Miley's first birthday

Today, as promised I present photos from the party of Miley the one year old Jack Russel. She and her 'brother' Max belong to my friends Natalia and Matthew. The party was held at the local dog park and a good time was had by all.


The first two pictures are of Miley, the second two of Max, I was amazed how many of the dogs there had no problems wearing party hats even if they did tend to slip to the side. Several weeks ago I posted some photos from the 'Yappy Hour' at Gaspers Grotto in Ybor City. Featured among them were two long haired dachshunds who won the costume contest-I was delighted to find these same two dogs and their owner at the party! She says they are happy to wear anything she puts on them.


Here are some of the other guest having fun, I love dogs they are so sweet and always make me smile!

Art

Today I am sharing 3 photos I have recently developed with the Photoshop plug-ins Nik Color Efx and Topaz Simplify. It really is amazing what this software can do. You can combine/blend effects of the various programs together to produce photos which look a lot more like paintings and it is a lot of fun! The photo above was taken at the Ringling Estate in Sarasota-I took it last October and always thought it would look great as a painting.

This is a photo of a birdhouse that is in my parents backyard. Bringing out the contrast and increasing the saturation turned what might normally look pretty ordinary into something special.

Finally from my favorite city, Santa Barbara is this view of the Courthouse taken from the tower. I love this view. Unfortunately in order to make it square I had to cut out the sky just above the mountains but take my word for it, it is amazing!
My next post will be completely different, photos from a dogs birthday at the park, cute pictures of dogs with party hats!
Stephanie

A few from the Photowalk

Hi,
Well even though I wasn't thrilled with the way the St. Petersburg edition of Photowalk went socially I was able to capture a few good shots as I do any time I venture there. The first day I visited this area I was stunned by its beauty and by the fact that I now live here and can visit it whenever I want. The above shot is of a tree in front of the Museum of Fine Art. There are a few of these massive trees along the walkway and they are breathtaking to behold.

The sky was beautiful that day as you can see in this photo of two red streetcars which take tourists on tours of the area. I have always wanted to get a good shot of them and I guess this was my lucky day!

Finally here is one of the many amazing views from a point along the Pier. I never tire of it. I hope to brave the heat to get out and take some more shots this weekend. Until next time... Stephanie

Dragonflies

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since July 4th. Truth is until today I hadn't taken many photos the last 2 weeks. The heat and humidity has driven me indoors much more than I would like. Today however I ventured out to St Petersburg to participate in Scott Kelbys Worldwide Photowalk. I found it somewhat disappointing as our group 'leader' did lead at all. I ended up wandering around on my own. I then drove to the Sunken Gardens where these photos were taken.
These dragonflies were kind enough to stay in one place for quite awhile so that I could take as many shots as I needed to. This particular kind are especially magical looking and really seem to have flown out of a fairy story. They look like they have amused looks on their face.

Here are a few other pics I took today that I especially like. I continue to marvel at the variety of tropical plants and flowers that surround me here in Tampa Bay.

Fireworks

I am in Maryland this weekend visting my family. They always have fireworks on July 3 at the park down the street from my parents home and so i decided to try getting some photos of them. Actually got a couple of great ones. I used my wide angle lens and a shutter speed between .5-1second, most ended up at .8second 100ISO Apeture F8.
It is so fascinating the different pattens that appear. Hopefully I will be somewhere to capture some more tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Stephanie

More from St Pete

It seems like every time i want to get out and take some more photos I am foiled. Last Saturday I tried to go to the Ybor Market in the morning only to run over a beer bottle while parking which punctured my tire. Today I planned a trip to the Sunken gardens in St. Petersburg. I just got a new lens, Canon 50mm 1.4 and I wanted to get some flower photos. Of course I wake up to heavy rain showers all over the area. However things seemed to be looking up around one o'clock and I drove there, only to be told that they were closed because the pathways where you walk were still too wet. Given the amount of rain that we get here in Florida and the fact that this attraction (only 9 acres) is a nature area the fact that they apparently have no drainage is rather strange, if they shut down for the day everytime there are some heavy showers they must not be open very often. Anyway I was obviously disappointed but decided I may as well wander to downtown for awhile before going home.

I may not have gotten the flower shots I was looking for but I did get a few that I liked, especially the one of this bird, its feathers being ruffled by a sudden breeze. The sky was still threatening rain which meant I had some interesting light to work with. I love the variety of birds that live in this area, you never know what you might come upon and they are fun to watch.

There are also boats of all varieties anchored all around. This is truly one of the most beautiful towns in the country. I especially love how this rowboat photo turned out. I processed it in photoshop, Nik Color Efex and Topaz adjust.


I will get back to the Sunken Gardens, provided they don't get washed away by the rain!
Stephanie

Fun with Flowers

Today I worked on the photos I present here, all photos of flowers I took awhile ago. They have obviously been kicked up a few notches. I am thinking of using them not only as art prints but possibly as greating cards as well. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Stephanie