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.

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. 

Dragonfly Adventures

For those who love dragonflies!

Dragonflies on Water Lilies

Had an amazing day to myself today.  Used the time to walk the gardens and caught a few dragonflies along the way.  These are the the photos I got done today.  There were more, I'll try to post later.  They really are beautiful and unique little creatures.

Tip-toe Through the Tulips

It's tulip time here in Saint Louis...so I did me a little tip-toeing.  The displays were gorgeous and it's sad they only last such a short time.

This little boy was so excited to see the ducks swimming toward him...I couldn't resist a snapshot to capture him leaning in to talk to them!

The Midwest is Awakening

I promised a few landscapes from our trip to the Gardens.  I'm glad I had some time today to work on a few.  It was a gorgeous day and the trees had begun to bloom which was an added bonus to the day seeings how I wasn't expecting that much color.  Sometimes I wish this part of the year would last forever, but then Fall comes and I begin wishing the same thing.  God must have known we'd get bored with the same thing...so He paints us a new picture every few months.

Spring Walk

Spring Light

Heavy Boughs

Garden Gazebo

Bursting

 

Just happened to catch this one...at the right place at the right time!

....and, well then, sometimes He decides to confuse us.  :o)

Spring Surprise

Frozen Magnolia



Spring has finally sprung!

I have been so excited for Spring to arrive and so, it seems, it came right on time.  Over the past couple days, the earth has awakened with bursts of colors.  I hadn't noticed much until yesterday.  I've been watching over the past two days and it seemed you could watch the change taking place.  We used our free day to visit the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.  I really wasn't expecting much and had gone in order to photograph the orchids which are on display only for a couple more days.  I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the flowering trees in full bloom and was able to capture a few shots.  Today, I'm posting some of the flowers.  I'll try to get to the landscapes still this week. 

This one just for fun...the reflection in the window was almost crystal clear.

Photo of the Week