Waiting for the Gas Man - Daily Photo 24/365

Our water heater is located in the garage and before leaving for work this morning my DH asked that I call the gas company - he could smell gas in the garage and the smell was strongest closest to the water heater.  Actually, the smell was noticed yesterday but we didn't do anything about it until today.

When I reached the gas company I learned that they take possible gas leaks very seriously.  The lady I spoke with instructed me to bundle up and get out of the house, do not turn anything on or off, don't even hang up the phone - she'd disconnect it from her end - and a technician would be dispatched immediately.

Since I had to go out I took my camera with me and wandered around the neighborhood looking for today's photo.

Today I was intentionally looking at things differently, looking closely rather than glancing over everything in hopes of something catching me eye.  It's amazing what one can see when taking the time to really see.

The fungus growing on the tree bark reminds me of a marinescape.

Seeds waiting for the right time to drop to the ground, continuing the cycle of life.

More bark covered in flower-esque growth.

Someone had found a hive and thrown it out onto the grass.

Science was never my strong suit but isn't this a cocoon of some sort?  It was hanging off a tree branch about eight feet off the ground.

The gas leak was only a small "bubble leak" that was easily fixed.  The technician was throrough, he checked everything gas-related while here, even putting new lanterns in the outdoor gas lamp. 

All is well, no explosions are in our immediate future.

What a Weekend - Daily Photo 23/365

What a weekend we had.  It's been so long since the DH and I took a Saturday to just kick-back and do what we want rather than filling the day with chores that needed to be crossed off the list. The first thing we did was completely unplanned. 

As happens in many marriages either the husband or wife decides it's time for the other to clean out the closet of all those clothes that are no longer worn because there just isn't anymore room.  It finally happened, the DH pulled down a couple shirts and it went from there.  We had two piles: Donate and Rags, you know, the things that are only good for cleaning a paint brush.  In about 90 minutes we had everything in the car.

The DH is a very contented person who rarely wants anything.  This makes shopping for him both difficult and easy.  Difficult to come up with gift ideas but easy because he's always happy with what he gets.

But every few years he finds something that he wants so I quickly jump on board and we go shopping, which is what we did after cleaning out the closet.

We spent about six or seven hours shopping.  What you need to understand is that our shopping styles are completely different.  I decide what I want before I leave the house, find it, buy it, go home.  The DH decides what he wants, goes to every store that sells it, asks the same questions at each store and suffers Buyers Remorse...BEFORE HE EVER PLUNKS DOWN ANY CASH!  Normally this is an exhausting process but not this time.  We were out to just enjoy the day and each other so that's what we did.

We found the item he wanted for a better price than we expected  but rather than buying it he was ready to go home to think about it.  What?!  You want to go home and think about it?  Are you kidding me?  After grabbing a Chick-fil-a sandwich we were going to head home when in walked The Amazing Ones (with Mommy & Daddy in tow).  We sat with them while they ate, told them about our day, then decided to take them to the store to show them what we're looking at.  After begin suitably impressed everyone decided to go home.

As we walked to the car I asked the DH if we were going to go back to the store we'd visited earlier in the day because we'd told them that we were going to make a decision that day.  The DH thought about it for a few seconds then decided that that would be the right thing to do.  After all, the salesman had spent a lot of time with us, promised to price match, and even offered free next-day delivery.

We walked into the store, found our salesman and the DH decided to pull the trigger.  We did it, we signed on the dotted line. This morning at 8:15 we were awakened by the door bell (we still had 15 minutes before we had to get up).  It was the delivery truck!  What was delivered?  A monster.  That's the best way to describe it.  A 60" monster.  Take a look...

The Amazing Family came over this afternoon to help put it in place -- THANK YOU, then this evening the DH and I hung the 46" tv in the bedroom and we got it all hooked up by ourselves.  That's actually an incredible thing.  The Amazing Dad will be so proud of us.

Little Hands - Daily Photo 22/365

Sweet little hands...dimples at the knuckles.

Sweet little hands...better than tableware.

