Divine Photo Art Friday - Nov. 23rd

This week at Photo Art Friday, Bonnie prompted us to use her texture "Signed and Sealed" to create our digital photo art.
I recently completed an Angelic Guidance class with Jessica Kozak.  See "The Soul Purpose" to read more.  Jessica is a lovely, fun, likeable, talented and extremely gifted woman.  To make a long story short, Jessica told our class about a place where she had visited and walked the grounds. Betania II located in Medway, Ma

My husband and I went there for a walk on Sunday and I took lots of photos.

For this edited photo of Archangel Michael, I chose an aqua color background and used PhotoScape to add the prayer.  I used Pixlr to layer and edit the photo.  The rainbow glow effect was created using the aptly named effect called "Divine"

And here is the original photo:

Finally, for this week's project I chose to use the following photo as a layer on top of Bonnie's texture:

I typically use PhotoScape to edit a photo to my liking, and then Pixlr to work with layers and final editing.  For the final effect of this editing project I used the filter "emboss" and when I did, I noticed that it gave the photo a luminous effect and really enhanced the light and the script in the background.

photo art friday - the first Friday of Novemeber '12

They say that time goes by even faster as you get older.  I think that I must getting really old, because time is certainly fyling by.  It's Friday once again!

For this week's Photo Art Friday, Bonnie suggested using her background/texture, "Cobblestone Road".  It's fun to be prompted with a suggestion and then go through your pictures to create a new piece of photo art, and it is interesting to see what other people have done.

I'm not sure why I thought of putting a zebra from a carousel on top of a cobblestone road, and I'm not that happy with it, but I though I would share just the same.

This would have fit last week's Photo Art prompt called "derelict"

  I can't say why I choose a certain photo to edit, I guess I'm just drawn to it.

Out of all of my "Cobblestone Road" edits, I like this one of the hydrangea flowers the best.

 Happy Friday - hope it is a wonderful weeknd with plenty of time for fun things.

photo art Friday

This week Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art posted one of her own texture's "Leafy Landscape" and prompted us to use it in one of our photo edits.  Check out Bonnie's site by clicking here: pixeldustphotoart

My first impression of her texture was that the top area looked like frost on a window pane and it made me think of a winter scene.  I experimented with layers of my photos on top of Bonnie's texture and came up with the edits below.   For the last wintery scene, instead of working with a layer, I added Bonnie's texture as an object on top of my photo and increased the opacity.

Happy Friday ♥♥♥ Have Fun

Reflections at Waterfire

Last night we celebrated our friends birthday by going out to eat and attending Waterfire in Providence RI.  A group of volunteers dressed in black travels by boat to add logs to the fires to keep them burning.  In spite of the crowds and the music, you can hear the fires crackling and smell the wood smoke in the air.

The river and lights provided lots of reflections to share with Weekend Reflections.

We were fortunate enough to come across an amazing performance by Bandaloop.
I noticed their reflections in the windows.  How amazing to see performers vertical dancing on the side of a 27 story building!!

The performers dance their way down from the top of the biulding to street level - - - YIKES!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and thank you to James for hosting Weekend Reflections

photo art Friday - black & white

This week Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art is hosting a black & white edition of Photo Art Friday.  How fun.  Typically when I think about editing a photo, I think about colors and textures.  Well, I got rid of the colors, but played with the texture.  I layered a photo with a texture of peeling paint on top of the original photo and erased the backgound leaving the car in the foreground covered in texture.  It was a fun prompt from Bonnie to try something new.

vintage car in Maine with a texture of peeling paint

The rain here in Massachusetts is finally letting up.  Happy Friday!

Photo Art Friday featuring bokeh

This Friday Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art is showcasing photo art that features bokeh.   I took this photo of a bright orange poppy in my garden.  I added a bokeh image, increased the opacity and edited using photoscape and pixlr.

poppy photo art with bokeh

Thank you very much for taking the time to check out my work.  Be sure to visit Photo Art Friday to see more photo art bokeh !!

poppies

Spring is finally here .... and so is the pollen.  The pine trees were releasing big billowing clouds of  pollen this morning and everything is covered in green dust.

