Coleus Abstract.....

It has been several days now since I last picked up my camera, but today, I found a few minutes to take a couple of random shots of different things. This little Coleus plant was one of the images that I chose to play around with tonight. The Illustration mode was set on my camera, and then when I downloaded it into my Corel Software, I used another filter or two, to arrive at this abstract effect. While the plant has a lot of natural texture, the filters applied in the camera and software afterward seems to enhance the texture. It works for me, but my in house art advisor seems to think otherwise. The nice thing about photography and art as well is that it is all very subjective, and as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It really is not a big deal......it is just a picture after all. Cheers!

First Rose of Summer 2020.....

As I add this little image to my blog, J.S.Bach:Prelude in C Major is playing on the TV. It is past midnight, and for a very brief moment, I turned on the late night news, and had to quickly turn it off again. I just cannot abide the news broadcasts anymore. The constant barrage of Covid-19 and the chaos that seems to be everywhere in the world now, is just smothering to the senses to say the least. So I find myself watching mostly Stingray Music, Nature channel. For the most part, focusing my mind on the flowers in our garden, and listening to the relaxing sounds of birds and bubbling streams in the background while some Classical music is playing, is for me a much more worthwhile way to get from morning to night in this world that has taken a very ugly turn lately. This is my first offering of flowers for this year, and it is actually a test shot for my new/used Minolta 80 - 200mm HS APO G lens that I have lusted for since about 1993, but was never able to afford. Finally, I found one for sale at about 1/4 the original price, and it is in pristine condition. It looks like it was never used. So far, I am quite pleased with it, but will become more comfortable with it over time. Next test will be a bit of portraiture hopefully.....if I can find someone willing. But it will likely wait until such time as we can comfortably associate with others.....Cheers!

Google Eyes.....

When my wife first pointed to this little anomaly lurking in her plant, I thought it would go away in a day or so. Apparently not. It looks like some sort of unknown alien bug with lemon coloured and shaped eyes. So, I couldn't help myself, and set up the camera to get a shot. I used my 18~135mm lens with a #3, and a #2 close up filters attached. I was able to get in fairly close, and this is the resulting image. The thought that Google is watching us constantly every minute of the day, crossed my mind, no doubt as a result of the googly eyes.....sorry, I think this Covid19 thingy is getting to me.....Cheers!

Basket of Peaches.....

The "munchies" drew me to the kitchen this evening, and sitting on the counter top was this basket of peaches that had been gifted to us by a family friend. They seemed to be hollering at me to take a picture of them. So without much delay, I proceeded to set up a little table top setting , and do just that. After a few shots of just the peaches, I added a few Boysenberries beside the basket. For the most part, I have been trying my best to keep things as simple as possible, but it still needed some other element, as there was a large empty space at the top with nothing happening there. So, I decided to raid a lovely bouquet of flowers that my wife had received for Mother's Day from the kids, and added them to the mix. The arrangement was lit with 2 LED lights and a white reflector card to fill in the foreground shadows a bit. Hope some of you enjoy it a little....Cheers, and stay well.....

White Lily....

Hi there.....yup, I'm still here. It has been a while, and a lot has happened in the world since I last posted on here. Are we still sane yet? When my phone rang tonight and the Windsor Camera Club President called to say I was volunteered to be one of the three judges for this month's competition, I was somewhat thankful for something else to put my mind to. One day a week, I get out to pick up meds at the local Pharmacy, and then the groceries, and then it is back home for another week. Lately I have been musing about why I still do this blogging thingy, and I think I know why. The simple fact that I get to put my images out there for someone else to enjoy...or not, and there is no numerical critique affixed to them is preferable to me. For the most part, I have always felt uncomfortable with having numerical scores given to a print as a part of the monthly competition. It borders on being vulgar. But for some reason, there are some who are totally wrapped up in that game. If the print they entered doesn't score as high as they think it should, well, it is temper tantrum time....no kidding. Anyway, as a courtesy to the WCC, I accepted the task requested of me, but also feel somewhat hypocritical about it. If it were something of major consequence then I would have politely declined, but this Covid19 thingy makes one make a lot of compromises, and this one is fairly benign in the overall scheme of things....Stay safe folks. Cheers!

Horse Hair & Fiddle Heads.....

As I mentioned below, the old white violin is in shambles. However, a part of me somehow refuses to part company with it just yet. This image is the result of playing with the now detached bow strings, or what is left of them, and seeing if there might possibly be an interesting arrangement to be had. On the way to learning how to do still life, or table top photography, there will be occasions that I will certainly shoot something that is much less appealing, and likely this is one of them.....but by making "mistakes" we are able to learn and grow in any craft or endeavor. Then again, there might be some who would see some merit in this image. For me personally, it is not one of my more satisfying efforts, but it was a learning experience that I am not at all reluctant to share with anyone else....it is what it is...just another note in the overall melody. Cheers!

Violin Duet Illustration.....

A couple of evenings ago, I had the itch to shoot something, anything. So out came the old violin case with my long time white violin, now in shambles. It has almost totally fallen apart, and I felt there must be at least another shot or two left in it before we part company. So it was combined with the other very playable violin, and with my camera in the Illustration Mode, this image was the result. Then when I did the editing in PS5, I added the sheet music to fill in the top right corner, where nothing was happening. This old violin had been with me for about 50 years, and I had acquired it in a swap for an old lawn mower back in the '60's. A decade or so later, when I started to dabble in photography, and had given up trying to learn to play the thing, I decided to see what I could do with it as a sort of "muse" over the years. My neighbor thought I had totally lost it when he saw me dancing around it hanging from a clothes line, and spraying it with a can of white spray paint. It has provided me with many hours of fun, conjuring up all of the different ways I could use it in a photograph. Thanks for letting me pass on this little bit of trivial contrivance to you...Cheers!