From Storrow Drive

Last Friday, as we drove through Boston, heading home after breakfast with friends, I took lots of pictures from the driver's seat.  From Storrow Drive, you can often get a peek at some elegant Back Bay homes.  I took a quick picture of this one.  I like the quirky composition, so this is how the photo looked, right out of the camera.

Composition at Beacon and Berkeley

Last Friday, after breakfast in Boston with our friends, I took pictures as we drove through Back Bay on the way home.  When you take pictures, as I do, from the passenger seat of a moving car, you sometimes get strange effects and quirky compositions.  In this case, I got both.  Instead of trying to correct the reflections and odd angles for a more conventional photo, I decided to let things be, apart from a bit of cropping.  As you can see from the street signs in the photo, this was taken at the corner of Beacon and Berkeley.

Reflections on a Boston Optical Illusion

After Friday's breakfast in Boston with friends, we walked with them in the Back Bay.  We were standing on the street corner chatting, and I had lost track of our location.  I looked down the street and saw a building with wavy windows, kind of like a Gaudi building in Barcelona.  How strange! Then I realized -- of course -- that I was looking at an optical illusion: the YWCA building reflected on the surface of the John Hancock building.  I laughed and then took a picture.  Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Looking Up on Stanhope Street

On Friday morning, we drove into Boston to meet friends for breakfast.  (This was our first meal at a restaurant since March of 2020!)  Our meeting place was The Friendly Toast, one of four restaurants on Stanhope Street, which is very short, narrow, and somehow set at an angle, tucked away in the Back Bay. While we were waiting for our friends to arrive, I looked up and saw that these buildings created an interesting arrangement, so I took a picture.  Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Day Lillies Version 3 (with Prisma filter "Disco")

Here is the third and last version of my recent photo of day lillies. 

I used my Prisma app to add a different filter, called "Disco", which gave the image a very different look.

A Birthday Bouquet

It has been a busy day, so I had just enough time to take a quick closeup of my daughter's birthday bouquet.  It is as bright and colorful and amazing as she is.

Day Lillies Version 2 (with Prisma's "Watercolor"filter)

Yesterday I posted my recent photo of day lilies. Here is the same photo edited in the Prisma app, using the Watercolor filter (my favorite). 

Day Lilies Version 1 (Original Photo)

I took this quick photo of daylilies during an afternoon walk.  The flowers are beautiful, and I like the composition.  But the photo is not quite ready for prime time. Flowers and background need some work.  One option would be to do some retouching in iPhoto and then used Painter to clean up the image with digital pastel and some cut and paste.  I plan to do that, but haven't had time, so instead I tried out some Prisma filters, which I plan to post here later this week.  So please consider this image my "before" picture.  

Backyard Ferns (with Prisma filter)

I see these ferns every day; they are growing in the shade garden in my backyard. But sometimes the sunlight reaches them, which is beautiful. I captured that in a recent photo, and then used the Prisma app to add a filter. Tonight I cropped the image to get this composition. 

Dad and Me (with Prisma filter)

This is a family classic, and I have posted other versions of this image before.  This photo of my dad with me on my birthday. was taken by my uncle, Isaac Fitterman, a very talented photographer   who took many great photos of the whole family!  Some years ago,  I used Painter to rescue my well-worn copy that was worn, bent, and cracked. Today I decided to try adding a Prisma filter (technology suggested to me by Uncle Ike's son Bob Fitterman.)  So this image is a collaboration with my Uncle Ike (who was a wonderful uncle to me), and a way to spend a little time thinking about my dad on Father's Day. 

Maple Seeds on Flagstone (with Prisma filter)

A few weeks ago, I caught myself admiring some red maple seeds on the flagstone, so I took this picture.  These lovely seeds can fly like helicopters, and are very beautiful.  But they come down hard and fast, especially this year, covering the driveway, getting into the windshield wipers, and (in our case, we have learned) wreaking havoc with swimming pool pipes. Nonetheless, they are lovely.  I used my Prisma app to add the Watercolor filter to the original photo, and then cropped it to get this image. 

The Necessity of Flowers (Drawing)

This is the drawing I started yesterday. Last night, I thought it was finished, but at the last minute, noticed some incomplete lines. So this morning, I finished this. I made this drawing with fine-line markers on paper (6 inches x 6 inches).  Some think of flowers are frivolous, but in reality they are necessary.  As is art.

White Dogwood Blossoms (with Prisma filter)

I recently posted a photo of white dogwood blossoms, taken during a walk in a neighborhood park.  Here is the same photo, with Prisma's Frangipani filter added.  I also used iPhoto to adjust the color.

Hopeful Flowers (Digitally Edited)

A few days ago, I posted a little drawing that I did with Sharpie markers.  The drawing began as a simple sketch but got complicated. Complicated is not bad, but can be a problem with markers, which just get darker and darker.  Today I used Painter to edit my drawing, lightening the colors and correcting mistakes.  This is what it looks like now.

White Dogwood Blossoms

I saw a beautiful dogwood tree full of white blossoms, just a block from home in a small neighborhood park. I took some pictures, and liked this closeup the best.  I cropped the original photo to get this composition. 

Snowball Bush and Fence (with Prisma filter)

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time in the back yard watering newly planted vegetables and flowers. This gives me time to enjoy what is blooming all around me: flowers in my own backyard, but also my neighbors' flowers. Here is the snowball bush from next door, peeking over the fence into my yard.  I took a picture and added the "Watercolor" filter with my Prisma app. Tonight I did the final crop to get the compositon.

Rhododendrons Everywhere

Rhododendrons seem to be everywhere.  They started to bloom at the end of May, but the ones in front of my house took their time.  I took this picture on June 1.  Despite a run of hot days, we are back to cool weather here North of Boston. That can be frustrating if you are waiting for summer, but cool temperatures keeps the blossoms on the trees and shrubs a bit longer.  These are still in bloom! Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Hopeful Flowers

This is the little drawing I started yesterday.  As I worked on it, this drawing became more complicated, and then I simplified it.  Now it is finished, although I plan to do some cleanup on a digital version.  I drew this with Sharpie markers on paper, 6 x 6 inches.

 

Hopeful Flowers (as of June 4, 2021)

It has been a while, but I pulled out my Sharpie pens today and got this little drawing started. This little flowers reflect a guardedly hopeful season, and are just beginning to bloom.  I will continue this drawing tomorrow.

Bachelor Buttons (with Prisma filter)

Over the weekend, my daughter brought me a bouquet of bachelor buttons, with a patriotic color scheme for memorial day.  I took some pictures, and later added a filter with the Prisma app I also used Painter's cut-and-paste to simplify the background.

Lots of Lilacs (with Prisma filter)

I am a little late posting this; the lilacs are fading.  But there were lots and lots of them this year.  Here is one of my recent photos of lilacs.  I used the Prisma app on my phone to add a filter.