As we started out on the trail at the Nature Conservancy we were greeted by the fragrance of this lovely Butterfly Bush. I'd never seen one in full bloom like this before but the aroma was heavenly! The bright sunlight did its best to wash out the color, but these blossoms are as brilliant as lilac which you can see by the pictures.
This shot officially signifies that I have taken a shot of ALL the June words in the June Word Challenge!! Yes, even the bonus word! Ta-da!!
Bit ahead of ours!!! They are everywhere here and seed in gravel very easily. But they aren't enjoying the chill around just now! Perhaps by August they will come out of hiding!
Congrats, Ann! I'm curious as to whether you participated in all the challenges and themes during your first year. I keep wondering if I'll ever get to the point where I can spend some time on things like the June words. And the collage is lovely. . .I was wondering how to use a format like this one, and now I see this is a fantastic use!
@kerristephens Thanks Kerri! @anazad511 Thanks Ana! Yes, this is a very friendly program! I use Picmonkey. They now have a collage option and I believe this one was called FB Cover. When you click on that title it will give you several layouts and this is the first one. I also like iPiccy which I find to be just as friendly. And when I'm feeling very "artsy" I like BeFunky. I tried Gimp once and found it too confusing although I think you can do much fancier processing with some of its functions. I just didn't understand how to make it work. And I also tried Picture2Life but had the same problems with it as I did with Gimp. Plus they wanted a fee for everything but a simple frame and some sharpening tools. The two I use most frequently are PicMonkey and iPiccy and I really like both of them.
@sarah19 Thanks Sarah! Yes, we've had 100 degree days yesterday and today, so the word chilly is not in our vocabulary right now! (Except when referring to ice cream!) @digitalrn Thanks Rick! @mrssmith Thanks Carla! This was a tough list! I didn't think I'd get them all.
@lyno Thanks Lyn! I had to go back and look through the pictures in both albums to see when I started doing challenges and I did the first one in August of 2011- 8 months after I started on 365! I remember wondering how I was going to shoot a whole month's worth of words that began with the letter S, and then having so much fun doing it. I met a couple great people through that challenge too. One gal in particular and I really enjoy them so we've continued to design them each month for each other. Last October we did a book challenge, in Nov. we did squares, and December was opposites. For me it's just an added twist of fun in picture taking the 365 way. I've also done some of the tag challenges, the found alphabet, same subject challenge, WWYD challenges, 5 step challenge and artist challenge, but I tend to like the personal challenges more than the competitions. For me it's just a little disheartening to put a lot into a competitive shot only to be "out-processed" by someone who has Photoshop and knows how to use it! I think it becomes easier to participate in these photo games if you're an ace member and have a second album. Being able to post more than one shot gives you a lot of freedom- and it's so affordable! This collage was done in PicMonkey which is free. The collage feature is new for them and they've got some pretty nice layouts there. I also love the collage layouts on iPiccy, another free on-line photo processing site. I would recommend you explore on both of them with some of your photos.
@beachradish Thank you Beachradish! I am honored that you think my creativity is infectious because I think your pictures are amazing! I really respond to the way you see and shoot a picture! And have mimicked it with my own way of seeing things in some of my shots (such as yesterday's shot in the main album in that I went for the bare minimum of sand, sea and sky in that shot).
@anazad511 Don't feel dumb- I think finding the right processing tools is an adventure and you have to keep looking until you find something that works for you. @eudora Thanks Diane! I didn't think the shots were all the spectacular by themselves but I like how putting them together helped to tell the story.
@nicolecampbell Thanks Nicole- I didn't know they were so aromatic. I have a friend who wants to give me a shoot to transplant- certainly am going to take her up on that now! @prttblues Thanks Bev. It was quite fragrant but not overpowering.
butterfly bush. what lovely, lovely flowers. gotta check that out for a closer look so i don't miss it when i go to the gardens later on. and the colours are beautiful, too. great collage, ann.
@anazad511 Thanks Ana! Yes, this is a very friendly program! I use Picmonkey. They now have a collage option and I believe this one was called FB Cover. When you click on that title it will give you several layouts and this is the first one. I also like iPiccy which I find to be just as friendly. And when I'm feeling very "artsy" I like BeFunky. I tried Gimp once and found it too confusing although I think you can do much fancier processing with some of its functions. I just didn't understand how to make it work. And I also tried Picture2Life but had the same problems with it as I did with Gimp. Plus they wanted a fee for everything but a simple frame and some sharpening tools. The two I use most frequently are PicMonkey and iPiccy and I really like both of them.
@digitalrn Thanks Rick!
@mrssmith Thanks Carla! This was a tough list! I didn't think I'd get them all.
@eudora Thanks Diane! I didn't think the shots were all the spectacular by themselves but I like how putting them together helped to tell the story.
@prttblues Thanks Bev. It was quite fragrant but not overpowering.