Photo Art Friday - Hardware

Moving forward slowly and surely to get ready to finally launch into my photography business and at that point, I'll be opening another blog to feature the work I'm doing with clients.  But this will be my place to be creative and play and pursue my other photographic interests.  I need somewhere to put all those bird photos!  :)  I feel so ADD creatively....many things started, not much finished.

But Photo Art Friday is inspiration to get at least ONE thing done a week as long as it doesn't sneak up on me to quickly.  This week, I remembered just in time.





I took this photo of an old iron fence on a bleak winter day.  I've used the Pixel Dust Photo Dust textures Nitty Gritty and Vintage Craquelure.

Lots of great digital art for you to visit here.

Floral Abstract in Ice - Photo Art Friday

Anyone who has read on of my blogs for any period of time knows that I LOVE winter.  In actuality, summer is season I enjoy the least as I have almost zero heat tolerance.  But, the last couple of winters have been disappointing out here on Long Island.  We've had minimal snow and ice.  When we were in PA, I used to love to go to areas of moving water and find little abstracts in the frozen surface.  The possibilities are endless.

Recently, after a big rainstorm we were left with a giant puddle in our back yard.  Then we had an overnight freeze.  The water was moving just enough as it percolated through the soil to create some lovely patterns in the ice.  One in particular, looked so floral in nature that I played and played, creating this abstraction.



Linking up to Photo Art Friday. Please go enjoy the beautiful work of other photo artists there!

Hellooooooo.....

I'm still alive...
:)

Quickly, an update...

I am still feeling like myself.  Life is still chaos in NY but is perhaps on a recovery path.  We started looking for businesses to buy late last summer and after losing a couple of bids, we are in the process of diligence and hoping to close on something at the end of the month.  Risky??  Uh huh!!  But, we were on a road to nowhere. If this goes through it's going to be a real challenge but at least we have a vision of a future.  I'm not going to say much more because it's not done until it's done.  And, we've found some things that have to be negotiated before we can go through with the deal.  It's not 100% on solid ground yet.  So....we could use all the positive vibes and crossed fingers we can get.  More details when it's real.  The best part....it leads us back to PA!

I'm still hoping to get a small photography business of my own off the ground.  I may have to suck it up and work on this other thing for awhile though.  I have been going forward with my own plans and doing a lot of the background work.  But I worry about being stretched to thin.  If I have to work with Aaron AND try and sell and pack a house....well, I am only one person.  All remains to be seen what's in the cards for me.

But, never fear.  I am still taking pictures and I am working a lot with photoshop.  I will never ceased to be amazed and delighted at what is possible.  I find I learn a lot about the program by stretching reality.   I don't intend to drift into complete fantasy land on a regular basis but now and then it sure is fun.

Here's a little piece a put together today....and the original.

Before....



After....




Oh my....I just popped over to check out Photo Art Friday (it's been ages since I played) and I saw that the theme was entrances and exits.  I can't resist, I HAVE to link up!

A Little Travel

I felt the need to check in.  I fell into a pretty deep spell of depression as nothing has changed here and the stress is overwhelming.  Thanks to the magic of chemistry I am feeling a million percent better....actually human again.

This week, Aaron and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary!  Mind boggling!  We thought we'd be recognizing this milestone with a BIG TRIP.  But, under the circumstances...we've had to adjust our expectations.  At this point, he is the one who is swallowed with depression so we decided we did have to something a little special to celebrate.  So, on the spur of the moment, we decided to take a drive up to Montreal.  Neither of us have ever been there, it's driving distance and it will get us a change of scenery that we desperately need.

We're hopping in the car this morning and will be on our way.

Terns at Nickerson Beach

On the south shore of Long Island, not far from JFK airport is beautiful Nickerson Beach.  It's a birding location I kept hearing about and it was high on my list of places I needed to check out.  It's a favorite spot for birders and nature photographers as it is a nesting area for terns, plovers, and skimmers.

Today I made my first trip there with a friend and we were not disappointed.  There is a huge skimmer colony there but they were very quiet and mostly grounded.  I think they're all nesting now.  But the terns were active and there were baby terns everywhere.  Lori and I just planted ourselves on the ground and enjoyed watching and photographing the bird behavior.









Linking up today with Carly's Photo A Day...

Photo Art Friday - The Country Place

Fridays seem to roll around so quickly!

Photo Art Friday is featuring vintage treatments.  This is a picture of one of the homes that dots the shore of our little harbor here in Stony Brook.  There are quite a few big expensive places right along the shore.  Some are modern but some are elegant older estates.  I photographed this one from the water as I was kayaking by.



I did most of this treatment in Silver Effects Pro and Color Effects Pro by Nik Software.  There is also a layer of texture from Shadowhouse Creations blended in for the wrinkles and tears.

I call this house "the country place".  II think of it as a "little" get-away home for a wealthy family residing in Manhattan.

I'm also linking up to Carly's Photo a Day. 

Four Blackbirds

Actually, I think it's only two...
:)

This morning found me in a world of worry and sadness.  Things are not improving here and the stress level continues to rise over concerns about job and house and finances.  But what was most distressing today is that our worst scenario for our son seems to be playing out and he's going to fail a couple of his classes.  He's always struggled in school and we've had a terrible time working with the district to get him the support that he needs.  He completely fell off a cliff this semester....I'm sure that all the uncertainty here at home just exacerbates things for him.  If we can turn him around, he will still probably be able to graduate with his class next spring.  But we are SO worried as we just can't seem to get through to him how serious this is for his future and though he's pleasant, he just can't seem to get with the program where school is concerned.

I found myself up early and so overwhelmed with this that I had to just leave the house and distract myself to save my sanity.  I headed to a nearby park/preserve that has a HUGE meadow.  The flowers are just starting to bloom and it will be just gorgeous in a week or so.  Today my thoughts were of the first blossoms and the birds.



I'm especially proud of the four images I'm posting today.  I've always found red winged blackbirds to be especially challenging to photograph.  They're skittish and you can barely look in their direction before they fly.  I've tried for years to catch good shots and have only had limited success on a couple of occasions.  Today, even though I was still a good distance from them, they stayed around long enough for me to get a solid focus and shoot.  I was on my game...my exposure straight out of the camera was spot on!  All they needed was a crop and a touch of sharpening. 




The birds were a true distraction from all that's challenging me right now.  And the sense of accomplishment gave me something to feel good about.  I hope it can hold me over now for a few days....the heat wave is on it's way.  Today, it was gorgeous with a high of 79.  Tomorrow they say 97, and Thursday....102!!  Next week, that meadow will be spectacular! I'll post a little preview tomorrow!





I've missed linking in with Carly and her photo a day project for at least a week now. So, Carly....here's four pics to catch up!