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.

Using Rhonna Designs Magic

I have been using the Rhonna Designs App for over a year now, playing around with photos and having fun.
But now Rhonna has a Rhonna Designs Magic App.  Let me tell you….it does create magic.

 With this photo, I started out using the Rhonna Designs app using one of her backgrounds, the black chalkboard.  I added in several elements and the wording "Believe" & Sprinkle Your Magic"
I then toggled back into the Rhonna Designs Magic app and added the coloring changes, the wording texture at the bottom and the scribbly edges & then **Magic** of blending in my photo onto of all that.  Doesn't it look like the sun is dripping?  That wasn't Rhonna magic, that was probably my hand moving when I took the photo.  Ha!
Let me mention that I toggled between the apps…..that means they work together.  I don't have to save photo and then open it up in another app and then save again.
With that said, if you want to reuse a design I would suggest saving it before adding more details.  I do wish I had saved the black chalkboard with the designs I had started with.  Lesson learned:)

Here are the apps--the original Rhonna Designs app on the left and the Magic on the right.

I thought it would be fun to show some of my original photos and then the edits I did using Rhonna Designs Magic edits.

But….shhhh….don't tell anyone.  This is kind of like giving away some of my secrets.

This is a photo I took at a little stop on the side of the road.  The girls and I fell in love with the flowers on the lilly pads.  I didn't have my good camera with me, so this is what I got.

I brought it into the Rhonna app, angled it differently, added the colors, filters, text and some texture.

Voila!!!

……and I like to make a monthly photo marker, so I added in the "september" text

I even went a step further with this one and brought it into the Retouch app to get rid of that little pesky leaf on the right hand side.  When I "squared" the photo in IG, it was in my way.  Begone leaf!!

As you can see in the original photo, the natural bokeh was there.  I am not good at adding fake bokeh into photos, but I love it when others do.

But it helped that it was already there and just worked beautifully when I added "Rhonna's magic"

There is an eraser tool that after I add Rhonna's magical colors which tones down the whole photo, I then go back and erase that over certain parts.  

Like in the photo above, I still wanted the flower part to pop out.

It's not as bright as the original, but it still shows some pink.

I love my sunflowers, but this one had too much green for me, so I sprinkled some magic on it and made the sunflower pop.

This was probably one of my first macro shots with my new olloclip.

I saved it for a long time, not really knowing what to do with it.

Then one day…the right photo prompt came, added rdmagic to it, and it made such a difference.

This may be one that the original looked prettier, but it was still fun to play around with.

This flower shot is one of my favorites.

We were at my in-laws house, so I had lots to look around and photograph.  

I decided this flower needed a sky background.  So I laid down on the ground, aiming my camera up at the sky, when my father-in-law happened to walk by.  He says "I am not even going to ask."

That quote makes it even more a fav.

Thanks for looking, ya'll!!

xoxo Tracey

Cheesy Zucchini

This is just a quick recipe post for a friend.
I usually post a step-by-step of how to make it.
I thought I already had posted it, but apparently not.

This is my recipe card I made for the yummiest Cheesy Zucchini Bake.  It can be used with either zucchini, squash or both.  I usually mix both for prettier color.