A Surfers Dream, an abstract photo painting

Continuing to doodle in photoshop with the same image as the red heart in my earlier post, this image was in my favorite shades of blue and green. I used a photoshop tool/filter under the distort menu called twirl, the first image is of a simple, single wave and the second image I wanted to make more like a picture with stormy waves and sky.

A simple, single wave

Stormy surf

I had these printed on canvas 14x14, and side by side they look great.

Happy Valentine's Day

This is an image I created in photoshop from a photograph I took of a rusty water tank.

Final result

The next image shows the tank in its natural form.

Rusty Water Tank

This next image is a closeup I took of the tank using a dark neutral density filter and a very slow shutter speed and then moved the camera side to side or up and down while the shutter was open. 

The final result is very dull and there are a lot of dirt spots I have to remove before I can do anything with the image.

Not a very pretty image!

I use the levels tool to bring out contrast and detail, I add some color saturation and can even change the color to something else.

This is with added saturation, but no color change.

Some of my favorite colors

On the final image, I cut out a square portion in a duplicate image and pasted it into a new file. Then I used the smudge tool to draw a heart shape and smudged some swirls inside the heart. I did this pretty fast as I don't have the patience to make every thing look perfect. Besides, its not a perfect world.

I also used the posterize tool to see what would happen and I liked the effect it gave.

This is just a brief description of the process. It is a good idea to write everything that is done to an image right at the time it is being done. In my case, I remember to do it after and then I have to try to remember all the steps. I'm not a photoshop whiz, just like to dabble here and there.

Aloha!

All The Rage!

Trying to keep up with the demand of these hot bracelets inspired by (name has been removed!). I offer my bracelets on Etsy. You can click here to see more detail.

I like to make them with puka shells.

I like to make them with puka shells that I have found on the beaches here on Maui.

Multiple wrap

Triple wrap

Wedding Wrap

I have a special limited edition "wedding wrap" with pearly white leather.

Red Hot Lava, inspired by our great volcano Haleakala

Fire Agate

Fire Agate is a semi-precious natural gemstone found only in certain areas of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Approximately 24-36 million years ago these areas were subjected to massive volcanic activity during the Tertiary Period. The fire agates were formed during this period of vulcanism when hot water, saturated with silica and iron oxide, repeatedly filled cracks and bubbles in the surrounding rock. Read more...

Larimar

In 1974, at the foot of the Bahoruco Range, the coastal province of Barahona, Miguel Méndez and Peace Corps volunteer Norman Rilling rediscover Larimar on a beach. Natives, who believed the stone came from the sea, called the gem Blue Stone. Miguel took his young daughter's name Larissa and the Spanish word for sea (mar) and formed Larimar, by the colors of the water of the Caribbean Sea, where it was found. Read more about Larimar...

Carnelian

Custom Maui Note cards

I am now creating beautiful blank Maui Note cards or greeting cards with my images. You can choose any 5 from a set. These are listed on my Etsy photography shop. Printed on Premium glossy photo paper, prints are 4x6 and total card size is 5x7. All are titled and signed on the front.

From the tropical flowers set

From the Maui scenery set

Maui scenes set

Tropical plants and flowers set

Ocean/surf set

To see my Etsy shop, click on this link.

Fusing Fine Silver Jewelry

A word of caution: This is not a tutorial! Take a class from a qualified professional before attempting this.
I recently got my start from a class I took at Maui Community College with Iris Sandkuhler http://www.sandkuhler.com/index.html. She is excellent at explaining all the steps it takes to make beautiful silver jewelry with extra care given on how to do it safely. We start by learning how to make basic rings and fused loops using .999 fine silver that are hammered and then polished with a polishing cloth. She has a great book that you can order from her website.

I had to order almost all my supplies online since Maui is very limited and expensive. Some things I purchased on Amazon which was great since they offer free shipping on $25.00 up, some of the things I had to purchase are very heavy. Like this bracelet mandrel.

Bracelet Mandrel, very heavy!

The first thing I had to look for was a brick that can withstand temps of at least 26k. Its called a soft kiln brick and people use them inside kilns for ceramics etc.

Soft Kiln Brick and cross-lock tweezers.

I purchased a butane torch and butane from my local hardware store. They actually have these in stock. (Can also be used to make creme brulee) The first one I purchased doesn't do well with thicker silver, so I am going to try one that is a little bigger, but to make rings and loops, a small one is okay.

