Unplanned

I don't usually plan my photos. Usually, I'll just notice something and think "wow, that would be a great photo!" If I have my camera with me (which I try to keep on me at all times), I'll take a few pictures. No matter what I was currently doing. It makes for some amazing pictures!

Ever thought of taking pictures of wet hair?

It was hard to catch pictures of the water drops.

And of course, I'd have to take pictures of my hair once it was dry as well.

So what do you think? Are unplanned pictures better, or do you like to plan your pictures?

Rose Petals

Remember those roses I shared with you in my first post on this blog? Well, before they totally wilted and faded away, I pulled off their heads (lol that sounds weird) and took some pictures of the rose petals. I did edit quite a number of these pictures. Which one do you like the best?

This one was actually portrait like the other ones, but I liked the whoosh of the petals when I turned it sideways

I love the contrast: the white one is so pure and innocent, and the red one has more signs of decay.

I just couldn't resist making this one sepia. It makes it seem more epic, don't you think?

Rain-Soaked Walk

Here are the rest of the pictures I promised from my walk! I got a lot of pictures of raindrops, since it was sprinkling, and it also had rained the day before. I hope you like them!

the view up the creek

I thought the contrast was cool with the new and old leaves

Two different stages of dandelions. Isn't it amazing how you can see the individual seeds?

I love how the raindrops look like little crystal jewels.

like pearls along a strand of grass

I forget what this flower is called, but isn't it just gorgeous?

Little Pockets of Water

Hannah at Find that Creative Spark is having a photography contest, and the theme is water/streams. You're only allowed to edit one thing about your photos. (talk about challenging!)

We have a small stream that runs down our hill to the river in our backyard (I didn't get pictures of the river because there's a ton of poison ivy down there). So I was able to take pictures of the little pockets of water we had left from the rain:

The only thing I did to this picture was flip it.

For this picture, I boosted the contrast so you can see the reflection of the sky and leaves better.

And for this picture I added an effect called "Ortonish" which boosts the contrast and adds a "glow".

I have a lot of other pictures I took on my walk, which I will post soon. Water is lovely, isn't it? I think it's one of my new favorite things to photograph.

Newness!

Well, a number of things are new around here. First of all, I changed the layout and colors of this blog. What do you think? Do you like it? I'm not that big of a fan of black, and I think brown feels more "homey" to me.

Also, I figured out how to have larger pictures on here! Now you can really see all the detail in those beautiful flowers. ;)

And last, but not least, I sometimes find newness just in the everyday things around me.

My desk

A seashell we picked up on the beach in Florida on year

My brother, just waiting on the stairway...

Flowers for Photography Contest

Johanna at An Old-Fashioned Girl is hosting a photography contest, and the theme is flowers, which is just up my alley. ;) The deadline is May 15th, so go on over there and enter!

Here are the pictures I'm entering (and they are completely unedited, except for some cropping, and my watermark on them):

A white dogwood blossom

 A pink dogwood blossom

Dandelions

Lily of the valley

 And last but not least, a beautiful rose.

Violet or Lilac - it's all purple

It seems like all the purple flowers have come out recently. I just love lilacs - and violets are pretty too, in their own small way.

I kind of went all over the place editing these pictures in different ways, and I really like how they turned out. (Just to let you know, I usually don't edit my photos besides adjusting the exposure or sharpness.) The only photo in this post that isn't edited is the first one:

Which edit do you like the best?

And here are the sweet little violets:

The Simple Things

Sometimes the simple things, the things that are ordinary or mundane, can be the most beautiful.

For example, dandelions:

An ant:

And perhaps even spiderwebs:

And of course, the sky.