Before & After

BEFORE & AFTER:

I have decided to show you a few before and after photos from my taking the photo to the after editing image.

I love taking photos, but I also love the editing side of it.  I don't find myself to be a very creative person,  yet I love when I can lose myself in creating something with my photos.

And some people will say it is fake; but when an artist draws or paints, is that real?  It is no different.

I have seen some of the most amazing photos ever on IG, from "artists" who take photos they have taken themselves, and merge them together in Lightroom or Adobe to make a final composite image.  I'm not there yet; it is all app work for me.

I posted this caption with one of my recent photos on Instagram:

"Use what talents you have; the woods would have little music if no birds sang their song except those who sang best." 

I'm not the best at photography or editing, but I do my best and contribute just a little to the "music in the woods."  Sometimes I see a scene, snap, but know that there is nothing usable about it unless I go crazy and edit it.  Add a little bit of surrealism to it.

So, here goes.........

This was an OK shot, I just decided to do something different with it.  Just to have fun.

I like adding the surrealism into photos.

So, I added the moon, stars and light twinkle with AlienSky app, and the background using PicMonkey.

If you look close enough, you can see a dancer in the window.  She is from the Rhonna Designs App.

We were driving down the road late afternoon, and I liked the way the sky started to look (someone else was driving), so I shot this with my camera through the car window.  

I almost tossed it, but decided to play around with it a bit.

I have lots I play around with and still toss.

Once again I used the background from PicMonkey

The Lightning I believe was also from Pic Monkey, and the moon and stars were from AlienSky app.

The little deer was from the Rhonna Designs App

This was a dandelion shot that just wasn't as crisp as I would have liked.  Plus no color or anything else interesting about it......

So, I used the Reflect app and added the water and it gave it a lovely DOF & reflection

This was a sunset shot at one of our lakes.

There was nothing wrong with it, other than the fact I had posted several other shots from there recently and needed something different.

So, again, I used the Reflect App, this time finding many more options other than just a reflection. 

It is surreal and looks like it is from somewhere else other than here.  And. I. Like. it!

I have a thing for bird on a wire shots.  I am usually driving when I see the perfect ones and can't usually capture them.

This time I happened to be walking; not the best bird on a wire image, but I like the final.

I first added a candy color effect with the Rhonna Designs Magic App, which gave it the hot pink look, but I wasn't crazy about the sky.

So, I brought into the Pic Monkey website (app coming soon so I have heard) and added the sky background.

There are several skies to choose from and a few ways to make the final look with the "Blend Mode"

For the final Instagram image, I simply cropped it to get rid of any clutter.

This was a photo I took at one of our local OpSail events. Lots and lots of tall ships.

This photo kinda, well, sucked.

Look at all those people.  Toooooo much clutter for me.

We watched the movie "Pan" and it hit me right away that I had to try to make a Peter Pan edit.....to look like they were floating away in the sky.

I used RDMagic App for all my original edits & contrasts.

Then I used AlienSky App for the stars, twinkle.  

I added the tiny dancer from Rhonna Designs (I accidentally posted the one without the dancer to IG, so this is what it was supposed to look like)

This next edit came from an inspiration somewhere I saw on Instagram of a sunflower field with an awesome backlit sky.

So, I took this image of mine........the sunflower field we accidentally came across on a road trip. 

Believe me, it was a lovely accidental surprise.

....and used this sky as the backdrop.

(This image is from another Instagram friend who gave me permission to use this photo)

I used the Juxtaposer app to blend these two images.

It requires a lot of patience, as you have to do a lot of erasing of one image to get rid of the background and make them blend nicely.

This was the final image after the blending.

Anyway, that's it for now.  I am sure I will have another segment of this in the future. :)

Dragonfly Whisperer

(shot using Olloclip on iPhone)

I would like to introduce you to some of my dragonfly friends.

I have lots.

There are some that call me the dragonfly whisperer.

And by some, I mean like maybe 5 of my Instagram friends.

Ha!  Thanks guys.  

The first time I was introduced to a dragonfly was by my youngest daughter.

There was a wing on the back of her little jeep, and she wanted me to see it.  So I grabbed my (new at the time) ollocip and snagged a photo.

When my husband saw me doing this, he thought I was crazy, until he saw the results.

I had no idea it was that lovely and delicate.

He thought I was less crazy after that.

For that day anyway.

(DSLR)

I would take some pics with my DSLR as they patiently sat there

I couldn't believe he wasn't flying away from me.

I then decided to get braver and bring out the olloclip

He remained still as could be for me.

I even got a video of him munching on a bug, complete with sound.

And then there was this cute little photo bomber in the photo - see the little aphid.

He may have become the next meal.

This one looks like a stained glass window with all those glossy colors.

