Before & After

Sunset Pond at North Chagrin Reservation (Willoughby Hills, Ohio) has a bunch of feeders outside the visitor center. I went there February 19th after visiting with my brothers at Mom’s, mostly to get a little outdoor solitude. It was the day after Larry died, and I just needed peace. These little guys provided a welcome distraction from the sadness. Chickadees are one of my favorite birds. Pert, bright-eyed, and relatively unafraid of people, their cheerful calls brightened up a tough day.

Here’s the before – the wind ruffled up the feathers on her head, pretty cute.

After cropping, adjusting the white balance, brightening up the exposure, “clarify” (has to be my current favorite tool), sharpening, and some selective sharpening of the beak and feet, here we are:

From blah to sweet! Lightroom is an amazing tool.

Messing With Lightroom

Another photo of one of my childhood treasures – you can see the broken foreleg. This was processed in Lightroom using a few of Matt Kloskowski’s LR presets: classic duotone, medium edge darkening, heavy grain, and bleach bypass. I like the grainy desaturation for this photo – looks good with the coloring and dark points of the figurine.

Broken Legged Treasures

Four china horses from a shop in Shoregate shopping center. I bought them when I was a horse-obsessed child in Willowick and have moved them from one house to the next. Despite careful packing, most of them have broken legs – one is still in rehab, waiting for its turn in front of the camera. The palomino was always my favorite, but the appy and buckskin are pretty darn cute, too. And the fourth you’ll see after the glue sets.

Rockefeller Greenhouse Christmas Display, 12/26/10

Some photos from our Boxing Day trip to the Greenhouse. Gorgeous display of an amazing variety of poinsettias. It's so nice to smell green living things during the winter. The cute guy below is Chuck. Even though I've taken his picture a 1000 times, he's still willing to smile (usually!).

Cookie Meditation, 12/23/2010

Today is Russian Teacake Day. I’m rolling dozens and dozens for my brothers for Christmas. Somehow, the repetitive cookie rolling put me in a kind of meditative trance. I thought about my Dad, and grandparents, and the aunts and uncles we’ll miss at Christmas, wondered if tutoring Math, English, or Biology would be a good retirement project. And all the things I have to be grateful for - my brother’s surgery went well, he and his wife will be at the family Christmas celebration, Chuck’s promotion, even the little things, the smell of baking and butter, pretty Christmas decorations, making vegan stuffing for Matt, Tabitha and me. Good morning, good day.

Tiny Things: Shells

I've had these shells since I was a kid - bought a bag of them somewhere, Shoregate maybe. They are beautiful - amazing that homely little snails produce such complex and lovely shells.

Lustrous pearl.

Creamy, fine-lined brown.

Contrasting textures and shapes.

My favorite, brown and cream, rough textured exterior and glossy smooth interior.

I need to step up the pace if I'm going to get 30 tiny things done before holiday photos start piling up.

One Tiny {Feathered} Thing

Lots of very bold chickadees at Beaver Marsh - one tried to land on my shoulder! First photo has a texture and vignette, the second, just a vignette.

November 24, 2010.

Two Tiny Things

Then I have to go to the barn to see Larry:


A Brambly Hedge mouse I made years and years ago. No idea what Brambly Hedge is, but the patterns are cute as can be. Flower brush is from Jason Gaylor's Japanese Foliage,

Just a pine cone - such a complex seed pod. Why did pines evolve to do this?

Tiny Things on Blue Velvet

I like the lighting on the Beanie horse:


Not too excited about the photo of this little jewelry bag. Cute bag, but uninteresting from any of the 27 angles I shot it at. Still, vastly better on blue velvet than white cardstock.

Credit: Color Inspiration digital papers, 11/12/10, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals.

More Tiny Things

Gingerbread cookie buttons.

A small padlock, missing its key.

Expertly repaired dino Christmas ornament.

New horse ornamnent.

Really homely sea turtle toy. No idea where this came from.

Several notes to myself:
1. The white backround is already pretty boring.

2. Dust first, shoot next.

3. A big, ole glob of glue does not make for an attractive repair.

Tiny Things

The next photo project on the list is "Tiny Things". I set up a small light box to get even illumination, and plan to take macros of small objects. I like Rose's Tea animals - this is the one from the last box I bought.

1/60 s, f8, 62mm. Two incandescent lights, one on either side, with the flash set up to bounce off the top of the box. (Thanks for the Speedlight, Honey - it's sweet!). Credit: Rhonna Farrer Bold Borders brush, Two Peas in a Bucket.