White Hyacinth Bloom from the Top - Square Format

More spring blooms to post. I decided to capture this image
from the top down.   Taken at the Tanger Family Garden in Greensboro on Friday afternoon.  I may still try to use Mega Photo app to apply a Kaliedoscope ap and post later to compare. It is a very cool perspective when I have used it in the past.  iPhone 6 - Camera+ macro mode.  Minimal post-processing with PSE 11.

Spring Tree Blossoms - Greensboro

The trees in the Triad are just now starting to bloom.  The ornamental prune tree was great one to photograph the blossoms close up about 2 weeks ago.  A week ago the right image, a Bradford pear were in full bloom.   The latter do not smell good when they first push forth their blooms. You can see the difference between a sunny day and a cloudy day.  The plum taken with iPhone 5C, Camera+ app.  The Bradford pear I took this with the iPhone 6, Camera + app -- macro mode. Used PSE 11 for post processing.  Increased contrast, highlights, midtones, and sharpened.  Used square mode to shot or Bradford pear in case I wanted to post the images to Instagram. The ornamental prune wanted to try a vertical image which I sometimes foreget to try.   Hope to get some crab apple blossoms with a Carolina blue sky soon.  There is also an osage orange in the neighborhood.    

Polenta with Fajita Veggies and Sriracha Sauce

I have been experimenting with different dishes for Jack that are on his
low carb diet.   Last night I made polenta and then stir fried peppers, onions, meat, Roma tomatoes as a topping seasoned with cumin and fajita sauce plus Srirachi sauce. It is much easier for him to handle than trying to eat a fajita wrap. Unfortunately when I was done cooking it was dark and I had to use my overhead halogen stove light.  If I waited till the next day the colors of the peppers etc. would not be as bright.  2016 "Herb of the Year" is Capsicum (hot peppers).  I found I could order a Sriracha2go bottle (1 oz) that you could wear on your belt or attach to a keychain.  Sometimes when I got to restaurants and ask for hot sauce, the only choice I have is Texas Pete which is manufactured locally in Winston-Salem. I have been carrying hot pepper flakes in my purse.  I am really a Tabasco gal.  Image taken with iPhone 6, edited with native app.  It was great!! Bon Appe'tit!!

Pink Tulips as a Floral Still Life & CU from Bouquet @ Walmart

I bought a bouquet of pink tulips at Walmart  to enjoy some signs of spring. Using my iPhone 6  I wanted to try to photograph with various backgrounds and try some macro shots of the center with the stamen and sepals.   I used a black piece of felt for the image on the left.  It looks like I used a flash but I used outdoor lighting in the shade on my deck.  I had to clone out lint from the background or use the healing brush.  The center of the tulip on the right I used a small LED flashlight to show more detail of the center I increased the highlights and sharpened.  Decided to apply a vignette. I had difficulty reading LED screen and so the lower white area is more blown out than I wanted.  On an iPhone you do not get the "blinkies" to warn you of this issue.    

Macro Mardi Gras props - Leonard Rec Center

I took some props with me to the Leonard Rec Center when we did the macro workshop 2-25-2016.  These were to go with a Mardi Gras theme.  The background was a white sheet. Other than increasing highlights and contrast, no other edits.  Shot with Nikon Coolpix P600 compact camera.  ISO 450, Aperture Priority,  Aperture 3.8,  1/30 sec.  No tripod, hand held.  Overhead lighting - fluorscent.  

Macro Heart Design - Leonard Rec Center

This was another image I took with my iPhone 6 when the TOPS club had their macro workshop on 2-25-2016.  There were some hearts that are wooden and I had purchased for card making.   Used Camera+ app to take and edited photo in camera. \The lighting was overhead flourescent.   No tripod, camera was hand held. If you look closely it looks like a gradient with darker color at top and lighter at the bottom but that was as the camera saw the lighting. The background was a turquoise color cardstock.  Maybe I should have used a shamrock green and only used 3 hearts.  The border was one I could pick from frames.  I may have sharpened slightly.