Starling Color Swap

I'm not sure what this starling was doing, but we caught him in the act.
Did a color swap on the photo, so cream and purple instead of blue and green.
Going for a minimalistic oriental look. I like it.

The Year of the Butterfly

What is going on with the butterflies this spring?
They are arriving unusually early and there is a lot of them.
I took photos and managed to capture four different species in a matter of minutes. All blogged previously, so details there.



(Photo Top left, then clockwise: Monarch, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Mourning Cloak.)

They were just all over the place, mostly landing on the dandelions, probably because there isn't much else out there yet.
The monarchs looked kinda rough/ragged when I examined the photos close up.
This was about 10am Saturday 12May12. It was beautiful out. Calm, clear, in the 50's maybe.

I tried googling:
butterflies+2012+population
and did find some talk on the topic.

A few links:
monarchs
red admirals

Naked Famous Young Blood

I really like this song.

Young Blood,
By The Naked And Famous

wiki
From Auckland, New Zealand.
Wiki says the song played on Covert Affairs pilot. I do not remember that.

Another song of theirs is pretty good:
Punching In A Dream

Meet two members of the band:
The Naked And Famous - Bands For 2011 video

More Links:
amazon
grooveshark
songfacts
songmeanings

Hooded Merganser

Another new one for my North Dakota bird photo collection.
Male (Drake) Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Raised Crest, evidently (cornell).
He makes a distinct funny/odd sound (enature).

audubon:
 His most distinguishing feature is his crest, or “hood.” At rest or in flight, this hood appears as little more than a white line behind the eye, but when the drake is alert on the water, the fully-raised crest reveals an elaborate hood of white on an otherwise black head.

So in other words, he can look quite different on water depending on how he holds his head.
(google it)

npwrc
(Ducks at a Distance)

Nature's Woodcarvings

Dog?:


Snake?:

Digital Butterflies

A happy accident.

Step 1 - Radial Rainbow Gradient
Step 2 - VM Toolbox Radial Mosaic
Step 3 - Warp Brush Twirl
Step 4 - Simple 4 Way Average
Step 5 - Layer Blends and Tone Map



More Examples:

Perigee Full Moon

Big super bright moon outside early morning Sunday 6May12.
The biggest brightest full moon of the year Saturday night.

Supermoon Wiki

Similar Border Effect

Baby Geese

The Canada Geese usually disappear when the babies arrive and I never get a chance to photograph them. I just happened to see these on a river sandbar.



I tried some texturing and vignette on this next one:



Another one Sunday:


MORE:

Through The Fog

Ominous looking barn swallows on the fence:



Previously

Trees

Another photo to add to my tree collection. I never get tired of these.

Butterflies Already

I was surprised to see lots of bumble bees and butterflies this early in the year.
We had a mild winter, so maybe that had something to do with it.
They were all over the dandelions.

This bumble bee is so cute! I just love that orange belly.



Orange-belted or Tricoloured Bumble Bee
(Bombus ternarius)

wiki
 There is another species of bumblebee, Bombus huntii, common throughout the western United States, that is nearly identical in coloration to ternarius, though it has primarily yellow facial hairs rather than black.

bugguide

The butterflies were Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta)


blogged previously.

I saw a few sulfurs out there also.

Fractal-Like

I like these fractal-like images:




Made with free Ulead ArtTexture plugin in Paint Shop Pro.
I don't think the starting image matters on those.

Ulead FantasyWarp
is also free and fun to play with.


More subtle patterns can be made. I started with a colorful striped rainbow gradient. Hungry for color today. It has been overcast and rainy a lot lately.

Happy May Day

Oh happy day.



These are sculptured tube flowers on a cloud pattern fill. Made in Paint Shop Pro. I was just pleasantly surprised by the patterning I got using Sculpture. A happy accident. The trick was choosing a "busy" Pattern and then sliding the Size number up until a pretty pattern emerged.

More Songs Rising

More chart climbers that I liked:

Too Close, by Alex Clare (#63 billboard)
Give Your Heart a Break, Demi Lovato (#74)
Little Talks, Of Monsters and Men (#82)

billboard
See Billboard Hot 100 videos at:
chartbrain

Song Rising

Some Nights, by fun.

I predict this song is going to rise to number 1 on the charts.
Has a good drum beat thing goin' on. Makes me crank up the sound.
Their song, We Are Young, is currently more popular (because of Glee Fox TV series, evidently).

Clean Version w Lyrics
billboard
songmeanings.net
wiki
amazon

fun.
An American indie pop band based in New York City.
Formed by Nate Ruess (b. 26 Feb 1982).
With Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff.
This is their 2nd album.
photos
(They need better publicity photos. ha)

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)


Not that interesting of a photo, but a new one to add to my bird collection.

cornell
enature
npwrc

Marshbirds and Shorebirds of North Dakota

Other grebes I have:
western grebe
pied-billed grebe

Mylo Xyloto

Listening to Coldplay:

Major Minus


Charlie Brown


Good workout songs.

Some Data Points:
Mylo Xyloto
5th studio album.
Released worldwide on 24 Oct 2011.
Preceded by Singles:
"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" (3 Jun 2011).
"Paradise" (Sep 2011).
"Charlie Brown" (3 Feb 2012).

Mylo Xyloto is a concept album, and its content follows a story throughout. According to Chris Martin, the album is "based on a love story with a happy ending," in which two protagonists living in an oppressive, dystopian, urban environment, meet one another through a gang and fall in love.

The Making Of 'Mylo Xyloto' (YouTube)

Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John Martin (b. 2 Mar 1977).
Lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist.
Married to Gwyneth Paltrow (b. 27 Sep 1972).
Met 2002 backstage.
Married 5 Dec 2003.
Apple Blythe Alison Martin (b. 14 May 2004).
Moses Bruce Anthony Martin (b. 8 Apr 2006).

Image Creation Notes:
VM Instant Art - Colorfield Generator, VM Distortion - Brightness By Brightness, Brushstrokes for texture, Bauhaus 93 font

Previously

What Is That?

Powered Parachute on the prairie. Now that's unusual. lol He landed in a field and his pickup was nearby. I liked catching the windmill in the scene.



wiki:
"A powered parachute (motorized parachute, PPC, paraplane) is a parachute with motor and wheels.
...
In the United States, most single place PPCs are flown under part 103 of the Federal Aviation Regulations and, therefore, may be flown without a license or flight instruction. Flight instruction is, however, highly recommended, and an average student can learn to fly a PPC safely with 5 to 10 hours of flight instruction.
...
Many pilots fly from back yard strips, small airports, and mown hay fields."

images

Forsynthias

Very pretty blazing mustard yellow that really pops in the landscape.
I took photos and tried to identify.
I think it's some kind of forsynthia.

Shrub view looks more mustardy toned yellow:


Than the closeups:


Possibilities for Zones 3&4:
Meadowlark forsythia, 8-10 feet height
Northern gold forsythia, 6-8 feet height
New Hampshire gold and sunrise varieties, 4 to 5 feet height
Gold tide or citrus swizzle, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet height, 4 feet wide

Ref:
ag.ndsu
jamestownsun

Digital Spring Flowers

A happy accident.
A fluke.



Image creation notes:
#bdd890 green
Harry's filters, Artistic Atmospherizer
Filter Factory Gallery A Pool Shadow
VM Extravaganza Biohazard
Tweak: Clone, Burn brushes