Seasons Greetings.....

 Well, it's been some kind of year huh? See you next year....Stay well.....

Mister Cardinal.....

The bird feeders that I put up a couple of weeks ago, are providing a lot of enjoyment, as quite a few species have discovered them, and they seem to enjoy flitting in and out of the now dormant Rose of Sharon bushes. This lovely Male Cardinal found a place beside our back deck, and posed for about a half second as I grabbed a very quick shot of him through the kitchen window. It definitely is not a work of art, but I find it quite enjoyable nonetheless. The bird feeders are also providing me with a chance to improve my bird photography skills, and at present, it appears that I am quite slow with the shutter button....hopefully that will improve with time....Cheers! 

Lady Cardinal.....

This past week, I decided I was going to try feeding the birds again this Winter. It is a lovely diversion from all the junk that is going on in the world right now. Of course, the squirrels were delighted, and it has been a bit of a battle to keep them away from the feeders, but for the most part, I am winning.....nothing like axel grease on the poles. Apparently they do not care much for black grease all over their paws. They get plenty to eat from what the birds spill from the feeders, as they get pretty scrappy from time to time, vying for a few moments on one of the perches. Anyway, this lovely lady Cardinal paid us a visit yesterday, and again today, and I expect will be a regular visitor....hopefully. It was a chance to grab a few shots. Since I cannot get out into the bush anymore to photograph them in their natural habitat, this will have to do for now. Maybe one day when I feel competent enough, I might take a hike out into the County to try my hand at real bird shooting. Meanwhile, I am working on another idea to make my bird shots look more natural....or without showing the "hand of man" as it is referred to at the Windsor Camera Club.....Cheers! 

P.S. For what it is worth...these images were shot from inside our kitchen, through the window pane. 

My Nemesis.....

This squirrel has given me a rather dubious "respect" if you will, for its ingenuity and acrobatic skills. Last week, I bought a "squirrel proof" bird feeder, and some seeds, which I set up dangling from the clothes line in our back yard. After all, no way could a squirrel reach it, and even if it could, it is designed to close off the access hole to the seeds, when the weight of the critter comes to bear on it. I placed it about 15 feet out from the back deck, so no way could it jump that far. For a couple of days, all was well, as the birds showed up in droves. We had Blue Jays, Cardinals, Chickadees, Sparrows, and a Wren also. There were a couple of grey squirrels on the ground, foraging for the seeds that got spilled over from the birds feeding above. Then, along comes this black squirrel. It spent a few minutes sizing up the situation from several different angles. Then it decided to go for it. It climbed up onto the clothes line, and casually walked along until it got to the feeder. Then it stopped, looked down at it dangling below, and with its hind feed wrapped around the clothes line, it lowered its body down so that it was hanging upside down, and started to dig the seeds out of the holes, without ever putting any weight on the perch, which would have shut off the access to the seeds. It was so persistent, that I had to take the feeder down until it decided to move on elsewhere. After I had scared it off the feeder, I went inside and got my camera and took this shot of it sitting on our neighbors back fence, all the while giving me a scolding and the evil eye....amazing critters for sure.....Cheers! 
 

On Reedmere Road.....

The City of Windsor is made up of several smaller areas that seem to meld into each other, not unlike a lot of other cities. Walkerville, LaSalle, Sandwich, and Olde Riverside are a few, and this image was shot a couple of days ago in Olde Riverside. With my camera set to Illustration mode, I made this shot of the Autumn leaves, and it will likely be the last of the season for another year. As I type this, it is snowing outside, and believe it or not, I am not disappointed. The four seasons keeps things interesting in this country, and if I lived in a place where it was mild all year around, and no Winter season, I think I would go crazy....or more so than I already am. At least we do not have the terrible weather events so far here, like what is happening right now in B.C and the Maritimes, and Newfoundland - Labrador. Let's hope the weather gods show a little mercy on them soon.....
 

On Raglan Road.....

Lately, I have tried to make my photography more enjoyable by taking a very simple image, and make something unusual or unique out of it. It keeps the juices flowing, and helps stave off boredom, which is very easy to slip into anymore. This image started out as a very ordinary shot of a single rose, that was clinging to the bush, all by itself. It is fun to take an image, and just play with it, and sometimes surprise myself. Such is the case with this one. When I combined it with one of my own concocted "filters" it looked rather unusual, but in my mind, it needed something more. For what ever reason, the old Irish melody, On Raglan Road, written by Patrick Kavanagh, was running through my head, so I thought that maybe the lyrics added to this image, might add something special to it. When photographs are combined with poetry or lyrics, it seems to place the image into another category, and some folks might enjoy it, while others, not so much....to each his own....Cheers!

