5 Day Photo Challenge Day 5 – Belly up to the bar

Well here we are at day 5 of the 5 day photo challenge and while the “rules” state that I should nominate someone else to this challenge I find myself at a handicap… Everyone I would’ve nominated has already been tagged and it seems something has taken me down a notch or two and I am feeling terribly drained.  At least I’m not feeling nauseous like yesterday (hopefully that stays away).

Hopefully some hot tea with honey and some extra rest will put this right and quickly too I hope.  DH has a birthday to celebrate and I had all kinds of plans – none of which were him playing nurse to me; although that could be fun.  This photo was featured here in color taken when we were in Key West and I wouldn’t mind being back there now! Resting in the sun with a nice drink with an umbrella in it served in a coconut or pineapple sounds very medicinal :)

( If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here! Contest ends March 10)

 

5 Day Photo Challenge Day 4 – In a New York Minute

Well, not quite a minute.  This image was taken last year when we were in NYC and I decided to try some longer exposure shots while in all of that hustle and bustle of Times Square.  The original color version can be seen here on the post At the Corner of 7th and 42nd.  I’ve found that when you have an image with some definite color and tone contrasts the conversion to black and white really pops.  And now back to the challenge…..

The rules for the 5 Day Black and White Challenge are:

1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.

Today I nominate Bob of InfraredRobert for the challenge.  His urbex photos are just astounding!

 

( If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here! )

5Day Photo Challenge Day 3 – Christmas Past

This photo, taken last year around the holiday season, turned out so well that I had to go back and see what it would become for this black and white challenge.  The original – Reflections on the Canal - is a shot that I would love to capture again (minus the Christmas tree) whenever we return to Vegas.  Which version do you prefer – color or b&w?  Now back to the challenge…

The rules for the 5 Day Black and White Challenge are:

1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.

Today I nominate Ingrid of Live Laugh RV for the challenge.  Her photos make you want to run away to explore life in an RV :)

 

( If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here! )

 

5 Day Photo Challenge Day 2 – Being Koi

I have accepted a photo challenge from Indah Susanti who is an amazing underwater photographer and her above the water photos are great too!  If you look on her page you will see the two challenges she accepted.  I am only doing the Black and White five day challenge.  Interesting thing, I was already batting the idea around in my head of doing black and white photos this week so this just validated the idea.

The rules for the 5 Day Black and White Challenge are:

1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.

Easy peasy :)  So I am inviting my friend Chris over at Milford Street to join in on the challenge.  I bet those ice fishing posts he did would look great in B&W :)  This little fishy was first posted in color here at Composition in Orange.  What I like most about this image in B&W is the reflecting ball.  The coins in the water look as though they are on the ball that is “under” the water.

( If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here! )

Orchids on Black – Monochrome Monday

Sometimes when you convert beautiful flowers into black and white you lose all that makes them beautiful.  Then there are the other times, the times when the conversion shows you the bits and pieces of the flower that you did not notice because of all of the vibrant colors – textures immediately come to mind.   I picked this image of a single stem of white, magenta, yellow and green orchids because it was a simple and clean image…and because it was the first photo in the folder ;)

I wasn’t hitting anything spectacular when trying different monochrome conversions but when I tried this one particular preset using Topaz B&W Effects I knew I had it!  The orchids look as though they’ve floated up from some dark water.  What do you think?

( If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here! )

 

Haiku Sunday

The snow falls again

and the people are fed up

Winter out! Spring in!

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous!  It is snowing now ( I am so shocked) and the news last night did nothing to lighten my spirits.  They said last year with that vortex monster the temps weren’t as cold as this winter but we had more snow than we have gotten so far.  Either way it’s a pain in the…….  Stay warm if you are in cold parts and if you are in warm parts? Lucky you I say begrudgingly.

I want these little flowers to return.

If you haven’t entered my giveaway to win Topaz Restyle and another Topaz program of your choice, enter here!

It’s a Topaz Giveaway!

If you read my prior post then you know what Topaz Labs plug-ins can do for your photos – make them even more amazing!  Now if you haven’t read my review of Topaz Restyle then please do by clicking here.  I currently have four Topaz plug-ins; Restyle, Simplify, B&W Effects and Adjust.  Each one of them lets me be as creative as I want to be with creating an image that has some subtle enhancements to one that resembles a painting or an HDR image.

Here are some examples of what I’ve created with each of those plug-ins:

Restyle

Adjust

B&W Effects

Simplify

Now thanks to the wonderful folks at Topaz I am pleased to announce a giveaway!  This giveaway consists of Topaz Restyle and your choice of one other plug-in from their collection.  Pretty cool, huh?  If you are not familiar with the Topaz collection then just click here where you will be taken to the Topaz Labs website where you can browse each plug-in and decide which one you would like to win (and remember, you can try any of their plug-ins free for a 30 day trial).  Entering this giveaway is very simple…just leave a comment saying which program you would like to win along with the Restyle program.  Letting me know why would be nice too but that’s optional; leaving a comment telling me which other plug-in you would like to win is mandatory.  You can’t win it if you don’t say what the it is :)

The magic random number generator will once again pick a number from the entries and that person will win Restyle and their program of choice. This giveaway will end on March 10th and the winner announced on March 11th.  Good luck everyone!

(This post and giveaway sponsored by Topaz Labs.  All images and comments are my own.  Comments are open only for giveaway entrants)