/22/2016

On Jan. 22nd had our fist measureable snow in Greensboro, NC.  I was shoveling the deck and noticed the snow sticking to the crevices in the wood. I scraped the shovel with edge to give more even surface of the snow on the wood. This might make a great texture image if I ever get around to making digital collages. iPhone 6, overcast about 2-3PM EST.  Left image "as taken" but I wanted more texture.  PSE - editing. Right image: increased shadows, midtones, & sharpened @110. Healing brush to fill in some areas with small holes.

Bradford Pear Branches in Winter B&W - also Invert Filter

It is winter weather and much colder in Greensboro, NC, since New Year's Day. Will look for Lenten Rose which bloom this time of year.  I have some, but they won't bloom till late February.  Not that many flowers or shrubs blooming as they do not like temps of 20 degrees at night.

So I am looking to see tree branches for patterns of the limbs, bark textures, ice designs in puddles, or frost on plant leaves.  The image today is of some branches of a Bradford pear. Image taken with iPhone6  in landscape mode to allow more of the pattern. The imate on the left was converted to B & W from color which I liked better.  Since I like to invert images, I used that filter in PSE 11 for the image on the right.  No snow yet.

Looking forward to seeing some orchids in bloom and succulants at the UNC-Charlotte Botanical Garden/Conservatory tomorrow.  It is a monthly outing for the TOPS Camera Club.

Driveway Ice Pattern - Texture

Our temperatures this week dipped into the teens at night which caused ice to form in puddles in my driveway.  I am always looking for images that might show patterns or textures.  If I don't like it as an original, then there are a lot of photo apps that can be used to alter the image. I have not gotten skilled with in camera post processing and prefer the larger monitor on the computer.  I have not found an app that will make use of a cloning tool.   Snapseed is a favorite for being able to apply attributes to certain areas of a photo.   I like Photoshop Elements 11 for most post processing of my images and they have some filters like posterize, invert, accent edges that I like a lot.   

Taken with iPhone 6 - Camera+ app.  The image on the left is the original with only resizing to post on web/blog.  It is OK but I like the one on the right better.  I cropped to a more square format--always better to take with more pixels and crop or take both. I played with midtones, lightened & darkened sliders and sharpened to the max to increase the texture.  I did use healing brush to get rid of a distracting fine white line that I did not like with the curve-like pattern.

Pine Cone CU @ Tanger Family Garden, GSO - Jan. 2nd, 2016

Last year I had a blog for iPhone images and posted 365 images but that was very time consuming.  This year I still want to share some images and remember information about some I really liked or submitted for the Triad Photographer's Group.  I am not limiting myself to any camera, nor will it matter if I want to use post processing filters, or apps for tweaking.   One of my goals for 2016 is to try to make some digital collages.  Travel for me is limited at this time.  So, only images taken in NC will be posted here.  Most of the images will be from Greensboro, NC.  I love to walk in my neighborhood to photograph flowers...or just take images of an object that has texture like rust or weathered wood, etc.  The photo on the left was the last image I took with my iPhone 6 on New Year's eve 2015. I was walking in my neighborhood.at dusk--liked the colors of the sky with trees as a silhouette.

One of the first images I took in Greensboro was on Saturday , Jan. 2nd, on a walk @ Tanger Family Garden in Greensboro.  The temperatures had been warm over the Christmas holiday and there were even spring things blooming. Si Since low temps predicted in the teens this week I wanted to capture a few images. This pine cone reminds me of winter-- maybe I can capture one later if we get snow.   Taken with iPhone 6 Camera+ app, with no post processing editing.  I took some camellia pictures which will be toast next week. The Hellebore or Lenten Rose was just starting to bloom. At TOPS camera meeting on Thursday there was a presentation by Sharon Canter and Oskar Neuhold discussing a new focus in February for members to contribute 3 images in February with "sticks" or "stones".  This is separate from "Show 'N Tell" images.