P.S. My apologies if the script on this image is too small to read. If you are interested in the lyrics, just look up the song title.....this song also sounds great on my Hohner button accordion, and the first time I heard this song, it was on a Van Morrison LP. 

The Last Rose.....

This image is the last of the roses in our garden for another year. So tonight, I thought I would give it a little attention and posted it on here. The actual size of the blossoms are about the size of a dime, and the bush was just loaded with them this year. I hope it Winters well, as I decided to prune it quite hard, and hopefully did not do it too much harm. Roses are a whole lot more hardy than they look, and it seems that the harder they are pruned, the nicer they are the next year....we shall see. Anyway, the original background was a very drab grey fence, and I decided to "splice" in one of my own concoctions to pick it up a bit....hopefully, you will enjoy this rendition. Cheers!
 

Autumn....In Soft Focus

The leaves on our Japanese Maple turns very red in the Autumn, and I love to sit and look at them backlit by the sun in the early morning while I am enjoying my beverage. Today, I put the 100mm Soft Focus portrait lens on my camera, and ventured out into the crisp morning air to grab this shot. Things take on a very "gentle" mood when I use this old film era lens, and it is nice to have it in my collection. The trend these days is for all images, absolutely must be tear your eyes out, tack sharp. Anything less is not worth any notice and has no merit....I humbly disagree.....the loveliness of soft focus images, whether it is used on people portraits, or flowers etc., has a definite place in my view of things, and makes me smile a little more.....definitely floats my boat! Cheers! 
 

Autumn Transitions.....

This little image is one that was a "happy accident" sort of. I was making some adjustments to the mode selection menu, and the camera fired off a shot without me intending it to. When I eventually loaded the files into the computer, my intent was to delete this one, but the more I got looking at it, the more it grew on me. After a little treatment in Corel Painter Essentials 8, this was the result, and I decided to put it on here, just for the heck of it. It is a view from my front veranda, and I just wanted to get the colours before they are gone for good. Autumn is "tilting" into Winter, and soon we will be scraping and digging our way through the white stuff....Cheers!
 

Beyond Help.....

After the hockey game had ended last evening, I was messing around with my camera, and decided to try a very quick still life of this withered yellow rose that I had not thrown out yet. One flash was triggered remotely off to the left, by the one mounted on the camera. The main light on the left was at full power, and the one on the camera was at 1/4 power which gave it a nice snappy light ratio, or contrast. The black background was the sofa. It also gave me an opportunity to experiment with a trial version of Capture One Pro for Sony that I had downloaded. Between it, and my Corel software, this is the result....Cheers!   
 

On the Fence.....

This little image might very well be the only image that I get to shoot anything that resembles Autumn colours. It was taken in the far corner of our back yard, behind a Rose of Sharon tree that grows there. If I am not mistaken, I believe it is an Engleman's Ivy vine, and it is starting to "snake" itself along the fence. If it is indeed and Engleman's Ivy, then it will likely cover the entire fence by this time next year, and I don't think I will be too eager to tear it out, as the leaves turn a lovely red in the Fall. This one seems to be just starting to turn colour now, and maybe after this rainy spell is over with, I may be able to get a really nice shot of it when the sun backlights it. At any rate, it is not a work of art, but I have grown to appreciate the very simple things that seem to surround me....hope you enjoy it also.....
 

Wren House in Autumn.....

It appears that the lovely Autumn season is upon us again, and I enjoy the Autumn colours that other photographers have taken and posted on their various sites online. Circumstances does not permit me to get out and about much these days, so about the furthest I get to venture out, is our back yard. This little wren house has been vacated again, and I would love to be able to grab a picture of it sometime, but it usually appears when I do not have my camera handy. It paid us a visit this morning whilst I was enjoying my coffee, as it landed on our front veranda for a very brief few seconds, and then was off. It will likely be next year before we get a glimpse of it again, and enjoy it's lovely song.....meanwhile, I have to content myself with taking a shot of its abode, and hope that it does indeed return next year.....Cheers!

Lily in B & W.....

