A New Day, A Different Way The creative and photographic endeavours of a woman trying to add color and beauty to her world.

This photo was taken on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  It was mid day and it was very sunny so I was dealing with harsh, bright light.  The statues in the photo are quite interesting but the overall picture is a little boring due to the lighting and the fact the color is all the same shade.  I did a really quick and fun edit on this photo using the free photo editing software from PicMonkey.  I simply uploaded the photo and applied the Daguerrotype effect to the photo.  I think it adds a bit more interest to the photo and suits the alien states shown in the photo. 

I love this mural.  I took this photo when I was in Toronto, this is a large mural that takes up most of the side of a building.  I love the colors, the combination of portrait and abstract and just everything about it.  I didn't actually do much of an edit on this one.  I used the spot healing tool in Photoshop Elements to remove the power lines that hung in front of the mural and I did a slight levels adjustment to brighten the white a little.  

It appears I have managed to stick to my challenge for a second day, yay me!!  The photo I chose for today is one I am really unhappy with.  Last year we made a trip to the Ft. Steele Heritage Town outside of Cranbrook, BC.  It was a very bright and sunny day, one that casts really hard light so while I had great subject matter I wasn't really happy with the resulting photos.

I'm still not sure I love this photo but I was trying to soften the effect of the harsh sunlight.

Here is today's photo:

Again, not really in love with the after shot.  But I do think I was successful somewhat in lightening the shadows with a levels adjustment, I did adjust the black or the white just the colors in the middle.  I then ran Nelly Nero's Chocolate Fade Photoshop action to give it a feel more in keeping with the vintage of the wagon.  Overall maybe I just think the photo is a little boring, and no amount of editing can fix that but I'm still glad I played with it.

I love taking photographs, but I have come to realize I dislike editing photographs.  Cropping and adjusting levels trying to make them perfect.  I just don't find that part fun.  If the straight out of the camera shot isn't good enough (and they seldom are even for very seasoned photographers) I just don't play with it. 

So in an effort to change this I set myself a one week challenge.  Just one week nothing too ambitious, of picking a photo out of my archives, editing it and posting the before and after shots here on my blog.  My thinking is perhaps if I could see a weeks worth of posts with the edited photos it will inspire me to keep editing my photos. 

So here are today's before and after shots.

I love taking photos of flowers with my macro lens.  I never know what I will end up with as the lens doesn't always want to focus on what I want to focus on.  This one turned out okay in that respect but to me the original is a little dark and dull.  I wanted to soften the effect and lighten the overall effect. 

I started by cropping the photo a little, I did a slight levels adjustment and then added three layers of texture using different blending modes in Photoshop Elements.  I am a lot happier with the after shot however looking at it now I see that I would like to go back in and bring out a bit more of the green from the middle of the flowers, and really that's the goal of this little challenge.  To allow myself to see what I am missing by not editing. 

When I was recently in Toronto I got a chance to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the Picasso exhibit.  I could have spent hours wandering through the building looking at the incredible art.  Unfortunately I only had an hour and a half to check out the Picasso exhibit and that was all.  Otherwise all I got were a few fleeting glimpses of some of the amazing work of Canada's Group of Seven on the way out. 

The building itself is a piece of art having recently been redesigned by acclaimed Canadian architect Frank Gehry.  I was not able to take any photographs of the exhibit but here are a few of the inside of the building that showcase some of the incredible architecture.

There seem to be a lot of beautiful poppies growing in our neighbourhood.  I came home at lunch yesterday when I knew most people would be at work and creeped into a couple of neighbour's yards to catch some photos of their poppies.

I still have a lot of pictures from my trip left to post.  Here are a few from Dundas Square.  It is located right in the heart of downtown Toronto.  It seems to be constantly teeming with people and there was so much to see. 

The huge billboards...

The lovely Marie Antoinette, who stood there for over eight hours in full make-up and costume despite the humidity...


And this unlikely band comprised of men who live in a shelter just trying to make a little bit of money. They were very good and their music filled the entire street and drew quite a crowd...


This was my first trip to Toronto and my first trip further east than Saskatoon.  I was really surprised to find that Toronto really has it's own very unique vibe.  I expected it to feel a lot like Vancouver but it really didn't at all. 

Here are a few photos I took of an old church located on Church St. in Toronto.  I wasn't able to get much for detail on this church as I didn't have a lot of time.  I have edited the photos giving them a black and white treatment to make them look like they came from an era that matches the building.

Photos edited using Nelly Nero's Actions for Photoshop Elements.

This is a photo of the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto with the CN Tower looming in the distance.  It was a humid day so there is a slight haze in the distance that lends a softening quality. 

Photo edited with Nelly Nero's Grunge Lite Action for Photoshop Elements. 

Anyone who has followed my blog knows that I love taking photos of flowers.  I used to think I had to try to photograph other objects so my posts weren't so repetitive but I have decided to embrace doing what I love and the flower post will continue with some regularity.  I hope you like these beauties.

The Irises are blooming right now and they are incredible.  There were taken from the parking lot of on office building if you can believe it.

Today I am linking up for Texture Tuesday over at Kim Klassens Cafe Blog.  The theme this week is text so your photo must include at least one layer of one of Kim's textures and some text.

I have been out taking photos of spring blossoms this week and this quote jumped to mind as I was looking at this photo.

I used Kim's golden texture first, using the soft light blending mode at 56%, then I added dusty rose also on solf light and changed the opacity to 71%.

I love the irony of seeing the beautiful new spring blooms grow up among the decay left after a winter of snow.  The circle of life renewed again.

I found the intricacies of the dried moss on this stick quite beautiful so I decided to capture it by getting up close with my macro lens.

These are close up photos of some mushrooms I found on a recent hike.  I actually quite like the way these photos turned out.  There is kind of an odd, earthy quality to them I think, and I love the little bug peeking out from under the first one, I caught him quite by accident.