Bless my bloomers
Posted: April 3, 2012 Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in art, Digital Art, Earth, Fire, garden, goals, home, nature, Photography, pond, Spirit, Spring, Walking, water, weather | Tags: Digital Art, flowers, garden, nature, Outdoors, Photography, PicMonkey, Picnik, Pixlr, pond, rain, reflections, spring, tulips, water 36 Comments
The tulips are beginning to bloom. Some are already wide open and collecting sunshine and bees. Others are just starting to unfurl. The tulip pictured above is one of my favorites. I’m not sure what type they are, but they always remind me of fiery sunsets.
Digitally altered in Photoshop & Picnik.
We have red tulips in our front garden that were here when we bought the place. They are so red that it is difficult to take a good photo of them because the red washes out the details of the petals. Here is an example:
The red is almost blinding, isn’t it? I should have warned you. Here is the same photo converted to a filtered black and white:
The last time I saw an almost-black tulip was at Longwood Gardens back in 2007.
After a lovely, sunny morning, rain has once more arrived in the Bogs. The earth needs it so I won’t complain. Not that it would do me any good to complain about the weather. We take what we’re given.
Today's view of the pond
Well, I can’t think of anything else to ramble on about today. Thank you so much for visiting. If you want to go for a walk around the pond, I’d suggest wearing your wellies and bringing along an umbrella. Keep an eye on the sky as well. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for this evening. Chances are, lightning will strike a tree before it strikes you, but you never know.
P.S. For those of you interested in Picnik and it’s upcoming closing, Picasa has a new update that includes some of the features found on Picnik. I’ve also given Pixlr a try, but don’t know enough about it yet to recommend it. It seems pretty cool. The photo above was altered in Pixlr. I’ve recently read about PicMonkey (which, I gather, is brought to us by the some of the same folks who engineered Picnik — you can read about it here and you should because it’s amusing). I gave it a quick try for this post:
Not too shabby.
Related articles
- Peregrination (bogsofohio.wordpress.com)
- Garfield Park Conservatory – Tulips in the Sunken Garden (dezradespain.wordpress.com)
- Tulips in motion (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)
- PicMonkey outshines Web photo editors with a clean UI and impressive toolbox (digitaltrends.com)
Life in the Bogs 
oooohhh, lost for words 🙂
Thank you, Christine. 🙂
Funny how red is so difficult to capture – the black and white version is quite dramatic. The first tulip just is spring – bursting with energy
Thank you, PhilosopherMouse. 🙂
Tulips are so pretty! One of the houses in our old neighbourhood plants HUNDREDS of tulips every spring– they are all pale pink or a deep purple. We’ll have to drive by and take some pics soon– they are totally stunning! 🙂
Thank you, Dana. 🙂
I hope you do go by and take some pics of those tulips. The only time I’ve seen loads of tulips like that is at a botanical garden.
Your tulips are gorgeous, Robin!
Hugs,
Kathy
Thank you, Kathy. 🙂
Rich and dazzling.. I love those stars… I’ve used iPiccy.. almost identical to Picnik.. I just tried the PicMonkey and it seemed a bit slow?? Anyway! Love your work!!
Thank you, Smidge. 🙂
I found PicMonkey to be pretty fast compared to Picnik. Perhaps it depends on the size of your pics. I resize mine for the web before I start playing with them online.
Beautiful photos (as always). We received more snow in Colorado today, so no tulips for us yet!
Robin – I’m awarding you The Versatile Blogger Award, because your photos and posts bring a smile to my face. No need to respond, just wanted you to know you’re on my list! For more info, you can check out my most recent post.
Thank you so much, Wendy. I really appreciate the recognition and honor. Please pardon me for not taking on the award, but I will be by to check it out. 🙂
That first tulip … Wow !
Thank you, Sallyann. That’s what I think whenever I see them. 🙂
That red is really red, isn’t it? I love red in the garden (and pinks and purples too!) so can imagine how lovely the red tulips are.
I’ll give the sites you have recommended a try. I remember you saying that the photos that don’t turn out as well as planned are good to play around with, and I have plenty of those to practice on! 🙂
I love red in the garden, too, Joanne. I just wish I could figure out how to photograph that brilliant shade of red so it doesn’t wash out the details.
Have fun playing. The nice thing about using photos that didn’t turn out well is that you don’t have to worry about messing them up. 🙂
Wunderschöne Tulpen Gruss Gislind
Thank you, Gislinde. 🙂
i can see why the first tulip featured is your favourite, it’s stunning
they’re one of my favourite flowers
Thank you, Chloe. 🙂
Beautiful! Now I want to go and buy some tulips to photograph… 🙂
Thanks, Michaela. Can’t wait to see them if you do. 🙂
quite the green thumb
such lovely tulips
Thank you, Kel. 🙂
I really don’t have much of a green thumb. Bulbs are easy. Put them in the ground and Mother Nature takes over. The only real worry are the little critters that like to eat the bulbs.
Amazing photos. Tulips are so lovely and are in bloom here too. It is such a shame that they don’t last very long.
Thank you, Libby. 🙂
The opening pic is awesome! The second one is mystical in a way.
Thank you, Frank. 🙂
Great photos, The firey sunset tulip is so dramatic. My tulips are not blooming yet, I hope in a week or so I will see them.
I really love the photo of the bog. I love the soft edges. It makes the place look soft and enchanted.
I have never tried any of the online photo places, like picmonkey. maybe I will check it out.
Thank you, Maggie. 🙂
Playing around with photo in editing programs can be fun. Places like PicMonkey make it easy (much easier than Photoshop).
Ah, that first tulip photo. So lovely, very painterly. You’ve captured just the right amount of light.
Thank you, Teresita. 🙂
That first image is so achingly beautiful. I don’t think anything else I look at will measure up it it tonight!
Thank you so much, Cyndi. 🙂
Love the last two shots! Great post-processing!
Thank you, Belen. 🙂