Number One-Hundred-And-Fifty-Two: Sharp

I will never not love the thorny branches of my mother's rose bushes. I want to take pictures of them all the time. So spiky and dangerous!

Once again I depended on Snapseed for my editing. I cropped the image to a square then used a bright Drama filter on it to bring out the green of the branches. I finished it off with one of Snapseed's Frames. I think the Frames function in Snapseed is the least impressive of the whole bundle, to be honest. It's kind of boring and while it's possible I just haven't played around with it much it doesn't seem to have a whole lot there to work with.

Number One-Hundred-And-Fifty-One: Into The Bubble

I took today's photograph by pressing the iPhone camera up against the glass friendship ball hanging in the living room window. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I really liked the result. It's my new iPhone wallpaper at the moment.

After taking the picture I imported it into Snapseed, adjusted the saturation a bit and very slightly tweaked the structure in the Details filter. That's it!

Number One-Hundred-And-Fifty: Essiegrammed

Another Instagram roundup today using Diptic to bring it all together. I like that I can take quick pictures of Essie and post them instantly and easily with Instagram so I've taken a few. Also she's incredibly adorable so there's that.

I'm still enjoying Instagram quite a lot and am constantly blown away by the photos that other people are posting. I'm @keltserin on Instagram if you want to see the stuff that doesn't make it here to AOMi, and I'd love to follow you too!

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Nine: Carroted

I've been experimenting with trying to find the interesting details of things that might not normally seem so interesting, like Day 147 and Day 134. I complained on Twitter a while back that I would take more interesting pictures if I got out more and a close friend pointed out to me that good art can be made under limitations that seem discouraging. And he is right!

So I looked at this bowl of carrots while I was cutting them up and was struck by the snowflake patterns in the center of each slice. I grabbed my iPhone (which was sitting on the counter near me) and took a few shots, getting a couple of different angles and distances.

It wasn't until an hour or so later that I noticed that my hands had transferred a bunch of carrot juice to the white silicone portion of my beautiful OtterBox iPhone case, staining it a distinct yellow that really doesn't match the pink plastic of the outer shell at all. Stupid! I'm sure there's a way to rescue it. I've read that turpentine will do it but I'll have to look more deeply into that. In the meantime I'm using a green case from the dollar store. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

ANYhow, I did all the editing in Snapseed again for this one because I wanted to get predictable results. None of the pictures I took were quite the quality I was hoping for so I went with the tried and true as far as post-processing goes. I played around with the contrast and saturation and that's it.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Eight: Brown Leaves

Today's photo is of some of the leaves on the rosebush out front. It had snowed the night before and everything was in the process of melting, the temperature having come up above freezing after sunrise. I love how the water droplets are clinging to the leaves just as stubbornly as the leaves are clinging to the branches.

I edited this one in Snapseed as well, cropping it and hitting it with a Drama filter. I played around with frames but didn't like how they cut off the leaf at the bottom so left it as is.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Seven: Rojo

Today's photo was taken out in the driveway while waiting for Essie's daycare pickup. Just the interior of one of the brake lights on my mom's KIA but looking pretty funky!

I cropped it just a little bit and added a Drama filter, both in Snapseed of course. I've been having another love affair with Snapseed over the last few days although I've recently installed a couple of exciting photography editing apps that I'm going to be talking about soon. Snapseed feels comfortable to me, though, and I always come back to using it for the results I want.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Six: The Fanciest Ashtray

I was looking for photo inspiration around the house recently and was poking around in a cabinet that used to belong to my grandma. It holds things like wine glasses and various other things she left behind but I noticed a peculiarly fancy ashtray propped up in the back behind some crystal. I pulled it out to look at it, thinking that it reminded me of Wedgwood china and a bit amused that someone would make an ashtray so obviously not meant to be used as an ashtray.

I took a few pictures of it and edited it in Snapseed, cropping it and using a Drama filter on it to make it pop a bit more. Later I asked my mom about the ashtray, curious as to where it had come from. Mom told me that she thought it was actually real Wedgwood and so after investigating it more closely I found that it did indeed have a Wedgwood imprint on the back! A Wedgwood ashtray! Who'da thunk?

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Five: Return Of The Puffy Thing

Today's photo is of the Alpine Clematis growing in the backyard. I showcased it back in November and the puffy things are still holding strong! I also love the leaves on this bush. They get very curly and fancy-looking but I have yet to take a picture of one that I'm pleased with so tend to focus on the puffy things instead.

