More Lily Pads

lily_pads_2_2010
Originally uploaded by postporterphotoworks

I am discovering all the things one can do with Photoshop. It's opening up a completely new way of creating for me!

Lily Pads & Textures

lily_pads
Originally uploaded by postporterphotoworks

I've started working with adding textures to some old as well as new images I've been working on.

Photos Now Live on a Houseboat!

I recently received an Etsy order for two of my seascapes. When I emailed the buyer and asked her how she found out about me she said she lived on a houseboat and was looking for abstract images of the ocean.  I love the idea that these images have made their way back to the sea! Leslie blogs about houseboats and featured the photos she purchased here! Thanks Leslie!

Submissions to Shots Magazine

Shots Magazine has a call for submissions on the subject children. Here are the two images I'm submitting.

Lessons of the Coyote

What was once a coyote has turned into a red fox. We made a positive id of the animal after getting a better look at it. Boo is back outside. Actually we let her out before we knew it was a fox. What I learned is that even though the decision may be a difficult one, if you love something you must let it go. Even if it means having that someone or something in your life for a shorter time you can not hold it back from it's true nature.

Paradise Lost

Everything has changed. All in the blink of an eye. We've had 4 sightings of a coyote in the neighborhood, twice in our backyard. Tom and I have had to make decisions. Both of our cats spend time outdoors, Spooky lives outside, he was feral when he showed up and Boo has been in and out for as long as we have had her. She is miserable. By trying to save her life I have taken her life away from her by keeping her inside. I'm miserable too. I have had to keep other cats inside for various reasons, moving to an apartment mainly, and never was bothered by it. For some reason this one is breaking my heart. I look outside and it all looks different. What was once a bucolic scene, a quiet but lively neighborhood with the sounds of birds, kids and dogs, is now a place for the hunter. I'm not worried about myself but the animals that I am a guardian too. We are hoping for the best for Spooky. He would never be able to live inside and having been feral and outside his entire life we hope he's got the sense and the senses to stay safe. Boo is the one we worry about. She's 100% sweet as sugar and to not have her come home one night would set my mind into a tailspin. The images that would come to me would be unbearable. I've been doing a lot of crying and trying to adjust to this new version of life. Seems silly doesn't it when there are people in the Gulf of Mexico who have lost everything and animals are dying daily. I suppose it's what's happening in your own little world that makes the greatest impact. A new neighbor brought chickens with them and there is now one left. Maybe when the chickens are all gone the coyote will leave and life will go back to the way it was. Or maybe I'm just fooling myself.

Motivation

I've been having a really hard time getting motivated today. Stayed in bed till 8:30 (usually up around 6), wasted time playing stupid computer games and should have gotten my arse up and out with Anita. It's cloudy and cool today and I just have felt like curling up in bed with a good book. I did manage to do something I've been thinking about for awhile and that is revisiting a photo I took of my mom a couple of years ago. Mom has Alzheimer's and this was taken while she could still walk and communicate. She actually asked me to take this picture of her and I'm glad I did. I have not felt comfortable taking her picture since and I'm not sure why. Maybe I haven't wanted to intrude on her privacy, she can no longer communicate with us and so can not tell me if it's okay or not. But the more I have thought about it there are pictures of her I want for myself. Pictures of her hands, the hands that raised me, her shoulders, the ones I cried on as a kid. I'm realizing there are ways I could photograph her and still respect her dignity. This image was originally shot in color but I prefer it in black and white. In a previous version I had cropped in a bit closer an applied a "lensbaby" effect where everything was blurred except her face. This is a more true representation of the scene. Mom made the doll she is holding, when she asked me to photograph her she asked that it be with this doll. Must be something that she is particularly proud of.