While camping near Grants, NM, we drove along some back roads up Mt. Taylor (elevation is about 11,000 feet). On the way up, we came across this glorious stand of aspens that has already changed color. I love the above image of the little dirt road forming a path thru the trees.
The above image is one of my favorites. I've always loved images of the barks of the trees with the tree leaves in the background. The golden color of the leaves really enhanced it.
Here's the aspen stand that we drove thru. We were pretty much at the top of Mt. Taylor and the day provided perfect weather for a lovely fall type photo.
Enjoy!
Last weekend, we went camping at a state park around Grants, NM. While there, we did some exploring along some national forest roads, and found a charming little national forest campground, called Coal Mine Campground. It's very small (only 15-20 campsites), and is closed for the season, but we walked around it to check it out. The above image is of quite a substantial bridge built over a wash that seems to lead to other walking/hiking trails. When we do camp here, we'll definitely have to check it out!
Lots of pine trees in the campground (I'm guessing we were at about 8000 feet in altitude). i just loved the way the sun light just played off the pine needles.
As we explored on from the campsite, we came to this little clearing that offered a great view of a very peaky mountain! I don't know the name of the mountain, but it's perfect peak just caught my attention.
Enjoy!
I've started playing with some digital collages, made with images I took or old photo images I got from various sources that have been scanned into my computer and are now digital. No glue, actual paper, paint, etc., etc., were used for these collages. I've used my new PhotoShop Elements 10 and a great book that I got a while back - "Digital Expressions" by Susan Tuttle.
The above collage uses a photo I took down in the Carlsbad Caverns of some of the formations as the background. I decreased the opacity of that image so it truly was a background, and not too prominent. I do like the texture that it adds to the piece. I then did a cut and past of an old photo I got off e-bay. I then added a quote that I saw on a sort of poster in a restaurant in town here.
Here's a collage I had fun with. Again, I started with the same Carlsbad Cavern photo as the background. I then added images of an soldier and a young woman, and then a page from a calendar of antique maps and some text. I played with the opacity of each element to create a sort of "flow" between them all.
This last collage incorporates the background, and lots more images - old sheet music, old newspaper, book pages, images of friends (that's the story I have about them) and paint! Lots of layers in this piece!
Ok - technically, this isn't a digital collage, but I just wanted to show the technique. It's really just adding a texture type photo that I took (sort of a blurred effect of wood grain) and overlaid it on the photo of the flowers (adjusting the opacity of the texture layer way down!) so that it just creates texture within the image. It's a different look, but I like it.
Enjoy!
A few months ago, I did an ATC swap, using close-up photos of flowers. It was easiest for me just to get wallet size photos printed up at Walgreens, but that left me with extras, since I only needed one print of each photo for the swap. I kept them on one of my studio work tables, and would just pick them up and look at them from time to time, knowing sooner or later I'd figure out how I could use them in some sort of art piece. Well, I finally decided that they just cried out to be part of note cards! So, I cut down some card stock that I had to the appropriate size to fit in the invitation size envelopes, pulled out my photos as well as some hand-made and other decorative paper, or even scraps, and voila! Mixed media note cards! I'll just post a sample card with each of the different images, not all the cards! No more words from me!
Enjoy!
On Labor Day, Jeff wanted to go flying, and I generally try to join him for the fun of flying! I really liked the pattern of the image above. Don't know if these are considered crop circles, but they are the circle of green made by the irrigation systems that the farms around here have! I did play with this image to create some cool collage background texture pages, too, altho they aren't posted here.
I really liked the look of the dappled clouds and dappled sunshine on the ground below. If you can't see the pattern on the ground well enough, click on the image - I think it will show you a larger image so you can see the pattern better.
And, on Tuesday morning, as I was getting ready for work, this sunrise was just outside our door. So, I quickly stepped outside and got this wonderful pastel sunrise thru the pine trees on our back patio.
Enjoy!
This past Saturday, we went for a drive to a little town called Carrizozo. Lots of good photo opportunities, and I'm sharing some with you now! The photo above was taken along the roadside on the way down to Carrizozo. Sunflowers growing along a barbed wire fence - typical New Mexico
After we visited Carrizozo, we decided to take some back roads back home. There were a number of large ranches, and this image seems to capture that open feeling.
When we rounded a bend in the road, there was this deserted building, part of a small deserted community. I just loved the texture of the walls of this building, and the fact that you can see right through the windows to the landscape beyond.
While on the back road, we came across a ghost town I didn't even know existed - Ancho. The original train depot is still standing there, and I converted the photo I took into a charcoal drawing. Somehow, it just seemed more appropriate that this image be a charcoal drawing than a "straight" photograph.
Enjoy!
Here's an ATC swap that I just finished creating my pieces for. I generally don't share all of them, but all of these just made me chuckle, so I thought I would this time! Just click on the image if you can't read the saying in the smaller photo. No more words from me on this one!
Enjoy!