I imported this shot into Snapseed and cropped it a bit, then used a bright Drama filter on it. After that I used the Center Focus filter on it, centering it on the puffy thing of course, and that was it. I'm really happy with how this one turned out.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Four: A February Rose

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Essie's day care provider picks her up on the way to playgroup. This is nice for any number of reasons but one extra perk is that it gets me and Essie outside playing for a while while we wait (if the weather is nice.) And that gets me taking more outdoor pictures during the cold weather. I am a cold weather wimp and would rather not freeze my butt off for the most part but it's always more fun when you're with a toddler who thinks it's a wonderland, I guess.

Anyhow, I took some pictures of the rose bushes and got this withered, curled-up rose still tenaciously attached to its stem. I fell in love with it when I saw the shot I'd taken and opened up Snapseed to make it great. I cropped it, then used a bright Drama filter on it. After that I played around with the Grunge filter until I got the look I was going for, widening the center focus a bit so as not to overwhelm the flower. My favourite detail is the curling bit at the bottom, still so graceful and beautiful despite everything.

P.S. If you visited the site early in the day you may notice that the above is a different version of the rose. I accidentally uploaded an alternate edit of the picture although I used the same edit process for both. The difference is in the cropping and the levels of the grunge filter. Here's the one I accidentally uploaded in the first place:

It's nice but I felt like the cropping and the heavier Grunge filter didn't quite do it for me.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Three: Slow Shutter Snail

Today's photo was taken with Slow Shutter; a neat camera app that lets you take pictures using slow shutter speed effects. I read about this particular app on Blurbomat and was on the fence about buying it but after reading up on it for a bit decided to go for it. And I'm glad I did! I've barely started using it but this was one of my first attempts using it and I loved it.

I know it looks like a snail but it's really a ceramic coin bank shaped like a cat that Essie discovered would spin for a long time if she put it on its side. I watched her doing this for a few minutes then remembered Slow Shutter and whipped out my iPhone to see what it would look like if I took a picture of it on the Light Trail setting. I was so pleased with the result. It looks like some alien snail or something. After saving the picture I imported it into Camera+ and used the Purple Haze filter from the Color Effects menu.

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-Two: Instagram Roundup

I'm still enjoying the hell out of Instagram and loving the challenge of taking pictures with limited editing options. I realize that yes, you can import photos from another camera into Instagram and I've done it a few times myself but I enjoy using it to take photos quite a lot.

As a result I am going to do these Instagram Roundups every once in a while where I use Diptic to showcase a few of my Instagram shots at a time. If you're an Instagram user and want to follow me my username is @keltserin and I'd love to follow you as well!

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty-One: Dissolving

This started as a picture of the bare branches of the apple tree in the backyard. I took the picture with the iPhone camera and used a mix of BlendCam, Snapseed and PhotoWizard to get it to this point.

Be sure to click to see this one at full size!

Number One-Hundred-And-Forty: Artypants Self Portrait

Hello! Here is another self-portrait. I was trying to take some pictures for use in Facebook/Twitter/what-have-you and was not very happy with any of them due to poor lighting and picture quality. So I went the 'highly processed' route and played around with a couple to see what improvements I could make.

This one in particular was very yellow and poorly lit so I first used a Black and White filter on it in Snapseed, then tweaked the brightness. I wasn't all that thrilled with it even then so set it aside. Later I was messing around with Corel's Paint It! Now and decided to see how I liked it with the Oil filter. I liked it... kinda. It was a little too melted-face looking. I saved a copy of it anyhow and imported it into BlendCam where I blended it with the original image on the Thin setting. It brought back just enough of the detail and a hint of a glow without the faults of either of the original images used in the blending process.

Handily all this also erased any wrinkles or blemishes I may or may not have been sporting!

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Nine: Instagrammed

Today's picture was taken in Instagram. I'm not entirely sure why I resisted using Instagram for so long. I guess I figured I didn't need another social network and that I could take better pictures with more varied filters with the apps I already have. These seem to be the thoughts of many people who have been avoiding Instagram. After seeing this entry on Blurbomat, though, I decided to try it for myself and see what all the fuss is about. The picture was gorgeous and gave me the push I needed.

Seriously; within minutes of using it and following a few other users I realized the appeal. Taking your own pictures with it is fun and the filters are varied without being overwhelming. Exploring the photos from the people you follow, though, is addicting. Seeing what they choose to capture is getting a peek into the way they see the world and it's fascinating! It's also very inspiring, prompting me to try to see the same things around me.

