For some reason, raindrops only cling to the backs of the dogwood blossoms. Dark Strokes (with a subtle application of Blue Tint) lets the raindrops shine.

I love the tender greens of spring and the delicate nature of baby leaves. The branches on these small trees in the parking lot at my office building are scarcely past bare, but the morning sun lit them in wonderful patterns. the changes wrought be Accented Edges are subtle, but both the veins on the leaves and the shadows become highlighted.

It rained yesterday, it rained today, it's gonna rain tomorrow, and it's supposed to rain straight on through the weekend. When the weather is grey and gloomy, certain flowers--forsythia and dogwood, in especial--seem to have their own inner lights. This forsythia bush is fading, but it still had the capacity to light an drizzly afternoon. I wanted a filter that would highlight the raindrops. Watercolor seemed to fit the bill.

A scene from a street in Hartford, as reflected in the window of the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. A combination of the Posterize filter and the Fluorescent Chalk effect makes a cubist drawing out of it. I didn't straighten out the curves in the original, as it reflects the true nature of the building; but I thought more parallel lines worked better with the "drawing."

When we rounded the reservoir on our way to church this morning, and the orchard spread out before us, all in full bloom--it just took my breath away. The day was overcast, but the apple blossoms glowed under the lowering sky. Diffuse Glow helps the trees to light up the way they did to my eyes this morning.

We were supposed to go camping on Cape Cod this weekend, but the weather forecast was dismal. Instead, John and I decided to go on a date: a trip to the New Britain Museum of Modern Art and then dinner out. The restaurant is in an outdoor mall. As we were strolling along before dinner, we came across this fountain that was joyously tossing water up against the late afternoon sky. The original picture didn't capture the warmth of the westering sun, so I added it back using the Warming filters. I selected out the sky with the Magic Wand so it would retain its pristine blue and only the cloud and the water would be "warmed."

Dogwoods are among my favorite flowers. I love the laciness of the blooms on the trees; they always looks as if they're floating on the branches. This tree in our yard was a gift in honor of the arrival of our son, Christian. He is now 22 years old. The photo was on which took very well to filters and effects. I had the day off and found it a pleasant time sink to play around with them. In the end, I liked best the one using the Bas Relief filter. This might be partly because I've never used it before, but I also like the 3-D and almost Asian effect that it gave the picture. My son being Asian, that ties everything together.