THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT

Yup, more extensive editing in this new photo, "They Only Come Out At Night." Nothing much to say except that I enjoy the process, though unfortunately am not always happy with the resultant picture after I've sat with it a while. Such is the case with this one. I think I enjoy the relationship between the photo and the title more than I do the picture itself. :-)

Complaint alert! Not only has blogger (this blog's host system) finally put up their totally revamped editing system, adding to the burden my few remaining brain cells have to cope with as I learn it, but I discovered another issue with color and shade in photos late last night. ("They Only Come Out At Night," indeed!) I've really been enjoying my new flatscreen monitor; all I had for a couple years was a huge dinosaur. In many ways it's improved my viewing experience as well. However, I discovered that the LCD screen reveals different colors and even shades thereof depending on what angle I view the screen from. Say, sitting where I normally do, or standing. And this is particularly distressing when I've done any "painting" over of small distracting sections. E.g., I stood as I was getting ready to shut down for the night and noticed I could see the small painted out edits I'd done at the top of a photo -- though these were not at all visible from a sitting angle. Argh! Something else to worry about. Of course, this may very well have been going on all along for other viewers on their screens (blush!). But now I find myself standing to view any picture before considering it finished. What a pain in the butt. Literally. Then again, I could look at it as a way of getting in some more exercise. LOL!

I hasten to add I am slowly getting accustomed to the new blogger editing system and it does (so far) seem to respond faster. However, as with all up-dates there are issues to deal with. One -- the system putting in equal signs instead of quote marks when I paste text in from a WORD document -- is an old one long gone from the previous version, that I'm not happy has reincarnated in this version. Nor do I like having html coding I type in because I want things the way I want them, changed or in some cases automatically deleted by the system. And I only know about these changes once I see the post published. Also, the "Preview" post function isn't as nice a preview as the old system. I am aware that some of these issues may be because I have an old browser (in fact, Blogger recommended Google Chrome over my browser in the beginning). Ah well, forgive my rambling on about totally unrelated issues.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

DRAGON DREAMING & MILADY'S NEW EARRINGS

As to "Dragon Dreaming" above ... well, what can I say? I admit it. I'm guilty of massive photo manipulation and cropping, and I had a great time doing it. So there!

However, this next one below, "Milady's New Earrings," proves I don't always massacre my photos. Sometimes they please me well enough, just as they are:

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

COCK OF THE WALK, THE GALACTIC RIM, RIDING COATTAILS, & HALLELUJAH!

Birds of Paradise, as in the above "Cock of the Walk," are not at all unusual around here. But this is the first interesting and decent shot I've managed to get of one that was also in good condition.


Not quite sure why I like "The Galactic Rim." It may be the association for me to things cosmological, especially as in science fiction and fantasy. (Though I have to admit that since moving to California four years ago I've been reading many more mystery novels than sci-fi and fantasy.)

These last two photos are examples of my attempts to get nice shots of these epiphyllum blooms, in spite of it always being at the wrong time of day. Which has meant dealing with back-lighting from the sun or shooting the epi's from behind. (Yes, one might wonder why I haven't just simply gotten out in the early morning. Hey, that's my computer time when I get to play with my dream poems and photos! :-D) The first below is "Riding Coattails" --


And this last one is "Hallelujah!" --


I'd say that last title expresses what I feel whenever I see these particular buds and blossoms, I want to rejoice and praise.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME, RAINY DAY NAP, & SLEEPING CAP

"Show Me the Way to Go Home" has two of my favorite photo subjects. That crooked tree against the sky in the distance, and these lovely spear-shaped red epiphyllum buds. Though I didn't get the best angle on this shot, I'm tickled to have captured both that tree and the buds.

This next below is "Rainy Day Nap" (If you think a sleepy theme is developing, you're right.) --


I rarely make it out in the early morning when the light is best to catch this particular batch of epiphyllums. And "Rainy Day Nap" is no exception. Almost all of the shots of these buds and blooms I've taken in the past few days are way too back lit to really work. However, I had fun cropping this one in really close. I've also made some interesting "abstracts" out of some of the back lit ones which I may share in a future post.

And below is "Sleeping Cap," the last in this sleep themed post --


There are actually four blooms on this amarylis stem. And given their location and closeness to the ground, they have presented quite a challenge to me to get decent pictures of. This one above was a "throw away" shot. That is, I just lowered my camera way down, as close in front of one of the blooms as I could get, and snapped. Couldn't even see what was in the camera view screen. Ultimately all I've done to the shot is crop it a little bit and saturate the colors slightly to bring them out (the blooms were in semi-shadow).

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****