Pair of English Roses

Nature has a way of giving us little gifts when we least expect it.  This bouquet was a gift from nature, two rose canes, different roses intertwined and opened almost at the same time giving me this little present next to where I park my car.

The image was shot in open shade, IE in the shade with a bright blue sky above which shifted colors.  In the old days you'd have to compensate by adding more "yellow" to your print, but with the magic of PC and great RAW processors you can just use a pull down menu to compensate.  I'm liking this whole automation thing.

The final image was post processed in the Orton style as I love the romantic impressionistic image you get at the end.  I post processed all with CS2 and Virtual Photographer.

Enjoy, "Pair of Roses".

"Peach Blossom" ala orton

A little stroll in my garden yielded this English Rose "Peach Blossom" fully blown and ready to drop its petals.  Post processed in the Orton style from the raw file and dumbed down for ease of uploading and downloading.  Final image to be hung large format style at Paint n Play 2 Art Studio and Gallery soon.  Enjoy this teaser, see the real deal next month.

My rose got a "sport"

A sport is a new rose off an existing bush.  All hybrids are susceptible to the phenom, but it is pretty rare.  I got one on an English Rose "Golden Celebration" and it bloomed this week for the first time.

I knew something was up when the bud unfurled into this evil red multi pointed star.  Eventually each of those points opened into hundreds of feathery petals.  Very unusual as Golden Celebration is a fully cupped and doubled traditional rose.  Here it looks like a chrysanthemum or daisy on crack.  IT still SMELLS like Golden Celebration, just took on a new form.  

Regardless, it is interesting and I may just contact the Huntington Library.   They have a large collection of English Roses including one called "Huntington's Hero" that was a sport from the English Rose "Hero".  Never know, maybe they'd want to propagate.  We could call it "fraz's celebration" since it sported of my plant.  Maybe, or the ego just needs to be reeled in.

Its not the size of the tool...its how its used

Just like the bad old saying goes, its how you use the tool.  In this case the only camera I had handy was the trusty cell phone and I used it to grab a quick pic of Monrovia High School when I was by earlier today.    The play of shadow and highlights is what caught my eye the way it all framed the old Bell Tower at MHS.  I had to take the pic.

Of course the images are just passable but post processing in the orton style and using virtual photographer to clean up the color and contrast and voila I have an image I like.  Hope you do too.

Twas a nice spring afternoon to play with orton

Yesterday after a basketball tournament wound up at the Y I had a bit of time to just enjoy Recreation Park here in Monrovia.  Just soaking in the late afternoon sun and enjoying all the brilliant green of spring was enough.

I grabbed this pic with the trusty "fam cam" a casio EXilim 10.1 megapixel point and squirt then gave it the orton treatment.  Enjoy "Rec Park Afternoon".

Bearded Iris ala Orton

Among the garden flowers I think the Bearded Iris, sometimes called the "Siberian Iris" is the most attractive if not outright sultry and sensual.  I love the deep rich blues and purples contrasting with the yellow "beard".  All told its pretty risky business for a "g-rated" blog.  

This lovely was done in the Orton style.  I'll give you the steps I used to get to the final image.

The image was shot bracketed to allow for the dark backgrounds and sunlit petals.    Turns out the 1 stop over was the better exposure to work with from RAW so there was the starting point.

In photoshop open your RAW file and do what you need to do IE exposure fine tuning, color and light temp balancing and contrast.  When you have an image you like create the new file.   From that file "Duplicate image" and give it a name.  Close the original file to prevent accidentally working it and losing the original data.

From the newly named file go to "Layer" and create a duplicate layer.  That is automatically labeled background which you can leave as is.  

With the new layer go to Image, adjustments and chose the exposure tab.  Increase the exposure by a factor of 1.  

The next step is to go to Image, adjustments, saturation and adjust your saturation upwards.

The next step is to add the blur to the layer.   To do this go to Filter, Blur and chose Gaussian blur.  Blur by a factor of 10-25 pixels to get to a blur that suits your eye.  I generally am in the 15-18 range and this one was 15 pixel blur.

From this point use the blending tool to determine how the final blending will look.  I used Multiply and typically do.  However, others such as saturation and linear burn turn up some pretty interesting results, in short experiment until you get the one you want.

Save the entire file as a PSD file at this point.

Now take this file, go to layer and hit merge visible.  Fine tune your levels manually by going to image, adjustment, levels.

At this final point you "save as" with some sort of notation like v2 after the name as a jpeg file that you can publish or use to work with in other files.

This image had one additional step to give it the old 'chrome look printed on cibachrome by running it through Virtual Photographer.

Enjoy the image, use the steps at will to create your own "Orton style" images.