The first poppy in my garden decided to pop open.  I only have one blossom, but it is a beauty.  I went to the local garden center on Mothers Day and wandered around taking photos of flowers, and found more poppies there.



poppy in my garden with a bit of bokeh in the background

garden center poppies

poppy seeds close up 

the irises are gorgeous everywhere too !! I love spring flowers

Happy Memorial Day weekend  - I hope it is lovely wherever you are.

Photo Art featuring a horizon

This week Bonnie, the host of Photo Art Friday at Pixel Dust Photo Art, suggested creating and posting a piece of photo art featuring a horizon.   I enhanced and saturated the colors of my photograph of a boardwalk at a salt marsh located in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  I added a postcard from the Graphic's Fairy and an opaque layer of texture.  Then I added a border from pixlr (another free photo editing software).  I chose this photo as my horizon subject because it looks like the boardwalk is never ending as it disappears into the horizon. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo Heart Connection for April

Twas the last day of April

  

And all through the local garden shop

Nature was stirring and starting to pop

When in the middle of the perrenials there arose such a clatter

We took a closer look to see what was the matter

When what to our  wonderous eyes should appear

But a mother robin flying out and her beautiful eggs so dear

Happy Wonderous Spring - my April photo heart connection...

Please visit The Kat Eye View to see more Heart Connections for the month

Amber

Took this photo of a little cutie in Concord on Patriots day. 

Edited, and changed to a sepia tone.  Added a layer and ended up with beautiful red hair which made me think of my dear friend Joanne and her oldest daughter Amber.  Played a little more with editing to make this look like an old photo.

 The name Amber is of course perfect for a female with amber hair♥  Love you Jo, Amber and Meg !!

Experimenting with shutter speed

The Wayside Inn Grist Mill features a waterfall which was the perfect subject to use in my practice to learn more about shutter speed.

F-stop:             f 5.6

exposure time:  1/100 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f /4

exposure time:  1/160 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f 6.3

exposure time:  1/30 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f 14

exposure time:  1/6 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

The slower the shutter speed the more blurred the water will look.

I guess it is a matter of personal preference.  I think it's a neat effect.  My Mother didn't really like it at all.

I've been taking part in a class given by Elisha Snow called Mastering Manual Mode.  It has really forced me to get out of my comfort zone and get to know my camera a lot better. 



weekend reflection - Martha Mary Chapel

A last minute link up with Weekend Reflections.  This week James posted a very interesting reflection of a fabulous building in Florence Italy reflected in the window of an ambulance.  It is really interesting to look at all of the reflections posted here.  It helps you to look at things in a new way, and you find yourself often on the loookout for reflections.

I took this photo yesterday afternoon.  We went to Longfellow's Wayside Inn because there is an old grist mill there with a waterfall, and I wanted to experiment with changing shutter speeds.  I took a lot of photos of the waterfall and inside of the grist mill and look forward to posting these photos as well. I love visiting there because it is so typically "New England". 
I was peeking in the window of the "Mary Had A Little Lamb" schoolhouse when I took this photo.  If you look carefully you can see the little desks with chalkboards sitting on them.  That's me on the left, with the Martha Mary Chapel reflected in the window.  The white line on the right is part of the window pane.  A scene from the movie 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" was filmed here.  Scenes from an older movie "House Sitter" were also filmed at The Wayside Inn.

Happy Weekend!

Photo Art Friday is "the bees knees"

This week Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art suggested the Photo Art Friday theme to feature a macro photo.  I chose two photos taken last June In Ogunquit, ME.  The flowers are located in a garden at the start of the Marginal Way, a gorgeous trail situated along the rocky shore of the Atlantic coastline. 

The phrase "the bee's knees" (meaning the height of excellence) became popular in the U.S. in the 1920's along with the "cat's pajamas".  For all you young'uns out there.  And speaking of young'uns I had to explain "The Bump" to my kids the other day...remember that dance???

Ok, back to Photo Art Friday..  I cropped and edited these photo's and then placed Bonnie's textures on top.    (Thank you Bonnie)

      
Happy Friday to all and thank you for reading my post ♥

Lake Cochituate and fishing

I've been looking and looking, going back and forth with my photos looking for that heart connection.  I think I must have spring fever!!  This is a bit of a stretch but I am going with this post as my connection - more of a heart reminder that the grass isn't always greener somewhere else and that it is good sometimes to just "bloom where you are planted".

