Summer at the Garden and Art Center No. 2

The Cosmos has become one of my all time favorite flowers. It may have replaced the sunflower as number one on my list. 

It's petals have such defined crisp lines. 

It can be quite stately if you catch it by itself.

And quite dramatic.

It will dress in orange if invited to a party.

I love it's messy chaos which represents freedom and grace to me.

I think the main reason I love these flowers so much is that I can identify with them. From the feelings of messy chaos to the stately elegance. Sounds like a perfect package.

The Plans Begin

I am excited to announce that I was accepted to show my art in the 'Local Color Studio Tour' this year. I finally found the courage to apply. (Thanks in part to a year long art class I've been taking by Sebastian Michaels.) I finally feel focused again and this class has been just what I've needed. Unfortunately the others are taking a back seat for a bit.

I was accepted on my 'digital art' entries so I won't be able to show any of my normal photography. The 'studio' that I will be at is a private home and there will be 6 other artists there. One I know fairly well and a couple I've met before. The nerves are already getting stirred up but I have lots of time to get everything I need lined up and finished.

New business cards, postcards to send to friends as invites, display set ups...

I'm trying my hand at mounting my prints on wood panels and finishing them out with matt medium or possibly encaustic wax. It will be fun to experiment for sure. My first trial is nearly done and so far it's looking good.

This will probably be about 90% mobile art. I hope to have a small display showing the progression of a print so I don't have to try and explain it. A picture is worth thousand words right?

In love with Flowers

I'm in love with flowers. There, I said it. I'm also in love with the deaminess I can get in Lightroom. I used Pretty Presets in these edits. A mixture of several. Their Clean and Creative Workflow is my favorite.

I believe cosmos are the most photogenic of all flowers.

I love the slightly desaturated version of this one.

And the warmth of these as they turn toward the sun.

Pretty Preset also has some great bokeh effects with their Luminous Set. I think I added 2 or 3 to this one.

All shots made using my 100 Macro lens with my Canon. My aperture setting were 4.5 and 5.6 on these shots. 

I've had more fun shooting my flowers this year with this lens.

Texture Tuesday Oct 21

August archives. Not real sure why I pulled from there. I really wanted to use Kim's grungy Monday texture and delicate flowers were not what I had in mind. But I made it work and then decided to add the border at the last minute. I have volunteer basil growing with the phlox. Their fragrance mixes quite nicely. I need to get the basil drying soon so I can make spaghetti sauce.

Dark mood preset.

And random editing.

Linking up with Kim for Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday July 22

When I'm shooting with my big girl camera I always try to remember to fire off a few shots with my iPhone. I have been more in love with editing on my iPad than playing with Photoshop. I love to learn. I love a challenge. Some of those apps can most certainly be a challenge. And the more I accumulate it's a challenge to even remember what each one has to offer. This also bring me to that quandary of renewing my CC subscription. At least the full blown package. just not using it enough to justify the $$. I would like to know Illustrator a little better. I would also like to know Premiere Pro (video editing) If I just didn't have to work…….
So... if you caught my post for App Happy Wednesday you saw this same shot (from my phone) edited in Snapseed, Stackables, and Superimpose. You can check out the grungier version here.
This is the Canon shot plus a few more perspectives. Textures used are kk_Pinitonly6 at Overly 64%. I merged the layers then set this layer to screen over a texture by Lil Owls that I added more contrast too.

A little black and white love!

I used my Cool Faded Peonies preset on this one.

I think I'm loving my cosmos as much as my poppies.

Joining Kim today for Texture Tuesday!