If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo
This is for my sweet mom! 
Everything about it reminds me of her! The pink, the soft, dreamy fluffiness! She loves anything soft and pink! Our weeping cherry trees are blossoming now and it is the perfect time to capture them close-up! I’ve really been loving my extension tubes this spring. It’s so neat to be able to take a peek into the beginnings of spring!
For this shot, I used two of my extension tubes attached to my 50mm lens: the 36mm and the 20mm tubes. I set my aperture to f/4.5, shutter speed to 1/100 second and ISO to 100. I always set my ISO at 100 unless the shutter speed can’t be fast enough, then I’ll set it to 200 or 400.
I wanted a tiny bit of the frame to be in focus, with the petals becoming soft and fluffy, so I decided to put the focus on the stamen of the flower. I love how it turned out!
Here is my photo for today. My weeping cherry trees are blooming so I pulled out my extension tubes and got up close! I used all three tubes for this one, these buds are tiny let me tell you! It’s so amazing how much texture and detail are these things! Check out my friend Tasra’s website, she does a Twitter Tuesday feature of fellow 365′ers. There’s lots of great inspiration!
And for the fun news, scroll down…
I was featured on a great photography website this morning! My Twitter friend Travis runs Shutter Photo; it has so much wonderful information, reviews, inspiration, articles and more. I highly recommend his site if you’re into photography! Go check out my feature and stay and look around awhile! You will love it!
I’m so happy spring is here! After being sick with the flu all last week, this is a very welcome sight! My lilacs are getting ready to bloom, my weeping cherry trees are blossoming, my lilies and irises are sprouting… I just love this time of year! What do you love about spring?
On all of these photos I used two of my Photo Veils from The Simplicity Collection: Northern Lights and Winter Jasmine. You can find them at my website, OpenScrapbook, as well as great photography and photoshop tutorials! We also have a fun community with a forum and gallery! Come over and join the fun!
I am so happy to announce the debut of our OpenScrapbook Digital Products Shop with our first release of Photo Veils – The Simplicity Collection! They are so simple to use and they can transform your photos quickly into works of art! Photo Veils work much like textures, you apply them to your photos and use blending modes to achieve your desired effects. They are compatible with most photo editing programs, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements!
The Simplicity Collection is priced at $35 and includes 30 original Photo Veils. Members of OpenScrapbook receive a 50% discount on all digital products in our shop! Membership is only $15 a month and includes access to photography and digital scrapbooking tutorials, exclusive brushes, actions and textures, color palettes, special deals and more!
I’ve whipped up a few before and afters for you to see what Photo Veils can do! Each of these edits took me less than a minute to complete! That’s how quick and simple these are! They work the best in the Soft Light blending mode, which is what I’ve used in most of these samples. Experiment and try different blending modes to create a custom look!
Pixie Kisses – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Salmon Salad Surprise! – Soft Light blending mode – 40% Opacity
Northern Lights – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Grass Stains – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity
Marigold – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Summer Lily – Soft Light blending mode – 70% Opacity
Honey Crisp – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
History – Soft Light blending mode – 70% Opacity
Autumn Blaze – Soft Light blending mode – 20% Opacity
Serenity – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Pixe Kisses – Soft Light blending mode – 40% Opacity
Marigold – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity
Whisper – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Ice – Overlay blending mode – 70% Opacity
Middle Image: Brave – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity
Mountain Sunset – Soft Light blending mode – 20% Opacity
Last Image: Winter Jasmine – Soft Light blending mode – 75% Opacity
Repose – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity
