At the hair salon ...

So who takes a camera to the hair salon?  I did!  And why not?  It gave me an opportunity to take photos of people and things.  Here is just a small collection.  And, yes, I asked for permission to take the photos and put them on this blog. ☺

This beautiful stylist is putting some BLING in a young girl's hair.  In fact, she put BLING in my hair not long ago.

And now you can see the BLING.  It's fun!

I think BLING fits this girl ... kind of matches her flip-flops. ☺

Ready for a mani or pedi?  She's ready for you!

Flowers in the mirror at my stylist's station.

We always feel better after a morning at the hair salon.

All Nighter Hair Spray?  Can you caption this?

Some people look great in a hat as this stylist does.  It sets off her beautiful face and eyes.  Me in a hat?  Uh ... not so much.

In fact, I liked her style and hat so much ... why not another view?

The next time you're in the hair salon, look around ... you might "see" things you've never really noticed before. ☺

Honorary Boxers - Daisy and Kafka

I spent a little time with two of my special dog friends: Daisy and Kafka.  They are two of the most happy, joyous pups ever!  They get to hike through desert trails and mountains; they race around parks and, being Labs, you know they love the water.  While Kafka and Daisy enjoy the fun times, they also have a job. They are certified Therapy Dogs and their current work is with Hospice.

Meet Daisy and Kafka as they enjoy some time in their pool. ☺

Daisy ...

And her brother, Kafka ...

 

A ball, some water and a Lab ... lots of fun!

That ball just really doesn't stand a chance!

A little bit of water never hurt anyone!

Kafka is one happy guy with a ball in his mouth ... or two ...

And in case you don't believe TWO balls in his mouth ...

 Two very wet, very tired and very happy pups!

Absolutely ... Daisy and Kafka have been awarded the title of Honorary Boxers!

Palm Tree Madness ...

I'm going off the deep end, that is for sure.  I can't imagine many people going to the backyard to take photos of a palm tree that's half dead.  But, what the heck ... just keep shooting and playing and maybe I'll learn something!

Today was just for play.  I shot the images and then, in Lightroom, played with all the settings to see what would happen.  I worked with the original images and then turned them into black and white and added some different colors.  So, here are the original images, followed by the artsy-fartsy versions.  ☺

 Okay, this shows highlights and shadows.

What what would the same photo look like when you turn the highlights into aqua?

I actually like this photo of a new palm shoot, seemingly growing out of nowhere.  And I like the colors for sure.

But changing the entire hue? ... not sure my eyes are ready for this. ☺

Palm trees are so interesting because of the little threads that pop out of the fronds.

And they are even more interesting when you jazz them up a bit.

No, I won't be entering these images in any contests, but they sure gave me some practice using Clyde (my camera) and my photo processing software!

Paris-Ivy in black and white ...

Yes, Paris-Ivy is white with some black markings ... but what happens if you take a color photo of her and change it to black and white?  I did just that, and here are the results.  

Shooting down on a dog isn't exactly the right move, but she was too close (and moving very fast) and I wanted to get the shot anyway.

This toy has no chance ... no chance at all!

Barney Bill squeaks in protest ... oh, how he squeaks.  ::sigh::

She's SO proud and had to run right up to me to show me her catch. ☺

I'm learning a lot about photography, but the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!  At least I have a great subject around me all the time. ☺

Playing with Lightroom ...

Lightroom is a software program that is used to process photographs once they come out of the digital camera.  Today, I attended a Lightroom workshop and, having never used the program before, I was lost in the first ten minutes!  

I now have a new vocabulary to learn and it's clear the only way to really get a handle on  Lightroom is to get in there and experiment.  These images are the result of my first experimentation.  I took some old color photos, turned them into black and white, and then played with some of the bells and whistles. ☺

Shadows can really bring some drama to an image.

White doesn't always have to be white!

I pushed some button by accident and got this - and I like it!

Same flower but a different presentation.

Who knew black and white photos could be so not black and white?

I might be spending a lot of time in Lightroom ... this is a great deal of fun! ☺