I'm Just Sayin

2021 52 Week Challenge Class

52 Week Challenge Class: Elements
Photo by Hubert Beckwith

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Hubert says:

Elements: water, earth, catching some major air, and the fire of human adventure! Kayaking over the Great Falls of the Potomac. Heavily edited multiple exposures shot at great distance and max zoom.
Each exposure is a separate layer, with all of each layer removed except for the kayaker and artfully selected whitewater surrounding him. Since layers overlap, water had to be edited to blend with several other layers.
I added extra area to the canvas at the top and added a final layer that shows more of the upper falls than the other images. I trimmed that image at the lower edge of the upper rocks and aligned it with the background layer.
If not for Tims's Third Law of Conservation of Pixels, I would have cropped this much closer.
I cropped the resulting image square and made the colors richer with the usual adjustments.

2021 Smart Phone Challenge Group

Challenge: Vehicles
Photo by Kathy Bernard

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2021 Critique Group

Challenge: Flowers
Photo by LeRoy Messenger

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LeRoy says:

Right on cue, my small cactus bloomed this week. Fortunately, Ricky says 'any editing options are fine', so I took great liberty with color. Using PS, I wanted to get away from shading of yellows in the blooms and green in the cactus, so I used the channel mixer to soften the petals and let the light show through better, oil painting to highlight the textures of the petals, and then darkened the background, again to emphasize the light. Cropping to remove negative space. 1/30 sec at f/16, ISO200 at 200 mm.

Ricky's Challenge Photos:

Challenge: Flowers
from the 2021 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

I was in Santa Fe on Friday/Saturday, and wanted to get a rose cutting from a particular red rose that I like (insert theif). I did this two years ago on the Desert Southwest photo tour and actually got the rose to root. It didn't survie the winter - so I am trying again. As I was heading back to my car with my stolen red rose treasure, I spied another large rose that was pink and white - and snagged another cutting. The roses are huge - that's why I want them. They are strong, woody, and apparently good for my eleveation. This cutting had a rose blossom connected to it - so I decided to shoot it with my macro to see what that might yield. Sincerely yours, the Rose Thief

Challenge: Vehicles
from the 2021 Smart Phone Challenge Group

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Ricky says:

Edited in Prisma app with Color - and this is my truck with the cloudy sky reflecting in the window. I wanted to go for abstract and yet this has plenty of realism.

South Cheyenne Canyon by Ricky Tims
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Back in the day (2001 - 2005) I did independent study quilt retreats at Glen Eyrie castle in Colorado Springs. Our first day, Monday, was a tour day. The bus took us to Garden of the Gods, Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Seven Falls, and the Air Force Academy chapel. Many quilts were inspired by photos taken during this tour. One year, I took a photo of South Cheyenne Canyon which is the flow of water that comes from Seven Falls. The quilt was eventually auctioned and has had a great home. I had fun just playing with the fabric and the depth.

Sometimes, seeing these older quilts are like seeing an old friend. Some of you who know my work may have never seen this one, so I thought it would be a good feature—and a fun jigsaw puzzle.

Lizzy Albright Sampler Quilt, Baerbl Vollertsen 

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After sewing 2 lockdown quilts from existing fabrics, it was huge fun to choose the
wonderful Grunge fabrics from Moda in the store. I'm working in a gradient
from pink/red (bottom right) to blue/purple (top left). Our members are very
fortunate to have Ricky supporting us through Zoom meetings.

Great work, Baerbl! Thanks for sharing your progress with us.

If you would like to make the Lizzy Albright quilt, I have the pattern book for those wanting to use your own fabrics - but also the Lizzy Albright quilt fabric kit which includes the pattern book.

Read here about Silke VonHoffman's quilt from last week.

2021 52 Week Challenge Class

52 Week Challenge Class: Stuck In Place
Photo by Debra Gagnon

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Debra says:

Chose morning 0600 - 0700 on the patio under our deck. The photo with the tripod was out of focus, but since it had some features of week 22, panning (which I missed) I decided to include it. Wasn't trying to pan, but the little tiny checkmarks made me think I somewhat did OK. I like the texture and color of the hosta. It also looked great in B&W. The mirror montage is looking up at the underside of the deck. The hard part for me was deciding which 4 photos to select. Blue Springs, Missouri.

2021 Smart Phone Challenge Group

Challenge: Cracked
Photo by Brian Savon

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Brian says:

Off Hwy 319 south of Crawfordville, Fl is a collection of old Ford trucks and cars dating from the early 1900’s to the mid-70’s. Placed there by Pat Harvey, they had all been used on the nearby Harvey family farm. This photo was taken inside one car with a cracked windshield; you can see sections of two other wrecked vehicles in front of it.
 

2021 Critique Group

Challenge: Wide Lens
Photo by MaryBeth Moran

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MaryBeth says:

18mm view of Lake Winnipesaukee looking toward the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Photo taken from Lincoln Park, a very small park, gifted to the town of Gilford NH in 1924. The park has a small patch of grass and 6 picnic tables to enjoy lunch and the views. I was concerned about the heavy cloud cover today. However, after adjustments in LR, taken to PS and used the adaptive wide-angle filter to highlight the vastness of the area. Lake Winnipesaukee is 20 miles long and the White Mountains in the distance are about 40 miles away in bird distance.

Ricky's Challenge Photo: 

Challenge: Cracked
from the 2021 Smart Phone Challenge Group

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Ricky says:

I have many Douglas fir beams in my house and I'm always fascinated with the lines and movement created from wood grain. The beams are known for cracking, which adds to their character. Edited in Prisma app with Cactus

Lizzy Albright Sampler Quilt, Silke Von Hoffman

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Silke says:

This is my second sampler quilt I've sewn and even though I've been doing patchwork for over 25 years. I usually sew more modern, I also prefer hand dyed and batik fabrics.

But when I saw this great quilt with the story that goes with it, I knew I wanted to make it in the original fabrics. With each block I look at the pattern and just choose the fabric combination according to the mood of the day. There is no overall concept or working by color gradient. Only the yellow fabrics I try to use distributed throughout the quilt.

Congratulations, Silke!