Portrait Challenge

Sherre at Art Techniques Digital posted a portrait challenge with the sweetest vintage photo; I fell in love with the child's portrait and wanted to share on my blog.

Sweet Heart I

Sweet Heart II

Original Photo

"When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world."  Zig Ziglar

{Your Sunday Best Challenge}

Nancy at A Rural Journal is hosting a "Sunday Best Challenge" where you are invited to post a your best photograph of the week.

I have not been running around with my camera since the Legislative Session opened on January 17, but I have had the camera on my mobile phone and have used it some, primarily at the Capitol, but the Capitol as a photo subject is a little boring!  I am also having fun trying to find photo apps for the mobile camera and have found a couple that I like.

Yesterday I downloaded (into my phone) an app called "One Man with a Camera", which is pretty much a trial.  I liked the results (below), purchased the app and am now on the trail of figuring out when the company is going to send me whatever it is they need to send me to take it into a full version mode!

The photo's were taken in my office, just for something to photograph . . . and while I try to keep my office "picked up", since Christmas it has become the recipient of everything that needed to be moved in order to bring out the Christmas decorations.  

Now that the decorations have been taken down, they are piled up in the office, waiting for me to trudge out to the store room, get the boxes, put them away and trudge back to the storeroom to put the decorations back in storage!

Lazy? perhaps . . . it just isn't high on my priority list!

“Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.”
   Dallin H. Oaks

Loving Snow . . .

Snow in Santa Fe is so beautiful, I love it !  I woke up to the most beautiful snowfall on Thursday, huge, fluffy wet flakes, full of moisture, exactly what makes my garden and me happy!

Was up early enough to grab my camera, just as the sky was beginning to lighten and take a few photos of the native apricot branches loaded with snow . . . 

Each photo was "edited" exactly alike, a Photoshop technique that mimics a watercolor painting; and I love the way each photo turned out just a tad bit different . . . 

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" John Wooden

Nancy Donaldson {all pulped out} ~ Texture Challenge

Once again, Nancy, at all pulped out, has provided us with 6 fantastic grunge textures to play with and post our results on her site.

I've not been "out and about", but rather staying close to the Capitol (New Mexico Legislature is in session) without a camera, but always carry my phone (camera) . . . which has provided me a few opportunities to take photos.

Below is a photo of the New Mexico State flag which flies on the east side of the Capitol . . . when rendering the photo with Nancy's textures, the first thing that came to mind was "Red Sky at Morning", a novel written by Richard Bradford of a young man coming of age in a northern New Mexico town during WW II.

"Red Sky at Morning"/Grunge1, Hue @ 100% and Grunge4, ColorBurn @ 50%

The next photo was taken on the west side of the Captiol of the Bataan Memorial Building, where the flag of the United States, New Mexico and the Prisioners of Was flags fly.

"Bataan Memorial Building"/Grunge 3, Color @ 100% and Grunge 5, LinearBurn @ 67%

New Mexico saw the loss of many "native sons" in the Bataan Death March, and the former state capital building was named the Bataan Memorial Building. Outside the building, an eternal flame burns for those who did not return. Each year the National Guard celebrates Bataan Day on 9 April, the day of the surrender of Bataan. 

What I started out with was possibly a little morose . . . so just to add a tad bit of color, I played around with the photos taken in Michaels artificial flower department!

"Burst of Color I"/Grunge6, difference @ 100% and Grunge2, overlay @ 100%

"Burst of Color II"/Square1 with level/brightness adjustments, difference@100%, Square4 with levels adjustment, vivid light @100% and Grunge2, multiply @ 100%

52 Photos Project/Week 40

A time to share {Where I lay my head down}

The prompt from Bella this week is very appropriate as renewing my spirit is an important part of my life!

The "go to" place in my home is "the chair", the chair that encourages me to rest, relax, let my mind wander; the chair with lighting on both sides for reading, the chair that is positioned for watching the fire in the fireplace, and the mass of candles on the mantle.  The chair that sits in the sun to capture sun rays in the winter, the chair with the perfect size ottoman . . . the chair that encourages me to cleanse my mind.

A place to put my head back, "to rest, to nap, to dream, to renew my spirit!"

“Our lives reflect the pictures we create in our minds, and therefore we should pay close attention to our mental doodling.” Mary Manin Morrissey

Photo Art Friday/Abstracts

For real this time, below are two abstracts created from the same three photos and a background photo.  In the first abstract I added a cutout filter to the photos prior to applying Bonnie's filters.

Abstract I/pdpa textures Off Kilter and Chinks of Light

In the second abstract, while I used the same three photo and background photo, rather than creating a cutout, I layered the photos on top of each other, applying different blending modes, interspersed with Bonnie's textures.

Abstract II/ pdpa textures Off Kilter and Chinks of Light

Here is the background photo and three accent photos that I used, which were taken at the Carson Ranch last spring.  The difference from the originals amaze me.

I thought I'd have more time to play this week, but I didn't!  For those that found my blog via Photo Arts Friday, I confused my dates on the abstract posting and did a posting last Friday as well if you'd care to see what I did, here is the link. January 14, Photo Art Friday.

"When realistic images or patterns are seen in an abstract painting, they are often parallels brought about by processes in painting which echo processes in nature." (Darby Bannard)

52 Week Project:: A time to share { Color w/ Emotion }

Bella's challenge this week is to post a color that evokes emotion, whether in nature, our home, our clothing......

Green is a predominate color in my life, but it is the many colors of the tropics or semi-tropics that truly get my juices flowing.  The varying greens, the bright colors of orange, pink, purple, red; the color of the sky at sunrise and sunset over water, the color of the ocean at different times of day . . .

Hibiscus in Bloom

Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

Being from the high mountain desert, I have always loved being near the water, no matter where it is and have always managed to be near water as much as possible and I have found that the colors of the tropics evokes pure emotion for me!