This image started out as a coloured yellow lily, and I thought it might look nice as a Black & White, for those who appreciate the simplicity of it. A lot of cleaning up had to be done, but I feel it was a worthwhile endeavor. Hopefully everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend, and I enjoyed having my whole family under one roof for a brief few hours. It has been so long since we were able to do that. The weather was very warm and humid, but we managed to enjoy the outdoors for most of the get together. Stay safe everyone.....Cheers! 
 

Ash Leaves Abstract.....

This little image was originally shot just a few feet from the White Dogwood Berries posted below, prior to Covid-19 when we visited the Lorraine Valley area of Northern Ontario. It was actually shot in the Summer time, and the leaves and forest were very green. I did a little photo editing in Corel, and converted it to an Autumn like scene. Then I took the file over to Corel Painter Essentials 8 and ran a little Impressionism action on it, and this was the result. For what ever reason, I seem to have acquired a taste for abstract images, and when I see a potential image before me, I start thinking how it might look if it were converted into an abstract illustration of some sort. I never know what I will come up with when I start out playing with an image. Of course my better half thinks I'm nuts, and she probably is not too far off the mark....but such is life. I tell her it is my therapy that enables me to cope with this mad world that has emerged recently. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it....Cheers!
 

White Dogwood Berries......

Working on this little image was fun to pass an hour or so tonight. When I made the transition from colour to Black & White, it was no contest. The Black & White variant won hands down. Using the poster edges filter in CS5 enhanced the detail and contrast, and also gave it a bit of a graphic look as well.....hope it is enjoyable for you too. Cheers! 

 

Trinity, NFLD Scene.....

The last time I visited "HOME" was back in 2015, and I spent a good deal of my vacation on the Avalon. It was solace for the soul to say the least. When we arrived in Trinity, the first scene I saw when I stepped out of the car was this one. I immediately fired off a shot, as I knew I liked what I saw, but did not spend much time thinking about it. Tonight, I converted it from colour to Black & White, and I think I prefer this variant best. Even though I was raised in a city, and lived most of my life in mainland cities, I have always, to this day, been a bayman at heart. For me, this image is full of texture, but then, no surprise, Newfoundland is full of textures on so many levels that I could go on for an hour or more with that train of thought. But I will spare you... anyway, this image makes me feel like the Newfoundland that I grew up knowing, is still there. Hopefully it will be for a while longer, and hopefully I will make it back at least one more time.....Cheers! 
 

The Clipping....

Last week, I was pruning and clipping the badly overgrown plants in our back yard, and this rose was the only one on the tip of a "sucker" branch on one of our climbing rose bushes. So I clipped it off, and stuck it in a little vase that was sitting empty on the table in my quiet space. It is my retreat from the world right now. A few months back, I had purchased a 85mm, f1.4 lens that was originally designed to be used with film cameras. From online reviews I had read, it was touted as being able to hold its own on a more modern DSLR camera. It was designed to be a portrait lens, and is all about the bokeh, especially when it is used wide open at f1.4 aperture. So I put it on my SONY a900 camera, and gave it a go with the aperture wide open. This is the resulting image, and I think it lived up to its reputation. This image is just a very simple little snippet of a place I enjoy when it is not too scorching hot or humid. There has been a lot of those days this Summer, but it is close to the arrival of the Autumn season now, and that should bring much more bearable temperatures before the gnarly Winter months arrive....Cheers!.
 

Somewhere Near Trinity, NFLD.....repost

This little image was posted sometime around last December, 2020, as a Black & White, which I liked very much. Tonight for whatever reason, I got to playing with it again. This time I thought I would try Corel Painter software, and this is the resulting image. It is supposed to somewhat resemble a coloured pencil drawing of the original photo. Truth be told, I am not very proficient with this software yet, and there is definitely a learning curve to it. It is a bit difficult for me to wrap my mind, or what's left of it, around, and accept the fact that it is no longer a photograph, and is now something quite different. The colours are different, and the jury is out on if it somehow enhances the image or not.....but it is fun to experiment, and to get a few hours relief from all of the so called Federal Election stuff online that we must endure for another week at least....good Lord, I'd give anything to find myself trudging along the dirt road in this image right about now....Cheers! 

 

Orange Day Lily Abstract.....

Another scorcher of a day today, and at the risk of being very redundant, I thought I would add yet another of my abstract renditions of a lovely Orange Day Lily from our back yard. It is fun to use my photography to portray things in an unusual style. It keeps me occupied, and I would hope others might be a little entertained by my efforts as well....one way or the other.....Cheers! 

