3 Quarters Today

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Photography

Day 131/365: Magnolia Tree Blooms in Spring

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My spring flowers continue, I’m so happy it’s spring, color is starting to peak out from their buds and this magnolia tree was just starting to bloom. Five out of the next seven days will be of flowers and blooms. Every year I venture out to this tree to take photographs of the buds in full bloom, but magnolia trees are persnickety. The petals fall off so fast and if we get a strong wind, which in Nebraska we often do, they blow off before I get a chance. But this year it’s going to happen. I will have my camera at the ready.

Magnolia tree flowers in spring
Day 131: Flowering trees

So glad I started this 365 Project, gives me a reason, or an excuse some may say to take pictures without guilt every day. If you have a favorite Magnolia tree I’d love to see the photos. I love spring, flowering trees give me such hope for the future and the season ahead. I’m really a warm weather person and when the Magnolia trees start blooming then I know summer isn’t far behind.

More Articles on Magnolia Trees

Gardening: Hellebores signal spring gardening season

While many branches are bare and most soil is frozen, you’ll enjoy signs of spring when you plant winter-blooming Hellebores. “My Hellebore garden is right outside my back door, a 20-foot round bed beneath the largest tulip magnolia tree many have ever …
Plan Kindergarten: Trim A Magnolia Tree

A magnolia tree is a beautiful tree. The magnolia blossoms add to the beauty. The aroma permeates the air when the magnolia tree is in full bloom. It is better to move the magnolia tree than it is to trim it, but if you find that you …
Horticultural therapy enriches lives of people with dementia and disabilities

“We have a magnolia tree with big blooms. He smelled the bloom and said, ‘You know my grandmother was the best gardener ever. She could have laid a rock on the ground, and it would have grown.’ The power of the fragrance from the blossom connected …
 

 

 

Day 127/365: Photographic View of Church

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Today was my day of playing around in Photoshop again. This time with plug-ins from Xero-Graphics. The subject my home church of Trinity Lutheran in Murdock Nebraska. I was driving by ans a friend was taking pictures for our upcoming open house dedicating the new fellowship hall. So I stopped, said “Hi” and took a few myself. Turned out to be a perfect subject for some special effects.

Which one do you like best and why?

#1: Straight out of camera (SOOC)
#2; Xero Tweak w/burn edge
#3 Xero Illustrator w/burn edge
#4: Xero Line Art
#5: Not sure which effect, misname it, but it's a xero effect, I can find it again.

Here is a different photograph, but taken at the same time in black and white. I’ll tell you which is my favorite after the comments and voting is tallied.

#6 Different image, taken at the same time, but an effect I like

Day 126/365: Welcome Spring!

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Day 126: Wecome Spring!

I have been waiting for a beautiful sunny and breezy day to take a picture of this banner on my friends porch. It just shouts spring, and we finally had the perfect sunny spring day. So welcome spring!

Image straight out of camera (SOOC)

Photoshop CS2 edits: It was such a sunny day and I over exposed the image, so I decreased the brightness, adjusted the contrast and cloned out the artifacts in the upper left corner that were distracting. It’s now a lot more striking. I love Photoshop!

Day 125/365: Kyjen Dog Toy Test, Part 2

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Day 125: The Evil Stare

Welcome to phase two of my Kyjen dog toy test, we first reviewed the This Hard Core FireHose dog toy made by Kyjen Dog Products was the toughest match for my insane Jack Russell. Can you see the green glow to his eyes? Yes, this fabric is the same kind used to make firehoses, tough, durable, but not exactly Brody tough. It did take a few hours to breach the end, totally wore him out and he had to take a rest.

Toy testing is hard work,...

He was bound and determined that no one was going to have his toy and he guarded it well. This small dog toy is tough though. It is tightly packed with fluff, and has a squeaker at both ends. Took several hours of diligent work to get the first one out, but because the fabric is so tough Brody couldn’t tear the rest to get down the narrow opening to the last squeaker.

Can you see remnants of fluff under the couch?

Over twenty-four hours later the squeaker remained in the opposite end and just puzzled him. In a couple of days the Firehose toy did submit and give it up. You might ask what do I do with all these “dead” toys. I throw them in his basket, empty skins, chewed balls with holes and he does take them out one at a time to examine them. For example Brody still tosses his Real Squeaker Mat from Kyjen.

I’ll tell you about that one in the next edition of Brody’s Dog Toy Test.