Not So SAHM

In His Hands

These great frog sculptures were installed in the Fayetteville Botanical Gardens for some time in 2014. I love the detail.

A frog sculpture holds a bronze orb in the Fayetteville Botanical Gardens. Not So SAHM — In His Hands – ProjectEdit365 – 09 Nov

The original wasn’t greatly composed – I’m missing some of the top of the orb. But it was pretty simple to make it look a little better. I sharpened it, decreased the contrast and increased the clarity. I used an adjustment brush to add some contrast back to the fingers and the reflection of his fingers. I finished with a small vignette. Here’s the original:

09nov

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Election Day

In the end, this is what matters. Love God and love your neighbors. What matters is individual actions.

The word love is spelled out with metal stamps. Not So SAHM — Election Day – ProjectEdit365 – 08 Nov

I love shooting with a shallow depth of field. I like negative space, too, but liked the square look and think that there’s still enough negative space. I increased the exposure, contrast, and clarity and cooled the temp a bit. It was still kind of yellow so I went to the yellow slider and completely zeroed out the saturation. I sharpened, decreased the noise and added a little vignetting. Here’s the original:

08nov

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Macy’s Parade – Spider Man

Spider Man, weaving his way through the city streets. And all the people are watching to see which bad guy he’ll fight off!

Like pretty much all of my parade pics, this one was dark and lacking contrast. I increased the contrast, clarity, and lightened the shadows. I increased the grain on this one just a little. Here’s the original:

07nov

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Macy’s Parade – Lady Liberty’s Torch

Spreading her light and liberty throughout the parade route! Hey there, sailors!

By the way, everyone we were standing around was nice. Maybe they were all tourists, but everyone kind of let everyone be.

A parade float with the torch of the statue of liberty floats by in the macy's thanksgiving day parade. Not So SAHM — Macy’s Parade – Lady Liberty’s Torch – ProjectEdit365 – 06 Nov

I love the grittier look for urban photography. I cropped again to straighten and increased the contrast and clarity. Doing that makes the picture dark so I had to increase the shadows. Here’s the original:

06nov

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Macy’s Parade – Snoopy

One year we were able to visit New York City for Thanksgiving and see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! We were there early to get a good spot. It was cold. We were packed like sardines. And it was totally worth it.

The snoopy balloon looms overhead on a new york street during the macy's thanksgiving day parade. Not So SAHM — Macy’s Parade – Snoopy – ProjectEdit365 – 05Nov

The original was so wonky that the building behind him looked like it was falling. Cropping to straighten the buildings cut off some of Snoopy, but I think it adds to the idea of how close he was to us. I increased the contrast and clarity and lightened the shadows. Here’s the original: Should I have left it without cropping it?

05nov

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Beach Reflection

Little toes in sand

Fascinated by it all

Loving simple life

Little Girl looks at her reflection in the wet sand at the beach. Not So SAHM — Beach Reflection – ProjectEdit365 – 04 Nov

The original was too blue for a fall sunset picture. I warmed it up a bit. I also lowered the clarity but used an adjustment brush on the reflection and the waves to increase their sharpness and clarity. I ended with a small vignette. Here’s the original:

04nov

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