Experimental Compositions/Tony Sweet Workshop

A lot of the workshop was about playing and exploring the subject and tools. He had us messing with motion in one of the sessions - These are a couple of mine from Sieberling NatuRealm. The first two are coneflowers and a mystery lilac flower:

This is Virgin's Bower (how Victorian!) with zoom and a Kim Klassen texture. This is my favorite - I like the starburst of delicate flowers against the intense green leaves and brown handwriting texture.

 

 

The Conrad Botzum Farmstead

The Botzum Farmstead was our first shooting location for the Tony Sweet workshop. Picturesquely decrepit barn, fields receding into to early morning mist - it was just beautiful. Here are a few of the shots:

 

I still have a few more to process - shot a bunch for HDR (high dynamic range), but the software was corrupt, so I could not get them processed for the work shop.

 

August 3, 2012

Full Moon

Just doing some catching up. This was from the upper deck as the moon was setting.

August 2, 2012

Sunflower, Bees and Nicotiana

Picked up my new lens from UPS this evening, and spent some time playing with it in the garden.The sunflowers are gorgeous this year, and covered with bees.

I wasn't sure about green flowers, but the "Limelight" nicotiana really brighten up the garden.

The texture overlay is 'Dream It' from Kim Klassen for Texture Tuesday.

Ironweed Field

Up at 5 am and out the door at 6 to shoot bugs in the Ironweed Field off Akron-Peninsula Rd. I was out there for three hours without much to show for it, but it was a pleasant way to spend the morning.

And here are the bugs:

A sleepy bee..

 A snoozing praying mantis,  with a little buddy...

And the liveliest critter off the day, a slug spiraling around a stem.

Dinner with Friends

A friend of ours put together a small surprise party last Friday to celebrate her husband's milestone birthday.They have a beautiful home overlooking one of the Portage lakes. The lot is very narrow, and slopes steeply to the water. They've created a paradise of pocket gardens, charming spots to relax and a pretty waterfall, complete with stream, arched footbridge and koi.

A flotilla of swans headed across the lake:

 Blue Adirondack chairs - could they be more perfect against the white decking?

An excellent spot for brunch:

Coming from the waterfall garden - a little too late to photograph it with out a tripod.

Looking over the second floor deck to the dock:

Sunset from the dock:

Thanks for a great time, and Happy Birthday!