Often the photos that tell the most about yourself don't include you at all.  When you capture an image, your "eye" tells a lot about you.  One of the things that I enjoy most in the workshops that I do is seeing the various "eyes".  Some are focused on capturing the most realistic representation.  Others are interested in capturing memories.  I've spent a lot of the last few years trying to capture Nature's Beauty around Wisconsin and in the Pacific Northwest.  Most of these images are realistic representations, with an eye towards trying to get the best composition.

My new journey is to focus my "eye" on creative expression.  Not that I don't want to have images that represent the real and have an artistic and aesthetic appeal.  But, now, my journey is trying to artistically represent my mind's eye.  Part of this is aesthetics.  Another part is using the tools that I have....my camera and my software (or my iPad)...and looking for that creative expression.

I have a group of folks that I had the pleasure of being in a photographic workshop in May.  We've been working on weekly challenges.  This is just another way of developing your expression, having the collaboration and inspiration from others.

This week's challenge was composite image.  And I have a host of them that tells a lot about me.

The first composite is of my cat on the top of her tower.  It's a composite of the cat and the background (which is part of my bedroom's comforter.  My cat is very much a part of my photo autobiography.  She loves having her picture taken.  She sees the lens and just poses.  She is a comfort to me and a joy to have in my home.  I hope you enjoy her portrait in profile on one of her favorite places.

PAD August 2 Mittsey as a composite My other special interest is flowers.  I have loved taking photos of flowers and have had this love for over 30 years.  Some of my flower portraits are taken while hiking in State Parks; others from various flower gardens in the area.  Today I have a series of photos taken at my neighbors beautiful flower garden.

The first image is a simple composite composition of two main flowers and my comforter's background.  I liked the combination of two large flowers and two buds in various phases of unfolding.

PAD August 3 Red Flower Series-4 Then I decided to change it up a bit and try some exploration in Topaz filters, using their Simplify collection.  I wanted to really abstract the flowers while still keeping a similar background.

PAD August 3 Red Flower Series-2 Although I like the real representation of the above image, there is something special about the new image.  I like the simplicity, which I think tells a lot about me right now.  Trying to simplify everything to avoid distractions and concentrate on the aesthetic.

Thanks for joining me on my journey.  Hope you enjoy the images.