Tag: cactus flowers

More Fun with Perfect Effects 8

Published on by tbeckerphotos6 Comments

I decided to have more fun with Photo Effects 8 today.  I had downloaded a free copy from On One Software a while back and first used it over the weekend.

I chose to work with an image of pink hedgehog cactus flowers that was taken at Desert Botanical Garden here in Phoenix.  Here is the image processed as I normally would in Lightroom.  For a while now, when processing my images I have been adding a “frame” to them to look more finished.  The “frame” has been left off for a more true comparison.

pink hedgehog cactus flowers

 

This second image is after taking it into Photo Effects 8 and adding several filters. It certainly has a completely different feel to it than the above image.  I like how the image turned out and am now wanting to process and/or reprocess many images to see what I can come up with.

 

 

pink hedgehog cactus flowers

 

 

Photography Prints

Stillness and Smiling

Published on by tbeckerphotos3 Comments

This morning I rose at 5 a.m. to go shoot night blooming cactus (Echinopsis candican, commonly known as the Argentine giant) just as the sun was rising,  That hour may seem very early, but actually it was sleeping in for a sunrise that was at 5:41 a.m. and I only had to travel a short distance.  There were several in bloom at the private property where I photographed before.  I had seen them last night while taking Molly for a walk.

I thought about shooting them last night as you can make such dramatic images of them in the dark. three white night blooming cactus flowers However, the wind had kicked up and I knew it would be impossible to get a good image.  It was just too windy!  Sometimes wind can be your friend and impressionistic images can be made, but not last night.  So Plan B was to get up before sunrise and shoot at first light.  I checked The Photographer’s Ephemeris app and checked the exact time of sunrise and the angle of the sun.  I zoomed in on the home to see where in the front yard the sun would be.  Perfect angle!

 

 

white night blooming cactus flowers

 

Unfortunately the wind was still too strong when I got up this morning!  I thought about trying to shoot anyway and see if I could make the wind work in my shots, but decided against it.

 

 

Plan C,  post a couple of images made the second night I shot of the night blooming cactus a few weeks ago.  The first image, Stillness, because I was remembering how still it was that night, no wind, no one around, just quietly shooting. The second image, Smile, is what I saw while processing.  A bit of a crooked smile, but smiling was what I was doing that night!

Below are the images in full size.

white night blooming cactus flowers

 

 

white night blooming cactus flowers