Springdale, NFLD......

Tonight, it appears that I am revisiting some of my old stuff that I shot many years ago. This little image was taken in Springdale, Newfoundland, back in 2008. About a year or so ago, I downloaded some freebee software from Topaz, and really never got around to using it at all, until now. Anyway, this little image was given the "Expressionism" treatment ala Topaz, just for kicks. The framing EFX are courtesy of Corel Paint Shop Pro... It is fun to see what the final outcomes might be by applying different filters to some of your old work.....hope you enjoy it a little.....Cheers!
 

Baby's Breath in Wire Jug Repost.....

A monochrome version of this little image was posted back in February of 2020, and tonight I revisited it to see if I could some how make it more interesting colour wise. This is the final outcome, and the coloured background is one of several that I have conjured up in the last couple of days. It gives it a little more of a painterly effect, which I somewhat enjoy. Hopefully, others will enjoy it a little also.....Cheers!

 Camera: SONY a900

 Lens: Minolta 28 ~ 105 zoom (f11for 1/4 sec.)

Rose Cluster.....

This afternoon, I took a chance that my lens would not fog up, as I stepped into our back yard where the humidity and the heat had pushed the thermometer up to almost 40C. The air conditioning has been running nonstop for days, but we are supposed to be having a much welcomed cool down starting tomorrow. It is impossible to get anything done outside when it is like that. There are those who like to flirt with medical issues by exerting themselves outside in this heat, and I wish them well. Anyway, with my 80 ~ 200 mm lens on my camera, I shot this little image wide open at f2.8, and had the Watercolour Mode selected so as to make a little image that somewhat resembled a watercolour painting. It does not do too bad of a job, for what it is, and it is fun to have another option available in camera. With a little bit of tweaking in Photoshop CS5 and Corel for the framing set up, this is the outcome. Hope some who might be viewing this will enjoy it a little.....Cheers! 

Gander Bay, Newfoundland

Tonight, I came across this image which I believe had been taken back in 1972. It was shot with my old Minolta SRT101, on Kodachrome64 Slide film...remember that stuff? The camera and photography was brand new to me. It had been in my possession only about a week, and I had acquired it to just take pictures of our kids, who were really small then. To say I had no clue what I was doing would be an understatement. All I was told was that you had to turn a ring on the lens to centre the "lollypop" needle over the other needle in the viewfinder, and there you go, you had a "proper" exposure. Wow! Those were the days! If I had any idea where this photography idea would take me, I might have thrown the whole lot in the nearest garbage can, and saved myself thousands and thousands of dollars over the years. Anyway, I digress. Even though I had no clue that there was such a thing as composition, and leading lines, and rule of thirds, etc.., while we were driving by in the old '66 Chevy, I saw this church with white boats beside it, and slammed on the brakes. When I grabbed the camera, and ran across the highway, my family thought I had gone crazy...they had no idea how accurate that thought was!! Still, to this day, even with the irretrievably blown out highlights in the clouds, and the tops of the overturned freshly painted boats, it is one of my all time favourite images. In recent years, I have seen other photos taken by other professional photographers, and sad to say, the old church was in very bad repair, with the little cross on the steeple falling over at an angle, and the clapboards falling off. It still makes me happy that I was able to capture this image before it had reached such a sad state....and the long profusion of daisies growing all along the old rail fence just sent tingles up my spine...I've always been a sucker for daisies, and buttercups, and lupines. They all scream HOME to me, no matter where I happen upon them. Now, all these years later, it still brings back many fond memories of the "good old days" before the world went bonkers, and folks knew who and what they were, and your "friends" actually shook your hand, and you knew that when the chips were down, they would be there to give you a hand up, not to take advantage of your situation.....remember those quaint old times? Cheers! 
 

Candid Coffee Table Still Life.....

 Last week, I finally received my camera back from repairs at SONY. It appears that through my own absent mindedness, I hooked my camera up to do some tethered shooting, and forgot that the laptop I had plugged into was an XP Operating System, and not my Windows 10 laptop.....Oooops, I totally fried the main circuit board, and it had to be replaced. It was a rather rude realization that I could do such a thing, and also very expensive. Anyway, such is life. So, having received it back, I did not have time to take it out and do some shooting around the river front, or anywhere else. This little image was one of the first shots after the repairs to test that it was indeed working as it should. The Illustration Mode was selected, and the light is provided by a flash bounced backward over my shoulder off of the ceiling. Hope it is enjoyable to someone else out there. Cheers!