This is a detail from the suncatcher in the living room window. I used the Lo-fi filter with the Lux effect and frames turned on.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Eight: Elephant Dreaming

Today's piece is another elephant from my mom's collection. It's actually the one that we gave to my mom for Christmas from Essie this year and it's a coin bank. Essie broke a ceramic cat bank belonging to her so we wanted to replace it with something even better. I'm not 100% sure it's my mom's favourite style of elephant but I was charmed by the simple lines.

I took the photo with Camera+ then imported it into Snapseed where I cropped it and used a bright Drama filter on it. I decided I wanted to use the Cyanotype filter from Camera+'s Color filter set so did that and was very happy with the result. The original photo was very monochromatic but just a bit too warm so this cooled it down to where I wanted it.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Seven: Not That Kind Of Bird!

Essie and I were doing a puzzle at the table and we started playing with them like toy figures rather than puzzle pieces. I liked the balancing act we did with these two and was reminded of the Oxpecker Bird that uses hippos and rhinos as a source for delicious bugs. This ostrich just won't be able to eat enough to stay satisfied, I'm afraid.

I took the photo with Camera+ and since it was a little dark used the Night filter from the Scenes menu. Then I applied the Lo-Fi filter from the Retro set in the Effects menu.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Six: We're All Growing

I know I've been posting a lot of photography lately. I've gotten really excited about taking pictures; more than about drawing which says a lot since I LOVE to draw (and paint and sculpt and so on.) Part of it could be that the iPhone screen is just really small, but on the other hand I'm finding a whole new artistic form of expression in photography; one that I'd never explored before starting this project. Maybe I felt like photography was just for people who couldn't draw? I don't know, but whatever the source my antipathy was a mistake!

That said; today's photo is of the oak tree in my mom's front yard. I took the photo with the iPhone camera, then cropped it in Snapseed, finishing it off with one of the dark Drama filters. Trees like this put me in mind of the illustrations of tiny branching blood vessels from the Gray's Anatomy on the bookshelf when I was a kid.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Five: That Cat

Mongkut was sitting in Andrew's lap and noticed the drawstrings on his hoodie, so had to try to eat them for a bit. I love this dumb cat so I got some pictures of him being his usual goofy self with the iPhone.

I imported the shot I liked best into Snapseed and used a Drama filter on it. I usually favour the first two filters in the Drama series which don't lighten or darken photos much but this time I chose a lighter one. Then I imported it into Camera+ and used the Viewfinder border. I don't often use borders or frames on my photos but I couldn't resist this one.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Four: Brightly Woven

My mom has a green thumb. Her father; my grandpa, also had a green thumb. I decisively do not have a green thumb. I love the decorative nature of flowerpots and hanging baskets, however, and this is a shot of one that is hanging in my mother's living room.

I took this one with the iPhone camera and then brought it into Snapseed where first I cropped it then used a Drama filter on it to highlight the fantastic light and shadow on the weave of the basket.

Today's title is another GGK reference in case you were wondering.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Three: Elephants

My mom collects elephants. She has since before I was born and her collection is very impressive. I try not to get her an elephant every time it's gift-giving time but usually at least once a year or so I'll try to find a nice one. I decided to get some shots of a few from her herd and put them together in a triptych.

I used the iPhone camera to take all the pictures. I used a Vibrant filter from the Camera+ Effects menu for the top photo along with a Dark Grit border, and used Snapseed for all the cropping. I also used Drama filters from Snapseed for both bottom photos. When I had them edited to my satisfaction I put them all together using Diptic. I often leave the border white but this time used a black border with rounded corners to tie in with the darker elephant colours.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Two: Starting The Day

I took this photo yesterday morning after we'd finished all our morning stuff and were ready to face the day. Essie and the cats were fed and the sun was shining in the windows. She was cuter than anything on earth in her jeans and red shirt so I had to take some photos.

I cropped it in Snapseed and used the Drama filter twice to get this nice light effect, then hit it with a Grunge filter.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty-One: Seen From A Car Window II

When I created the tetraptych on day 129 I actually made more than one since I had more window pictures than I knew what to do with. So here is the second one. A couple of these pictures are similar to photos I've posted in AOMi before since they're from the same series. I take a lot of shots of the same thing and only end up using a few here and there.

Like last time I created this in Diptic with pictures I took while sitting in the passenger seat using the iPhone camera and Gorillacam.

