Mr Demille, I'm ready for my close-up [7/52]

Yeah, not really. But I do have a director's chair :)

Visiting with my macro lens for this week's prompt had me wishing for Summer and my garden. With around three or four feet of snow still in my yard, that's not happening anytime soon.

So I took the opportunity to try a few so-called 'cliche' shots that I've always wanted to try but never really got around to.

First up, the eyes (eye?) have it ...

Gorgeous hazel peepers courtesy of my daughter's girlfriend. The girls know by now that nobody is safe from my lens. heh. And I've learned that these types of shots are hard! but whatever, it'll do :)

I've always wanted to try the threaded needle thing, but never really got around to it.

It was fun! and I couldn't resist a 'not-so-close-up' shot. What is it about a needle and colourful thread? It's so appealing to me.

And although my garden is, sadly, only a dim memory from last year, at least I had some Valentine roses to play with. Really, what's a 'close up' prompt without the requisite floral shot?

I'm not a huge fan of roses, but these ones sure are beautiful. So pretty.

So this was fun! A bit of a challenge all week though, looking for something in my house to photograph that I haven't already.

And I just want to say, you guys have no idea how hard it was for me to NOT put any textures on those last two photos. Killing me! Seriously. Don't be surprised if you see them pop up again, all dressed up.

They're all but yelling at me to do it :)

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Hosted at twoscoopz! You can visit or join the focus52 flickr group here. My own focus52 project can be found on flickr here or by clicking 'my f52' in the category list to the right.

play [4/52]

I stumped my own self this week. Actually, it's more like I was foiled by Mama Nature and her crabby, cranky ways. No fun snowball fights for this girl, as was the plan.

So inside shots it is.

Texas Hold 'Em isn't as much fun when there's nobody around to steal money from ;)

But I love any excuse I can use to haul out the scrabble board ...

And then, when cabin fever sets in, well ...

stuff like this happens ...

I think it suits me, right?

No?

hmmm...

Did you get to play this week? Show me :)

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Hosted at twoscoopz! You can visit or join the focus52 flickr group here. My own focus52 project can be found on flickr here or by clicking 'my f52' in the category list to the right.

leggy {325/365}

Not much time today for photo taking.

And it shows.

heh.

Anyway, it's worm's eye view Sunday ...

325/365

The worm's eye view (and DaisyPuppy's) of my back door, past the kitchen table.

I need more hours in the day :)

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You can find my 365 project on flickr or check out the flickr group for Shutter Sisters and Designer Digitals.
For all daily photos posted here - Click project365 in the Category list in the right sidebar.

morning {267/365}

... and it seems that I've yet to wake up since I took this shot this morning.

mornings 267/365

No Fence Friday for me today.

Apparently the caffeine hasn't done it's job.

(and it looks like I need to do some dusting. heh)

zzzz.....

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Taken for the women of Mortal Muses.

You can find my 365 project on flickr or check out the flickr group for Shutter Sisters and Designer Digitals.
For all daily photos posted here - Click project365 in the Category list in the right sidebar.

transparent {227/365}

I was browsing around the web today and came across this coolness.

And you know darn well I had to try that stuff out :)

Plus, the Mortal Muses prompt this week is 'around the house' and although my vice(s) qualifies as around the house, I don't think that coffee and smokes are particularly muse worthy.

*ahem*

So anyway, this was my first attempt ...

transparent 227/365

I took two shots of my desk - one with the monitor there, and one without.  Use a tripod, and manual focus to make sure you get the same shot for both.  Open both images in photoshop and use the shot with no monitor as your top layer.  From there on, it got messy when I veered from the tutorial (link below).  In this case, I cut out the screen area from the top layer (the background shot), put it on it's own layer at the bottom, slapped a glass filter on it and messed around a bit.  It took a bit of manipulating but I think the end result is pretty cool.  The only thing I'd change is to darken the desktop icons to maybe give it more of a transparent feel.

This one is my second attempt, this time following the tutorial that you can find here ...

transparent - the mac version ;)

Not too bad!   But I should've messed around with the desktop shot a bit more - it's a little dark on the mac and slightly distorted (or in hindsight, maybe changed my monitor settings? I dunno), and maybe moved the laptop ahead a bit more (I made the mistake of moving it when I was messing around - big no-no, apparently, and a little difficult to line back up again for the final shot) but overall, it's pretty cool!

As they are, the top one is my pick.  It just looks more realistic, no?

Totally fun but I have to admit, a bit confusing in the execution.  It's not as easy as it looks.  I saw some shots where there were three or four laptops lined up in a row and omg I have no idea how they went about it.  I think I'd be lost.

You can find a flickr group here (of course you can - isn't there a flickr group for pretty much everything?!) that's full of all sorts of ideas and fun shots.

I'm pretty sure I'll revisit this idea some time soon.

And how about you?  Are you going to give it a go?  If you do, leave a link in the comments.  I'd love to see what you come up with!

Have fun!

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Taken for the women of Mortal Muses.
You can find my 365 project on flickr or check out the flickr group for Shutter Sisters and Designer Digitals.
For all daily photos posted here - Click project365 in the Category list in the right sidebar.