Digging Digital

In case you don't recognize me as the "digitaldiva" here is my Buddy Icon for my ImageKind galleries. My galleries there are listed under "MarilynsAttic". Now you can put the face with the feet!

You can browse all of the photos I have for sale on ImageKind. This offers you the opportunity to purchase a print, purchase cards, have a print done on canvas and select a custom frame from their large selection. You can select a photo you like and personalize it by your selection of size, frame and matting. It is fun to try different framing options. Since the frame is such an important part of the finished print you want to make sure you have the perfect one for your picture. I have framed and matted all of my photos with my personal choices, but, I am sure you will want to make your own choices. Have fun browsing!

This module features images taken at my local beaches. The entire gallery can be accessed in the following feed.

I am a hugh fan of Photoshop. This program has allowed me the freedom to express myself with my photos and to use my imagination to create abstract images.

The options available on this program are unlimited just like your imagination. I am just a novice at using Photoshop and it is habit forming. I sit down in the morning to work on a new photo and the next thing I know it is evening! One thing just leads you into another and if you are creative your mind keeps telling you.."Just one more image. You have to try building an image using this new filter."

I remember doing oil paintings and all that entailed. Making sure I had all the colors I needed, preparing my canvas and getting all my equipment set-up. Plus, I had to have a space with a door to close to keep my children or pets from adding their own touches to my wet oil paintings. Photo Shop and digital cameras have given me back my love of painting and art.

This image is from my Imagination gallery and is a good example of the artistic freedom available with todays technology.

Mount Dora is a small town in central Florida that is known for it's historic buildings and southern charm. This gallery attempts to capture some of that southern charm so you can enjoy a tour of Mount Dora from where ever you might be in this wide world.

I thought I would share my favorite way of relieving stress. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed out I just look for Scarlet, my Maine Coon cat, who is usually relaxing in her favorite position. No matter how many times I have seen her do this it always makes me laugh and feel better. Hope it works for you, too! Browse the gallery shown below to see more of Scarlet.

St. Augustine is another of my favorite cities in Florida. I have been there many times and have only scratched the surface of all the interesting images I want to capture with my camera. There are so many small side streets to explore, historic buildings to visit and architectural details to discover. I can't wait to visit again!

My many years of beachcombing and shell collecting are reflected in this gallery of shell images. I find the varities,shapes and colors of shells beautiful. I love walking a beach searching for shells and I am always thrilled when I find a new treasure to add to my collection. I have been known to wake up sleeping seagulls in order to get an early start on the beach.

The Barn is the Backtown Barn in Schaefferstown, PA., a small town in southeastern PA. The barn dates from the 1800's and is an example of the barns that were once numerous in the area. I was lucky enough to have a shop in the barn and enjoyed the barn and the atmosphere it provided. It was like a magnet to draw people in as most people like barns and what they represent. I hope you enjoy your tour of the barn as much as I enjoyed my time spent there.

As I stated above, I am addicted to the possibilities provided by all the new digital technology. One of my favorite editing features in Photoshop is the filters.

I am like a kid in a candy store as I try different filters to my new photos. Each picture takes on it's own personality and I am never sure what the final result will be. I would never have thought there could be so many choices. Just when you think you are done and the photo is finished, you will decide to try one more effect and suddenly the picture is so much better than you thought it could be.

I like the fact that you do not have to be a technically perfect photographer to produce an interesting and artistic picture. I believe that the aim of every photographer is to produce images that will speak to the viewers and that will evoke an emotional reaction. The new technolgy affords more of us the opportunity to express ourselves by adding artistic touches to enhance a feeling or mood of a photo.

I just added more filter to my Photoshop and one of them allows me to give my photos the appearance of old Poleroid photos. I have been experimenting with this filter and have added a new gallery on ImageKind, Postcards, to exhibit these images. The results remind me of old postcards you see in flea markets and antique shops. Please take a look at these images and give me your feedback.

I enjoy taking photos and working on photos of hibiscus flowers as they are so brightly colored and such an exhuberant flower. If you are lucky enough to have a hibiscus bush it will provide you with beautiful blossoms year-round. I associate the hibiscus with tropical locations such as Tahiti where the girls fasten a fresh blossom in their hair every morning. When I lived in Puerto Rico my house was surrounded by flowering hibiscus hedges that were always in bloom. I just recently moved to Florida after living up north for many years and I have planted hibiscus trees in my garden so I can once again enjoy their colorful beauty. Please browse this gallery of flowers and see if you agree with me regarding the attributes of these tropical beauties.

