Impressions of a Daisy

All images were taken blurry intentionally, and various other treatments were applied using Picasa to give the images an impressionistic feel.

Daisy looking down

Vine

Virginia Creeper vine on abandoned shed

dandelion collage

I've taken so many dandelion photos recently that I thought it might be nice to make a collage of them. I put this one together with the aid of Picasa (i.e. choose pictures and click a button), but it's not quite what I had imagined. I might have to try a different one that I put together myself.

dandelion sunset

Transformation

Remember this?


Now... it looks like this

Taking chances

Sometimes I let my camera do the seeing for me, especially when my subject is close to the ground and turning my head upside down doesn't seem like the best idea. I never know what's going to happen when I take pictures in this way, but there are always some pleasant surprises, like the sunlight streaming through these Wild Phlox flowers. Taking chances is one of the best things you can do with your camera. Get out there and play!

collage

"What are those?!" you might be wondering. They are catkins. A catkin is "a dense, elongated, and drooping cluster of flowers without petals. Most commonly, the flowers found on a catkin are of one sex. In some trees, such as the poplar, both male and female flowers are present. Catkins are typically found on trees which are wind pollinated, such as oak, birch, willow, and hickory." [source]  I believe these catkins came from one of our Aspen trees (aspens are a member of the willow family).  I left them inside the house for a few days after I took these pictures, and when I picked them up, they dumped yellow pollen all over my hands and the table.  I didn't realize the important role these fuzzy little clusters played until the evidence was in-hand (get it?).

Awakening

Today's Picture Spring prompt is "Awakening," where Tracey encourages us to "Capture something that is just waking up with the welcoming warmth of the season and honor it, I see you little one."
This is some Lily of the Valley that is coming up in my garden. I really doctored this one in Picasa, boosting the saturation multiple times, plus a few other modifications. I like the glowing effect that I ended up with.

Look inside

Flower power

Solitary

No "Picture Spring" prompt today. The prompts from the last few days have just done nothing for me - brought me no inspiration. So I decided to strike out on my own for today's photo. I couldn't choose just one to share, though...

There's a freeze warning in effect for tonight, so it's very possible that I'll lose all the lovely daffodils that have been blooming in our front yard.  Such a shame!

Look around

Well, I didn't follow today's Picture Spring prompt, which was "The Sky is the Limit." We were supposed to take a photo of the sky, but it was pretty bland up there today, and I was already taking wildflower photos anyway, so.... here are a few of my favorite photos from today of my favorite "weed," the Dandelion.

stuck on flowers

Sorry, I'll move on from these flower photos eventually. I decided to play with this one in Corel Painter Essentials, using a watercolor option, and this was the result. It's always fun to play around with images, to turn them into something new.

More manufactured sunshine

I have to admit to using the "I'm feeling lucky" function in Picasa on all of these pictures. That's what makes these really pop by bringing out the contrast and making the white really white (among other things). Perhaps some day I will figure out how to make such vibrant photos in-camera.

Manufactured sunshine

Last weekend was cloudy and snowy. I hadn't seen the sun for days. So I decided to buy some flowers and make my own sunshine.

Backlit

Lotus

A photo with endless possibilities, here are two variations of this American Lotus seed head. May your weekend be peaceful.

Burst

In remembrance of summer, my dear friend...


And in honor of a new year dawning for me.

Opening up

I decided to give this photo several different treatments. Which do you like?