The wonderful Welsh hills near Conwy, North Wales, UK

“povestea unei zile de noiembrie“

David loves his rubber ducks.  They’re the tastiest thing ever!

RICOH GR1v/400-PR

Self-portrait.

Also posted on: AltDiva, deviantART, Flickr, LiveJournal and MySpace
Buy prints from: deviantART and Fotki

and you, you bitch
with your prison guard keys
you followed me home
and you spat demands
in my face

and all i can think is
i am so out of focus
i am so out of focus

“Since you will come
and throw kisses
at my tombstone later
why not give them to me now
this is me
that same person.”
-Rumi

Sunday I went to my auntie’s house. Since the day was very cloudy, I thought it could be a good occasion for taking some monochrome photos.
Enjoy!

If any of you saw my facebook you know I, once again, was looking for something to shoot.

(Amazing how God knows what we need, when we need it.)

When I get in the photo-zone, I’ve lost my mind.  Honey give me room to move!

Today was no different.

God gave me my baby boy’s room to shoot.

I needed to find beauty in my boys room.

He’ll be doing psychotherapy soon, with psycho meds.

He’s only 8.

God knew.

And I have to say I’m REALLY liking the minimalist turn my photos are taking.

I like reducing the everyday to almost nothing.

Or that’s what I choose to show you.

**SUBJECT CHANGE**

You’ll be proud to know I started a mini-journal (on my phone).

I call it MY DAY.

Well this morning in MY DAY I took my regular walk, but when I was done I smelled.

Like meat.

Not like apple wood smoked bacon.

Like “Honey did you leave out the ham hocks???”

When I got in the shower I battled EVIL.

And I won.

I have had a coulpe of good days in the studio, and things are picking up a little now that we’re approaching Christmas. I had a really good photosession today and I’ll post some photos from that later

I’m still working on my project so here’s a couple of more shots from that

:D

I have som butterflies laying around the studio in case I need it for a photoshoot. They’re the perfect size to put in someone’s hair

:D

Okay, so this is not the best shot, but I was a little pressed for time today. All things considered, it didn’t come out too bad

This is my little dipper. You can put your worries here, too. Try and it’ll make you feel better:-) Pray and press on.

The Original Photo was taken here:-) <http://aborlan.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/tabo/“>

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This is what happens on a quiet news week and there’s a blank page to fill – you test any residual reader loyalty by inserting pictures that’ll be hard to make sense of and even then, with the love truly tested,  support them with a text that won’t mention anything redemptory, perhaps something sensational like illicit sex with students, gun smuggling or that old favourite, a run-in with the cops. Alas not, despite the appeal of all those things, no claims can be made on any but stay tuned as you never know.

The picture above is, (and it kills me to be this dry), the ceiling detail atop of a deep spiral staircase in Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan. I wandered in looking for a picture and found a set of tightly winding steps stretching six floors deep. From the level I entered, helicoidal grooves, each with a hard-wearing PVC lip, circled upwards and downwards, and then getting smaller in a pleasing way that made irresistible the cliche that is the photo below.

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The serrated core of the inside edge, the graded play of light and dark on the concrete underneath and finally the satisfying continuation of a line (that begins near the top left) into the triangle at the centre make this photograph just about acceptable. I took it leaning over the banister of the second floor much to the interest of the passing pedestrian traffic, all well-padded matronly types – there was a piano recital that afternoon – who, along with a strong smell of talc, filled the narrow space all too easily. It was the kind of attention that got in the way. So I ascended slowly, stopping where a good composition might show itself through the lens. Wine coloured walls and small windows made it a dark environment and handheld work a challenge. Most of the pictures were just fuzzy. The three in this post are the ones that made it through. In the last shot, it was difficult to make all the ingredients work and arrange them so it would be more than mere stock. What do you think?

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Does it work? I think so, but only just. Of course, should you agree or not, I’d be happy to know.

Cheers,

TT

All images are JPEGs, taken using an LX3, on an ISO400 setting at f/2

]]> http://phoenxsoftware.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/monophix-v2-0-for-iphone-promises-interesting-changes/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:36:51 +0000 phoenxsoftware http://phoenxsoftware.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/monophix-v2-0-for-iphone-promises-interesting-changes/

Our latest addition to the iTunes App Store, MonoPhix Monochrome App for iPhone is getting an update within the next weeks. It’s the first of the -Phix apps that will be updated to version v2.0. But MonoPhix carries this tag with pride bringing a total of 15 changes and new features.

In MonoPhix 2.0, iphoneographers will be able to control the output of their Monochrome pictures completely. Where other apps only enable you to change the contrast settings, MonoPhix v2.0 will enable you to set highlights and shadow intensity. In this way you can make simple grayscale images with incredibly bright clear parts or adjust the sliders to make beautiful Monochrome images of pictures taken in all conditions. All changes can be previewed using a thumbnail.

