Quiet rainy days...

Sometimes I like to really mess around with photos. Most of the time I just make a mess of things and delete it.

I mixed up an ICM [intentional camera movement] shot with a photo of a morning glory. Then I dropped it into a paint program [since I cannot paint!] and did an impressionistic painting of the photo.

I like it for the colors and what looks like paint strokes.

ICM shot:

Morning glory shot:

I am an experimenter when I can't get out to take fresh shots. I did these photos on the porch in the pouring rain. 

Well, that was my experiment in manipulation the other day.

I did something I don't normally do. I went into Deep Dream Generator and asked the program to paint my Morning glory.

The result was nice-ish.

 

Just for fun, I thought I'd try DDG with this shot too. I asked for a watercolor painting.

...and then once more...

I like this last one mainly because there is so much color and I like the watercolor feeling to it.

Alas, beyond my abilities!

But, since it is Saturday, and those who have cats love to call it Caturday, here is Glenda...

Glenda is outside playing with her cats!

Have a good weekend!

Lights, lightbox, colors...

The weather did not cooperate at all for heading back out to explore along the Kickapoo River. I may have another chance this weekend.

It was supposed to start raining in the afternoon but it started as soon as I finished running errands and doing chores.

I thought I'd try working with the Light Box I'd received. It came with 5 colored back rounds and two pieces of cardboard squares. One set of black and the other set was white on one side and silver reflective on the other.

The light ring on the top of the box can't be moved, but came with a diffuser sheet. If this is all garble-de-gook to you, don't be alarmed. It was all new stuff for me too.

The colored sheets are plastic which is good and bad. The bend in the plastic reflects light sometimes in unwanted places. The light ring on top is white and it took a bit for me to figure out how to make it brighter and dimmer.

I even just turned off the light and used a colored light through the top to give me different effects.

I made a DIY light box before with blocks and  paper I taped to things.  I thought this would be useful and fun.

Here is my favorite Grumpy Dragon shot from the side with the lightbox on its side, light shining on the dragon from the left side. I used the green back drop. Funny how the green gave off different hues shot in this manner.

Then I decided to try the green dinosaur in the Lego flower garden.
Green backround with lighting from the top.

Same scene though I changed the lighting at the top to blue and boy was I surprised! It looked like it was taken in the middle of the night!

So I added the moon and stars.

And then I changed it to a bright red light [this was a tiny red balloon light!] that I set at the back of the box.

So light can dramatically change the over all look of everything inside the lightbox.

So I went to a black background. I adjusted the camera settings and thought it would be funny to have a Lego character interviewing a Hasboro character for a job.

Since I have two Mandalorians, I thought I'd do one more with blue/green light and a grey brick paper background I took from my craft paper supply.

The last experiment was with an yellow background and white light.  I used a Vintage Mode on the camera settings which was sort of fun.

It has possibilities, but I like the bright colors so much more.

I can't wait to use it for something much more useful, like macros of Lichen and other tiny things I can bring home and set up.

This last shot was made for a challenge in a Lego Flickr group.

A Gardener creates Love in her flower garden...

Exploring AI Art

AI in photography? Nonsense, right?
Well, I couldn't resist trying a program that allowed you to type in words and add a photo of your own, then pick a style using wombo ai art. I'd read about it from a review on new AI art which was pondering the relevance or non relevance of new ways of creating art. 

Is it real art? Is it not real art?

The consensus in a way is that it is not 'old' art in a sense but a new kind of art. 

I'm ambivalent regarding that. My conclusion is using AI as a means to an end can be art as long as the 'artist' is in control of manipulating the final piece.

I'm one that has explored computer generated art in the past and enjoyed using it. 

So....

Here is the original photo I used.

I typed in Scary, End of the World, and picked the Malevolent Style.

I didn't expect I'd really get anything I'd like. After all AI isn't really quite art or is it?

The result:

I sort of liked it in an abstract way. But felt I could improve on it tremendously if I used some magical editing skills.

Crop/Resize/a bit of punch added and this was the result:

Still neat but not quite there. It needed something to tell more of a story and create a feeling.

I put it in DxO's Analog app and gave it some minor adjustments and a partial 'dirt' texture.

Clearly, my Grand daughter who is a gamer, would appreciate the final result. Dystopian, end of the world, creatur-ish, scary, out of the world...strange.

I stopped there because it struck me with the emotion of slight discomfort. 
Perfect.

I thought I'd try another one. I uploaded this with the key words: Forest Love and picked the Arcane setting.

Edit:

I tried an edit with a double exposure using the very same photo at the start of this blog. 

It's okay but I can think of better shots to use. 

This was an experiment in using DxO's analog double exposure edit which allows you to do this effect easily. 

It works quite well.

I couldn't leave well enough alone so I wondered what would happen when I used this shot:

This one was a bit too gloomy, but the result from the text I typed in was interesting. Instead of a forest, it looks like a city on doomsday.

I upped the 'influence' of the original image and got this which ended up looking like a painting with subtle tones.

It is sort of addicting to type things in and see what happens. The end result isn't always wonderful, but it is fun to see what happens.

Yeah.

