Normally I wear a red, white, and blue flag shirt to go on our 2 mule parades. But this day promised to be exceptionally hot and humid with gusting winds...I wore instead, an outrageous multicolored Hawai'ian shirt. Okay. Not really outrageous, but for Norwegian 'country' Wisconsin, it may be considered so by those named Ole, Lena, Sven, and Hans [if you get my drift].Top it off with a sparkling lime green hat and you have enough color to make anyone's eyes sore.But there you are. That is me.I was riding Miss Opal, the attitude mule. She likes to step out and strut her stuff.And dang did we 'feel' good together.Stephanie, my stepdaughter rode ever steady Freddy. The were dressed in a much more fashionable and sensible manner.Heck I even used Badger's special flag blanket that has multicolored sequins sewn onto it.
A red, white, and blue beaded 'necklace' went on both mule's breast colors with a nice little brass bell that jingled as the stepped out.The head of each tail sported a flag bow.You cannot tell me that we don't go ALL out for our 2 Mule Parades.I stopped at one point and searched high and low for all our adoring 'Mule Parade Fans'...alas, no one had lined up along the 'parade route'.
We met 4 dogs, spoke with a mom and her 3 daughters and saw 5 vehicles....and had a blast.
First let me say that I am not an expert with Incendia. I've only been 'playing with it' for a few months now and have decided to share some very basic things that I've learned.I'm not the sort of person who can write scripts for Fractals. I take what is offered and mix it up into something I feel I can use and enjoy.Incendia is an interesting program as it allows you to use many Fractals just by clicking on them in the Fractal tab pictured below.
For this I'm just going to go ahead and use the first Fractal pattern that shows up upon opening the program.This is the IFS Flame.At this point you can use your mouse to change the angle of the flame, but I'm not going to do a thing but create a basic 3D shape.I go to the Editors tab and click on Baseshapes > Edit > New> which defaults to a circle that has 'bumps' in its surface.I leave the 'Depth' at 0 for now and then ....
click on the 'Render' tab and select 'Preview' in the right corner of the screen. Just a simple colored ball.I can click in the 'Materials' tab and choose to change this round ball's appearance.The 'Environment' tab will give you the choice of adding a backround, add fog, and adding volumetric fog with gradients. Experiment with these often, it really changes the look of your project.
Now to change it a bit. Go back to the 'Editor' tab and click Baseshapes> Edit> Open> this will bring you back to your original 'ball' which is red in color.Change the Depth to 5 to see what happens.[Note the Materials #1 is selected, with each shape added, you can edit the colors or materials that it is made out of.]
Back to the 'Render' tab, hit preview.Okay, but I wanted to 'create' my own shape so...
I head back to the 'Editors' tab and add another shape at the depth of 0 because I know it will just add a basic shape. 
Now I've added more than one shape and used a different 'Material' for each shape.
This isn't very exciting at all. Just a couple of random shapes put together...Right?Here is where we enter a great tab.The 'Camera' tab.You can change the Light Direction.Set your resolution [do enable 2X AA], it offers a nicer image.Use the Fixed View letters:F=Front viewB=BackU=UnderD=DownL=LeftR=RightImportant views to try if you are building a 3D shape.
Drop down and look at the choices of Symmetry.
For this shape I decided I liked Loxodrome the best.I rotated it, zoomed in and out, tried different angles, and different 'Shaders' [under the Render tab], until I found something I might like.
I set my values at 1024 X 1024, enabled the 2X AA.I went to Render> Shaders> Ambient Occlusion> Averaged.This enables a faster Render time, which is important as I can be very impatient.I hit the button on the right side of this frame called Render...and walk away from my computer while it works.This is the only issue I have with Incendia. I can't tell how long it should render. But experience and practice will help in this area.When I feel I have rendered it long enough, I usually save both a Bitmap and a PNG file of the image.If I really like the creation and want to work on it more I go toFractals> Save Paramenters> and give the file a name.
From here the possibilities are endless if you take it in Photoshop and let your imagination loose.
A creation using Incendia:
Written for Press The Shutter Forum.
Opal has a reputation.Her reputation is that she dislikes people....and yes this is very true. In the 14 years that she has been with us she has shown herself to be 'people challenged'. If she does not know you, don't attempt to get near her.I've spent hours with her since February. I stand in her pen with a curry comb and brush and gaze out across the meadow.Eventually, she can't stand it.She moves next to me....moves to within reach of the brush and stands quietly.If I start at her neck and groom her for about 20 minutes I can approach her head and ears with my hands.Tonight she bent her head into me and touched my side with her nose. I slowly brought up my hand and cleaned the dirt out of the inside of her ears and the outside of them.A feat not attained in years.I scratched her a bit then walked away.I stared at the mud by my boots.Opal nudged me softly.I kept my eyes on the mud, then focused on her shoulder while I allowed my hands to work up into her ears.I swear she sighed.Due to Badger's COPD or ROA, I've been developing a trust with an elderly mule who 'hates' people.I know that if I am ever out riding and 'stranger danger' approaches, she won't let them near. Badger was a good judge of character also.They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I imagined that this might be so for an old mule.She is showing signs though that she can 'trust'.She allows me to bridle her now without any reaction.She acts quiet and subdued when I saddle her.Not the reaction when my husband saddled her for years.[not his fault or hers, just a lack of communication]...She will not tolerate foolishness or sudden hand movements above her ears.She is sensible.She is fun.She will take me anywhere I ask and take me safely.For this I am grateful.She is also teaching me how to deal with a different kind of mule.She is one who is not lazy,~~ who is strong willed, ~~one who has her own mind....yet perhaps she could have changed if the right person had had her.Now that hubby has relinquished 'her muleness' to me, I have seen a huge difference in behavior.He says I spoil her.I say, we communicate.Tonight I went into her paddock and stood quietly.She approached me.She sidepassed up to me for petting.28 yrs old.Me--soon to be 55.We can change.We can adapt.It just takes the proper attitude.I hope tomorrow, we make our sunrise ride together.Me and Opal.Opal and I...Sweet.Badger...he is on pasture rest now, but not forgotten...look for more adventures later!
for it is better to forget than remember me and cry.I received an email from my mom that my Aunt had passed away in her home this weekend.Although we hadn't seen each other in many years, it did make me a bit sad.Memories flooded me of being a child and playing at her farm with my cousins. The trouble we got into.The late night horse back riding adventures we had together.The time my one cousin shot a skunk with a shotgun... that was under the 'goose' house....and we drew strawsto see how would take a pitchfork and dispose of the smelly mess.I drew the short straw.But didn't want to seem 'girly' to my boy cousins.The stench was awful and my stomach roiled.Somehow I survived it.There was the time that my cousin used dynamite to blow the swamp up ... making it deeper. I recall the aftermath of flying frogs and snakes, along with debris.Or riding late at night with a silvery fog creeping across the road. The local cop stopping us and advising us to get our butts home. He totally creeped us out by saying that there was a prisoner loose in town.Okay, that was enough to set any teenage imagination off on a tangent.Riding horses to the town dump and shooting rats with .22 rifles.My cousins 'jousting' with saplings and garbage can lids. Dangerous? I suppose, but we were kids in the countryside.Climbing trees,Flashlight tag,Dressing like indians and using my Aunt's lipstick to paint our faces.Oh yeah...she got mad.So I remember these things and smile for an era gone past.That lives only in memory now.
Artizen [Natural Default~not bad]
Hmmm, now this is interesting to my eye...which of course is just my opinion.
In conclusion, I guess it is up to you.
