A Little Break

Download a Free Printable here

I will be having a little break for a couple of weeks - for resting and recovering. The old whiplash injury in my neck may have been provoked by the accident a month ago, so I am on sick leave to get better again. 

So, time away from photography, computer, editing etc. 
And lots of sleeping (the medicine puts me to sleep, setting the daily naps in schedule - smile), listening to audio books and watching the light casting shadows on the ceiling.

Hellen Keller's quote speaks to me:

You rest now. Rest for longer that you are used to resting.

Make stillness around you, a field of peace.

Your best work, the best time of your life

will grow out of this peace.

LR preset kk_Within

Beautiful nap this afternoon that

 put velvet

between my vertebrae.

Henry Miller

LR preset kk_Still

These breaks, setting the daily routines in stand by, seem to be coming sometimes out of the blue ... Yet, they are teaching me to mind and act upon the tiny signs, I was aware of in my body. Lessons in lifelong learning:

 Take care of your body.

It's the only place you have to live.

Jim Rohn

:  :  :

With restful greetings,

Nina


Sharing with

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Saturday Share Fest 

PS. I look forward of trying all the beautiful LR presets from Kim Klassen's Studio Collection - I had hard time in choosing between the kk_Within and kk_Still, so I posted both of them.

Good Books

“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; 

the more select, the more enjoyable.” 

Louisa May Alcott

:   :   :

Wishing you glimpses of sunshine and joy,

together with a good friend or a favourite book,

for this upcoming week,

Nina 

Lightroom Preset Dark Light by Kim Klassen
Textures: Atwood by Monas' Pictoresque, Effervesent 23 by 2 LilOwl's, Simple 1 by Kim Klassen, Sunshine 4 top Left from the Illumination Collection by Love that Shot

Sharing with 

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Wordless Wednesday Saturday Share Fest 

Air + Light [Texture Tuesday]

“What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.”

Robert G. Ingersoll

:   :   :

airlight

Word Origin

noun

1.

light scattered or diffused in the air by dust, haze, etc., especially as it limits the visibility of distant, dark objects by causing them to blend with the background sky.

[Dictionary.com @Random House, Inc. 2016] 

:   :   :


A warm and cozy scent of burning wood and bonfire tickled my nose on my evening walk in the neighbourhood ... The smoke keeps on lingering on my mind, hovering over the image play above. Hazy, warm, deep yet mild smoke ... by a friendly fire ... sending sparkles to the stars above...

The image is a playful layering of images with different blending modes, inspired by Kim Klassen's Week 39  - "A breath of fresh air" - in Be Still 52 course.

I have used on of my favourite textures, kk_simple2, together with a Lightroom preset Sidelight by Kim Klassen. 


... Sharing with Texture Tuesday by Kim Klassen,

Nina

Alpaca Silk Dreams

My mom is very creative, she is expert in knitting the most beautiful socks. I was inspired by her crafting magazines and books to crochet something, and I found a recipe for this pretty scarf. Blue being my favourite colour, I fell for this alpaca silk yarn - it is puffy and warm, soft and pleasant.

Crocheting a few hours in the car to the airport, I almost finished this scarf ... When it is done, I will write the recipe here on my blog, with the link to the site I found it from - If you would like to crochet a warm scarf, this is easy and fast to make.

The theme of Kim Klassen's Be Still-class is "A spark is simply inspiration ...". My inspiration was lightened up my mom's creativity and her pretty crafting magazines. 

I edited these photos in Lightroom, and I saved my first own Lightroom preset, nj_Alpaca Silk, which you can download here . The Alpaca Silk preset makes subtle changes, elevating highlights and whites, and lowering the shadows a bit, creating a soft and dreamy look. I have also used a subtle texture layer Simple2 by Kim Klassen, with blending mode Screen 9%.

What is lighting a spark of inspiration to you at the moment?

...Until next time,

Nina

Sharing with 

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Saturday Share Fest 

Green Tea With Lemon, Ginger and Mint

Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger and Mint - and a spoonful of honey - has been

my favourite warm drink the past few weeks, like I wrote the other Friday. 

