Scavenger Hunt Sunday 050811

Happy weekends, shutterbugs! Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend... and to the mothers, Happy Mother's Day!

My brother is about to set up the table for dinner, so I will go and make this post real quick. Here are my pictures for this week's Scavenger Hunt:


01. SOOC

One of the last grasshopper pictures I took last Friday. I loved how the grasshopper moved and still not mind about my camera (I tend to get my lens as close as possible whenever I take macro shots), but I really struggled with my camera's settings because it was dusk already.

{also linking this picture to SOOC Sunday and Camera Critters}

02. Sprouting

Sister bought a bag of special kind of soil and a bag of vermicast for the basil and mint, and since I am struggling with my little tomato project (I did plant some seeds before but they died), I decided to try once again. Last Monday, using a small microwavable plastic ware (the disposable kind), I used the special soil and the vermicast, and the sprouts looked like this last Friday. I laid out four columns of three seeds per column, but one column is still not sprouting that time - but they did this morning. I do pray these tomato plants will not die on me.

03. Isn't it Ironic?

Yesterday, sister and I attended Yves' first birthday at Jollibee, a local fast food. While we were eating, the store's mascot entertained the guests and welcomed people who would like to have their pictures taken with the mascot, and I did find it so ironic that these 20-something women were so eager to have their pictures taken (to the point that they left their foods at the table), while they try to persuade the little boy to pose for pictures. :)

04. Lazy

During a time when going to the mall meant traveling oh-so-many kilometers, the family tend to celebrate life moments by cooking home cooked meals. Now that the mall is just 15 minutes away from our house, we just celebrate it by going to the mall and eat out... and yes, part of it is because we do feel lazy planning and cooking for dishes anymore.

By the way, I used the Kim Klassen portrait texture for this - set to normal, with opacity of 65% before applying the unsharp mask.

05. Smells Like Spring

Borrowing a picture I took last week because I wasn't able to take any "spring" pictures (aside from the tomato sprouts), and it was raining all afternoon today. We don't have spring here in the Philippines, but I think the first quarter of the year is when most flowers are blooming.

Brother is now calling for dinner, and my net book is flashing the "low battery" sign, so I am now closing this post. Thank you for hopping here.

*** Jenn ***

Foto Friday | Blue

Of all the colors, I think blue has the least amount of pictures in my files. Come to think of it, I don't own that much blue stuff! I was looking at my April 2011 folder and found this picture, which I hope will be okay for the meme... well, dark / deep blue is still blue, right?

I took this picture last week of April. That time, I was doing the Photo Hunt Challenges, and one item I struggled with was the "silhouette," and when I saw this while cooking dinner, I took my camera and try to photograph the leaves. Of course, I took quite a handful of shots, and for this meme, I chose this, because the rest were more focused on the leaves and not the sky.

I added a texture to this photo, which I got from searching online. I wanted to include the link, but the link that came with the picture was a forum for boats. If you want to use the texture, the name of it was "Grunge Texture" by DarkRose42.

*** Jenn ***

Art of Composition | Lines of the Hand

When I read about the exercise last Friday, I seriously didn't know how to present my image since I didn't just wanted to take a picture of my palm. I knew I would post my image come Wednesday (which is today), so I let the thinking pass and just dealt with it this morning.

My day started on a sour note today (travel plans not working to my advantage), so I am not feeling really interested in doing many things today, but seeing my cat Oreo just lounging after lunch, I went near to see if he would like for us to play games. He wasn't. Maybe he was sensing a deep sadness on my aura, or maybe he wasn't feeling good himself.

He normally doesn't let us touch his paws, but this time he did. With my cell phone in my pocket, I just took a picture of this moment - giving me a little message, that sometimes, when you feel like not talking to anyone, or when you have no one to talk to, pets are there to comfort you to the best of their abilities.

*** Jenn ***

Texture Tuesdays | Cuppa Cuppa Love

I have started being interested in photography late 2007, using my cell phone (which I am still using in some moments 'til now) before the family acquired our first point and shoot camera mid 2008. My growth was very slow, because more than three years now, I still am using a point and shoot camera, and I still don't post-process most of my pictures, other than resizing them and adding my name stamp.

I was actually quite okay with that - with five blogs to update, deadlines to beat, and chores at home to do, I really have my hands full, but last weekend, I first used textures in my picture, thanks to the Photo Hunt Challenges. Actually, the "texture" item on the list didn't specifically say using a texture in post-processing, though it was an option. I decided to give it a try, and when I posted it, my friend Nathalie suggested I join this meme, and that instant, I joined the Kim Klassen mailing list, and here I am joining for the first time.

This week is about Cuppa Cuppa Love, and here is the SOOC Picture:

This wasn't my first picture, actually, when Kim posted her take on the prompt, it was also the time I learned what the prompt was (because I wasn't able to read last week's TT post). I quickly took a picture of a cup with the help of a lit candle to cast a shadow forming a heart on the cup's handle. However, the image was so dark, and adding textures either made it darker or the textures weren't showing at all anymore. I knew I had to change my image, so I turned off my netbook and took this picture.

"Texturizing" it, I came up with this:

Using GIMP (I do have the Adobe PS CS5, but PS is still an alien to me 'til now), I converted the image to black and white, and added the Warm Sun texture set to Multiply at 60% opacity. I erased some of the textures in the tea pot and cup, before adding the next texture - Sweettart, set to Overlay at 35% just to give that little pinkish tone. I added my name stamp and flattened the image before applying the Unsharp Mask and flattened the image again.

I don't know if this is good enough, but I guess this one came out good.

By the way, the book in the image was "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom.

*** Jenn ***

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 050111

This week has been a lax one for me - brother flew to Cagayan de Oro to be with his girlfriend, and the sacks of rice were not delivered yet, so I need to stay at home. That means, I wasn't able to go out and hunt the items, and this week, I am using a mix of pictures I took this week and from the past.

01 - Architecture

Something I took last March, this was a part of St. Michael the Archangel church in Bacnotan, La Union. I also used an old paper texture by Mourningstocks, which I downloaded from HERE.


02 - Rimmed with Light

I really struggled with this prompt because I couldn't achieve such effect using any of the lamps / flashlights we have at home, so while walking home from the market just outside our neighborhood, I saw this and thought the clouds were rimmed with light. Well, I am not sure if I got this prompt correct, if I didn't please tell me so I could change it. :)

03 - Toes / Feet

Another picture I took last May, this was one of the pictures I took after buying a pair of Anna Sui footwear at a garage sale.




04 - This is My Favorite

This morning, my sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market, and even if we had a specific reason to go there (mostly for garden purposes), I still was able to capture pictures of the flowers, and among the 10 flower pictures I took, this was my favorite.

I am also linking this picture to SOOC Sunday. I just think the flower looked pretty as is, no need to do anything to it. Well, I am thankful I got the exposures and shutter speed correct for this picture.

05 - Shade

Another difficult prompt for me because I don't own any sunglasses, our windows don't have blinds, and the sun / trees didn't give that shade effect I was hoping for. This was a picture I took from the weekend market (again), while I was hunting for an available space in the mess hall. It's summer here in the Philippines - scorching hot (temps not going below 30*C) - and the way for these merchants to keep their customers in the shade was to make use of tarps, sacks, and nets to block the sun rays.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

*** Jenn ***