Colors of September

September is a season unto itself.  Summer holds on to the hem of autumn with warmth of days, while fall sneaks into the year with chilled nights. 

 

Leaves shaded with leopard and tiger like stripes warn of the advancing year. 

I like them very much for their exotic coloring, but the red, orange, and golden hues of autumn await to be called for the grand show.

Soybean fields are turning from green to yellow to brown as temperatures linger in September modes of chill nights and warm days. 

I love this time of year when apples redden, pumpkins turn orange, and golden corn stalks and bright bales of straw decorate suburban homes, but...

 there are still pink zinnias in the garden. 

Linking up with Rural Thursday today.  

The Flowers of September

The calendar may say September, but it's still summer in the garden. The zinnias are blooming in bright and pale pinks with a few whites and oranges in the mix. A bouquet of flowers that includes Queen Anne's Lace adds just the right touch of sweet feminine.

Orange is a loud color that seems to scream look at me, but oh how I love orange in the fall.  Until the frost is on the pumpkin, making due with an orange zinnia works. 

Then there's the whisper of white zinnias.

A small rose blooms along side the garage. It was nearly choked out of existence last year by an overly vivacious trumpet vine, but its hearty nature won out.  It was still blooming in late November.  This summer it weathered the drought and is in a full flush of tiny blooms with a blush of color before opening.

I love photographing flowers using the macro setting.  The little rose above is only an inch or two across at the most; the buds even smaller.  Through the wonder of technology we can capture every detail from the secret center to the blemishes on the outside petal.

And sometimes it's a different perspective that creates a delightful surprise.  I totally ignored the law of thirds in every one of these photos and I don't care. 

Break rules, have fun, and capture all that makes you smile, dance, sing, and sometimes weep. 

Grungy, Grumpy Grouchy Post

Well...here it is.  I'm not linking with anyone, not joining any challenges, in fact, I'm not even sure where this solitary post will lead me, but just for sh--s and giggles I'm free thinking with my fingers.  Aww heck let's throw a photo in here....

Color rocks my world.  While I like the soft sheer looks so popular right now, I always come back to color.  That's one of the joys of summer...color.  It's everywhere you look in nature, whether contrived or au naturel. Unfortunately beige has taken over green grass as the drought continues with temperatures in the high 90s today.  Yuck! Have I ever mentioned...I really don't like hot. 

I do like hot colors in the summer like bright marigold yellow and ditch lily orange. The vegetable garden includes companion plants like marigolds.  When I took aim I didn't see the little spider clinging to a petal; he blends in so well.  Once on the computer there he was on a search and devour mission. I hope he scarfed up a bunch of aphids.

I'm in a mood today...ya know?  One of those crabby-but-I-don't-know why moods. 

The pink zinnia with bokeh in the background should make me smile, but I'm not satisfied with it and not liking the glow around the petals.  That's what I get for highlighting edges. 

Let's try one more of the same flower...

Hmmm.... the little zinnia just isn't doing it for me, but then perhaps nothing will...

Here's a tidbit about moi.  People who have seen my writing/printing think I'm left-handed because I write with a slight lean to the left, kinda like the font above.  I use this font because it's the closest I've found to my own handwriting.  Oh and I only write cursive when I sign my name, the rest of the time I print with a slight lean to the left mixed with straight up and down.  Fonts rule!

Doncha love a post that has no rhyme or reason?  Well...That's it for today.  Have a wonderful weekend and for those of you in the grip of a heat wave....stay cool!

Texture Tuesday: Daisies Three

I've been MIA for the last couple weeks. Blogging, photography, and writing all took a back seat to catching up with a visiting sister and other out of town guests. In between making dinner and going to dinners there's been baseball games to watch and an evening of fireworks. I cherish the time I spent with my sister from Montana and miss her each day.

While she was here, we had a sisters day.  What better thing to do than go shopping?  We headed for The Green Awning Gallery where I picked up a milk bottle and a few vintage buttons.  Next it was on to Archbold, a quick stop at the nursery, Green Acres, lunch at Casa Vieja and browsing in the shop Ten Thousand Villages.  We took in a couple second hand stores in Bryan and ended our day at Stoney Ridge Winery, just a hop, skip and a jump from my house.  Sister days are always fantastic!

But now...things have quieted down and we've returned to our summer schedule. I'm itching to get behind the lens and spend a day photographing anything and everything.  I wish it could be right now during this mellow yellow June day when the thermometer stays in the 70s.

For Texture Tuesday, I photographed three daisies I cut from the fledgling cottage garden I started behind the house this spring.  I used the milk bottle and a red gingham cloth to create a simple scene.  After 33 shots, I wasn't pleased with any of them, but I chose the best of the lot, which isn't sayin' much.

Daisies Three

As usual, you'll find inspiration at ....

   

Mosaic Monday: An Homage to Spring

I'm participating in Little Red House Mosaic Monday. You'll find wonderful collages and mosaics to inspire and delight.  Just click and be whisked away...

