Lilacs and Cloudy Sky (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
This time of year, I am on the lookout for lilacs. I love the scent of lilacs. Whenever I can, I pull the lilacs close to my face and inhale their perfume. A good place to hunt for lilacs is Long Hill Gardens, and lately the lilacs have been blooming. This photo is from a recent outing. I liked the look of the lilacs against the overcast sky, so I took some pictures. Tonight I cropped this photo to get the composition I wanted.
Penobscot Bay in Belfast Maine (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
On Thursday, I drove up to Belfast, Maine. A close friend from high school back in Colorado now lives in Maine and we try to together when we can. She invited me to meet her in Belfast, Maine, to attend the opening of the art show where she had a painting on display. She is one of my very favorite people, so of course I said yes. I was also curious to see Belfast, Maine, because I have spent a little time in Belfast in Northern Ireland. By the time I arrived on Thursday afternoon, it was pouring buckets, raining too hard to take photographs, but I could see that the town is very inviting, especially for artists, and I hope to go back sometime to see more of it! Despite the rain, the art show was terrific and it was great to spend time with my friend. The weather was sunny on Friday morning and I had just enough time to get a few photos of the view of Penobscot Bay from the hotel before I had to head back home. The color in this shot is just as it came out of the camera. All I had to do was crop the photo to get the composition. Now I have a nice souvenir of a very short but sweet vacation in Maine.
Celebration of Azaleas (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
It is May and azaleas are blooming everywhere. I took this photo during my most recent visit to Long Hill Gardens. It looked like a fiesta! I loved the color of these hot pink flowers combined with the bright green leaves (just beginning to show), and the blue forget-me-nots peeking through in the lower right corner.
Stage Front Park Seen from Beach in Gloucester MA (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
I took this photo with my digital camera last weekend while taking a walk in Gloucester, MA. From the beach, you can see Stage Front Park in the distance. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.
Gazebo at Long Hill Gardens (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
There is always something to see at Long Hill Gardens here in Beverly. But in the spring, the scene changes very quickly, so it was worth going back this week to see what was in bloom! This time, the azaleas were blossoming near the gazebo. It looked like a fantasy landscape, so I took a picture.
Many Tulip Tops (Originally uploaded by randubnick)
Yesterday I posted a photo of a tulip blossom, digitally modified and posterized in Painter IX. I also used Painter IX to create a pattern from the image, and this is what it looks like.
Tulip Top (Digitally Edited and Posterized) Originally uploaded by randubnick
For the past few days, I have been posting photos of last week's excursion to Long Hill Gardens. The first photo that I took that day was of a single tulip with an orange and pink blossom. I thought the flower was amazing, but I didn't pay much attention to its surroundings. When I loaded the image into my computer, I noticed how distracting the background was. The leaves and stalk of the tulip were obscured by other plants. This wasn't a problem that I could solve with cut and paste or even a little retouching with digital pastel. But I really liked the tulip top, so today I tried to salvage the image. I cropped the image to focus on the top of the tulip, and then opened the image in Painter IX. I used opaque digital pastel to replace the foliage of the flowerbed with a simple dark background. Then I posterized the image, and here it is. I also made the image into a pattern, which I will post tomorrow.
