Long time, baby

For no particular reason, it has been a while since I checked in over here. I've been busy and just kinda forgot about this niche of the net, but in apology, I thought I'd give my blog some flowers.

Cause, ya know, everyone loves flowers.

Also, I want to document that I've had these flowers for more than a week and they are still blooming. Believe me- this is a near-magical feat. Flowers, I salute you. 

Colors of Winter

Here in the South, winter does not have the same palette of colors as I remember from the North. Rather than a thousand shades of gray and white, sprinkled with browns, blacks and the occasional pop of color, we have a wide variety of colors down here. 

All the green is a particularly surprising change from what I grew up with- not a bad thing, but very different.

And this time of year, I'm sure there are this many acorns on the ground back home... but they are normally covered under a layer of snow and ice. I do enjoy getting to peek at these little seeds!

I have a faithful pumpkin companion who has hung around since Thanksgiving, and her lovely colors are also part of my winter. This one is a fairytale pumpkin, so there is a lovely purple/blue/white sheen to the orange.\

And, since there isn't any snow to keep them down, the weeds grow quite robustly here. It rained a lot recently, so I pulled out the weeding gloves and ripped a trash can full out of the Earth. Before I did that, though, I couldn't resist getting a macro of this water perched on a thistle leaf.

August 2011 Photo Hunt Challenge: Join in!

If you stopped by around the first of the month, you might remember that I'm guest hosting over at Monthly Photo Hunt Challenges. Well, I learned how to use a Linky Tool and have a basic one up, so please go over and share your favorite images for the month!

I ended up picking most of my shots from my most recent vacation. I had a lot of fun messing around in PS, and I would love any feedback on composition or editing that might help me improve. Thanks for stopping by!

1 ) Simple Elegance

2 ) Fluff

3 ) Wisdom

4 ) Ink

5 ) Devotion

6 ) Engaging

7 ) Drastic Change

8 ) Serenity

9 ) Ending

10 ) Childhood Memory

11 ) Overload

12 ) Fantastical

13 ) Into the Sky

14 ) Smash

15 ) Lucky

Waves

I've never been one of those people who constantly yearns for the beach. I'm just as happy with a peaceful spot under a spreading oak tree or the quiet babble of a wee brook.

But I do understand the appeal. And every once in a while, the urge to feel smooth wet sand under your feet and the rush of chilly water past your shins is undeniable.

Though to be honest, I didn't intend for the water to get quite this high on my legs... I carefully watched the waves, stepped forward to just where they were stopping... and then a 'huge' wave came in and my jeans were soaked. Oh well!

Oh, and here is my *slightly* better edit for the Good to Wow challenge. As I said, I loved the original shot, so mostly I just played around with color levels and saturation to get even more pop from the image. I hope you like it!

This is my original image.

Color

I'm sure you noticed that I've been absent for a while.

*chirp chirp*

Ok, fine, maybe not. I promise, I'm not offended- summer is in full swing and I hope everyone has been enjoying the wonderful weather! I know we did when we were on vacation in... California!!

We spent a few days in San Francisco (and I would love to go back and see more of the city), a few in Big Sur and a couple days in Yosemite. So much variety, beauty, wonderful weather and color! I'll post high lights later, but for now I think I'll rejoin the photo meme parade, so sit back and enjoy!

The theme this week for the Good to Wow challenge is bright & colorful, and I think this shot meets that nicely. The filtered light of the Cali coast was perfect for photography, and the variety of growing bits on the coastal hills was breathtaking. I'm honestly going to have to work hard to make this image better- I love it!

Fortunately, the Quotography theme this week is also 'colorful', so I had a lot of options for this one as well!

Yup, Big Sur really agrees with me. Seriously, many more images of this area to come!

First try here!

Texture- even the word sounds interesting. Warm blankets, crunchy grass, all sorts of enjoyable things come to mind. But I've never used textures in PS. Why? Well, it required I figure out how to use them and... I was lazy.

But no more!

Today I used one of Kim Klassen's free textures, and I'm hooked! Such simple things can make a dramatic difference in a shot!

For this edit, I used:

PW Boost at 55%
PW Lovely & Ethereal at 60%
PW Slight Lighten at 100%
Kim Klassen Summer Lovin' at 7% Luminosity

Here is the SOOC:

Good to Wow: Skies the Limit

Work has been getting me down lately. A lot. Do you guys ever go through weeks like that? Not fun, but it is part of life. But that does make me happy that this week's Good to Wow prompt is 'Skies the Limit'. That is really true.

There is a lot of good in my life- my family, my friends, my pets, my hobbies. I am not my job, and while sometimes it feels that way, I need to remember to step back, smell the roses {well, lilacs really, since roses are not even close to my favorite flower, but I digress} and focus on looking forward... or up!

So, without further ado- my edits of the SOOC shots posted here! Please let me know what you think- I love comments! I'll even pull on my big girl pants and beg for some criticism too- I want to get better! Thanks for stopping by:).