It is the season for all sorts of common cold now, and I have experienced that this mixture does not only taste good, but it seems to contain vitamins and other nourishing and strengthening qualities, that has kept me from getting the flu.

I boil a pot of water, and pour it in my teapot (for 8 cups tea), together with thinly sliced fresh ginger and fresh mint leaves. After about 6-9 minutes, when the water is about 75 C / 165 F degrees warm, I put about 3 tablespoons of green Sencha tea in an empty tea infusion bag, put it into the teapot and let it brew about 2 minutes, whereafter I remove the infusion bag. 

Sencha tea has an aromatic and mildly sweet flavor - when brewed only 2 minutes. With longer brewing time the taste gets easily bitter - or if used boiling water. I leave the ginger and mint into the pot, since I like the warm feeling the ginger leaves to my mouth and throat ... The stronger, the better.

After pouring the tea to a cup, I add some honey and squeeze some citron juice to go with ... Voila!

Green tea with lemon, Ginger and mint is a healthy and tasty way to build up your immune system against a common cold ... And a delicate warm drink, that surely will tickle your tastebuds.

... Let's savor every sip!

Nina

Sharing with 

Texture Tuesday Roses of Inspiration   

Saturday Share Fest 

Camera settings ISO 800  f/4,5   1/15 sec. 

On Air_Lemon LightRoom preset & Epic texture by Kim Klassen

PS. We're having Winter Break and I am away from the blog - this is posted with the help of Bloggers pre-post planner

Spoonful of moods [Texture Tuesday]

Lightroom preset Moodswing by Kim Klassen

Last weeks theme in Kim Klassen's Be Still 52-class was Spoons. Kim inspired us to create moody photos using a spoon - including shadows, different points of views and depth of fields. Kim used two of her Lightroom presets, Darkmood and Melancholy, in her beautiful captures of dried lavendel on a spoon, lying on pretty, old note pages.

I drink a lot of tea - so does my husband and our oldest son as well - so I thought of making a photo series of green tea. I used an old silver spoon, my husband has gotten from his grandparents, together with a silver coloured tea container. The textured surface of the container made me want to keep it, even when we have a bunch of tea containers - now I'm glad I didn't give it to flee market. 

Using a cover of sushi stick box as a table top, I wanted to convey the feeling of preparing Japanese green tea. The textured blue paper of the box looks a bit like an old handmade parer. I chose it since it creates a vintage type of mood together with the silverware. 

Lightroom preset Melancholy by Kim Klassen

I took the photos in our kitchen, close by the window. I blocked the direct sunlight with a curtain and a low masonite board, to create shadows and accentuate the contrast and highlights. 

By the way, this spoon is my favourite... I use it for serving sugar to coffee and tea - I like the round form and the decorations, both on the top and also down just before the spoonful-part. Adding just a bit more contrast and highlights made the round forms of the spoon pop out. 

I fell for Kim's Moodswing and Melancholy -Lightroom presets. I tweaked the Moodswing photos a bit in Photoshop (I couldn't remember how to do it in Lightroom) - I desaturated the yellows a bit. 

Lightroom preset Moodswing

The Moodswing preset creates an old, worn, Eastern type of mood to the photos - a feeling I like a lot. These two images are my favourites - making them as good candidates for my Still Life-card project.

Lightroom preset Moodswing

The images with Melancholy preset, I diminished the shadows almost all the way to the left in the tone curve - to create more contrast and to lessen the haze.

The Melancholy preset brings along an old, vintage-type of mood, which I may prefer even more ... I play with a thought of printing these two images, the one above and the one below, on a canvas, and hanging them on our kitchen. 

Thank you Kim, for enlightening the inspiration through your courses. Watching your videos and tutorials I feel safe (I was gasping for air when I first time opened the trial version of Photoshop!) - You are taking us by the hand and showing how to use these photo editing programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. Just one step at a time. Patiently. Repeating the tips a few times, to assure, that we've got it.

Well, which prints would you prefer - the rustic ones with the Moodswing or the hazy images with Melancholy?

