Magnolia Mania

Thank you, Nica! That is the image that sparked my creativity. We'd been discussing crops at our meetings, and I decided to attempt a crop of the one tiny piece of the photo that was in focus. I was blown away with the results. I was but a second away from deleting that picture.

Thanks Dare! It's amazing what can be created from nothing! LOL:)

LOL! I certainly hope not, BFF! Thanks for visiting:)

Thanks, Holly! #6 is my favorite as well. I was trying to create something different with each photo. Some may not like the unrealistic colors in #2 and #5, but I liked how the "feel" of the photo completely changed.

The desaturation worked especially well for these photos, because the pink of the magnolia blooms was too vivid for the rainy background, and the raindrops were completely overshadowed.

It's perhaps hard to see in these photos, but I'll show the full sized photo changes at one of our meetings. The original pictures really weren't good at all, and it amazes me, what these changes did for the final image.

Thanks, Fletch! #6 is my favorite as well:)

Thanks KElane! It was fun to create these.

Thanks, Tzia! The originals are all essentially the same, so my goal was trying to make them each different:)

Thanks Vlad! It was work, but it was fun! Of course, it has slowed down my "file clean-up" significantly! LOL:)

Thanks Lebowsky! I was indeed surprised. Of course, now I'm hesitant to delete all those photos that need to be cleaned out! :-)

That's basically what I'm doing - flash drive, but I'm trying to clean out all the excess photos that I never use or view:)

I agree, Anna! A year ago, I would never have even considered editing my photos, even had I known how. Now I just consider it part of the art!

Thanks 58! I use several programs, including paint.net (free download) and Photoshop Elements, but these were done with a windows program that came with my computer. It's incredibly simple to use.

Thank you Mrs. D! It's been rainy for several days, so I've had time to play with all my old photos:)

Thanks, CT! Number 6 is definitely the one that stands out to me, and yeah, the whole process is "damn cool!" *grins*

Thanks A. Mac! Part of the reason I end up with so many extra photos of the same thing, is that I take so many from different angles and perspectives, and lately, I've been working with cropping distance shots. Without the extra portion in the photo, I can't crop for correction, and the cropping also lets me fill the frame. So I guess my point is how beneficial cropping can be -- something I've only recently come to understand.

Good points, A. Mac. I tend to shoot a bit of everything, mainly because up until recently, I haven't been focused on photography as a skill or art, but rather as a means of documentation. At various times, I have regretted not shooting the environment, when focused on people, or photographing people and forgetting the environment.

Thanks! I am learning that thanks to you and the others at NVP!

Yikes! Which edited shot? They weren't supposed to look dead! *grins*