Hello Lovebird,

used: Photoshop, Studio Artist

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

My chives have gone to seed - but they sure look pretty.

Posted for Sliders Sunday -- Post Processed to the MAX!

HSS!

(Explored - May 30, 2023)

Thanks to all for your kind words, views, and fave's - much appreciated.

Sadly I have never managed to find out what species this vivid green insect about to crawl into the mouth of this beautiful white iris is ... I think it's a beetle ...

Created for the TMI Spring Dreams Contest. The original photograph was taken in the Spring of 2011 at the Restore garden in Didcot, Oxford, UK

All texture layers and the original photograoh are my own work

Doc and I stood watching a busy beaver prepare for winter, as he swam between his lodge and the trees that lined his pond. In this photo you can see his wake in the water, and his head between the trees on the left.

I thought that this delightful poem by Del Ray told the story of beaver life in Alaska perfectly . . .

There’s a trail no one walks in the forest

that’s lined with a quilt of leaves,

webbed feet of the largest rodent*

scamper as fallen trees grieve.

Trees wilt with the sound of gnawing,

as wolves in the distance, howl,

and moose clamber over rocks fallen,

while wildcats stalk prey as they growl.

The beavers are content with their chewing,

they gather and chew chew chew,

not like old steam engines of trains

that chug through the valleys of dew.

They chew through the aspen and birch,

those beavers take down the sweet maple;

they gather the twigs and the branches,

that’s fodder on their muddy table.

And quietly in their spiky lodge,

their kits, as cute as they are,

they plan their dam of destruction

under the shiny north star,

reminding the race of humans,

we’re not the only ones chopping down trees,

they weren’t just meant to be hats,

like us they have families and needs.

So beavers keep growing and gnawing

through the winter as snowflakes fall,

yet seeds of change will soon sprout

in the spring, when song birds call.

Poem by Del Ray

Using duplicate bookend images of the left side of this leaf closeup, I first created perfect symmetry and then reverted back to asymmetric symmetry through mosaic tile size... why not.

Since its upload yesterday, I decided that the mosaic impact on the leaf transformed it into an abstract tree and as such, I could take this image further by exhibiting the visual effect of seasonal changes from winter-to-spring-to-summer; maintaining the existing colours of the original leaf ruled-out autumn colours... again, why not.

I like the old saying - "Bloom where you are planted" - and these little flowers were doing just that.

Posted for Sliders Sunday--Post Processed to the MAX!

HSS!

Tweaked twist on the downtown bunch of buildings along University Street in Seattle.

Like a Dream

Used: Photoshop, Filter Forge, Pixabay

Buttercop-Girl,

used: Filter Forge, Pixabay, Photoshop

By the end of May, most of the ice covered lakes in the far north begin to emerge after their long winter's nap. It is a beautiful sight after 7 long months of bitter cold temperatures. HSS!

This image of an ice encapsulated juniper in my garden looked a lot less dramatic in the original due to the out of focus areas of the body of the tree which is now the black negative space. The approach taken gives the image an almost studio controlled setting quality... The title chosen, for those who don't know, makes reference to the fact that juniper berries are used in the making of gin.

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations

Photographed on Ocracoke Island, NC

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations. if you wish you can see my non-manipulated photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

The snowbirds...

This image of the famous flying squadron was taken in 2014 close to Niagara Falls against a bleached-out, hazy, gray-white sky.

The camera settings are for the lighter of the two cloud formations in the image.

This image is made-up of five layers. 2 cloud layers and 3 editing layers (transparencies) of the flight group formation which was kept intact.

. . . and walking to the light. A feeling many share after being made to "shelter in place" due to the corona virus.

(Again you see a portion of my backyard mountains.)

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Forget me not,

used Photoshop, Filter Forge

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations. if you wish you can see my non-manipulated photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Love Many, Trust Few, and Always Paddle Your Own Canoe ...

When I saw this little lily pad flower bobbling on a large leaf in a remote Alaskan lake - it reminded me of the above quote, that happens to be one of my favorite's.

Posted for Sliders Sunday-- Post Processed to the MAX!

HSS!

...added to this locked in ice composition are the shard of ice and goose reflections.

A trumpeter swan enjoying a wilderness pond. For Sliders Sunday - processed to the max.

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Newel Post overlay

Eyes in the dark,

used: Filter Forge, Pixabay, Photoshop

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/Rose - Emdrup - Sjælland - DK

Credit to: Marcus Ranum

One more day to shop for Christmas!

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much.

Two goldfinches, a male and a female, visiting a bird feeder. Bright sunlight overpowered this photo, washing out much of the color of the birds' plumage. I like the placement and shapes of the two birds, however, so I manipulated the image in Topaz Studio 2 to highlight the aspects that I liked and add contrast between foreground and background.