... All the best to your week,

Nina

Sharing with

Stained glass window

People are like stained glass windows: 

they sparkle and shine when the sun is out,

 but when the darkness sets in 

their true beauty is revealed 

only if there is a light within. 

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

:   :   :

Looking through a stained glass window - that is the atmosphere and feeling, I wanted to create to the photo above. 

Like when you have slept well in a wooden, old log cabin: You wake up slowly, wondering what time it is ... You draw the curtains aside and notice, that the sun is up ... You open the window and hear the birds, as the fresh air fills your lungs...

As I was walking the other day, I went to this silent spot of mine, where people seldom walk by -  Where you can hear the water and the birds, yet you're surrounded by the trees, and you get the feeling of being deep in the forest.

The autumn weather brings me down the memory lane ... The childhood memories of the long walks in the forest, picking mushrooms and cowberries. We had sandwiches in our backbags, and we stopped to a high place with a view, to have a rest and a little snack ...

Well ... I guess the view from my stained glass window would be to a hillside forest, with a river or a lake down in the valley ... 

What view would you be looking at from your stained glass window?

... With dreamy greetings,

Nina

Photo: iPhone 5, textures Monday, Loretta, ScrathedMacig & Jacob by Kim Klassen

sharing with

Texture Tuesday

Friendship Friday Weekly Top Shot

 Saturday Share Fest 

Happiness is ... {Texture Tuesday}

Happiness is ...

Cornflowers on the roadside.

I was driving through a rural area today, admiring the fields and the open landscape. I noticed these pretty cornflowers on the roadside and stopped the car to take a closer look - the bright blue color stood out in a very pretty way against the green corn - a wonderful sight!

I took this picture with my iPhone - from a low perspective, to have the blue sky as a background. I have added the following texture layers by Kim Klassen: Simple (color burn 21%), Simple 2 (screen 34%), Oceanside (color burn 19%) and the Veil (screen 8%)

Happy Tuesday to you,

Nina

sharing with 

Kim's Texture Tuesday

Nature {Texture Tuesday}

Photo: iPhone 5 with Olloclip-lens, texture: the Letter by Kim Klassen

The silence of a flower:

a kind of silence which be continually evade,

of which we find only the shadow in dreams.

Lewis Thompson

:  :  :

A warm June evening in the florest - a soft breeze from the lake 
caressing the flowers,  as the night falls...

I close my eyes and

feel the warmth from the last rays of sun on my face.

... Enjoying the Midsommer Moments,

Nina

Sharing with

Texture Tuesday - Kim Klassen

Present {Texture Tuesday}

My mom got this silk scarf for her birthday last year. The scarf reflects light in a very nice way ... Adding just a slight glow to my mom's beautiful face. I see my mom smiling, as she opened this present from her sister... She was feeling the texture, admiring the colors, and trying it on...

This weeks theme in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday  is Black and White. I desaturated the photo above, and added Music and Script 19 - stamp by Kim 4 times. I then layered two of Kim's textures (Present blendmode screen 72% and Framed blend mode luminosity 100%), and brushed some of the textures away from the middle, to achieve an old vintage photo- feeling.

You must live in the preset,

launch yourself on every wave,

find your eternity in each moment.

Henry David Thoreau

This photo is taken with my iPhone this afternoon. I have added different layers on it in Mextures, Alayer, Stackables, VintageScene and Afterlight-apps. Therafter I desaturated the photo and added Kim's textures Precious Pink luminosity 18% and Sonnetsoft luminosity 35 %.

And now, here I am ... Enjoying the present moment and the memories the picture of my mom's scarf has awakened ... Missing her and my dad, yet cherishing at the same time, knowing that they're doing fine - And that they actually are just a phone call away.

Nina

Sharing with

Texture Tuesday

Earth Day 2014 - Green Cities: Copenhagen

 

As I walked by the lake in the late afternoon, this pretty spring flower stood under a bush ... being pure and simple - having popped up from earth just a few days ago. "Simple" in this weeks theme in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

I used Kim Klassen's textures Framed with blending mode luminosity 11% and 2811Magic with blending mode screen 9%. I added also a photo veil Pohutukawa from Love That Shot's Botanical Collection.