I got one in! "SGV BIKERS" to show at UCR/California Museum of Photography

I sat on pin & needles for 2 days but I finally got word.  Am image of mine will show all of April at the "California Museum of Photography" at the UC Riverside Campus.  Am so jazzed one was chosen.  Now to clear out time to make it to the reception on Thursday.  The official notice:

Thank you! 

For your work to EXTREME PLACES 2009. Judging was extended due to the sheer beauty, wit, and richness of the images received. It was very difficult to choose. 

A reception will take place on Thursday April 2nd, 6:00-7:30 to open the exhibition. Thirty-three works were chosen to exhibit in our Digital Studio Gallery here at UCR/CMP throughout the month.

During the reception there will be a slide presentation where one work by each artist submitting will be shown -- along with a complimentary DVD featuring each artist given out. We hope to see you on Thursday!

Reggie Woolery

Director of Digital Studio

& Education Outreach, UCR ARTSblock

UCR/California Museum of Photography

http://www.cmp.ucr.edu

Totally. F'ing Jazzed - all three are finalists!

All three of these images were submitted to the UC Riverside's Gallery for consideration in their "Extreme Places 2009" show set to run  for 3 weeks starting 4/2/09.  All three are finalists.  Now to impatiently sit out the judging and wait for the announcement of the winners on March 30.  Enjoy "Snow Squall", "Lario Trail Bicyclists" and "Abandoned Church Paris".

Just a little reminder its spring in the desert

The fraz has been so busy with stuff and a trip to the desert he's hardly had time to blog anywhere.  But...I did get some shooting in.  

The images is of a Mojave wild flower, "Prickly Poppy".   The image was post processed from RAW in the Orton Style and run through Virtual Photographer to just give it a little touch of Cibachrome style contrast and saturation.  Enjoy!

Arrested Decay and Orton are a good match.

A little discovery I made by chance today.  Arrested Decay, or things in the midst of decay frozen in time and place work well with the impressionists flavor of Orton.

The other thing I discovered is if I start with the over-exposed raw file when I start the layering I still manage to preserve shadow detail and still get the feel of an orton work.  I like it.  Hope you do too.

spring is showing up in my gardens

This is among the early blossoms on my perennials that are intermixed with the roses.  I can't remember the name of the flower but it is purple and looks like a daisy.

Spring has come earlier than usual this year to LA.  I suspect its the very warm January and wet February that prompted it all to come to life so early.  Now if we can get some serious rain in the Sierra's and end our long drought we will be in good shape.  

The image was post processed in the Orton style.  Enjoy.  The final merged layers were run through virtual photographer to remove the cyan cast from the parts in the shade and give it that old timey 'chrome film printed on cibachrome look.

Red door and vents.

I had sometime between games at Hawthorne High last week and opted to grab the camera and do some shooting.  This door and weathered vents caught my eye.  The not quite symetrical strong horizontal vs vertical lines were attention getting.

I shot it with HDR processing in mind and glad I did.  The fine detail in the various sections that it preserved certainly helped with the impact of the final image you see here.  Sometimes I like to use HDR for the very real instead of completely surreal.   That day was one of them.

The shot itself was bracketed +/- 2 stops from average with the resulting raw files merged into an HDR file via Photomatix.  The same program was used for the tone-mapping and detail preservation.  The final image was post processed through Virtual Photographer to remove the cyan cast (it was shot in shadows picking up a lot of the sky tint in the process) and give it the look of a traditional silver based 'chrome film printed on good old cibachrome paper.  

face staring right at ya

A stencil artist went a bit nuts down at the old Monrovia RR station.  (Someday to be the new RR station once urban light rail is up and running in the LA area and the bigger priorities are met).  I can't get to upset with stencils being put on temporary shutters like plywood and the like.  Its a classic no harm no foul situation.  If it were in the side of someones business or fence around their home I'd have issues, but here its all temporary and adds just a wee bit of character to the otherwise barren plywood.

I shot this image with the thought of HDR post processing.  I shot it bracketed 2 stops either side of average and used photomatix for the hdr file generation from the initial raw files.  That was then tone mapped and run through virtual photographer to remove the blue cast since it was all shaded.

Night Moves and cruising

Last night I was too tired home to drive home from Hawthorne so I opted to pass the keys and sit on the passenger side for a change.  Interestingly I wasn't so tired that I couldn't fool around with the camera a bit.  

I've always loved night photo and capturing the wiggles and squiggles of light as cars drove by leaving tracers with their lights.  I've wanted to for a while to see what would happen bracketing and HDR processing when I shot from a moving car.  Now I know.  I have to admit that I like the jagged edges and range of tones available. 

Now I have to jerry-rig a tripod and remote release to do this while driving myself as I do like the results.

The image was bracketed 2 stops +/- from normal with the HDR processing in mind.  The HDR file generation was done with Photomatix as was the tone mapping.  The final image was run through virtual photographer to give it that contrasty cibachrome edge.

