Veggies

It was 18° F outside as I snuck out my front door with a silver serving spoon to dig in my snow covered landscaping.  I didn't need much dirt, just enough to make my veggies look recently pulled from the ground.  Luckily, I don't think any of my neighbors saw me.  I came inside and filled a spray bottle with water, the one I use to give our birds a bath.  The birds did see me, one got excited about the possibility of a bath and the other 2 were quiet, hoping to become invisible if indeed it was bath time.  

I took my dirt, spray bottle and veggies upstairs to take pictures, lots of pictures.  

I sprayed the veggies with some water, rubbed them with dirt and sprinkled some around too.  It was fun.  When the dirt thawed, it's smell reminded me of spring...  

This photo was taken with my iphone and processed in Camera+ which gave the sky a bit more blue than was actually there.

Our winter really hasn't been too bad here in SW Ohio.  We only got a little over an inch of snow with the last storm, sorry to rub that in if you live on the east coast.  Thursday we had some freezing rain in the morning, cold and dreary, but when the clouds were breaking up letting the sun peak through, everything wet reflected the sunlight.  It was beautiful.  Paying attention to those little things has helped me see how there is beauty in winter, dare I say, as much as any of the other seasons...  

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  The weekly prompt from The Studio was veggies, the spark for my images.  My veggie images were given Kim's chocolate preset in LIghtroom and her texture thursday2014 in PS Elements.  My Finds this week were having fun photographing veggies and seeing beauty in winter.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!                                

Have a great weekend!!

Michelle

Honeybell Oranges

While visiting family in Florida a few years ago, I was introduced to the honeybell orange.  It is juicy, messy, not easy to eat, but tastes wonderful.  They are not the prettiest oranges, but they are my favorite tasting oranges.   

The honeybell is not available year round, which makes it a special treat.  I was pleasantly surprised to find some honeybell oranges in our local grocery store Sunday.  They bring a bit of sunshine to my day and remind me of family.

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday and the class Be Still 52.  My images were textured with Kim's textures cecile and dollard_softandgentle.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Have a great week!!

Michelle

 

Cuppa

Megan, my daughter, and I went to an antique mall on Monday.  Megan found an old key to add to her collection, she loves to wear them on a necklace.  While she is at school, I 'borrow' her keys to use as photo props.  I think I officially only own one key of the many I have photographed.   

I found a great photo prop on our little trip.  I have been on the lookout for an old barn door with weathered wood.  I haven't bought one because they all seemed too big to bring in the house.  But on Monday I found a great alternative, an old white cabinet door.  It is easy to move around and has a great texture.  It seems large for a cabinet door, 4 feet tall, but whatever kind of door it was, it is now part of my 'prop' collection.

This week I used the cabinet door as a background for the photo prompt, cuppa, in Kim Klassen's The Studio.  

Today I am joining FridayFinds and The Studio.  My images were textured with Kim's texture tuesday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great weekend!!      

Michelle

Peacock Feather

'Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.'  

 -  St., Catherine of Sienna

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, ours here in the  US was a long weekend.  We did some work around the house and some shopping, IKEA and antique shopping. 

IKEA is huge.  We went in for picture frames and came out with a lot more.  We saw good deals and things we needed and put them all in the cart, backtracking is not an option in IKEA.  Megan, my daughter, suggested we 'go through' the cart before we get to the cashier to make sure we really wanted everything we threw in.  (She is getting smart.)  We ended up ditching a few things we thought we couldn't live without only an hour before.  Did I mention we were in IKEA 3 hours?

Our antique shopping was much shorter than the IKEA marathon.  Megan found an old key.   I found a white cabinet door, crackling, peeling and chipping... perfect.  I hope to take pictures with the door as the background this week.

I took these peacock feather photos a few weeks ago.  I just got around to post processing them yesterday.  I played with the images a little in Lightroom and added 2 of Kim Klassen's textures, waterfront7 magic, in screen mode, and painterly.  I do love the 'canvas' effect the waterfront7 magic in screen mode gives a black background, a little faint here but still visible.  The painterly texture, in soft light mode, lightened up the feather just a touch.   

The quote above was one I have never come across before, I liked it.  I thought it fit for a picture of a peacock feather because the male peacock seems to enjoy showing who he was created to be.

Today I am linking up with KIm Klassen's Tuesday Texture. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle

Hanging Amaranthus

‘It is of the small joys and little pleasures that the greatest of our days are built.’ 

- Mary Anne Radmacher

‘See beauty in the familiar.’ - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There was only one bunch.  I asked the owner if she had any more of this droopy greenish flower.  Like an adult correcting a child who just called a giraffe a horse, she slowly told me, hanging amaranthus.  I repeated just as slowly, hanging amaranthus.  I went home giddy with excitement.

I thought one of my big bottles would work great, it is 22 inches tall.  As I was gathering the rest of the props and thinking how pretty the hanging amaranthus is, I realized how easy it is to appreciate beauty of the exotic or different.  While the beauty of the hanging amaranthus is undeniable, there is also beauty around me everyday just waiting to be noticed.  That's when I grabbed my iphone to look at some of the pictures I took this week.

The sunrise.

Blue sky!!  A sight not always seen during Ohio winters

Light shining in my window.  The light was coming through the window just right to get the perfect glare on my iphone.  I bent down to moved my husband's shoes (bottom right) so I could get a 'better' picture.  When I stood back up, the sun moved.  The glare wasn't there anymore, showing me I need take time to appreciate beauty right when I see it.

These images were taken for the Be Still 52 assignment to create a scene and change the backdrop.  I ended up using a set up that is very similar to the one Kim has in the class video.  On the left image, I used a white board with white fabric hanging over it.  The right image has the tan painted wall as a backdrop.  I tried a black backdrop and it looked terrible.  I used Kim's preset dreamlike on both images, no texture on the set.  I found it interesting how the images have a slightly different color cast to them with just the background being changed.  I am not sure which I like better...

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds and the Be Still 52 class.  I used Kim's Lightroom preset dreamlike  as a starting point and textured the top image with Kim's texture flow.  My sunrise, blue sky and umbrella images were taken with my iphone and processed in Camera+.  My Finds this week are beautiful flowers and seeing the beauty all around me.

 

Thank you for stopping by!!

Have a great weekend!!

Michelle

One Word

'Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself.  Be bold.  When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore.  Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.'  

 -  Alan Alda

'Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.' 

-  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

'Freedom lies in being bold.'

-  Robert Frost

'Put a grain of boldness into everything you do."

 -  Baltasar Gracian

If you were to choose one word to guide you through the year, what would it be?

I chose 'bold'.

bold /bōld/

1. (of a person, action, or idea) showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.

Definition courtesy of Google

There is no part of me that is bold... at all.  I asked my daughter if she thought I was bold, she said,"Uhh...no."  I usually play it safe, do what is expected of me.  I am not one to rock the boat.  

This year I want to step outside my comfort zone in life and art.  I don't want to worry about criticism or live for praise.  I want to rock the boat, even if it is just a little bit.  I want to be bold.

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Tuesday Texture and the class BeStill 52.  My images were textured with Kim's textures 0212 and 0603.  The assignment for Be Still 52 was to hang a bottle and take a picture of it.  

Thank you so much for spending some time with me!

Have a great week!

Michelle