Charismatic Columbine

I've been playing with Picasa again! 

This image of a columbine blooming in front of my house has been cropped slightly and 

the mid-tone light increased just a little.

"Orton-ish"

Infrared black and white--dramatic!

"Holga-ish"--I like this black and white rendition.

This is the color inverted, so it resembles a color negative.

I love these colors!

"HDR-ish"

I am getting to like this conversion...

And now, an HDR-ish portrait of the fly...

Shadow Shot Sunday2

Blue Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Macro Monday

Ruby Tuesday2

Mid Week Blues

Black and White Wednesday

Color Connection

Picasa Meets Forest Trees

Same trees, different conversions

This was converted to black and white in the normal way. I like the mood 

the somewhat dim and very green light has

in this version.

This one, though, has had an infrared conversion. It makes the green leaves white--

 I think they look like flowers--and the mood is entirely different.

The Weekend in Black and White

Picasa Meets an Egg

I noticed this egg in the middle of the trail I normally walk on...

I think it probably was some predator's meal.

Of course, I had to take its picture...

When I put it on my computer, I couldn't get the interior to show detail...

until I inverted the colors.

It was a short step from there to this black and white.

A little strange, perhaps, and it looks a little like it's floating.

But I like it!

The steps to this image:

Crop

Bring up the shadows

Invert the colors

Convert to black and white

Enjoy the weekend!

The Weekend in Black and White

Picasa Meets a Waterfall

This is a small seasonal creek on our property.

I thought the subject and composition of the original image were beautiful.

BUT

Nothing was really clear, and the colors lacked pizzazz.

Well, I have been playing around with Picasa's editing tools, so I played with this.

I decided not to crop it. But I did do these things:

First, I used the saturation tool, which brought up the color some.

Then, I posterized it, adjusting for maximum colors and detail, which made it look more like a painting.

Focus issue solved.

Next, I applied what is called "Orton-ish." This tool increases contrast, "bloom," and  "brightness." I had to tone it down with the sliders to get an effect I liked.

Finally, I added the border.

This is the original.

What do you think?

Mellow Yellow Monday

Our World Tuesday

Variations on a Theme: Alder Catkins

I have been playing with Picasa recently, and I thought I would share some of the results.

I like alder catkins, or flowers, and I am thankful that we have alder trees growing around our property. One day last week I took this picture:

I like it...

but I decided to focus in on a smaller portion, so I cropped it down:

This is nicer, the catkins droop gracefully, the cones from last year give spikey contrast, the branches hold it together, and the sky makes a good background.

Next, I reversed the colors, so it looks like a color negative:

Cool!

Returning to the original colors, and posterizing:   

                                 

I played with the slider to increase the number of colors until I liked the result.

Next (and last), the posterized edit with Duo-Tone:

There are a lot of color options for foreground and background in this tool. I don't remember which ones I used, but I think the result is really pretty.

I had a lot of fun playing around, I may show you more in later posts!