a still moment: after the rain

It's amazing what you can find
when you step outside
and wander around
your yard
after
a
summer rain.

 I ended up 'rescuing' this sweet aspen leaf

from our driveway

so I could draw it later

(and I couldn't bear the thought

of backing over it

with my van)

 standing in the shelter

of a giant old blue spruce

looking out

toward the

late afternoon light

I truly do love

our aspens...

a beauty both

majestic

and

delicate

***

Notes:

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 lens

Manual Mode

What better way to practice

focus and depth of field techniques

than with

tiny raindrops?

LIGHTROOM

Lots of fun

experimenting

with the

Develop Module

Presets (kk_gentle)

Snapshots

and

Print Module

as I follow along

in

Kim's

31 Days of Lightroom

PHOTOSHOP

Yeah, I know it would have been simpler

to mask off the textures

with a wider brush,

but I really wanted to emphasize

the water drops

***

Let My teaching fall like rain

and My words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass,

like abundant rain

on tender plants.

Deuteronomy 32:2

***

Linking up with
Be Still 52 (Week 15)
Friday Finds
Texture Tuesday

P.S.

If you get a chance, do sign up for

Kim Manley Ort's E-course

Adventures in Seeing

or at the very least

subscribe to her blog.

light of morn

daybreak

our back yard

Summer 2014

Prompted by a class assignment for

Adventures in Seeing

a scavenger hunt for subjects

that represent

openness.

This is how I feel

at the beginning of each day:

refreshed

renewed

inspired

energized

optimistic

open

I'm usually pulling

- and cursing -

these messy ivy tangles

that grow from the other side of the fence.

They are kinda interesting...

***

Notes:

My camera is a tool for

seeing

focusing

being attentive

...

simply

capturing and recording

what strikes me

at a given

time and place.

It's a different kind of photography

than still life;

a different creative process

altogether

(well...sort of)

I love to compose

still life scenes,

but I also love

to capture

the world as it is.

Once I noticed the sun rising

I positioned myself to take advantage of

the possibility of

back lighting and sun flare

 original photo SOOC

LIGHTROOM

Some creative play with the

Develop Module

to 'refine my vision.'

Then I tried out

several presets

before deciding on Kim's

kk_hazeydazy

and fine-tuned it even further.

PHOTOSHOP

I cloned out two little annoying bits

near the edges

which distracted me.

(seems I get a bit more control here than in LR)

One layer of kk_0405

(Overlay 24%)

***

Truly the light of morn is sweet

And sweet it is to see the sun...

excerpt from

a hymn by

Emily Taylor

Linking up with:

Be Still 52

Texture Tuesday

Friday Finds