NW Images & Altered Art

I have been admiring Autumn Clematis along the roadsides for about a week.  Finally got out tonite to capture some images.  The left image taken about 7 pm with direct daylight.  The image on the right taken with yellow glow - the golden hour at about the same time.  The  middle image was converted to B& W.   Taken with my iPhone 6S and minor editing with PSE 15.

 On Thursday went to the GSO Historical Museum Garden to weed and water the plants with Kathy Ramsey.   The Marigolds were quite showy.  I took the images with my iPhone 6S.  Did some minor edititing in PSE 15. https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/marigold-uses-zmaz83jazshe

Tonite I went to a presentation on Epiphytes at P.J. @Ciener Botanical Garden in Kernersville, NC.  Bought a Bromelied that was red & yellow.  It can be outside in our area but needs to be inside during the winter months here.  A lot of the EpiPhyte plants are found where there is a lot of rain and humidity like the rain forests.  The image on left is on a section of a log that housed other epiphytes at the garden.   The orange one I bought to see I can keep from killing it. These plants like a lot of humidity.  They need soil with a lot of aeration- no potting soil. The image on the left I took outside at the garden.  The image on the right I used my stove top  LED light to capture this photo. It has serrated edges of the leaves.  Both images taken with my iPhone 6S.   Minimal editing in PSE 15. Other epiphytes can include orchids, ferns, mosses, air plants, and Spanish moss. These plants are usually available at y...

Went to PJ Ciener Botanical Garden, Kernersville, NC.  There were lots of zinnas in bloom but the cultivars were not labeled. The image on the left is of a cluster of various colors of the zinnias adjacent to the parking areas of the garden.  The orange one is a macro image and shows a cultivar with more fringed petals,  The zinnias belong to the same plant family as sunflowers & daisies.  Images taken with my iPhone  Minor editing with PSE 15. 

 There are some neighbors that have Yucca plants in their yard.  They are done blooming here by June-July,  I tried to capture some images of the leaves which have structure. You better not try to arrange them or try to get leaf debris out or you could have some bloody hands. The edges are very sharp. The image on the left gives a look of the leaf structure on the stalk.  The image on the right I was trying to get a close up of the stalk texture and if you look really close you might see a red lady bug up from the 6 pm position. I did not see it when I was trying to capture the image.   Image taken with the iPhone 6S.   I did crop both images.  The left image I applied a PSE filter to the edges and increased the brightness and smoothness.

You do not have to be in Kansas to enjoy images of sunflowers.  Last Saturday I went to a Sunflower Fest in Belews Creek NC.  It was a great photo opportunity and you could also pick flowers to take home for a cost of $1.00/stem.  It was a bright sunny day. I went with my photo friend,  Pat Chamings.  We got there about 9:15 a.m. I took the opportunity to crouch down and take a selfie with my iPhone.  The photo on the left I crouched low to get the sunflowers being backlit. I took more photos with my Panasonic camera.  No variety of cultivars and all these were about 2 ft tall. Images were cropped to post to Facebook.    There are lots of other varieties of the Hellianthis but these were all the low growing variety with yellow centers.  There were lots of bees and butterflies around.   Check out varieties at you local nursery or buy seeds online.  The Mexican ones have different petal formation and are quite orange....