Torch and butane

Also, a cookie sheet to put your brick on so you don't torch your nice table. I highly recommend taking a class before attempting this on your own! This is not meant to be a tutorial on how to do this, I am just sharing with you what I have learned and the beautiful jewelry I have been making and the process that goes into it. 
Some of the other tools I use:

Steel bench block, ring mandrel, texturing hammer, hole punch.

Pliers and cutters for working with the silver.

The silver comes in coils and you buy it by the weight, or foot.

Fashionable head gear.

I also found out the hard way that things can explode when they get too hot. I was making a bracelet with a fresh water pearl and the pearl exploded into a gazillion pieces. Luckily I had on reading glasses and a mask.

So these are some of the beautiful things I have made in a pretty short time and I sell them on my Etsy website

Bracelets

Stackable rings

Earrings with the fused loops.

I'm really excited about all the possibilities!

Thanks for looking! And don't forget to check my Etsy goodies. http://www.etsy.com/shop/beachgirlmaui
Here is a little video on youtube I found that shows fusing. Link

A Maui Sunset

We had a beautiful sunset tonight!

Overlooking Hookipa.

A Quantum Leap

Maui has recently been visited by a "drifter". On Thursday night a 48 foot sailboat named "Quantum Leap" drifted onto the reef at Baby Beach in Spreckelsville, after drifting on the open ocean for a couple of weeks.
Friday morning my good friend Suzie called me to tell me I should come down and take some pictures.

Apparently the crew had to be rescued due to generator problems, rough seas and an injured captain. It is amazing to me that you can just let a boat of that size drift along until it finds something to crash into.

Thursday morning. It still had a sail, a dirt bike, an outboard motor
and whatever was on the inside.

Can't help getting "artsy". Slow shutter speed and zooming in.

By Saturday morning, the tide and swell had pushed it into the bay where people like to swim and exercise and it had also been pretty striped of anything that could be removed including the dirt bike. Not sure how they took that off but where there is a will, there is a way I suppose.

No pot of gold under this rainbow!

I used 3 neutral density filters on this image to get a slow enough shutter
speed to slow the water down.

Quantum Leap has run its course.

A little pile of trash that people have collected.

Party Barge!
Looks like an accident waiting to happen to me.

At the end of the day, it makes for a nice subject matter.

For more information on this unfortunate journey, click on this link.
Watch the video on youtube:

Camp out on Haleakala, photos from the crater.

I was on a recent camp out on Haleakala, Maui's eastern volcano, to partake in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk. Spending the night at Hosmer Grove, I was able to drive to the top of Haleakala and capture the sunset. The temps were about 40-50 degree F. with some windchill factor. One really needs to dress accordingly! Gloves, beanie, jacket, long pants and shoes. There are lots of other people up there doing the same thing, as well as sipping wine and eating cheese.
A tripod is a must, along with a cable release. Your hands get so cold, its hard not to shake the camera! Also a head lamp comes in handy to see your camera setting in the dark. It gets dark pretty fast here on maui.

Above the clouds, sunset at the top of Haleakala.

The moon over the observatory.

My friend Angela took this shot of me taking pictures.

Camping consisted of the back of my car, a sleeping bag, a log for the marshmallows and warm clothing.

Oh and maybe a little tequila to keep warmer. This was my first overnight excursion in my car and learned a few things such as: don't park at an angle! My sleeping bag and mattress were both nylon making me on a slippery slope! Mummy bags are not that great! Although I was plenty warm. I think I slept just enough to have a strange dream about strange people wanting to harm me. Must be because I kept the back doors open. 

 The alarm went off at 4:45am, although I was already awake! There seemed to be a steady stream of cars that drives up around 3 or 4 am to get to the top and grab a good spot to watch from. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, but the fingerless gloves I bought at Ross the day before came in really handy.

There were some pretty spectacular views from the look out.

Sunrise, looking towards the Big Island of Hawaii.

House of the rising sun.

As the sun rose, lighting up the valley below.
 I used a little HDR processing on some of these to get all the detail my eyes saw.

I was reluctant to try HDR because a lot of the images I had seen looked so fake and surreal so I was pleasantly surprised at how natural my images looked after I processed them with Photomatix. They looked just as I saw them that morning.

A black and white conversion.

Morning light hitting the shrub where I was standing.

It was cold up there!

Some of the people in our group minus Angela who was taking the picture.