Photo Art Friday - Week 4

Well I wasn't sure I'd be able to participate this week.  We had computer issues and had to take the Hard Drive in to be repaired.  Thankfully it wasn't anything major and I was able to get it back today. - We are getting a new computer though so shortly I'll be learning how to work on Windows 7 and will probably be pulling my hair out for a few days while I learn.  In the meantime I am so glad I had the chance to participte after all in Photo Art Friday on Bonnie's Blog Pixel Dust Photo Art.

I wanted to do something a bit different this week.  I decided to do a series of shots using "Berries" as the subject material.  I drove around town photographing various bushes that had berries on them.  It was really fun and interesting to see how many varieties I could find.  I'm sure I got some odd looks from passer-by's seeing me snapping pictures of bushes.

I went to Picnik, uploaded my photo's and then created 2 Collage's out of the photo's.  I really like how they turned out and am thinking of having them made into prints to hang on the wall.  I hope you enjoy them.

This 1st one was my favorite of the two.  I love the top left corner and bottom right corner photo's.  I learned that the berries on the bottom right are, Elderberries.

Here is my 2nd Collage:

Not a lot of editing other then just the general editing to sharpen the photo's a little.

Be sure to pop in to Bonnie's blog and check out what other people have submitted.  There is a TON of fabulous inspiration there.

Out of Commission for awhile

Hello friends and visitors. If you have come here to view any photographs please note that I am going to be out of commission for a few days.  Our computer is in for repairs and they have strongly suggested we purchase a new one.  So with that being said once I am able to get back on-line I will be able to participate in challenges and posts again.  I will try to check out your submissions as I do have access to a computer just not my own personal files at the moment.  Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Well my appetite for photography is growing...I found another new (to me) blog today.
It's called, Sweet Shot Tuesday.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  I've been taking lots of pictures lately.  This past weekend my granddaughter, Coleen and I walked around the block taking pictures and we happened upon this sweet little kitty and just had to stop and take some photo's.  We are "cat lovers" at our house, being owned by 6 of them and even feed neighborhood cats/strays. 

Isn't this kitty gorgeous!
Coleen is calling it, "Green Eyes".  Here is another photo that we took.

Sweet Shot Tuesday is going on "hiatus" after this week until
Nov. 1st. - But do check out the website as they are going to be doing a special series, October's 31 Days of Photo Tips.  - I'm going to be checking them out for sure.

For those interested I use a Canon Power Shot A1100 IS.
Nothing super fancy but I like the way these photo's turned out.

Other news of interest (or not)... Today's bowling scores: 137, 168, 160.  A lot better then last week.  I'm feeling much better.  The breathing is still a little labored but I've got a few more days of the Prednisone to see if it clears up or it's back to the doctor again.

Photo Art Friday - Week 3

Week in review:  Most of this week has been pretty unproductive.  Came down with an infection of some sort that went into my lungs.  Not good...Had to go on Antibiotics and Prednisone.  Still coughing but not as bad.  Lost a lot of sleep at night so had to sleep during the day when I could so that's why nothing much was accomplished.

Okay now on to today's Photo Art Friday photo. In case you don't know about this please check out Bonnie's Blog: Pixel Dust Photo Art.  Every week you can upload a photo that you would consider a piece of "Art" - It can come straight from your camera or you can do any type of editing to the photo that you want and then post your photo on Thursday night 7:00 pm EST through Sunday 7:00 pm EST. - It's a lot of fun and there are some really fabulous photo's to enjoy so be sure to check it out.

Today I am sharing this photo:

The before photo will be shown below.
I first edited the photo using a program called, Paint Net.

It's a FREE program you can download from here:

I used the Ink Sketch feature with the ink outline at 48 and the coloring at 68.  Then I saved the photo and opened it again with Picnik - Now this is a FUN place to start editing photo's.  Especially if you know nothing about photo editing or don't own the Photo Shop program.
I upgraded to the Premium addition so I could do more stuff with my photos.
For this one I added some texture (rain drops) and then added text.  I really like how it turned out.
Here is the original photo.  The only editing on this was just the "auto" adjust in the Microsoft photo editing program.

These two "mating" bugs landed on my Azalea bush and I used the Macro setting on my camera to capture them.  I believe they are what is referred to as a Mosquito hawk  (which I've now learned from googling) that they are actually Crane Flies (and don't eat mosquito's at all).

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to keep that camera with you as you never know what you may discover and want to preserve.

Here is the link to the Photo Art Friday post.

Photo Art Friday #2

Hello and Welcome. - Just a quick update on my granddaughter, Coleen who came down with a BAD case of "Hives" last week.  I am happy to report that the medication worked and she has been hive free now for almost a full week.  Thanks for your prayers.

Now it's time for this weeks Photo Art Friday picture. - Again I want to just say that I am still a beginner and my photo's will not have any fancy editing or layering as I don't have the programs nor the knowledge to do that right now.  Still I want to share my photography so I hope you enjoy what I have to share today.

The original photo will be shown below.  I did do some editing using Picnik. I added, Text, Frames, and Used the Viginette feature to soften the color around the sunflower so they stood out more.

Can't wait to see what everyone else did.  I love looking at photo art.

Photo Art Friday

Well first off I want to say that I am just a "beginner" with my photography skills.  I don't have a fancy camera, I use a Cannon Power Shot A1100 IS camera but I want to get better and hopefully learn a lot more about taking pictures so I thought I'd jump in on this challenge.  I found it thanks to another blogger that I recently found, Eveyln (Within My Focus). I love her work.

Anyway the challenge is called Photo Art Friday and so without further ado here is my photo:

This is one of our 6 (yes, Six) cats.  Her name is Callie-Jo and she is part Siamese and part Calico.  Her face is so interesting.  We call her, "Wonky Face" because of it.  Aren't those blue eyes just gorgeous!

Now I really don't know much about photo editing.  I did a few minor edits in Picasa to sharpen and highlight the color a little more.  So what you all think...I'm open to suggestions but please be gentle.

Hives

Poor Coleen came down with a nasty case of Hives this week.  We aren't sure what caused the sudden outbreak and according to the doctor at the ER 85% of the time the cause of hives goes undetected.  Poor little thing was so itchy the first day.  They have her on Prednisone and Benadryl to control the itching.  In the mean time we are trying to determine what may be causing the outbreaks.  Could be tomatoes, berries or even the new stuffed toys she won at the fair.  Bedding is being washed, stuffed toys are being washed and no tomatoes or berries for awhile until we get this under control.
Pretty nasty looking.  I really feel for her.

Butterfly Dreams

I happened upon a photo of a butterfly on this blog (Within My Focus) and immediately realized that I had some photo's of the exact same butterfly.  I thought why not share them so without further ado here they are: 

This was just after it had landed on the flower.

This shot my Granddaughter, Coleen took.  We were hoping to get a photo with it's wings open but at this point it wasn't cooperating much.

Getting Closer at this point.

Success at last!

















I don't know the type of butterfly either but it's a lovely one none the less and I hope you've enjoyed these photo's.  Thanks Evelyn for inspiring me to share mine.