Number One-Hundred-And-Thirty: Unexpected Inspiration

I really like making wallpapers for my iPhone and try to keep an eye out for interesting textures and patterns I can play with. Last week I was making sweet potato fries and after I'd taken them all off the foil I looked down and was struck by the pattern they left behind. Yes, weird, but it reminded me of petroglyph art or something. So I took a few shots with the iPhone camera and figured I'd play around with them.

I imported one into Snapseed and used a Drama filter on it, then opened up PhotoWizard and used the Lava setting in the Thermal Camera filter from the Effects menu. I liked that it kept it connected to its baking hot roots!

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Nine: Seen From A Car Window

I tend to ping around between Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa. So during drives to and around them I try to take as many pictures as I can out the car window. Here's a tetraptych created in Diptic of pictures I took while sitting in the passenger seat using the iPhone camera and Gorillacam.

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Eight: Nearly Three

Today's piece is a photo of my lovely Essie looking a little perturbed. She was just concerned that I was using the iPhone and not letting her play her fish games or listen to her LeapFrog songs or some other thing she likes to do on my phone. I snapped this during our Play Doh session on Day 126.

I took this one using the iPhone camera. I have it set to take both a normal photo and an HDR photo and I think this one was the normal version. I imported it into Camera+ where I first cropped it, then applied a flash filter to wash it out a bit. Then I used the Contessa filter in the I Heart Analog FX menu.

I'm still very happy with Camera+. I even find I'm using it for editing as much as Snapseed, which I wasn't sure would happen. I've been trying to remember to take more actual pictures with it. I guess I'll have to pull it out of my photography folder and keep it out on the front screen to thwart my laziness.

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Seven: Two Of Eighteen Wheels

I'm not a nervous driver or even a nervous passenger (for the most part) but I was pretty freaked out by our recent drive through a snowstorm on the 401. Probably because Essie was in the car with us. Anyhow; I tried to get some good shots of the wheels of transports as we passed them and really only one turned out. I used it in the triptych I posted on Day 120 but I liked it a lot and wanted to play with it more.

I used a Drama filter on an uncropped version of it in Snapseed, then imported that into Corel's Paint It! Now where I used the Pen & Ink filter on it until I felt like it was pretty detailed. I saved that to the camera roll, then reset it and used the Oil filter on it but only for a little bit until I felt like it had the basic idea of the picture but not much more. I saved that to the camera roll, then opened up Blendcam and blended the two 'painted' pictures using Darkness Priority.

I really love this effect. It isn't great for pictures that showcase something delicate like flower petals but I think it really does the subject matter here a lot of justice.

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Six: Playing Together

Playing with Essie and some yellow Play Doh yesterday resulted in a couple of pictures of her creation, so today is a collaboration of sorts I guess. She kept asking me to roll balls for her, which she would then squish together in this... sophisticated sculpture. Yes.

So I cropped it in Snapseed and used a Drama filter to highlight all the awesomeness of it. I love how it looks against the kitchen table. This table is probably from at least the seventies. I know it was in my grandma's kitchen in the eighties and I remember eating Eggo waffles and many bowls of Shreddies at it as a kid. It's nice to think about that while I feed Essie there or share these moments of creativity with her.

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Five: Sun Kissed

This picture happened last night. I looked out the living room window and saw that the sun was lighting some trees over on Montreal street up like they'd been dipped in gold. I rushed out to take a few pictures with the iPhone camera (and I'm a little worried that the neighbours may soon start to think I'm spying on them.) As beautiful as the trees were I could still only capture the tops of them from where I was standing but I figured I'd get something usable.

When it was time to edit them I chose one and cropped out the houses and cars. I liked how it kept one tree still in shadow, the light just beginning to touch its top branches, with the brightly lit ones behind it but the quality was poor and even a drama filter from Snapseed couldn't rescue it. So I imported the edited shot into Adobe Photoshop Express where I used the Reduce Noise filter a ton of times until I achieved the watercolour-reminiscent effect I'm so fond of for tree branches.

P.S. For reference here is one of the original photos:

Number One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Four: Time To Go Home

I took this picture during our weekend trip to Toronto just minutes before we left the apartment to head back home. Once I told Essie that we would be leaving she needed to collect her jacket and boots and wanted them on straight away. We had to wait a few minutes while Andrew loaded the car so I set them up on this chair for her so she'd know they were ready for her. Being nearly three she's still not so hot on anything that isn't immediate gratification and I felt like this little scene really captured her way of doing things.

I took the photo with the iPhone camera as is usual for me lately and cropped it in Camera+. After cropping I opened the Effects menu and used the Vibrant filter from the Color filter set to warm it up a bit.