And finally...just for those of you who thought of the Seger and "Night Moves" based on the title enjoy the youtube clip as well.

Bullwinkle and his Daffodil Poem

Meet Rocky and Bullwinkle.  While meandering around my garden I thought of that silly cartoon show and named these two in their honor.  Of course the poem "Daffodils" that Bullwinkle would recite was running rampant through my grey matter at the time.

The poem itself is by Dorothy Wordsworth and appeared in The Grasmere Journal if the wiki is correct:

I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them,  

some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, 

they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing. 

The image is post processed from RAW in the orton style.  The final image was post processed in Virtual Photographer to remove the cyan cast since this was largely shot in the shade. Enjoy.

Nothing screams spring like a Daffodil

Since I was a little kid in the UP of Michigan nothing has screamed spring like the arrival of the daffodils, sometimes even popping up through the remnants of the winters snow.  That bright yellow blossom with its trumpet wide open seemed to just scream spring and alert us to the coming warm days.  

Of course in LA we get our spring way earlier than the rest of the country.  Even better daffodils are completely low maintenance and naturalize to our climate.  All we need to do is plant bulbs once, cut off the dead blossoms and just let them sit.  I like that kind of gardening.

This shot was done in the Orton style.  I did shoot bracketed in RAW.  I post processed the raw file adjusting the color depth and temperature.  The final image when dumbed down to jpeg was run through virtual photographer to bring about the look and feel of a Kodachrome and to remove the cyan cast since most of the image was in "open shade".

Has anyone else noticed that digital recording media seems to lend much more "blue" to the shadows than traditional silver based media?  

Regardless of the question or how I got here, enjoy Daffodil and think of the warm spring days to come~

forced journaling...and my wife liked this one

I'm in a class that has some forced journaling requirements. Not that I'm a great writer or even a poet, but I' took the easy way out on the random thought process. I came up with this ditty that my wife and daughter liked. Its funny but the idea came from the fact these old "K-Swiss" classic wear like iron, look like hell but they are still so comfortable.  The all want me to get rid of them. The bit after the jump. Call it a classic meandering...

These shoes

They're old - Dec 07

The've taken me on adventures

I slipped off a cliff - 

hit a cacti before going over the edge.

They took me to London,

they took me to Paris.

I walked the path of kings,

At the Louve I saw the mark of the common man.

They took me on hikes at Rushmore and Yellowstone.

Hundreds of walks.

Now they have a bigger journey.

to find me a happy place.

I need it for my wife

I need it for my kids

I need it for me.

I needed these old shoes.

random album cover - flickr fun on face book

To Do This

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and TAG the friends you want to join in

ou est frazgo?

That's "where is frazgo" en francais folks.  I've used that tag a few times over the years first on the now defunct "textamerica", then a few more times on LA Metblogs and Flickr.  Kinda like that silly kids show "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego" its about the random different things I spot as I meander about.  Think of it as the ultimate ICME as it poses a question rather than tell you where it was.  

"Ou est frazgo?" will be a regular feature.  99.9% of the time it will be so random the image source will be my cell phone cam or the che-ez.

Things are in turmoil here.  I'll save you all the boredom of the dx, rx and tx suffice it to say that was the reason for the silence and slow come back.

Enjoy it.  Identify it, just don't expect a prize ;)

"7 Unknown Things" Meme...

Interesting week over on facebook and with my friends on metblogs and our various readers.  A meme started flying.  At first I ducked but eventually I got tagged by Roger Jacobs who has his blog "Carver's Dog" who was tagged by Joseph Mailander who has the "Cocktail Circuit" blog...which I think I need to get hooked on since I do like a nice cocktail every now and then.  That's what we do when we're grown ups finally, right?  Guess the beer bong years are over.

 I have no idea who will respond.  My tagee's will be at the end.  The rules:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.

2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.

3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

7 Unknown Things

1. I eat m&m's in color order, never mixing

2. I weighed a diaper once then tallied how much poo diapers I changed over the years with the kids...nearly 2 tons.  They owe me.  Dearly.

3. I lived in Death Valley for an entire year at Furnace Creek.

4. I never got a ticket I did not deserve.

5. My first speeding ticket I was 3 mph shy of going to jail...in a dealers loaner car.

6. I firmly believe in consumer guerrilla warfare.

7. A martini made with a jalapeno olive doesn't taste as good the second time around.

Now if you really want an eye full you'll have to friend me on facebook and check out my 25 things note on that meme from hell.  

Now for my taggees: West Coast Grrlie Blather, Mademoiselle Gramophone, The Aaron Proctor Effect, Pasadena Daily Photo,  Pasadena PIO,  [sic], Julia's Mexico City, Xanga, and for good measure The 99 Cent Chef.  It could be worse...you can pick your 7 and it doesn't have to follow a theme.