Free Textures

It was a snow day today.  Actually ice and snow making it impossible to leave our neighborhood.  So hubby came home early and we enjoyed the day together.  I worked on some bokeh textures.  I love using these on tree and flower photos as they add a touch of magical whimsy.  Hope you can find a use for these.  Download here.

St. Louis Balloon Race

I revisited some photos from this past summer's balloon race. It's an annual event in St. Louis.  If you get the chance, it's a must see.

Year of Change

It's been an incredibly eventful year so far this year.  With one daughter getting married and the other graduating from high school and leaving for college, this momma isn't quite sure what to do with herself.  Empty-nest syndrome....big time!  On top of all that, we sold our home of seven years and are in the process of purchasing a new home.  I have no option but to adapt, deal with the emotions and move on.  So, to help me deal with all of these feelings, I usually find that I pour myself into something creative.  Here is a look at what I've been up to recently.

 

Touched

Spent some time at our local Botanical Garden yesterday to get in some of the last few blooms of the season. They are fading fast, but hopefully to be replaced by some fall colors soon.

 

Thought I'd try something new and give a quick tutorial on how to create the effect on this photo.

Touched

 

I use Photoshop CS5 to create all my textured photos.  First I bring my RAW files into Adobe Camera Raw and adjust for exposure, contrast, and sharpness.  Opening the file into Photoshop, I then add my textures.  In the above photo, I added a bokeh layer set to Screen at 78% opacity and then a second texture layer by Distressed Jewel set to Soft Light at 58% opacity.  I then ran an action from Paint the Moon's Photoshop Elements Set, Fresh Wonderland, called Candy Light Pop adjusting layers to desired look.  If you'd like more information on using textures and actions, visit Rita at The Coffeeshop Blog.  She's got awesome tutorials, as well, as lots of freebies. 

 

To download your free bokeh layer, visit here.  I'd love to see what you create, send a photo to Facebook.  While there, please like our page.  Thanks for stopping by.

Fair Days

It has been years since I've been to a county fair.  Going to the Wood County Fair with my parents this year, took me back to my childhood days of 4-H, spending days showing off my little dog's obedience skills.  The sights and sounds brought a flood of memories.  We indulged ourselves on popcorn, sno cones, elephant ears, and chocolate covered frozen strawberries. Wished I'd gotten a picture of that one!  We strolled through the animal barns, reminded how awful the pigs smelled.  We watched the animal show where the cutest little jack russell terriors performed some pretty impressive tricks.

Orchid Season

The orchid display at the Missouri Botanical Garden was gorgeous this year.  Here are a few varieties.  They are all so beautiful and unique.  I've got so many photos, it's really hard to decide what to work on.  I hope to add more later. 

Eagles in Alton

We've been trying for years to hit Alton on a good day for eagle viewing and until today, we haven't been very successful.  We'd get there and it would be dreary and foggy and hard to see anything.  This morning was perfect...a little chilly at 34 degrees, but so worth it.  We probably saw over 20 eagles, some from quite a distance, but several we stood right under them.  We were as close as you could get without actually climbing the tree!  They were way up there in those trees and even with my 70-200 zoom, they still appear far away.  But I thought these came out really good and with quite a bit of detail.  Now I'm drooling for a 400 or 500 zoom.  Can you imagine??!!

To purchase any of the following photos, please visit: 
http://aimeecunninghamphotography.zenfolio.com/p386255306

Winter

I've lived in Illinois for six years now and have never seen the wild turkeys running around our neighborhood and still nothing to this day.  However, while visiting family in Ohio, three wild turkeys came up to the house and checked things out.  They left after just a minute and came back with the whole flock!!  I had to photograph them through the window...so they aren't perfectly clear. 

We did not get snow for Christmas, but the snow did come the next day.  Just enough to coat everything in white.