Etratat as seen by Monet and Millar

Here is where Monet came to paint his many portrayals of the Aval cliff while staying in Etretat. The view from above enhances the scattering effect of the boats sailing of into the distance. The medium which is both light and unsettled and the blue green shades both dominate and emphasize the transparency of the waters below as they blend with the orange and yellow tones of the morning sky. Monet didn't dwell on trivial details; what he is striving for is balance and form, through color.

My image strives for balance through contrast, another important principle of design.

In Isolation

It is always fun to isolate something. When it happens naturally, it's really special. I love the contrast of the red bougainvillea with the every so slightly textured wall behind. White space is always good.

Shape and Color

An interesting shape, framed by color, softly executed.

Nice Ligting

It's nice when you spot some extraordinary lighting when you least expect it. Here the light is filtered by the trees. Glorious find while waiting to golf.

Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre

This one could have used a bit more sky.

The Eiffel Tower

And Sainte Chapelle

with netting to catch falling gargoyles. The chapelle is under repair.

The Twin Towers of the Notre Dame

The Look Up Series

So many buildings are seen from the ground. Filling the frame with the sky and a bit of building became a joy for me on our recent trip to France. I love seeing how the sky changed from day to day.  I will share a few over the next few days.

Cactus Imagery

As we were leaving the desert, I spotted one of the cactus blooming. The blooms were prolific and as big as water lily blooms. I have never seen this before in our desert spot.I snapped with the only camera I had, my I-phone.

The original image was set against a solid blue sky. This is the result after playing with some textures from The Daily Texture. And, finally adding a quote.

And Ligtroom shortcuts as well

And the Lightroom version. Equally good.

A Pinterest Good Find...

for all you Photoshop Users. Gotta love keyboard shortcuts. They save so much time.

From the design team at Make a Website Today

Four of a Kind: Nightlights

Noticed and captured at Edith's in San Lucas del Cabo

Love this little app called Layout. It allows you to combine multiple photos quite easily. Try it.

Addlibs: a photo app

This is an app that takes any photo, either one that you take or one in your library and turns it into a graphic look. The choices are not extensive and are rather random. It gives you the capability of adding specific text and sharing the result through various social media. For a couple of bucks, it's fun. Give it a go.

Testing the Blogger app

One photo, so many apps!

Yippee!

Sometimes Magic Happens

Begin with an ordinary photo. Clean it up as is necessary. Layer it over a photo of color which is really only an out of focus picture of flower petals but with light in an amazing place. Select the blending mode of your choice to totally change the coloring of the original photo. I personally love this type of magic and never tire of looking at new ways to create beautiful outcomes. Enjoy!

Steller, the app

Steller is a new and delightful storytelling app available for Ipad and Iphone. Did I tell you it's free. It is mostly used for tiny tales. Check out mine and then the site: https://steller.co/

A variety of templates are available. Select the photos that tell your story, write the text and publish it. Easy-peasy!

Time Lapse Photography by Jesse Attanasio

This landed in my inbox recently and I was awestruck. Some of the photography is close to home. I recognize Joshua tree but have not seen it at sunrise of sunset. Spectacular! Now that my cameras have come home, I must delve into the world of timelapse. Meanwhile, enjoy this work by Jesse Attanasio called Exhale.

 

Finding Blue

Sometimes when I walk, I choose one color to photograph. On this day, it was the color blue. I purposely arranged these berries in my favorite still life way with empty space to the left. It follows the rule of thirds by arranging the subject on one of the thirds lines. I like the bits of bocah in the background.

Stills

I've been taking an online class with Kim Klassen on Still Life photography. Her woks is amazing and soft and textural. She very generously gives away many textures. I think my favorite still life style remains a single subject with a certain amount of white space. Here is this weeks do.