Yucca Blossoms.....

 While I was rummaging about in some of my old files tonight, I came across this one, and decided to give it a try as a Black & White rendition. The conversion was done with Photoshop CS5, and the "framing" treatment was done in Corel....they make it so easy. Just a simple little image that I find interesting. Hope some folks enjoy it a little as well....Cheers! 

A Quiet Place

 Sitting and listening to the dribbling water from the fountain, and the birds in the near by Roses of Sharon trees helps me tune out the various noises of the world, political and otherwise. Early morning or late evening, with a favourite beverage in hand is so relaxing. When the pandemic is over, I don't think my present routine will vary too much...Cheers!

P.S. For what it is worth, this image was taken with my SONY a900 and Minolta 85mm f1.4 lens, wide open....focus was on the rose on the right in the vase.

 This lily was rather brilliant in colour, but I thought it might look a tad different as a B & W image. It has a bit of a graphic element to it, as I used the Illustration Mode in my camera when I took the original shot. This B&W rendition really enhances this I think. Hope all is well and safe....Cheers!

Springtime in Bloom.....

 

It has been up in the +30C degree range here for the last couple of days, and I was informed this evening that the heat goes all the way up to Northern Ontario as well. This little image tonight is my rendition of Springtime in full bloom. Summer Solstice is not far away, and then it is back down hill from there. Here's to a very lovely Summer for everyone.....Get out and smell the roses.....Cheers!  

Awash in Colour.....

 The image below this one is the base image used in this little compilation tonight. For sure it is not to everyone's taste, but I have always enjoyed experimenting and pushing the boundaries of things. When I start out with these little "excursions", I have no idea what the final outcome will be. As a matter of fact, if I were to try to reproduce this image from scratch again, it would not likely look the same, so in that respect it is a one of. The textures in the image is derived from my own concocted filters that I have saved to be used when I feel the need to. So, trying to duplicate something similar using the filters that come with Photoshop, or any of the other photo editing software, would be somewhat futile. It is a lot of fun to experiment with photo imaging, and if one were in need of a splash of colour somewhere, this might fit the bill. However, if you are an ardent purist, which I used to be, then this would be considered an abomination for sure. Somewhere along the way, I discovered that in this crazy old world, anything goes. At least my throwing all caution to the wind photographically, is no harm, and if it gives you a chuckle, one way or the other, no problem....Cheers! 

Roses After the Rain at Sunset.....

 This little photo was taken this evening, or I should say, yesterday evening since it is now tomorrow....Anyway, I happened to look out the window and saw this branch of the rose bush hanging low to the ground, heavy from the rain we had had earlier. So I grabbed my camera, and put the 85mm, f1.4 lens and proceeded out there to take a few shots. This was one of them.....Hope some folks will enjoy it as much as I do....Cheers!

First Rose of Spring.....

 This is the first rose to appear in our garden this Spring. The very warm weather, up in the high 20's C and low 30's C. has brought everything out into full bloom. It is a much needed boost to the morale, as it is nice to sit outside and enjoy a beverage and a snack. There appears to also be a fair number of bees flying about, which is a good sign. This image was shot using my SONY a900, and 70 ~ 200 f2.8 lens, wide open, which gives it a rather nice bokeh. It smells as good as it looks, and I hope some folks will enjoy this simple little image. Cheers! 

Variegated Weigela......

 Tonight, just a straight up little image of this Variegated Weigela plant that is blooming away beside our back deck. It looked so happy in the sunlight, I decided to put it on here to wish everyone a very safe and happy 24th of May weekend. This image was shot with my 75 ~ 300 zoom lens, wide open, with a +1 close up filter attached to give it a little bit of a macro look, with a very shallow depth of focus. When I finished playing with it in Corel, I realized that it could have been a bit sharper had I used a tripod....but then there was a gentle breeze while I was shooting it, so I will leave it at that.....getting lazy in my old age. Cheers! 

Volcanic Hosta Planet........

 Today, I went to the back yard to see what I could find interesting to photograph. It turned out to be this Hosta plant, so I fired off a quick shot and came indoors. Tonight, after loading it into the computer, and messing with it big time, this flaming volcanic Hosta planet emerged, from where I have not quite figured out yet......OMG! I'm losing it....LOL!!! Cheers! 