Earth Day in 2014 focuses on Green Cities. Living in the suburbs of Copenhagen, I enjoy the parks and small lakes around and about. The three lakes close by form a peaceful area with rich bird life - I often times see people with binoculars spotting the different waterbirds.

Bicycle lanes is another green initiative I cherish here in Copenhagen. The neatly connected bicycle lanes and routes are one reason why so many people bike to work and schools. The lates initiative is the "Super-bike-lanes" that are specially designed to fit the green wave in traffic lights, making it fast and easy for you to bike longer distances in the mornings and evenings.

Biking to the university and to work was a great way of being outside and getting motion. Now it would take me over an hour to bike to work, and another hour to bike home, so I often drive car or take the bike & train-combination. The local trains have special sections, where you can take your bike with you.

The video below shows both different types of bikes & biking in the city. The "Christiania bike" enables you to transport small children in the bike. When our boys were small, we had a small bike-trailer behind one of our bikes, where our boys were sitting. It had a cover for a rainy day, with small windows, they could look ouside.

Biking in Copenhagen

 

... Wishing you a Happy Earth Day from Copenhagen!

 

Nina

 

Sharing with

 

Texture Tuesday

 

Tea Cup Exchange

 

 

 

Stephanie from The Enchanting Rose hosts a Tea Cup Exchange-party. The party is about having you send a tea cup to someone - and receiving one in return from someone else.

 

Drinking tea is something that brings people together ... And so does Stephenie's The Cup Exchanging Party! There is always space for another tea cup in the cupboard, ain't there?

 

:  :  :

 

My Tea Cup Exchange-friend, whom I have a tea cup, is Lady Linda. As I visited Linda's beautiful blog, I was thinking of what kind of a tea cup she would like. I found something Fair Trade and handcrafted to Linda... Actually a cup similar to the cup, I received from a dear friend, who introduced the African Touch- Fair Trade boutique to me. I did send along some of my favorite White Temple Tea.

 

The African Touch / Perch Tea Room

 

And what did I receive from Sarah, the author and designer in Blessings Art Ideas  ... See the photo above! As her big package arrived, I felt almost like it was my birthday with the many pretty wrapped gifts!

 

I unpacked a lovely white tea cup and a saucer, with beautiful light lilac - grey floral texture, together with Green tean with lemon. Moreover, Sarah had crafted two beautiful cards and she send me also a hairclip ... Such a lovely surprise!

 

 

 

Thank you Stephanie for arranging the Tea Cup Exchange-party - thank you Sarah for these wonderful gifts!

 

My evening tea tastes delicious as I drink it from this pretty tea set, and Sarah's cards encourage me each morning!

 

Visit Stephanie's blog to take a look at the different tea cups

that has been exchanged!

 

Nina

A Lilac Surprise

Photo:Nikon D3200, Textures Simply & Rest_Magic by Kim Klassen

A colleague came to my office today holding these lilac flowers in her hand. She came to me, gave me the flowers and a hug, and said that it's been such a pleasure to work together!
I was really moved, and very happy ...
We have been colleagues the last 4½ years, and since last summer we have been working together on this project, that is about to end next week.

Such a sweet gesture ... She is a pearl, and I have surely enjoyed having her as my companion ... I want to give her something special as well, that would remind her of the moments spend together, creating and implementing the project.

The project has been a 6 week intervention with the 5th grades at the school, about "training the attention muscles", learning to relax, and thereby get in touch with one self - How am I doing / feeling at the moment.

We have started with small, concrete ecxercises, focusing one's perception and attention to the body - relaxing and tightening muscles, focusing on breathing ... and bit by bit, towards being a bit more abstract ... to the feelings - How am I doing at the moment?
Learning to accept one self is a step towards being able to accept the other  person.

That brings us to our second focus point: The class fellowship - being attentive towards others, developing empathy.
How your class mate is doing today ... How is the atmosphere in our class today ... What can I do to bring about a positive change?

We've done different ecxercises together ... It's been a pleasure to work together with the students and the teachers. Our goal has been from the very beginning, that teachers will gradually take over, and that is taking place.

