Poor Squirt – it wasn’t enough that I withheld pansies for lightpad photography once, but I had such a good time that I did it again!  I took some pansies and some small petunias and played more with my new ArtOGraph Lightpad.  Then I spent a rainy afternoon having fun with the post-processing.  A few of these got a “hmm! I like that!” from Rich.  Can you guess which ones?

This first image is a petunia, face-down.  It reminds me of a dancer doing a waltz.  I added several rounds of the Fractalius filter, one to soften the image, the next to add the extra detail in the petals only.  Then I added a texture from Shadowhouse Creations.  I liked the colored texture background better than the original white of the Lightpad.

This next image is a typical flower image taken on the Lightpad.  I put the pansies and the petunia together and played with the composition till I liked it.  I did very little post processing to this one, just a little touch-up from Nik Color Efex Pro.  I’m finding that the Tonal Contrast filter works wonders with the flower colors that are otherwise softened but the bright light of the Lightpad.

This next one had a lot of post-processing!  I liked how my pansy almost filled my frame, and I captured all this great detail in the petals.  But the photo was too white.  So I used the Nik Solarize filter and really liked the result.  (Rich says this one has potential.  But it’s not a “wow.”  Thanks, honey!)

This one is a simple grouping of three petunias, photographed on the Lightpad, with some Fractalius filter added.  I’ve been seeing these petunias in my flowerpot all winter, thinking, “I need to photograph them!”  They are pretty with their bright yellow centers.  The Fractalius helps emphasize the details in the petals.

My last shot of the day is  another grouping of pansies, with color contrast added with Nik, and then another Shadowhouse Creations texture overlay.  Rich says this one has a great background.  But the flowers don’t do much for him!   I like them, though.  :)