Day 269; Black and Blue

This black grid thing was part of the packaging for some socks. I liked the lines it presented, and decided to compliment the lines with some color. The shirt I used had a little texture of its own which just added to the look of the grid. A dark vignetting effect tamed the bright blue and drew attention to the black lines.

Day 239; Techno Petals

We've been having beautiful weather lately so there're all sorts of flowers blooming outside. My mom has a comple peony bushes in the yard which are full of blossoms, one of which is featured in today's photo. And no, they're not blue flowers. I tried out some new techniques today. Below you can see the original image. I first applied an infrared black and white filter, then added a blue tint. I loved the blue, which I felt gave a modern, techno feel to the image.

Day 165

Yesterday my 4-H club decorated a Christmas tree for the local Festival of Trees silent auction where the trees are sold and the proceeds go to Christmas for Kids. Our tree is adorable this year, decorated to look like a giant snowman. This ornament was on someone else's tree, but seeing as it was blue and sparkly it was one that caught my eye when I made the rounds with my camera.  I loved the way the black and white made this ornament really stand out from its surroundings.

Day 155

We got the first snow of the season yesterday, and this morning we had a big frost. I got one of my brothers to pose for me to take advantage of the morning light. The light is a little harsh on the side of his face nearest the sun, but I love dramatic light on his face. To downplay the highlights a little I added slight dark edges. (click photo to enlarge)

Day 151

With all the rain outside and it getting dark so early, I didn't have many options for a subject today. Eventually I centered on my purse, and got several really cool close ups. This one I liked because it was a tiny part of the front that was full of interesting textures and angles. To edit, I applied a black and white effect but left some of the stitches their original blue color to add some interest and highlights to the image. Plus, I love the color blue.

Day 149

Last night I accidentally left my camera at my grandparents' house, so I today I decided to edit a photo I took a while ago and post it. This is a macro of some ponytail holders I had recently gotten and had not yet taken off the cardboard package. That's what keeping these all lined up and giving them the slightly rounded shape. To edit, I decided I wanted a super modern one point color look. Since my favorite color is blue and the blue one happened to be in an ideal location for a focal point, I opted to paint on the black and white, leaving one elastic in the original color. To add to the dramatic effect, I increased the shadows in the lower portion and increased the highlights at the top. The only thing I don't like is the one elastic that is lighter colored than the rest, as it kind of ruins the whole idea of having just the blue one stick out in the crowd.

Day 147

My family and I just got back from the 2013 American Rabbit Breeders Association National Convention.  I didn't have much time to post photos while I was up there, but I did take a lot. Today's photo is of the seats in the arena where the youth contests took place. This photo is kind of deceiving, because it was taken on a day when not much was going on in this room. However, on the days of the contests practically every seat was filled. I cropped this photo to a panorama to add a little more interest and really make the angle of this first row pop.

Day 145

This was taken at the Iowa State Fair this summer. This decorative piece was made by a 4-Her by attaching the bowls of plastic spoons around a small round mirror. I loved the round symmetry and  the shadow patterns the spoons made.

Day 134

This is a close up/macro of one of my dad's neck ties. I noticed the interesting pattern and that it would be a good photo subject. I love how the pattern of cubes gives an illusion of depth. To edit I applied a very slight orton effect to pull out some of the blacks and make the blues and yellows pop. I also adding dark edges to help enhance the detail in the stiches.

Day 33

This is a photo of a fence overlooking the river. If you look right under the bridge you can see a crane, I think it's the same one I took a photo of a while ago.

Day 2

I've been experimenting in macro photography. This is a photo of one of my dresses close up.