Thank you Kat for creating and hosting The Photo Heart Connection.  It is such a pleasure to meet so many creative and kind people through our little piece of blogland.

 clikc here for the  Photo-Heart Connection March:

Often when I think about going on a photography adventure, I think about going someplace other than where I already am.....the ocean, the city, a garden...etc.

I accompanied my husband while he went fishing in our home town, at Lake Cochituate (cuw-chit-chew-it).  I spent plenty of time fishing when I was a little girl, but it isn't something I would do on my own now.  It seemed like fishing was a lot more exciting then.  My husband cast out the lines (one person is allowed to use two poles) and set them up on the holders he made.  "Aren't you going to cast a few times?" I inquired.
"You call this fishing?" I teased him, "you aren't even holding the poles!"   
                     
Maybe he was happy to see me go off with my camera - lol.

Nice hot coffee makes the time spent more agreeable.

Somebody forgot their goggles... I can't imagine going into that cold water!!

It's nice to remember that you don't have to go somewhere "special" to have fun exploring with a camera.  And to find contentment cozy and comfy at home, lost in the activity of photo editing.  A simple heart connection.

Huntington Ave.

This weeks prompt with Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art is any piece of art that pleases you and/or incorporates the element of a path or a road.

This photo was taken on Huntington Avenue in Boston.

The first smaller building on the left is the Museum of Fine Arts.  The tall building immediately after the museum is the Prudential Building.  The next tall building is the Hancock Building.

I like the colors in this image and the way the street lights lead you down the road.  The addition of texture makes it almost feels like an oil painting to me.

Happy Friday!!

Texture Tuesday Pink

This week's Texture Tuesday prompt from Kim Klassen of Kim Klassen cafe, was to use at least one of her textures along with one of our images containing the color pink. I chose the image below because it is SPRING and we are being teased with heavenly warm days interspersed with more typical cool and grey March weather.  Because of these warm days, the snowdrops, daffodils and azaleas and forsythias are about a month ahead of normal.

I enhanced and saturated this photo of azaleas to really intensify the bright pink, because I knew the textures would tone down the bright pink color.  I used two of Kim's textures; look up and poetic.  It reminds me of a soft watercolor painting.

Happy Spring!

Wearin' o' the Green

Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art suggested posting photo art highlighting the color green.

 I took this photo at the Butterfly Place, located in Westford, MA.  It was so much fun to walk through as the butterlies flew about and even landed on us.  It was also fun to watch the reaction of the other visitors.  Everyone had a smile on their face.

I edited this photo using the free for download software Photoscape.  I am pleased by how much the software has to offer, but I am really anxious to work more with layers.  I've downloaded another free software called Gimp, which is touted to be very similar to Photoshop, but I am wondering if I should just make the plunge and purchase Photoshop.  Does anyone have any recommendations?  Thank You !

rubber duckie you're the one......

I spotted this rubber duckie at a local yard sale a few summers ago and he just had to come home with me. 

 He makes me smile.

 

photo "Hart" connection

I’ I’m hooked on a feelin’…..  I’m high on belivin’, that you’re in love with me.      (song: Hooked on a Feeling – by BJ Thomas)

I haven’t thought of that song in years.  Good old love songs.  They certainly tug at your heart strings,  twist your gut up in knots, cause a tremendous  ache in your soul when you to feel like the loneliest person in the world, or produce feelings of  such exhilaration  that you are energized by the joy.  Love songs contain a lot of power.

When viewing your own photos you can be stirred by the feeling of having created a “successful” image.  You can be stirred by the subject matter.  You can be stirred by the memory of how you felt when you took your photo.

These heart photos tug at my heart because I remember how good it felt to be outside in the fresh air exploring a new place with my husband after spending so much time cooped up inside.  They make me feel grateful for having a husband who is always there for me.  He is rock solid and we are two peas in a pod.  The everyday love song I appreciate with all my soul.

Thank you  Kat Sloma, creator of The Photo-Heart Connection series. 

Click here to expore Kat EyeStudio; blog, portfolio and online courses and the links to  wonderful photo-heart connections.