You can tell that yesterday was hot, muggy, and awful! I spent the late afternoon inside mucking around with ideas and art exploration. 

Too dang uncomfortable outside.

The Happy Table

 

I was given this table by the neighbors as they said it would be too hard to fix it and refinish it. I knew it would become a future project some day so I stuck in in between two pine trees and used it as a shade plant base for begonias.

This year I pulled it out and noted that it was basically falling apart. I nailed pieces of wood to it from the underside to try and make it stable enough to use. 

It wouldn't become a house table. I don't have enough room. If the bottom of the legs were too rotten, I'd simply cut them off. 

I'm a terrible planner. I just started to pick colors that appealed to me and went for it. The legs had to be dressed up with bright colors. The mood is to be Happy. 

I found a butterfly sticker that looked neat and stuck it on one leg. I may do another one or not. The table is to be a discovery of sights, not something that is the same. 

I thought long and hard about the top. At first I thought of painting the top sections of wood in different wild colors. Then I took some mild green paint that is meant for porch floors and spread it on the top.

What about stickers?

I found some old neat stickers I hadn't used on other projects and laid them out.

The sticker idea was cool. But I didn't have enough of the silhouettes to achieve what I wanted.

How about tracing them? I started to trace the birds because I suck at drawing them. But then I went freehand for the branches. Why not have silhouettes of branches and birds all over the surface?

I could hand paint them black or whatever colors I choose and then run some whitewash over it to add texture and interest. 

Besides, I want this project to last a while. I am in no hurry to finish it.

Hubby says I am ruining the table. I retort that the table is falling apart and I've nailed it together making it completely worthless to anyone. 

I remind him of the Happy Chair I did for my mother years ago and how she absolutely loved it and used it to display her stuffed donkey dolls in her living room.

Below is a table and chairs I put together as a 'coffee' table for the porch. The chairs were excellent garage sale finds. I've left both of these chairs out on the porch and now they have a unique weathering to add character to my sitting area.

This chair now holds one of my newer Not Fairy Gardens I made with

and old pie tin I found in the shed. The spool

holds the little grill and the patchwork table top 

is still my most favorite piece of work.
I would love to find a little base for

it to sit on in the house.

I'm in the mood to pick up another chair and take the worn out ones and place them in gardens. I have a thing about chairs. 

I have two nice heavy stout ones in the house that are begging to be worked on. I discovered some neat old chairs in LaFarge  that I drive by on the way to KVR. Hmmm. It is a junk place that has some neat old beat up chairs that look stout. I may have to put one in the back of my Subaru one of these trips!

But first? 

More work on the Happy Table.

It makes me smile.

The table will also provide me with a nice place to do Still Life photography with flowers this summer.

Just give me colors and the freedom to paint wildly and my life brightens exponentially.

Spooky stuff or Not

I am forever the experimenter....or is it experimentor? I like the ...or spelling better but spell check doesn't.

I wanted to try something different and new. I ran across a Seasonal Tips offered by Olympus which was fun. After all I couldn't be outside mucking about in the storms we had, so I decided to clean the basement.

You know how this works. I rearranged the tubs of clothing. I sorted the hunting clothing...I needed blaze orange for the 9 day gun season. The insulated coveralls come out of the tub and light jackets go into the tub.
Restack everything and think about getting rid of things.
Put the summer stuff under the steps in the hard to get to places.
It will be months before I get out that stuff again.

Get the winter stuff out. Oops! See the Fall decorations.
Pull them out. 
Sort.
Pull out the Halloween Stuff that the neighbor kids really loved.
Hmmm.
See the decorations for Christmas. 
Put them back. Go have coffee.
Watch the rain.

Rich gets hungry. Feed Rich. 
Storm gets worse.
Rich goes for his afternoon nap.
It is dark outside.
Sort the Halloween stuff and the Fall Stuff.
Time for Tea.

Nope, can't go out to walk.
Okay.
Get out the decorations and play with the camera.
Sounds good.

Dark and dreary. Some Still Life with plastic skulls and an old jar with marbles and lights.

In the shots below I used an Art Filter to create black and white grainy shots. This is a hanging skeleton/ghosty thing. I held it by the twine string attached to the top and shot it as it slowly turned back and forth.

Just the right amount of spooky-creepy.

And then back to the skull on the table with the lights:

I tried something I'd never done before. A long exposure of 10 seconds with moving the camera slightly during the exposure [twisting it slowly on the tripod].

The result was kind of fun.

Then one with a pumpkin.

Now a lot of folks shy away from spooky creepy stuff. Be assured that is not all that is on my mind. I just like experimenting with different ways of presenting a photo. If it creeps you out, then I did my job as a photographer. I made the viewer feel something.

So if that is not your forte...here is some other Still Life photos. I am not all Creep and Scare!

And the last photo. 

To make you laugh!

I was given my Virtual WOD for CrossFit and the coach said since I didn't have a rower, I could run one portion of my workout instead. I do have to be accountable once a week and send a photo of working out to the coach.

Here is my WOD photo of the week titled: I think I need a new rowing maching!

To which the coach replied..."I think it works better IF the water is on the outside of the boat."

Stay safe.

I'll be off to find more things to have fun with. Spooky or Not.