ad libitum

PEACOCK VARIATIONS

original photo

photo cropped and edited in photoshop

 

painting filter

 

 

oil painting filter, heightened reflection

SUMMER RESPITE

I'm at the end of a delightful summer vacation and I think this photo (with a boost from Photoshop and my Topaz filter program) captures the beauty of my trip.

NEW FILTERS TO PLAY WITH IN PHOTOSHOP

I recently purchased some new Photoshop filters (Topaz Lab) and have spent this morning playing with pictures I took yesterday in Chaddsford, PA.

This is the front of the bed and breakfast we stayed in.

Below is an old building on the grounds of the bed and breakfast.

It was a beautiful day and people were canoeing on the Brandywine River.

MAKING PHOTOS BLACK AND WHITE

Sometimes, a photo is more dramatic in black and white. Marie Otero recently offered an online class on black and white photos and, although currently lagging behind, I am learning a lot from the class. 

Below are some of the photos I've worked on.

A train from Japan:

 

a photo taken at a gift shop in Japan:

 

 

 

a begger near the Vatican:

 

 

roof tiles in Orvieto, Italy:

a freize in Ostia Antica, Italy:

a zebra in Tanznia:

a Tanzanian leopard:

a giraffe in Tanzania:

The Serengeti in Tanzania

FOLLOWING A LEOPARD

There were two leopards lying in a tree when our jeep approached. One decided to climb down.

 

We were able to follow the leopard as he walked across the savannah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

Lake Manyara is higher in altitude and much more lush than Tarangire. We saw monkeys and a group of banded mongooses (mongeese?), zebras, and cape buffalos and wildebeasts from afar.

I was enchanted by the monkeys.

 

 

 

 

As always, I loved the zebras.

It was fascinating to watch a zebra roll over in the dust to coat himself.

BIRDS IN LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

They don't really have these birds in Michigan (ToTo, I didn't think I was in Kalamazoo anymore).

The bee eater is a pretty, small bird.

Look carefully and you can see the very large flock of flamingos on the water's edge in the distance.

The vultures here are checking out to see if anything is left on the hippo's carcas.

When we arrived at the Farm House in Ngorongoro, we thought the Maribou storks looked like greeters.

BITS OF TANZANIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania has entered my soul

And paced my blood;

So that when I wake each morning,

I search for the warm December sun

And the bright blue sky

In the grey, crisp Michigan air

That stings my lungs with cold.

 

“Polepole,” I tell myself,

As I drive too quickly over

Good roads covered with ice and snow,

Missing the washboard roads

That jarred my body as much as

The vast array of sights and sounds

Jarred my First World expectations.

 

“Asante sana,” I whisper to the Cosmos,

In gratitude for being allowed to witness

The wonder of animals and birds

Going about their daily life in a

Array of landscapes that photos

Can hint at, but not fully recapture.

 

I can still feel the courtesy and dignity

Of the Maasai herders on the sides of hills

Or open plains,

The dedicated teachers of a struggling school,

The orphans lovingly cared for in a small, stark compound,

And Athumani or Richard,

Explaining where to look so we could really see.

 

I have washed my clothes

And sent my camera out to be cleaned;

So the dust of Tanzania is a visceral memory.

I have started to post photos on my blog,

To try to share the wonders of what I saw;

But when I wake at three in the morning,

Not quite back in my own time zone,

I can feel Tanzania in my body

And see it in my head;

And I know that being there changed me.

TARANGIRE ANIMALS

Tarangire National Park is full of elephants.

 

 

There are families of baboons.

 

Warthogs are also plentiful.

 

And, Wildebeasts and zebras mingle - a foretelling of the Great Migration, which will start during the rainy season.

 

I was lucky enough to capture a picture of a gazell leaping.

We passed two lions relaxing on a hill.

And, we saw two juvenile leopards in a tree.

The photos above (and in the previous Tarangire posts) are just a few of the photos I took my first two days in Tanzania.

MORE TARANGIRE BIRDS

The vultures (I'm fairly sure these are vultures) look like the drawings of birds (yes, I do know it's the other way around; but I saw the drawings before I saw the real things).

I was lucky to get this photo of a lavendar throated roller just as it was taking off.

The birds flying over the elephants at the tarangire swamp almost seemed like one big being. I loved how they swarmed.