It's Cold Outside - Daily Photo 21/365

It's not supposed to be so cold here, honest, it's supposed to get nippy, maybe a few snow flurries but not this...snow that we have to measure in inches, schools closed (at this rate the kids will still be going to school in July!), grocery stores unable to keep the shelves stocked with milk & eggs, drivers using their vehicles like sleds, and spending our retirement to heat the house.  Poor pitiful me.

At least the sun was shining today so no external flash was required, not even for fill.

Several icicles were hanging off the mailbox, and they weren't melting, even in the sunshine.

For some reason the snow doesn't really stick to the branches of our weeping mulberry tree but this provides an interesting contrast of color and texture between the snow & the tree.

Fix-it Friday 83

It's Friday so that means an opportunity to "fix" a photo supplied by I Heart Faces. 

This Senior Shot by Angie Arthur made me pause, "How can I fix this one when it's wonderful as it is?"

Sometimes it's not a matter of "fixing" an image so much as just making it different.  So that's what I've done.

PTM Illuminate Action
PTM Macchiato Action
Crop

PTM Lighten & Tone Action - 20% / 30%
PTM Paint with Color Action - 30% / 45%
PTM Tropical Sun Action
PTM White Chocolate Sauce Action

PTM Simple Lighten Action
Coffeehouse Irish Breakfast Tea Action

This one is just for fun and I call it

NOTHING BUT AIR

PTM Wonder Quickie Action
  Added a light vignette using Pioneer Woman Edge Burn Action at 15%
Close Crop
Unfortunately it looks like the web has brought some distortion...frustrating.

Click on the link above to see how others edited today's photo by Angie.

Back To My Roots - Daily Photo 20/365

My posted Daily Photos have not been at all exciting.  Not one of them has stirred within me a "WOW!"

Part of it is due to the photo-unfriendly weather we've been having, part is due to the forced creativity required for this challenge and part is due to the fact that I'm not shooting people.  People have become my favorite subject and I miss posting them here, but for now, portraits will be infrequent.

What am I to do? 

Today I decided to go back to my roots, to where I started in photography - macro shots, close-ups. So that's what I did.

Fungus covered branches.  Who'd have thought it could be so pretty?

  Today was another gray sky with a light mist (now it's snowing) and this tree was up against a wall of rock which actually made for a wonderful background.  And check out the bokeh.

Minimal processing was done because I am very pleased with what came out of the camera (SOOC images).  All I did was bump up the light on this first one.

 As with the image above, the light was bumped up and then I cropped it a bit.

So what do you think, should I stay with my roots for a while, at least until the weather starts cooperating?

Different Kinds of Food - Daily Photo 19/365

There are different kinds of food. 

These slices of tart Granny Smith apple provide nourishment and energy to the body.

This is food for the soul.

This provides nourishment and encouragement, and many other things, for the soul.

Salty - Daily Photo 18/365

Did you know that Himalayan Salt is supposedly the healthiest salt you could use?  It's even healthier than sea salt, but I think that's primarily because of the polution of our oceans.

Himalayan salt also makes into a beautiful lamp, but it needs to be rather small because of the weight.

Go out and find some for yourself and get healthier.

What else is salty?  Cheetos of course. 
Makes you hungry for some of that crunchy goodness doesn't it?

Until I figure out how to edit and save my the shots I take with my phone in an uploadable format - it SAYS it's saving as .jpeg but it's not {{grrr}} - those shots will be uploaded As Is.

Moody - Daily Photo 17/365

Another dreary day, something I wouldn't be as likely to notice any other season, but the trees are bare, the grass is mostly brown, undergrowth is brown, even the sky is gray...You get the idea.  The day has a monochromatic feel - grays or browns each way I turn.
This ruined tree has often caught my interest but it wasn't until today that I actually pulled over so that I could capture it's image.  Perhaps this coming spring or summer I'll try again, surely it will look completely different against a backdrop of green.

In keeping with the moodiness of the day I chose to make this one a black & white.  Funny thing is, the color version was very similar.

This one is in color and a little brighter but it still has Winter Monochrome-itis.

Before & After - Daily Photo 16/365

Sometimes it's fun to see where an image started rather than just final one that is posted.  So today that's what I've done.  Four sets of Before & After.  [SOOC means Straight Out Of Camera.]

Even this time of year, when all plant-life is supposedly dormant, there is great beauty to be found. 

The only things I really wanted to change on the SOOC images was the color intensity/contrast and the crop. 

As you can see on each of the SOOC images, the bokeh is wonderful but I wanted to try something new, not to make the bokeh better but to make the image itself pop.  The last step in my processing was to overlay a PTM Bokelicious Texture at anywhere from 60%-100%. The "something new" was the next step, when I removed the texture, completely, from the image which left only the color tones of the original texture. I was very pleased with the final image.

Have you ever processed with a texture then remove the texture itself?

Warmth - Daily Photo 15/365

Only 350 more images to go.  Today was a difficult day.  I even drove around a bit trying to find something that would catch my eye but I came up with nothing.  So what did I do?  I put it out of my mind for the remainder of the day and around 8:00 p.m. tonight pulled out the camera and walked around the house. 

Once again I've forced myself to look at the everyday a little differently.  Let me backtrack a little.  This morning I went to Tuesday Morning looking for a specific item (which I didn't find) and ended up with something I didn't even know I wanted until I saw it.  I found a white fluffy animal skin from Argentina.  You know, the kind you use in newborn sessions.  [Please, if you're PETA or anti-fur don't blast me.]

This newly acquired prop was the background for today's image[s].  I've loaded four photos into a storyboard - exhibiting different perspectives of a single object - a warm scarf. 

Winter at the Red Park - Daily Photo 14/365

Today I went looking for photos at The Red Park.

This is my first attempt at purposely shooting into the sun, hoping to get a sun flare.

Snow-covered bench.
The antique-feel is what I like about this edit.

Normally you won't find me shooting wildlife [with my camera] but this squirrel was posing so nicely I couldn't walk away from the opportunity.

Fix-It Friday #82

The holidays were a busy time so this is the first Fix-it Friday that I've participated in using this blog.


This is Rachel's original photo - can you believe these eyes?! - the rest of them are my edits.

First of all I did a "base" edit from which I then added variations.
Paint the Moon (PTM) Lighten & Tone action - 20% / 30%
Diminish dark circles under her eyes
PTM Twinkle Eyes action
PTM Hair & Eye Pop action
PTM Biscotti action
Crop

Paint the Moon (PTM) Lighten & Tone action - 20% / 30%
Diminish dark circles under her eyes
PTM Twinkle Eyes action
PTM Hair & Eye Pop action
PTM Paint with Light action
CoffeeHouse Denim action - Faded Denim
Crop
Horizontal Flip

Paint the Moon (PTM) Lighten & Tone action - 20% / 30%
Diminish dark circles under her eyes
PTM Twinkle Eyes action
PTM Hair & Eye Pop action

PTM White Chocolate Sauce action
Crop
PTM Hope Chest Texture at 60% - soft light blending mode
Remove texture from subject

Paint the Moon (PTM) Lighten & Tone action - 20% / 30%
Diminish dark circles under her eyes
PTM Twinkle Eyes action
PTM Hair & Eye Pop action
PTM Wheat-b texture at 60%
Remove texture from subject

Click on the link above to see how others edited today's photo by Rachel.

Another Cold January Day - Daily Photo 13/365

There are times when I'm snapping away trying to capture an image but when I pull itinto PSE I see something else entirely.  The intent of this shot was to capture the snow crystals but when I really looked at it I saw...

A curious puppy sniffing a rabbit.

Can you see it too? 

Self-Portrait

Baby It's Cold Outside - Daily Photo 12/365

Once again I couldn't decide which photo to use so you're getting more than one again today.

We've got icicles, people!

 A direct hit doesn't even phase this snow soldier.

Converse

Sweet Light - Daily Photo 11/365

Solving today's problem:

    No car

+  cold dreary weather

Get-creative-for-the-daily-photo

That's exactly what I did even though Creativity is nowhere in my name. 

Bring down the oil lamps - wash them so they'll sparkle, pull out the silver dish, light some candles, pour out the pretty candy...et Voila!