Flower Art Friday: Remember When

I discovered a new for me photo/art challenge.  Flower Art Friday is the brain child of  LeAnne at Photos by LeAnne. Have I mentioned lately...I love flowers! So here's my meager offering to the lord of light and beauty..

I processed my peony petal photo using Elements 10.  If you've never checked out Leslie Nicole's wonderful French Kiss textures, brushes, overlays and more, you're missing something special.  I used her overlay, Golden Orb, one of my favorites for creating a soft golden light to photos.  I also used one of her French script brushes in the lower corner.  The vintage sheet music background came from my favorite graphic lady, The Graphics Fairy. You could spend hours perusing all the great images she gives away.  
There's so much flower power to be found at Photos by LeAnne...take a breather and click the badge below...





When you're finished viewing flower love click on the other badges.  I know you'll find something wonderful.

Texture Tuesday in a Hurry

What's the old saying?

That's how I'm feeling today, but I'm still joining Kim Klassen at her Cafe for Texture Tuesday

Bleeding Heart Love

This is one of those photos that I don't feel all that great about, but it meets the requirements for the photo challenge: Use at least one layer of Oh My or Let Go textures.  My artistic process was a long one, probably because I just couldn't seem to get it the way I wanted it to look. Here's the steps I took:

In the Adjustment layers I fiddled with Levels, Brightness/Contrast, and Hue/Saturation. 
Added a color filter.
A layer of Oh My texture mode set to Multiply at 70% opacity with a layer mask to retrieve the color of the bleeding hearts
Finally the layer of Let Go was added and kept at 100% opacity.

I was looking for a painterly effect, but to me it's muddled.  Anyhow, that's how I learn.  How 'bout you?  Do you learn through trial and error? Check out more texture love at...

Mosaic Monday & Daffodil Love

 I'm linking  up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Just click on the link you'll find more beauty to inspire and delight you. 

PS...the quote is by AA Milne

Texture Tuesday On a Spring Day

Hello my friends and welcome spring.  I'm a bit late in welcoming the gentlest season of the year, but better late than never as the saying goes. Last week was a stunner with temperatures in the 80s and glorious pink sunrises...

Yes, the sky was streaked with clouds as the sun cast a pink glow over my corner of the world.  I lived along this country road for over 20 years and passed this barn every time I headed west.  I don't know who lives there now, but I'm calling this the Boynton Barn in remembrance of the elderly couple that kept this farm in perfect order.  Here's another view of the sunrise.

 All of nature seemed to be on warp speed last week. Flowers bloomed, trees blossomed, and leaves burst green nearly overnight.

A pretty little farm cat that lives down the road sat in the evening sunshine peering at me while I photographed the magnolia tree in the yard, her spring green eyes echoing the color of the grass. 

And oh the magnolia....

stretching its twiggy arms to the sky praising spring and all the possibilities.

Per my usual Tuesday I'm linking up with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  This weeks theme is all about pink and at least one of Kim's textures.

The top photo, Boynton's Barn: A layer of Kim's texture shine, a texture from French Kiss, and some fiddling with levels.

The second photo of the sunrise is pretty much SOOC except for cropping,  minor levels and hue/saturation adjustments.

I'm quite sure the blossoming tree in the side yard is a dogwood.  The dogwood photo processing began with a new layer set to soft light, opacity 67%.  Next came levels and hue/saturation adjustments.  A layer of Kim's texture, be still with a layer mask to remove the texture from the blossom followed by a layer of another KK texture called embrace finished the photo. 

The next photo I call cat eyes was simply processed with a few adjustments of levels, contrast/brightness, hue/saturation and of course, cropping.

The final photo looking up at the blooming magnolia was processed to create a soft spring aura.
After desaturating the photo, I used a Coffee Shop action: soft and dreamy and added two layers of Kim's embrace texture at 66% opacity and 100% opacity.  One layer of distressed jewell's texture 3 was added at 42% opacity. Finally, the text was added and there you have it.

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and be amazed at the beauty of talented photographers everywhere! 

Texture Tuesday & Gerbera Daisies

At $5.00 each Gerbera daisies are an expensive flower.  Just imagine a whole bouquet of gerbera daisies! But when inspiration comes at five dollars for two weeks, it's priceless. Flowers are one of my favorite subjects to photograph. To grow weary of the patterns, textures, and color is simply not a possibility in my world, so I snap photograph after photograph trying to capture that ephemeral beauty that flowers exude.   

The above photo was processed in Elements 10 with two layers of Kim Klassen's texture, Paper love. 

Macro reveals the minute details.  The perspective changes and instead of a flower I see lashes around a soulful brown eye that beguiles bees with a song of love. 

Another textured daisy softly peers up at French text created from a brush by French Kiss.  A bit of levels adjustment and red color filter joined two layers of Kim's Grunged Up 2 texture to achieve the ethereal look I wanted.

Now spent with drooping petals and a blind eye; the Gerbera daisies gave their all for me and my camera and I am grateful.  

Linking up with....