Lens Artists Photo Challenge #294 – Before and After

John is our host for the challenge Before and After. His challenge is to “feature three or four images in your gallery that you tweaked for whatever reason as well as the original image straight out of the camera.” I almost always crop my images and sometimes do other minor editing. I experimented with a few different edits for this challenge. All of my editing is done using Adobe Photoshop Elements.

My header image is the final edited version of a favorite image from our 2013 RV trip to Alaska. We camped in a waterfront campground in Haines, Alaska for about a week. The following image is the original photo I took one rainy night from our campsite.

To achieve the after image in the header I first cropped the photo to focus on the three ships with the mountains in the background. I then adjusted the blue hue/saturation levels. I finished it off by adjusting the levels of black and white.

Original image before edits

The following image is the original closeup of lemon blossoms.

Original photo before edits

I started out by cropping the photo to a square so the blossoms would be the focus of the image. Next, I added a white vignette effect to soften the floral image. The final image after all edits is shown below.

Final image after edits

The next two images are of Dogwood blossoms. The first image is the original.

Original image before edits

I began by cropping to select the blossoms in the center of the photo. I wanted to create an artistic image so I added the Colored Pencil filter and tweaked the settings to get the look I wanted in the following finished edit.

Final image after edits

Many thanks to our host John for the challenge Lens-Artists #294 – Before and After

April Flowers

“April Showers bring May Flowers” is the theme for Terri’s latest Sunday Stills photo challenge.

I was in elementary school when I first heard the saying about April showers bringing May flowers. Where I live in coastal Georgia, many of our flowers bloomed in March and have already faded. I walked around my yard to find these flowers the first week of April.

The header image is of my Dogwood tree blooming in the first week of April. I’ve been enjoying the Dogwood flowers since March.

March is peak season for azaleas where I live in coastal Georgia. This light pink bloom is one of the final azaleas in my yard this year.

These Meyer Lemon blossoms will hopefully bring me some lemons this winter.

African Iris

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge April Showers Bring May Flowers

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #285 – Warm Colors

Egidio’s challenge is to feature warm colors. Warm colors include red, orange and yellow and can also include related hues of those colors.

I chose images of flowers in warm colors to wish you a happy Valentine’s Day.

Many thanks to our host Egidio for the challenge Lens-Artists #285 – Warm colors

Wandering Dawgs will be taking a short blogging break while we go wandering..

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #273 – Symmetry

Sofia has challenged us to feature images that show symmetry. She tells us that symmetry in photography “creates strong and balanced images” and that “our eyes find symmetry harmonious and pleasing.”

My first two images are examples of radial symmetry I found in hot air balloons as they were being inflated at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The next images are examples of symmetry in architecture.

My last image is symmetry found in nature in my first Camellia bloom of the season.

Many thanks to our host Sophia for the challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #273 – Symmetry

Yellow is my Favorite Color

For this month’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge Terri wants to know if we are all in for yellow. I am!

On a recent visit to middle Georgia my husband and I wandered around Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch at the Briar Patch Walking Trail in Putnam County, Georgia. As I walked along the trail I kept my eyes peeled for butterflies and yellow flowers. I hope you enjoy these yellows as much as I did!

Flowers and butterflies! What’s not to love?

To learn more about this wonderful pollinator habitat please visit their FaceBook page Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch.

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills Are you all-In for Yellow?