It was one of those days where the sun was shining perfectly through the trees. I was actually walking to my car when I had a glimpse of some striking "spent" flowers peaking out of the snow. I was opening up the car door when I started to have a CSD moment. I threw my purse into the drivers seat and started searching through the depths of my purse to grab my camera. I was thinking boy that sun is a shining so this should be a decent shot, what a beautiful contrast against those lonely flower skeletons... Here are the results!
Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.
I am not a winter fan lover, but OH MY....this is spectacular, I think :) We were blessed with this thing they call a blizzard this weekend. Hunker down and "DO NOT GO OUT ON THE ROAD"...unless you feel like flirting with death. There were many warnings of the Travel Conditions Becoming Extremely Hazardous. These are the perks of living in Wisconsin. Play tiddly winks and watch the snow flakes fall!
*editing a photo can be a royal pain in the butt sometimes, but if you want to take a plain jane snapshot and zero into a part of the image, you would be amazed at what you find. I look at it as a treasure hunt sometimes. Cropping can be essential in capturing what you really want the image to say. A photo that can talk... "1,000 words+"! Atleast that is what the age old phrase is. I cropped the sky out to force the trees to stand out. I first took this image and made it black and white. Then to enhance and brighten the image I added back in 50% of the color. This added some depth to the branches to enchance the snow sitting on the tree. I also turned the contrast and definition up to 100, shadow 23, saturation 68 and highlights to 61. I try not to get to wrapped up into doing all of these settings because it is time consuming, but with this particular image, I wanted the snow to stand out. I did this on my Apple MacBook. Compare the before (below) and after (above) images...
BEFORE
Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect, it means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
There are so many things that I love about these pictures... the incredible verdigris lines in the bark of the tree makes me imagine that the tree has an incredible character and has a lot to say. The depth of art in this tree totally caught my eye as I was walking by it. The bright leaves are overflowing with my favorite color of yellow! What is not to love about this creature of the earth?
Ok, so I not only have CSD, but I go into quick panic if I can not get a sunset or sunrise picture taken immediately! A sunset can change it's looks within a matter of 30 seconds and an "ooooohhhh" can turn into a "oh crap, I missed it!" moment. I was traveling with my family and they all sigh when I do the "oooohhhh" because they know what is coming next. I luckily was able to get my brother-in-law to pull over for a few minutes to capture the moment. It must of been a good evening for cooperation as my brother-in-law pulled over twice! YIPPIE :) Tim, thanks for the patience of a CSD individual as I would of not gotten this shot without you!
This cute little frog has made his home in our pond behind the house. Looking at this frog makes me think that he is thinking "now, what is this crazy lady up to, maybe she won't see me if I sit here really still and blend in with my surroundings?" Look at him, he looks not too sure but cool as a cucumber. He did not move an inch for a considerable amount of time even when I got up close. He is saying "yeah, I am cool and I will sit here really still so you can take a snap shot." His metallic skin is mesmerizing and oh so interesting. The buggy eyes have such character. All I can say is "Thank you froggy baby for participating in my CSD moment!" You are super cute and also a good sport... :)
Home is not where you live but where they understand you.
