Life’s Daily Harvest
Happy Valentine’s Day!
The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little stardust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. . .
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Every time I see these plants in my photo inventory, they make me smile. They’re nothing special – easy to grow, prolific, and common. But they’re pretty. They wave in the breeze, follow the sun with their big faces, and brighten up the garden.
Even if common, we all need some beauty and color. Life is hard in so many ways. We’re all busy, tired and stressed. Having something that is pretty for the sake of pretty is refreshing.
This photo of caladium plants was taken at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Here’s the original photo:
After my usual adjustments in Lightroom (cropping, color adjustment, etc), I post processed this in Topaz Studios, using BuzSim and Chalk Smudge Light CS. I added three textures to it from 2 Lil Owls. The textures helped bring up the colors and darken the edges. I then finished off in onOne for a vignette and border.
My post processing steps are below. Remember that Photoshop layers start from the bottom and work up. As a result, my watermark at the top is the last step in the process.
What small thing has made you smile lately? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Beauty Encouragement Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Life Lessons Photoshop & Lightroom Topaz Labs 2 Lil' Owls caladium harvest of life Henry David Thoreau Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden onOne Effects Topaz Studio Walden
dogear6 View All →
I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.
Living The Seasons 
Charlee: “Those are some big leaves on that plant.”
Chaplin: “Yeah, I bet our smurf friend could live underneath one of them!”
Oh no! I wonder if the garden store sells Smurf-B-Gone for the plants. Thanks for pointing that out!
Well, your post made me smile today. :)
I accomplished my mission!
It’s so wonderful to see your post. So precious. :D
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Seeing you back ‘here’ has made me smile.
I appreciate this post. We have somehow accepted ‘common’ as not special. Maybe there are so many ‘common’ things because they are so special. We forget to notice.
Awww. . . thanks. I’m slowly getting caught up on my huge backlog of projects and hope to start posting more regularly.
And thanks for the comment on how we forget to notice ‘common’. It sure is easy to do.
I look forward to your being caught up too ;)
Thanks for the encouragement!
You’re welcome Nancy. :)
I love these plants as well and had one as a house plant for many years. The photo is perfect. Every time I look at my dog it makes me smile. Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it. And yeah, Dot sure is made for smiling. I love seeing her pictures in my FB feed. She is just so happy and loves life!
I had a good Valentine’s Day and hope you did too.