Category Archives: Painterly Effects

Pretty Spring Day!

“Cherry Tree Abstract”
Yakima Arboretum

It is a pretty spring day here in the Yakima Valley. The cherry trees are out in the Arboretum. I’ve been a little restless so I decided to experiment and play a bit. I shot this with a converted full spectrum IR camera. The colors were a little gaudy. Black and white looked pretty good but I felt like a splash of color. So … I added a little artistic flair to simulate a watercolor painting. So here is something a little different for today. I hope it brightens your day.

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When Something Catches My Eye

Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden

A splash of white and pink,
Against a sea of red, blue and green,
Is a pleasure to be seen!

Clusters of orchids were everywhere. Tourists and other photographers were lined up to get that “perfect” orchid image. I stepped back and walked away when I saw this lone flower standing out all by itself. Behind it several feet, were other blooms and foliage of various colors. I walked around the flower to get an interesting combination of color as a background. I used a wide aperture to separate the flower and blur the background. It looked great on my camera display. I was happy!

But when I got home and viewed the image on a large monitor, I was disappointed. By using a wide aperture and blurring the background, the flower itself was not as sharp as I would like. I could not give up on the image and used a little Topaz Impression to add an artistic perspective.

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Art in the Garden

Japanese White Pine

As I walk around our garden, little pieces of art show themselves to me. Most of the time, I am just wandering when they appear. Something makes me stop and look closer. I imagine how I can best treat the gift appropriately. Sometimes they need to be accurately represented with fine detail. Other times they can be converted into an abstract blur. Still other times they are best processed by photoshop manipulation. This time I used a touch of Photoshop and Topaz Degas adjustments to achieve the end results.

I love to walk in our garden and enjoy all the little gifts that are given to me!

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Fall Wonder #10

“Monet’s Forest”

Gentle light filtering through
leaves of orange, yellow, and green,
paints an image of warmth and peace.

As I looked into the Forest at the Bloedel Reserve, I felt like I was looking into a Monet painting. Soft filtered light, shadows, and subtle pastels decorated the scene.  In post, I added a little of the impressionistic feeling using Topaz Impression.  

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Eastern Market Stroll 7

“Peaches”
Capitol Hill Eastern Market, Washington DC

Fresh produce is the center piece of any Market.  Ripe peaches made my mouth water.  

A stroll through a Market brings something for all senses: sight, smell, feel, smell, and sounds.  This day on a warm summer Sunday Morning offered it all.

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Brightness to Start a New Month

Impressionistic Adaptation of Pink Orchid

I have been to Longwood Garden’s orchid display dozens of times.  On a recent visit I wandered through looking for a different way to capture the beauty of the display.  I thought a double exposure of some orchids rotated about 45 degrees might be interesting. I added a little Topaz Impression to achieve the final result.  It is a bright image to start a bright new September.  Have a good one!

I enjoy experimenting from time to time.  It inspires me to look a little deeper.

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Beauty of Molokai 1

Art, Color and Beauty are Everywhere

I recently attended a contemplative photography retreat at beautiful Hui Ho’olana on Moloka’i.  The next several posts will be from the retreat.

Beauty was everywhere I looked.  It presented itself along every path, around every corner. It seemed that it was just asking to be photographed.  

Red, green and yellow
Spiked leaves shoot out like a star
Just asking to be noticed

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A Different Way of Looking

Sandhill Crane Landing Abstract

Last spring I took 3500 images of Sandhill Cranes near Othello, WA in a 3-day period.  After the trip, I quickly went through and picked a couple of my favorites.  Today, I decided to go back and pick out a few more of my best images.  I found this one of a crane landing in a field.  I used an equivalent of a 600mm lens, but still did not get a good close-up.  This image was further enlarged by a factor of 4.  As expected, the resultant image was not very sharp.

So what can you do with a fuzzy image???  Why not try an abstract processing method.  I used Topaz Impression to get this result.

Lesson Learned:  Don’t take so many darn images.  It is a real pain to review 3500 images. (I am still not done.)  I took a break to post this one.

For reference, below is my original image:

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