Saturday Morning Sunrise

Yesterday morning I was up before the sun and caught this sunrise at the end of my street.  What was really interesting was how the clouds seemed to swirl over the mountains.

It was so fiery and really very lovely.  So I turned it into a mandala yesterday evening.

I only used 8 repeats this time or 4 mirror images.  The background I used another picture of the sunrise with a color fill over it with the opacity dropped so you could still see the texture of the clouds.

This one I feel is not a restful mandala.  It has a lot of energy in it, but am pleased with with way it turned out.  I may take it and play with changing the colors in it. 

Challis Flower

This is a flower I took a picture of at the rest stop at the junction of 93 and MT-43 on the way to Challis, Idaho.  I don't know what it is, but I loved the flower.  Since I haven't done any mandalas recently, I decided to get back into the 'groove' with this picture.

They were about 2 feet tall and in a small ravine by the rest stop.  From this picture, I came up with this mandala.

I think this came out really nice.  I like how the stem and the grasses form an intricate center.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Hopefully, I can now get back to doing at least 1 a day. 

Another Trip to Benton Lake

Benton Lake has become my favorite place to photograph wildlife.  Wide open spaces and a water source to attract migrating bird species, I have seen everything from the common meadowlark, killdeers and Canadian goose to an owl, cinnamon teals, and northern shovelers.

So last week, with Lady K being cranky and only soothed by a car ride, Texter and I made two trips in one day to Benton Lake.  Here are some of the pictures made during that ride.

There are several bird boxes set near the road which attract barn swallows.  I am use to seeing boxes with purple martins in them, but not boxes for barn swallows.  I liked how this box and bird were set against the sunset.

The sun reflecting on the water with the water fowl and reeds was so calm and beautiful.

The water was still and the ducks were reflected nicely against the surface of the lake.

The ride had to end with the setting of the sun.  The refuge is only open sunrise to sunset.  Lady K had happily slept for a couple of hours and Texter and I had enjoyed a calming and beautiful end to the day. 

Scenes from Saturday

Texter, Lady K and I spent Saturday afternoon hiking a bit and visiting the local dams.  So I thought I would show off some of the scenery we saw on our journey.

Love the signs they post on so many of the trails

The bluffs along the river are fascinating

The dark skies and the yucca/agave against it

Loving the birch trees in the area.  They are so white. 

Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me invite them home for dinner. 

More tree bark

Pronghorn antelope on the drive out to Ryan and Morony Dams

Despite the fact it looks like you are driving out on a plain, don't look down.  You are higher than you think.

Another view of the Missouri from the road to the dams.

More cliffs, these near Ryan Dam.

For The Birds

One of the things I like about my new camera, "Cammy",  is the telephoto lens.  So far on my couple of excursions I have managed to get some interesting bird pictures.  Montana is suppose to be great for wildlife and birds.  I have managed only to photograph birds so far.

This guy was taken at Great Springs State Park.  Now I have seen the sea gulls around town (really, all over town), but I didn't expect to see a pelican.

One of the things I like about this goose is the detail I was able to capture in the feathers.  

This was a fortunate 'catch'.  

These geese are braver than I am.  I wouldn't want to be standing out in the rapids like they are, even if I was on a rock.

Hopefully, more bird pictures will follow.  

Faces

I normally do not like to take pictures with people in them.  Not my favorite thing and I think part of it is because I don't like to have my picture taken.  In an effort to learn more about Photoshop and how to 'play' with my pictures, I am trying to do a tutorial a day so see what I can come up with.

The first one I decided to do was transforming a face onto a gnarly tree tutorial .  I like the whole "Green Man" lore, so I thought I would start there.  However, I wanted to use my own pictures and I didn't have a picture of a tree I liked, so I used a rock wall I had taken a picture of and placed a picture of myself on it.



Ok, it's there.  I think my glasses detract from the effect however.  So I decided to practice on another one, but this time use one of the girls.  However, with using flowers I need to redo the color selected for the color and it isn't working right.  It will be a practice for another day to try this again.  

In the meantime, this is me imitating Mount Rushmore.

Buttercup Mandala

I have been trying to create a mandala a day with some of the pictures I took at the arboretum.  Today, since the weather is going from sunny to stormy, I thought I would show my Buttercup Mandala.

This is the original picture.....




A nice, rufflely buttercup.  They are just starting to really opening up in this area.  After the warm days we have had recently, they should be really making a show in the next week or two.







Here is my mandala.  I love the play of the different shades of yellow there are in the mandala.

Agave

On a recent trip to the arboretum, I took this picture of an agave and the flower stalk.  It was from last year's bloom.  But I loved the look of this huge flower stalk against the bright blue sky.  The stalk was about 9-10 feet tall.

I wish I could have seen it in bloom as it must have been magnificent with the size of the plant.
















This is the mandala I created from the picture.  It just seemed so proud and brave to be standing there in spite of the winter weather.

The blue background isn't a fill on photoshop, it is the actual blue of the sky.  

It's Becoming Spring

I had to do a photography assignment and went to J.C. Raulston Arboretum to take the pictures.  And this guy popped up to assist.  Actually, he was trying to woo a little cutie and I was interrupting the process.  But with the blue sky and the dark branches, it was just a great sight.

I hope he was successful in his endeavors after I moved on.

Sunset Mandala

This was created from a picture I took of the sunset at school when we went outside to take pictures in the waning light.

Sunset Mandala

Grunge Sunset

I love the look of some of the layered photos coming out.  I go between the HDR pictures and pictures which remind me more of something that could have been art journaled.  So using this Photoshoproadmap tutorial, I used my pictures and some pictures of sidewalk rocks that I used for my grunge textures and came up with this....

This is a picture of the sunset last week at Wake Tech.  The grunge layers came from pictures of rock slabs on a sidewalk at work I had taken. 

Digital Mandalas

I love kaleidoscopes and mandalas.  Aren't kaledioscopes actually moving mandalas?  Anyway, I have long admired those who do digital mandalas, such as Sue O'Kieffe at Sacred Circle Mandalas.  I also have had this tutorial  by Earth Mandalas bookmarked for ages now.

Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I decided to give it a try.  (Also a better understanding of Photoshop and how to manipulate pictures helps.)  And here are a few of my mandalas I created today....

This is from the bud of a sunflower.

A dogwood blossom.

Tiger at the National Science Museum in Washington

Sunflower

 

Wisteria

I feel like I am choosing between children when I think about which one I like the most.  I like them all.      So more mandalas to come I am sure.