This was the first time I had met an Instagram friend in person.  We met at Starbucks for coffee and sat outside in the beautiful weather.  We somehow never managed a photo together (not suprising since I am not a selfie person)

We noticed this creature on the windowsill.  He seemed to be on his last breath, so luckily I had my olloclip in my purse.

(olloclip)

And then they just started coming to me.

Or maybe I was just finding them.  But for two straight summers, they usually like that one little perch in our garden.

(DSLR)

This was was out for a walk on the wild side on the fence in the garden.

(DSLR)

Even at the beach, they follow us around.   

This isn't the best photo, but he was begging to have his photo taken.

(taken with DSLR)

And then this happened.

When we came home, I found this bee on the driveway.  I had actually noticed him before we went out.  He was very lethargic, so I thought he would be perfect to macro with my olloclip (I'll share my critters in another post)

So, after moving him on a leaf to a few different places, I finally decided to put him on my newly bloomed Dahlia.

I went inside for a few minutes, and when I came back back, the bee was still in its spot and this dragonfly had joined him.

Can I just say photographer bliss!!!

(DSLR)

I captured them from every angle I could.

I am pleased to report that the dragonfly never did eat the bee.

I later moved the bee to a lily where he was in pollen heaven.  He wiped it all over his face and was in bliss.  He was gone the next morning, so I assume he got enough strength to fly away.

(taken with DSLR with Macro filter)

(DSLR Macro filter)

(DSLR Macro filter)

This one was not so fortunate.  I found him this way on the grass, lets just say he was pretty mindless at this point.

Its a bug eat bug world.

They aren't all pretty.  I didn't care much for this one, but took his photo anyway.

(olloclip on iPhone)

Another shot of some wings....just amazing aren't they?

Say "cheese"!

My daughter called me out to the driveway to point out the nature scene she had spotted.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that this dragonfly, the one smiling, had eaten the head off of the other.

I don't know where his manners went.

That's just not nice.

But even in death, the wings are still pretty.

(olloclip)

A dragonfly wing on my dahlia.

And it was one HUGE wing.

Like.....huge!  Biggest I have seen.

(olloclip)

This one was just all bug eyed for me.

It must have been love at first sight!!

(olloclip)

(DSLR with macro filter)

(DSLR)

This was a first of one in a completely different part of the yard, hidden in some bushes.  I found him anyway.  And he obliged with the obligatory photo.

And that concludes my dragonfly series......for now.

There is a green one that will never stay still for me.

He is now my challenge.

It's a candy Craze!!!

I feel like I have been sucked into a vortex and can't get out.

ITS.A.CANDY.CRAZE!!!

The very first photo challenge I ever heard about was FMS (fatmumslim) back in 2011 on Facebook.  I first just had fun with the challenge and posted photos on my blog.  I didn't start posting pics on Instagram (IG) till late 2013.  Sometime in 2014 I got involved in several photo challenges…..so that is where this leads me now.    I participate in daily photo challenges on Instagram; it is what has inspired me to take photos of things I never would have before.  It is what introduced me to the Olloclip, which has grown my love for taking photos of critters I never imagined I would be so close to, literally.  So, last week, Chantelle (fatmumslim) posted a "candy colored" edit inspired by Matt Crump. Which started this whole Candy Craze.

So, this new vortex, is called a "candy craze."  Basically, you take your photo and you change up the hues.  Make the sky pink or orange or green….or whatever floats your boat.  If you look back in my feed, I had kind of already been doing this, thanks to the Rhonna Designs Magic App.  But, now I can call it something…..and most people seem to like it.  There are some that don't, but that's OK.  I know it isn't true photography.  But, right now, it is the Winter blues, cold, and for me, since we have no beautiful white snow, there is nothing to photograph.  So, I will edit some older photos and have some fun.

Just for fun, here are some of my originals and their candy coated edits.

(original photo at the bottom of this post)

For some, I will show you how it started and how I tweaked it some more until my final image.

Which, usually means I started out in the BeFunky app and tweaked in Rhonna Designs Magic and/or Mextures and sometimes will a final tweak in PicTapGo

For this one, I started out with Diptic, which is why it is square.

I don't always like my photos squared, so I tend to start with BeFunky.

….and sometimes I am not sure if I posted the right one, maybe I should have posted the previous image.  Oh well, all in fun.

This photo is in my previous blog post with the natural blue skies.  

It is a fav of mine.

I took this photo about a year ago.  It was around the time I first fell in love with photographing the sky.  All I had on me was my iPhone, so I snapped this.

This was after I edited it.

This was one of my very first Rhonna Designs edits, and it was featured on her starter screen which made me estactic

This was yesterday's edit.  Can't say I like it as much, but I wanted to see what it looked like without the words.  Looks likes it needs more work.  So, back to the drawing board I will go.

Until next time….I hope you have enjoyed the before and after photos.

This is the original photo of the one I posted at the top.