Author… Artist… Amateur Photographer… Book Reviewer… Mom
I wanted to play again just to see if I could do another one that came out as cool as the first. I’m wondering if that first was a fluke or just the perfect image for what I did, because I haven’t been able to get another one to look nearly as good. I still prefer doing basic color adjustments like going with a desaturated look or to black and white. This one is more along the lines of the desaturated, but also with a sepia filter.
Here is the original.
Normally I don’t touch my photos with the exception of a little adjustments on color or lighting if the image I take doesn’t come out quite on par with what I saw or a little cropping. Every once in a while, I’ll make one black and white or even just reduce the color saturation. Overall, though, I just don’t mess with them as I’m not a huge fan of artistic manipulations. Some are really cool, but it isn’t what I personally want out of my images.
That said, I felt like playing. The result is by no means super amazing, but I did think it was interesting. I love the grainy look and feel of really old photos as well as their sepia tones and this kind of has a similar feel. Like I said, this was just for fun and it came out interesting.
Here is the original.
My Iris are almost done for the year. I’m lucky I was able to get the photos I did as the rain and wind did a number on them. I had one dark purple Iris that was blooming for a day that I managed to get a picture of that day and it was on the ground by the following morning after a storm. I’ll have Lilies soon, but I don’t have nearly enough flowering plants in my yard. That may have to change this summer.
My attempt to find some beauty in today.
Today was a photo upload day. I’ve now got over 350 images available on my photo print site, including this one.
I have Irises blooming. Not all of them yet, but a few. I love the color variations in this one. It is so vivid and eye catching. Irises are some of my favorite to photograph because there are so many different interesting parts, especially once you get close. Fair warning, there will be lots more Iris images in the days to come, when I’m not going insane getting things done in prep for recital or running BG to a million events.
Yesterday was… a day. When I wasn’t on the computer, most everything was good. I got some really cool pics and that made me really happy. Getting on the computer and internet… well, that just pricked at my patience and irritated the hell out of me. So much so, I felt like turning this blog into a giant rantfest and changing the name to The Cranky Old Hag. Obviously I didn’t, but the temptation was still very much there because that is pretty much how I felt. Instead I walked away and picked up a book instead, which wasn’t actually that easy and was part of the desire to scream.
So this morning I was faced with the choice. Feed the cranky old hag or do something that made me happy. I’m going with happy. And pretty. So, here is a purple Iris bud for you. Choose happy today.
Today is one of those bittersweet moments of being a parent. A moment when you see your child in the middle of a transition from one part of their life to the next. Today, I watched BG graduate from 8th grade and I’m just overflowing with emotions. Mostly pride, because my girl is just amazing and I got to see proof that I’m not the only one that thinks so.
The Iris has become one of my favorite flowers. I love the soft looking ruffled petals. They look so delicate, but they last for a pretty long time. I’m not sure I have anything else planted in my yard that the bloom stays on looking great at it’s peak for as long as an Iris.
So, I started my research for an editor and a cover designer. Then I just kind of hit this wall. The sheer volume of different types of editors and pricing and the lists of different steps you need to take with each different one and just… everything. It sent me into kind of a tailspin. It was so overwhelming I just had to step away.
