Well, if I had some vague idea what I was looking for when I took the pictures I’m using for the header, the one below came as a total surprise. I was in the Japanese Garden at the arboretum in Seattle. It was late afternoon — generally a good time for taking pictures, except that it turns out much of the garden is in shadow at that time of day. There were some high clouds that periodically dimmed things even more, pushed along by a gentle breeze.
The reflection of trees and clouds on the surface of the pond caught my eye, so I took a shot or two but didn’t really expect much. When I looked at this one, I was intrigued by the texture caused by the slight ripples in the pond, so I decided to spend a bit of time working on it. It almost looks like brush strokes — and while it’s certainly possible to add that texture using Photoshop, I assure you I did not do that this time. (I’ll probably get around to posting an image where I did.)
As I worked, I was pleased with where the image was going, but it still wasn’t singing. I should mention that because I was working with a reflection, the clouds were at the bottom and the trees at the top. On a whim I rotated the canvas 180 degrees and got the image you see below. It was so different it literally took my breath away.
