Common and yet Not

I am feeling restless these days. We have mostly sunny days and rain comes down every now and then. Flowers and plants are bathed in cozy sun and are showered occasionally to reach their prime state. It is the time to plant annuals and make flower baskets. I prefer perennials, but annual colors are usually more striking. 

After selecting the primary colors for the pot, I began to grab some 'basket stuffers' which are mostly starters. I like starters for the price and also for the surprise. The pictures shown on the tag are not always accurate. I enjoyed watching colors popped out of the little green plants. And, this one is a nice surprise. I have not seen this flower not mentioning the deep cobalt blue color. The flower is only about one inch in diameter, but check out the details and multi colors.

Stuff in my pots are mostly starters. I think texture is the only way to clean up the clutter on the background, so here you go. I used 4 different kinds of texture plus couple of filters.

The process of texturing is so fun. I love to do it and also hesitate to engage in one. Once I sit down, I may not get up for a long time.

I will be showing the original pictures below in order that you can see the reason why I decided to use texture on these images.

In a recent doctor's visit, I walked out of the clinic and heard this beautiful bird singing that I have never heard before. Luckily I had my telephoto lens in the trunk, so I followed the song and discovered a bird perching extremely high on the limb. I started to shoot from distance and stopped below the tree. Even I was right below the tree, I could not tell what kind of bird it is. The song has a spell on me, and I had hard time to just drive away. 

Guess who it is? If I knew it is JUST a sparrow, I would probably not spend my time trying to snap these shots and have people stare at me curiously. It is not a bald eagle or snow owl, just a black-headed sparrow. I must be a joke in front of these passer-bys. But, if you look at sparrows closely and know how hard they are usually singing, I think you will enjoy and appreciate them more. 

The sky is a big blank white at noon, so I decided to give it some color and also  pay  this  guy a little

tribute. I have mentioned it before. Sparrows are no longer common to me. They are the best musicians. Meadow Lark sings beautifully, but sparrows sing a variety of songs that ML cannot compete.

You know I have driven almost 4 hours round trip (and more than once) to shoot tulips at Wooden Shoe tulip farm, but the one shot that I have been looking at is this small tulip that I planted bulbs last year. It is simple but graceful. It opens in the morning when sun rises and closes in the afternoon when the light is down.

While most of the tulips at the farm are winding down, this one stayed for almost a month. How does the most insignificant tulip (I thought) turn out to be my most favorite?

Common can become uncommon. I have the proof here.

Below are the original pictures of above three images:

Before and After

Spring is here. Sun is here. New growth is everywhere. But only a few early spring flowers are blooming. I have only two kinds of flowers are blooming in my yard. I became desperate and went to Trader Joe to look for cutting or potting flowers. Thinking of all the flowers I will have soon, I was only willing to spend $3.99. Photographers need to be able to shoot anything and everything under all circumstances, I thought.

In two days, I have been taking these flowers in and out of the house. They are one of the most common flowers you can find. Even if I have good light, good angle of view, they will still come out, common. How do I make them looking better and people would even want to take a look? I did not count the numbers of the pictures I have deleted, but I seem to like this one.

Early morning with a little bit of sunlight. Somehow I ended up with a dark background. White flower on dark background sounds good, but not quite what I wanted, so I added a second flower to give it a little twist.  It is this added second color prompted me to think about a purple texture. With three textures added and some adjustments, I was happy to see the transformation.

Our tulip magnolias tree just started budding last week and is now in full blossoms. They are up high. Even standing on a stepper, I am still too short. Instead of macro, I have to use a telephoto lens. It is great that the tree is full of buds, hundreds of them, but not easy to get a shot with a focal point.

Just like Scrub Jay, Hummingbirds are frequent visitors, but it is a challenge trying to get a decent shot of them. An impatient photographer like me, I should not be shooting birds, but I love birds for the reason that I cannot even explain myself.  My original shoot includes a black railing close to the bird. While trying to remove it, I thought why not just adding some texture. Hummingbirds look much cuter in distance and I like the image softer...

Original picture was taken in a cloudy day. Pot was hot. Tea was warm. Charming fragrance of my own naturally-dried potpourri was being released in the air. But the image looks cold. My camera did not do it justice, or, I should say, I did a poor job. The After image has finally illustrated how I actually felt at that moment, the truth. I am gradually and most certainly, understanding the importance of post processing.