:  :  :



Photo: iPhone, Polamatic, Snapseed,
Textures Simple & Present Kim Klassen

I'm admiring the lilac flowers on the table, and thinking about how I could surprise my colleague ... Receiving something delightful unexpectedly is such a joy!

Wishing you both sunshine and rainy days clouds with silver lining...

Nina



Sharing with

Texture Tuesday Floral Love

Saturday Sharefest Weekly Topshot

Afterglow

After the glow of the noonday sun,
After the day its course has run,
After the glare and bustle and heat,
There comes a peace that is calm and sweet.

The fiery sun sinks low to rest,
Mid flaming clouds, far in the west:
Then softly, gently, stealing slow,
Comes on the golden after glow

               :  :  :

The sunrays enlightened the tulips today,
like they were glowing from inside out ...

I took a close up picture with the external Olloclip-lens with my iPhone.
Adding 3 layers of the photo on top of one another with the Blender App, I acheived the feeling of continuity and depth. I wanted to add a detail in the middle, with another photo layer in the Blender App - that detal was to be the pure, first leaves of spring.

Thereafter I added in PS Kim Klassen's new texture Present, together with Serenpidity & Sunshine from  Photo Veil Collections from Love That Shot, and Kim's Music and Script brush.

                     :   :   :

Farewell to tiresome toil and care.
All nature kneels in silent prayer,
While the soft rays dimmer, dimmer grow
In the mellow, roseate, afterglow.

Gertrude Crumb Harman

 

 

                         ... With peaceful greetings, 

                            

                                            Nina



 

Sharing with

 

  Macro Monday

Texture Tuesday Floral Love
Saturday Sharefest Weekly Topshot

Catkin - Signs of Spring

iPhone: Hipstamatic DreamCanvas-film & Tejas-lens, textures Isobel & Clarity by Kim Klassen

 

Nothing is more beautiful

than the loveliness of the woods

before sunrise.

George Washington Carver
 

:   :   :

 

Spotting the first signs of spring!

 

Nina

 

 

Sharing with

 

  Texture Tuesday  Sweet Shot Tuesday
Wednesday Around the World



On Breakfast and Watermarks

 

I start my day with tea and breakfast - that is, tea and breakfast are some of the first things that happens every morning. As the rest of our family is sleeping in on Saturdays, I am having my early meal in the kitchen. In wintertime it's often cooked or baked oat meal or yogurt with granola and sometimes berries. I have found this nice and easy recipe on homemade granola (I'll post it here tomorrow) - just 3 tablespoons of the granola gives a nice and a bit sweet taste.

The kitchen window is towards east, so the light is lovely in the mornings ... Thus Sunday morning I grabbed my phone and took a snapshot. I have added one of Kim's beautiful textures, Lisa, first with multiply blendmode 55%, then with luminosity blendmode 7%. Therafter I brushed the texture away from the teacup and bowl.

You may have noticed, that I have watermarked this picture ... Not as "Thoughst and Images Along the Way", but as "Nina Marianna Photo". There's many reflections behind the watermarking ... I experienced this weekend that someone had "borrowed" one of my photos from the blog and set it on their profile on Instagram, as if the person had taken the picture. I had set  a watermark on that photo, but it was cropped away. This somehow made me rethink the issue of watermarking - that motivates me to start to use it again. Well - these things happen - people "borrow" pictures, without maybe thinking about it at all.

The positive reflection, which I want to focus on, is that a few friends have showed an interest in having some of my photos as a print or a canvas on their wall - that makes me happy! So in that sense, I have been thinking about how to "sign" the photos, and also about a possibility for a flexible and easy place on the web, where it would be possible to have a gallery for some of the selected photos, with a possebility that people could order some prints.
Just a few small, tiny thoughts ... But as a start, I thought of watermarking the pictures with either "Nina Marianna" or "Nina Marianna Photo". (Marianna is my 2nd name :)

I would like to hear your thoughts on watermarks in general ... 

Happy Tuesday to you!

Nina

 

Sharing with

 Texture Tuesday  Sweet Shot Tuesday Texture Twist