Dahlia With a Twist

I attended an awesome seminar by Denise Ippolito yesterday. We began just before sunrise at the Swan Island Dahlia Gardens in Canby Oregon. The flowers were abundant and gorgeous and I took tons of pictures. I learned a lot about operating my camera and actually took almost all of my pictures in manual mode, which was new for me. After several hours, we headed to the Portland Garden Club where we took a quick look at our pictures and listened to a program by Denise about her post-processing work flow. Her photos are definitely inspiring and her love for her work in contagious.
The day was rounded out with Denise directing some specific assignments to expand our creativity, at the International Rose Test Garden. I ended up with a lot of pretty flower pictures, but the one above was my favorite. I love the way the petals flow and curl. I think they look almost like a sea anemone. The original picture didn't quite capture the scene as I saw it in my head so I played with it a bit in Photoshop.

Peaches times four

I love  the way early morning light makes objects glow and highlights their form and texture. These peaches were on my kitchen counter this morning and the light was wonderful. Of course, I couldn't just post one copy of the resulting picture! I played with different filters and Photoshop mixer brushes til I had four very different versions. Each one shows a unique view of a very common peach!