Mixed Emotions

I have a few things on my mind but really being inspired by the change in weather yesterday where we had rain and lovely mist over the last of the autumn leaves.
Today the sun is out but there is also wind and I am sure that some of the beautiful leaves I have had my eye on may not be there much longer.  So, inspired by some work last weekend with my lensbaby and imagining the effect of bright blue sky (today's weather) gusty breeze moving the leaves and glorious colour I've just zipped outside, taken a few lensbaby shots with my 5Dmk11 (I usually just pop it on the smaller sensor body) because I can see some magic happening so want as many pixels as possible to play with.
AND I wasn't disappointed.  I'm going to find another 30 minutes later today to have another go.

Here is my meagre offering that's had a fast and furious edit in LR4 and Nik Color 4.0.


Enjoy!!  I certainly did.

Late Autumn Light

It's Mothers' Day and it's been glorious.  Blue skies, crisp clean air, cool enough for a coat but warm enough to enjoy being outside.

I've recently been discovering some of my older images and looking at them with clean eyes.  It's so easy to get immersed in some newer work that you lose a bit of perspective - are they really that good?  maybe not? or maybe they are.  However, I find that when images are put aside for some time, fresher eyes are often a better judge.

So what have I been enjoying?  I've really loved finding some of the older images from the local area here in the Blue Mountains.  I'd completely forgotten that some of them even existed.  One of the joys of this sort of reminiscing is that now my skills in editing are far better than they were even a couple of years ago.

I've loved working with Nik software and have made a real effort recently to dig a bit deeper and learn more about the tools on offer.  Nik Silver Efex is a great B&W help.  Because I was never a darkroom person I avoided a few of the film effects that are hidden in the palette but recently I did a couple of webinars and have found so much more that I had been using.  Color Efex is my other current favourite.  Version 4.0 allows so much more than the earlier version so I've been working my way through it slowly and finding the ability to use multiple filters in an image quite beautiful.

So, today, with the last of the sunshine lighting up a couple of my maples, I grabbed the camera determined to take a shot for posterity.

Here are a couple of my favourites - real quick and dirty shooting and a bit of lick and polish thanks to Nik.


Enjoy!!

And so it was Autumn

Love Autumn!  Love the light, the colour, the aromas that begin to come from kitchens working and wood burning (sorry I know that's not good for the environment but I do love the smell of logs burning slowly).

I always dream for months about what I will shoot next Autumn.  Autumn comes and I'm still dreaming, planning, waiting... The local trees are never quite "right" .... another day, another week, another location...

The story is the same each year and suddenly, rather than waiting for Autumn to come and be at its best, I'm chasing images because Autumn is leaving and I wasn't on the bus again!!

However, when I look back at my collections from previous years it is this late Autumn bloom that I really love the most.  Less leaves on the trees, more blue skies, more light paths thru the branches, more shades of colour.

And so it is this year as it always is.  Panic sets in that I've missed the darn event again so off I head to see what is left.

I've recently spent a week with my elderly mother driving around the  country, enjoying the beautiful Autumn weather and seeing some of the country thru new eyes.  I'll add a post about the whole Thelma and Doris trip a bit later but today, I just want to celebrate Autumn.

A few images here that I grabbed a couple of days ago when a bunch of retired women were up at Norman Lyndsay's Gallery in the Blue Mountains planning a photographic workshop that we are running in September and as we were leaving we saw some wondrous mushrooms that we've not seen in these parts before.  http://www.normanlindsay.com.au/

I headed back in the mid afternoon and as I'm wont, I ignored the mushies and followed my heart to chase down wispy Autumn impressions.  Just a few attached here.

Enjoy!

(Above) Impressions from one of the fountain pools with bubbles from the water drops and colour from the overhanging Autumn foliage.

This one (above) is my favourite.  I've just printed it and I'm about to frame and hang in the house.  It looks stunning (if I can be so bold?)

Instead of working ....

Should really be doing a bit of sorting and organising for a garage sale tomorrow - I have been working away on it for weeks but it is happening along with 7 or 8 projects that I have on the go.  Most important is the sorting of some old images that I really want to print or publish. The Turkey book is one of them, but another is to do with the glorious colours of the seasons here in the Blue Mountains.  Not everyone gets to live in a World Heritage Area and I think I often take it for granted.


So today, in recognition of the season that is just starting, Autumn, a few of my favourites from the last few years here in the mountains.


I'll add a few more each time I need a bit of "me" time.



Enjoy!!!