This is one of my favorite vacation spots. Even though I live within 5 minutes of the Atlantic Ocean I like to visit the Gulf coast because the beaches there are beautiful and the shelling is much better. The only problem with the Gulf coast is the developement. There are so many condos along the beaches you can no longer see the Gulf when you are driving down the coast. I don't know how much longer I will be visiting Clearwater because my favorite small hotel on the beach is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a hugh condo. I realized nothing stays the same, but, Florida is being seriously overdeveloped. This developement threatens to overtake all the scenic natural beauty of Florida and leave us with nothing to see but highrises and housing developments.

Daytona Beach is known as "the world's most famous beach". It has many claims to fame. The age of speed was born in this area when cars used to race on the hard packed sand. You can still drive on the beach, but, the racing is confined to the Daytona Beach International Speedway. The Daytona 500 kicks off the NASCAR racing season and brings thousands of race fans into the area for Speed Week. Right after Speed Week we have Bike Week which brings up to 50,000 bikers to town. However, the bigest attraction is still the wide, white sand beach that stretches for miles.

As in anything, your digital photos will only be as good as your equipment. I upgraded to a 12MP camera back in November and upgraded my Photoshop so I thought I was in good shape. Wrong!

I was working on a picture in Photoshop this week when I got the message that I could not to anything further to my picture as my computer's hard disk was out of space! Great feelings of panic ensued.

I went into my computer and checked the pie chart of available space and there was none. My computer offered to try to free up some space by deleting unsed files and and I gave my approval to try that approach. This resulted in only a minor amount of usable space.

I spent the rest of the afternoon deleting all documents, programs and photos I didn't need. Amazing how many items are on our computers that we don't really use. After deleting everything I could I rebooted and checked the pie chart again. After all that work it had not freed up much space. Then I had one of those aha moments. I proceeded to empty my trash bin and delete temporary internet files. When I checked the chart again, success! I now had about 3/4 of my hard drive space available.

Lesson learned...keep track of what is being put on your computer and take the time to delete unwanted files on a weekly basis. I guess I had better start saving my pennies to upgrade to a computer with a large capacity.

I am sure there are many of you who will find this a very elementary lesson, my son, the teckie included,but, even though I have been around computers since the TI days, computer housekeeping was not my favorite thing to do so I tended to ignore it. So I had to learn the hard way that maintaining ALL of your equipment is vital for good results. Please excuse me, I have to go clean up some files!

I do not have a green thumb. In fact, I think I could kill a plastic plant. When we moved into out new home in Florida it came an with existing flower garden. Suddenly I was responsible for the care of roses, gardenias, bird of paradise and more. Very daunting. My first thought was to take out all the rose bushes as I had always heard they were very tempermental flowers and hard to grow. I wanted to replace them with sonething more tropical.

Fortunately, I more involved with getting the interior of the house in order and so the garden was left on it's own. When I started to notice the beautiful blooms on the rose bushes and the fact that they were thriving without me I began to have second thoughts about replacing them. That was 3 years ago and now I love my roses and would not think about giving them up. I guess you could say they grew on me!

Here are some of the photos I have taken of my roses. Since I am in Florida they provide me with colorful, fragrant blooms all year long. They are perfect subjects for my digital photgraphy. I did find that it can hard to capture the essence of these flowers. Although I have taken many photos of my roses these are the ones that I feel are good enough to share. Sorry I could not capture the wonderful scents for you. However, with the speed of todays technology changes I am sure that will be possible in the future!

Mother Nature offers unlimited opportunities for beautiful and interesting pictures. I like the patterns you can get from the different leaves and plants. Also, the varying textures add interest to the simplest subject.

If you are like me and are not blessed with a green thumb, you can still enjoy some greenery in your home by adding a nature image to your walls.

Also, if you have cats like I do who will try to eat anything green including silk or plastic plants, this is a way to have a cat-proof plant!

I find these images go with just about any decor. Put a close-up of leaves or stones in a modern frame and it will add interest to the most severe interior. Or, order the large size and have it printed on canvas and hang it without a frame.

ImageKind offers you so many choices when it comes to framing and presentation options. You can "try on" the different looks before you make a decision. You can even see how your choice will look on your walls. This helps to take any of the guess work out of choosing just the right image for just the right area. It couldn't be easier.

I have provided a samples of my nature images below for your enjoyment.