Lens-Artists Challenge #154 / 410 – One Photo Edited

August 28, 2026August 27, 2026 / Donna Robinson Photography / 7 Comments

When I originally started this draft, I was focused (pun intended) on sharing how I attempted to get that perfect shot, but when I looked at the images on screen, I soon realized I would need to get a little creative with edits. Then along came Ritva with this week’s challenge. You can read her challenge here where she explains all types of editing.

For my contribution to this week’s challenge, I have a hummingbird series where, I’m using a variety of basic editing tools (cropping, color adjustments, lighting, etc.), but more specifically I’m incorporating “editing impression” where I take a more artistic approach by using the posterize, pinpoint lighting and background adjustments to obtain a more artistic feel to the images.

So here’s how it all started. One evening, I was admiring a beautiful bloom on one of our Rose of Sharon plants and had just taken a photo of it from a distance (with the big lens). You can tell from the photo that it was off at a distance from where I was sitting.

Then all of a sudden, a hummingbird decided to hang around the same bloom and began gathering some nectar. My settings were spot on and when I looked at the view finder I just knew I had perfect shots. What I didn’t count on was because of the distance and the tiny size of the hummingbird I would need to do some serious cropping. Cropping that would ultimately make the images grainy without any sharpness whatsoever.

Once I began playing around with the filters; I ultimately came up with an editing plan and applied it to all the images. You can see the before and after by using the slider for each.

I suppose if I had worked on them a little more, I could have sharpened them up a little bit better. Quite honestly, though I’m pretty happy with the end results.

Many thanks to our host Ritva for this week’s fun challenge. If you would like to join the challenge, please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to her post Lens-Artists #410: One Photo Edited.

Sofia will be hosting the next challenge on Saturday, noon Eastern time. For more information on how to join the Lens-Artists challenge please click here.

Until next time,

~donna

Sunday Vibes – After the Rain

May 31, 2026May 30, 2026 / Donna Robinson Photography / 8 Comments

We’ve had a lot of rain, here, lately. I’m not complaining because it has been a much-needed relief. I just hope that it doesn’t come back to bite us in June and July. We shall see. Despite the rain, we’ve managed to get our daily 8 – 9-mile walks in. Yes, there have been a few times where we’ve had to either duck for cover or just walk it out.

At the beginning of the trail we take there are two (2) magnolia trees growing wild. They’re not massive but large enough that they are producing some beautiful blooms. You can tell the trees have been there a while by all the brown leaves on the ground.

Earlier this week I noticed they were blooming and made a mental note of how pretty they were and to take some photos on the way back.

This was one of the days when the rain caught up with us. We were a little soaked when we returned, but I didn’t mind when I saw how pretty the magnolia leaves were with the rain droplets.

Ultimately, I had a vision for this photo and that was to convert it into a dreamy black and white image. I’m still learning Affinity photo, but I feel pretty good about how this conversion turned out. What do you think?

The original images were taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note Phone, so I’ll be linking to Journeys with Johnbo Cell Pic Sunday as well.

Until next time,

~donna

31 Days of July – Photography Challenge – Day 6

July 6, 2025 / Donna Robinson Photography / Leave a comment

Day 6 – Macro Photography. This was a little challenging getting just the right shot. I won’t even tell you how many images I took today. But, then again, that’s what this challenge is about, patience and practice.

When I brought it into Photoshop elements, I cropped it slightly, changed the background to black and applied the Orton Effect. I could probably go back in and clean up some of the edges a little more, but overall, I’m happy with the results.

Field Notes: Focal Length – 35mm; Exposure 1/85 sec; f32; ISO 1250

Until next time,

~donna

Macro Monday – Reflections of a Limelight Hydrangea

June 9, 2025June 7, 2025 / Donna Robinson Photography / 4 Comments

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lens Artist Challenge #350 – Zooming

May 30, 2025May 29, 2025 / Donna Robinson Photography / 8 Comments

Anne challenges us this week with one of my all-time ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) techniques……Zooming. It’s fun, challenging and the results can be quite spectacular. You can learn more about the specific technique in Anne’s post.

It’s been a while since I played around with zooming, so when Anne’s challenge came out, I took the opportunity to take some new images. It took me a couple of shots to get the hang of it again, but I really like how these Lilypad images turned out.

In the first image below, I like how a single leaf is in focus and the rest of the leaves show increasing movement from there.

Creatively cropping your images can also give you some added depth and movement. The image below reminds me of a kaleidoscope.

There are so many fun things you can do when editing your zooming images. In the photo below, I applied the “Orton Effect” and also added a little more blur. I like the brighter, dreamy look to the image on the right.

For my last image, I have cropped it a little differently and applied a “watercolor” texture. I feel like I’m in the middle of a wheat filed with the one on the right.

Thank you, Anne for the reminder of this fun technique. I can’t wait to keep applying it to other photos.

Ritva leads next week so be sure you’re subscribed to her site The World as I See It when she posts the challenge Saturday, noon EST.

Until next time,

~donna

Lens Artist Challenge #345 – My Go to Places

April 24, 2025April 23, 2025 / Donna Robinson Photography / 9 Comments

It’s a new week of the Lens Artist Challenge and John from Travels with JohnBo has us sharing our “Go to Places” for photography (you can read John’s original post here). It’s a wonderful theme and one that I didn’t have to think too much about, because really any place I have my camera becomes my “go to place.” But specifically, my “go to place” is anywhere I can be outside connecting with nature.

It can be in a garden enjoying the blooms and color while watching the birds and insects gathering food and nectar:

Macro Photography of a Sunflower with a Bug

It can be a walk in the park on a Fall Day enjoying the crisp air and changing colors of the leaves:

Or walks along the beach taking in the salt air and ocean breezes.

So where is your “Go to Place” when you need inspiration?

Many thanks to John for this wonderful challenge. Next week, Sofia will host. Be sure to follow her here so you don’t miss her post, which will go live next Saturday at noon Eastern time.

Until next time.

~donna