NF Inspiring photography

Sometimes our sunrises are more golden and subdued ... I love them.  There is a special kind of richness to it. Happy way to start out a week ... have a good one everyone :)

Mandarin Orange Monday

In the beginning there was an Owl ... (the tree is public domain)

In the end ... there was an owl :)

Happy MOM everyone!

Inspiration Avenue

Link to Inspiration Avenue

If you can't tell by the name of my blog, I am a sun worshiper.  Not the kind who goes out and soaks up rays until I am golden brown or red and peeling as it would be in my case, but a person who realizes that, without the sun, life, nature as we know it, wouldn't exist.

I live on a lake and my house faces East, so I am greeted every morning with a different version of Sunrise. It is not any wonder that I am so drawn to the sun and all of its beauty and warmth. I have so many pictures that the hard part of this exercise was picking the ones I wanted. I leaned toward the more dramatic with a few soft versions added in ... Hope you enjoy.

Mandarin Orange Monday

 

Mandarin Orange #39

A swan swimming in front of a beautiful stand of reeds in the channel by our lake ... (original)

These are patterns in a thin layer of ice on a puddle ... I added  color to get the design.

I attended a funeral last week that was so spiritual and gratifying in the way it  addressed the beliefs of the widow (Christian) and of the deceased (Judaism).  It reminded me of the Baha'i beliefs that we all travel different roads to the one God which, in the end, brings us together as one.  If only we could live our lives with that oneness ... the acceptance and respect of each man for who he is and what he believes.  Instead I see so much division and bitterness.  I wish we could look inside of ourselves and find it in our hearts to love one another ... Peace, Love ... Respect.  God wants nothing less from us ...

Mandarin Orange Monday

 

 http://www.lorikart.com/2012/10/mandarin-orange-monday-no-14.html

 

 

Today my focus is on Sunrises ... no sunsets because my house faces east and Sunrise is what I get.  I'm not complaining, mind you:)  These are all the same shot in the same direction only on different mornings ... Every morning is a new surprise ... I love it!

I used PSE to enhance this picture with brightness/contrast then increased the red and decreased the blue to bring out the orange.  Then I added pdpa Nitty Critty Texture at42%, the mask/brush tool to erase the texture out of the base to preserve the mist.

PSE enhance brightness/contrast then used accentuated edges filter.  There wasn't much more I could do with this one without losing it's own beauty.

PSE enhance brightness/contrast, hue/saturation then the dry brush filter.  I cropped this one to focus on the orange sunrise.

On this one I used two different pictures.  A moon light shining on the lake and a Sunrise.  I enhanced both of them,  used the Accentuated Edges filter on each of them then merged them.  This is the result ... I thought it was interesting :)
All for today ... I hope that you have a beautiful sunrise every day!

Weekend Reflections

Weekend Reflections ...