Motown Hotrods & The Blues.....

 This image started out as just another mundane shot of the Detroit skyline on a clear blue sky day. Starting in a couple of weeks from now, I will be able to sit on my front veranda and listen to the roar of the Formula 1 race cars as they compete just across the river from where we live. Then on any given evening, there are the fireworks, for what I haven't a clue. Not just Detroit, but Windsor too. Folks sure love their fireworks here. So tonight, I got digging around in my old files, and came across this image of "Motown" and decided it might be fun to try at least to capture my impressions of the City in one image.....how can you tell that I am fighting boredom? Anyway, I decided that since it is the Motor City, and on any Summer weekend evening, just find a park bench and you can listen to the "Blues" throbbing on the air, as well as the squealing of rubber on pavement, accompanied by a very loud muffler system, as the boys do up the town. So, this is the resulting image, and it is totally spontaneous. I have no idea what I will end up with when I start out, so it is what it is, and yup, sometimes I even sort of like the outcome.....Cheers! 

Calla Lily Abstract.....

 This little image started out as one of my rejects from a bunch that I did a couple of years ago. The colours and composition did not impress me much, but today, I thought I would apply some rather heavy handed treatment to it, and this is the result. As I stated before, I am learning some new software, and this is all part of the learning curve.....not perfect, but colourful at least. It helped brighten a very cool, dreary day, and Spring can happen any time now...the sooner the better. Take care, and stay healthy and happy......

 This image was done purely for the splash of colour it provides. Sometimes I'm in the mood to be hit with an overload of colour, similar to this, so I throw reality to the wind, and go for the gusto. It might even look good as a 40 x 60 inch print to hang someplace that needed a boost of colour. However, my in house art critic hates this stuff, and prefers the purist approach instead. Being house bound does strange to the mind sometimes...and I am making no apologies. It is what it is....Cheers! 

 This little image tonight was provided by our neighbour Terri, as she brought a handful of blossoms from her lovely garden, to my wife and me. We had not been out of the house for several days, and I think it was her way of checking up on us. At any rate, they found a place on our kitchen table next to a bowl of oranges and bananas. Of course, I had to grab a quick shot of them, and tonight, I decided to play with them a bit, using my Corel Painter software. It is supposed to resemble a watercolour rendering of the original image, and I guess, for the most part, it does a much better job of it in automatic mode, than if I were to go at it freehand....needless to say, I am no artist. This is about as close to that as I can get. The matte and frame is also courtesy of Corel software. It is not something that I will be doing very often, but it is a little change up, to help stave of the boredom dogs....Cheers! 

Happy Easter Everyone.....

 This little image was the first attempt at photo editing with some new Affinity software. It will take a little while to be comfortable with it, but so far, so good. Anyway, I decided that it might be a nice one to wish everyone a very Happy Easter, and to stay safe and healthy. Cheers everyone.....

Three Carnations in Sunlight......

 It is a lovely sunny day today, and instead of blowing up the tires on my old bike and going for a ride and enjoying this +17C weather, I somehow got to taking a picture of these 3 carnations that were in a little vase on the table. It is a very simple image, and nothing to get all fired up about. I just took it and placed it on the railing post on our back deck, and shot it in slightly back lighting.....just a cheery little picture to hopefully bring some a little joy during these looooooooong days we all must endure. Cheers!

Neil, Frank & Eddy.....

 It has been quite a while since my last post, and I had no idea that this image would be the one to get on here tonight. These three fellows were friends of mine, who recently departed this old world. They were all exquisite photographers, and I would not hesitate to call them masters of the craft. When I look at this image, it is hard to imagine that between these three, there is well over 150 years of photographic knowledge and skill. They were old school, but they were quick to learn and master digital as well. Using layers in Photoshop is not my forte', and for the technical purists out there, don't pixel peep too much, it will give you lots to smirk about. But I am learning, and the curve is a long one for some of us, myself included. Anyway, this image is my little homage to three great guys that was a privilege to have known.....We will miss them.....

Seashell Collection.....

 Tonight I decided to revisit an image that I shot a while back, and see if there was something else I could do to render it more to my liking. To look at this version, it would be hard to think that it was too vibrant in colour and tones, but I felt that was the case, and set about to remove some of the colour that was getting in the way. It was desaturated about 75% and then lightened about 25%, and there you go. Sometimes less is more, and I think that was the case here. Hope you like it a little also. Cheers!