The coneflower that is about-to-be. It’s there, but the petals haven’t fully grown yet.
I love coneflowers and I have plenty of them in the gardens. They are easy to grow, long lasting and, to me, the quintessential flower for a cottage garden.
And they re-seed. What could be better?
Gosh, the landscape around here is such a lush green. Days and days of rain will do that. So, though the rain was a pain in the tush, the payoff is pretty spectacular.
Lawn mowing yesterday. Lawn mowing today. Weed pulling today. Weed pulling yesterday.
Are you getting a picture of my weekend?
Such a tiny little bee. I stood there for several minutes, watching him alight on the stamens, then move further inside the lily, then back to the stamens.
Taking photos of flowers and birds and bees and bugs takes patience. I’m not always the most patient person, indeed, at times, I am unbelievably impatient, but I am patient about photos of flora and fauna. If I had started doing all this earlier in life, I could easily imagine myself as a National Geographic-type photographer, setting up my camera and tripod at some location, then waiting and waiting for the perfect shot. I would love that.
By the way, the single best investment I have made, besides my camera, is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – or simply Lightroom. It goes on sale a couple of times a year and I happened to purchase it at one of those times, encouraged by my friend Dawn of Creative Cain Cabin.
Yes, PicMonkey is free but it doesn’t hold a candle to what Lightroom can do. Not even close. Photoshop has a steep learning curve and is more expensive than Lightroom. That learning curve, along with the cost, often puts people off. But Lightroom is more affordable and, once you figure it out, easy to use. I can see a distinct difference in the pre-Lightroom and post-Lightroom photos on this blog.
Of course, you still have to know your camera and its settings. You have to be willing to take it off Auto and use it on Manual. But all of that comes with practice.
I use PicMonkey for fonts, but that’s about it. I don’t do a lot of fonts on my photos anyway, it’s not my thing. I did, however, create this watermark in Lightroom.
If you have a blog and are serious about your photos, if you don’t have a blog and are serious about your photos, if you don’t want to invest several hundred dollars in Photoshop but you do want something better than the limitations of a free photo editing application, Lightroom is for you.
This might sound like a commercial, but truly, it comes from the heart. I have thanked Dawn again and again for pointing me in the direction of Lightroom. It’s that good.
Anyway, I’ll try to keep an eye out for the next time Lightroom is on sale, so I can tell you about it.
Boy, do I love this shot.
By the way, dear friends, the new book blog will be up and running tomorrow. Well, it’s actually up and running now, but I’m not going to reveal the name until Monday. I’m excited about it. Of course, it will evolve over time, but the basic underpinnings are there. I worked on it yesterday between bouts of mowing.
I do hope you will like it!
Happy Sunday.
I see you figured out how to get your comments to the bottom….bravo….I can’t believe you have your new blog ready, that is amazing and I can’t wait to see it. I am a lightroom fanatic, and wish I was better with photoshop. Maybe someday. I love the bee pic also.
I am also a Lightroom fanatic, my friend, and I have you to thank for it! Truly, there is such a difference in my older photos and my Lightroom photos!
Remember the code I showed you in the Functions file? I was right. That was what had to be deleted. And since I’m using the same theme for the book blog, creating it was much easier because I had already learned how to tweak it with this blog.
So excited about the new blog! :) Your photos are gorgeous and If I ever get back to some serious photography then I’ll think about Lightroom!
I hope things have settled down for you, Linda! Enjoy your Sunday, my friend.
I love your photos Claudia. I love the artistry of them. I am still earning my new camera, but do not regret going with the one I truly wanted instead of going cheap. Thanks for the advice! Once I get most (probably never all) figured out I will invest in a good quality editing program until then the program for Pentax cameras works unbelievably well.
Next I need to start blogging again so I have a place to show my work. I do love to share, and as of now I don’t do it.
Thanks for so much Claudia!
1. Start blogging again, Trudy!
2. I have so much more to learn about my camera…I’ve learned a lot, but I have a long way to go!
3. Have a wonderful Sunday.
I guess I’m not serious enough about my photos. :/
I have had my 35 ml digital for almost 2 years and I still use it on auto. Every single time I try to deviate from that I mess up the setting s and it just turns lousy after that. Can you recommend a site/online class/ program for photo 101 ?
I’m am excited to see your new blog for all things books. Though I don’t come here for the reviews ; I know you’ll feature other things too. Of course, those blog posts will be full of your beautiful photos too!
Have a great day
Pat
Well, I know that there is a class called Shoot, Fly, Shoot that comes highly recommended. It’s run by one of the authors of The Lettered Cottage blog.
Here’s the link: http://shootflyshoot.com
xoxo
Thank you! I’ll go and have a look around! Pat
I can actually see the pollen on the bee. I can see you being a National Geographic photographer! I love all the close ups of your garden. And I will be here tomorrow with bells for the new blog!
Tana
Oh good, Tana! Can’t wait to show it to you.
The new blog is being revealed tomorrow – exciting! Since college, running a full-service independent children’s bookstore has always been my own personal I-won-the-lottery-what-will-I-do-with-my-days-now dream business, so needless to say I’ve been kicking around “bookish” titles since then. Can’t wait to see what you actually come up with for your blog… Enjoy your mowing and weeding – as much as that’s possible anyway. The weather should be perfect for it…
I alway had a dream of running a bookstore, too.
Phenomenal pictures…you could’ve been a National Geographic photographer for sure! At least we get to enjoy them! Enjoy your weeding! ;)
Thank you, Donna! Ah well, I went into the theater, instead.
Claudia, you know that I love your dreamy photographs, and I love to check out your Instagram as well, even though that’s risking a blog spoiler. Love the picture of Scout chillin’ to the guitar music! She looks so contented.
Great pictures Claudia. I am semi serious about my photos. I’m also really short on patience. Have a good day.
I am still – sadly – using a point-and-shoot camera. You know my son is a photographer…well, a couple of years ago, he gave me his first DSLR camera but I need to buy a lens. Since I’m not working and money is so tight, I have not purchased that lens yet. I think I’m going to do so for my birthday (coming up next month). Then I have to learn how to actually use a DSLR. I’m going to look at some online tutorials plus do a lot of my own hands-on learning. THEN I will “worry” about a photo-editing software program. I will have to keep Lightroom in mind. My son is a Photoshop pro – mostly self-taught. He even won a State award for a photography piece he did under the category of “Photoshop Design” back in high school. He used to help his high school photography teacher teach the class. ;-) But do you think he’d have the patience to teach his MOM this stuff?! Ha!
Wow, I really admire your son for mastering Photoshop! Maybe he can be induced to help you a little? I learned the same way you are going to learn. Hands on. Trial and error. Online Tutorials. You can do it, my friend.