I was playing around with some of the fun software and some old images and came up with this one I really liked using a combination of Topaz Simplify and Topaz Glow.
Category: Flora
California Poppy
I can’t get enough of photographing California poppies. This one looked pretty good out of the camera but I did a little magic in post processing by adding detail and saturation and then treated it ever so slightly in my new Topaz Glow software.
Tulip with Raindrops
It was kind or rainy this week but I happened to be out and about with the camera just after a shower and captured this Tulip still covered with raindrops and backed by a beautiful snowball bush in bloom.
Dutch Iris
I went for a camera walk this morning and found this dutch iris in the flowerbed of one of my neighbors. I few lingering drops from last nights rain.
I never get tired of photographing flowers. This one just needed a few blemishes taken care of with the spot healing brush or content aware fill. Then some detail and saturation and ever so slight darkening of the corners in Color Efex Pro.
Bluebonnets
This week has been more about gardening than photography so in that spirit I went back to the Texas pictures and created a painterly rendition of some bluebonnets with a single paintbrush. I just like the colors!
Tree Abstract
It was mostly about post processing this week though I did get out yesterday to find some Wood Ducks. Still I liked this abstract enough to designate it image of the week.
This was shot at the butterfly grove in Pismo Beach. I used a low ISO and slow shutter speed to capture this while deliberately moving the camera.
Then in Photoshop I added vibrance and saturation. Next I took it into Topaz Texture Effects and just started looking for something I liked in the presets. Once I found it I drilled down and started playing with the preset filters. I changed the texture to give it a more foresty look and changed the light leak to give a hint of a sunburst in the upper left. Then I added a border just for visual interest. I finished it off in Color Efex Pro with an image border so it wasn’t totally squared off.
I like that it is still obviously about trees but abstract enough that it is definitely not a straight photograph nor could it be easily reproduced. I think for photography to be art it should not be easy to reproduce, which is getting harder and harder to do.
Raindrops
This image was taken on a photo walk with my new Canon EOS M3. It had just started to clear after a rainstorm and the grass was covered with raindrops. I didn’t have a tripod with me but decided what the heck and started shooting away hand held. Not bad, eh? So far I’m pretty impressed with this little camera and have to congratulate Canon on fixing most of the things that didn’t work for me on the M classic.
Oak Leaf
Seems like about all I can find to photograph lately are dead oak leaves. But I am getting some pretty good images so maybe I will do a virtual gallery show that is just oak leaves. Or at least, just leaves. This one was processed using a new software program from Topaz called Texture Effects. I like the way it added some color around the edges and brought out the green grass blades.
Image of the Year – Red Poppy
Well, it’s been a mad dash this week. I’ve been culling my files for my favorite images of 2015. I started with over 6500 images and ended with around 4000. Yes there is probably more opportunity for opening up disc space but it’s a good start. At the end of the day I had 65 images on my best of list and had to cut it down to 25, which in the end wasn’t that hard after all. I went through the list without seeing the images and certain ones just stood out in my mind.
Among the final 25 there were 6 flowers and 6 birds, three coastal sunsets, and only 4 that showed the hand of mankind. Ten could fall into the macro or closeup category, 6 had alternative processing, meaning a texture or painterly treatment was added after the fact. And two were black and white, which seems to be calling to me more these days. To see all 25, go to http://jeannehoadley.com/Fav2015.
But when it came down to choosing the image of the year this was more of a Sophie’s choice. I love them all but in my mind I kept coming back to the Pansies and the Red Poppy, though sunset with dog had it’s moments. On a different day I might have chosen differently but in the end I had to make a choice and today the red poppy rose to the top. As for the new sidebar image on this blog, I needed a vertical and the Iris was hands down my favorite of the three verticals.
I’m still not sure anyone is reading this blog but happiest of new years to you if you do!
Poppy
It’s that time of year that I start cleaning out the files and looking for hidden gems that I missed in the first round of processing. This Poppy certainly falls into the hidden gem category. Not sure how I missed it before.
Post processing required only a little cropping ans saturation and some denoise treatment which is getting to be standard for me.