Another major change is the absence of the Hard Mono and normal Grayscale features, these can now be accomplished by setting the slider in the right position with or without a little help from 4 preset settings. The missing buttons have been replaced by buttons to enable Sepia and Antique filters using the same depth and sliders which you use to make monochrome images.

Other changes include a significantly smaller filesize, a more logical save dialog and faster Monochrome filters provided by a major upgrade to the MonoCore engine.

But pictures say more than 1000 words (here are some pictures edited with MonoPhix v2.0 Release Candidate 1) :

MonoPhix v2.0 Monochrome example

Another MonoPhix Monochrome example - "Light at the end of the tunnel"

MonoPhix v2.0 Sepia example - Antique Fields

Another Sepia example which shows the right grain balance - Scratched Snow

Final example : Sepia - Monaco Train Station

Screenshots will be posted at release, MonoPhix v2.0 will be submitted to the App Store when all Beta testers approve of its quality.

What is this?  What I am seeing?  What does it mean? Ooooh.  For more information, see the Week 3 Sketchbook entry on this blog.

Time: 6 hours.  Paper:  Sennelier pastel card.  19 x 26″.  Media:  Black, white and gray pastel.  Actuals: a standard laptop run amok on MS Vista and a bonsai root trained on a circuit board:

Process: I love drawing on pastel card, basically like drawing on sand paper. It allows for many clean layers of pastel.  If only it came in 54″  x 10 yard rolls.  First layer:

Second layer.  Drawing from bonsai, overemphasizing the circuit board and linear perspective because I liked it that way:

Third layer.  Printed out bits of my Perl program (CTRL + PRTSC) graphically enhanced,  (Print Mask for GIMPs).  Pastel on back of print, then traced with ball point.

]]> http://doriss.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/running-running-away-from-pain-again-from-the-past-and-towards-youth/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:56:36 +0000 doriss http://doriss.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/running-running-away-from-pain-again-from-the-past-and-towards-youth/

Új Drop Dead kollekció van. Bejövős. : D

Semmi jóról nem tudok beszámolni. A nyomtatóm már megint szar, pedig holnapra egy csomó mindent ki kellene nyomtatnom. Remek. (Y) Ezen kívül még a hétvégém nagy része veszekedéssel telik és még nincs vége. A legjobb pedig az, hogy tegnap kihagytam egy The Idoru koncertet, amiért nagyon is fáj a szívem. De megvan rá az okom, hogy miért maradtam itthon. Nem sokáig marad titokban azt hiszem. De így legalább nem lesz lelkiismeret-furdalásom. Talán.

Minden olyan szép is lehetne. Már csak egy pici dolog hiányzik hozzá. Vajon milyen érzés lehet valakit igazán szeretni?

Wondering what to do during Thanksgiving weekend? Ready for some shopping but don’t really want to fight the Black Friday crowds? Why not come to the Palm Deserts Art Show?

I’ll be there with all of my favorite artwork, including a new piece of artwork especially for this show. Can’t say much about it because I would love for it to be a surprise, but I will say it has color in it. That in itself is HUGE!!! I don’t do color, and not sure I will continue with color, but I thought it would be challenging to do something so different that I would have something new and exciting to showcase.

If you’re in the area, come by and visit! I would love to meet you and show you my artwork face-to-face!!!

Time freeze at the instantaneous moment when I trigger my shutter.

Rain drops freeze but did not become ice. Too, I freeze but did not become cold.

When do you think time freeze for you?

I just stumbled upon a video of one of my fellow artists who I met my first year participating in the Death Valley Invitational Art Show, 4 years ago.  Earlier I posted a photograph of Carl Seyboldt on Sunday, during the “Breakfast with the Artists”. 

For those that went to the Death Valley Art Show this year, many saw my most fearful and most triumphant moment of all. I actually participated in the quick draw event.

For those that are unaware of the rules of the event, you must start with a blank canvas, and have a finished piece of artwork within 45 minutes.  Then, they give you a few minutes to frame the artwork, so that it can be auctioned off.  Guests can wander through while you are working and see your progress from start to finish.

For my first quick draw, I captured a white kitten, innocent with big blue eyes wandering in the flower bed, trying his hardest to be elusive of my camera. When the camera popped up next to the flower he was stalking, his eyes became large, and click click I caught the moment.

Follow the link to see the progress of Carl Seyboldt’s artwork. This guy is incredible!!! This was taken at an art show in Puyallup, WA called the Western Heritage Art Show.  What an incredible drawing from start to finish!!!

Meet David.  David does not like spinach, or many other vegetables.  That’s tough, because David is ten months old.

So, the other day I started a new project and it turns out it quite fun. My idea is to just take any object at hand and photograph it and I’m not allowed to plan the shot before I actually do it. Well yesterday’s shot was really fun to do. I went over and borrowed this big teddybear from the hairdresser’s across the street (she has it in her display window). I hten dressed the bear in a suit that we have in storage for certain fashion shoots. hung it up by it’s ears and promt a children’s chair under one of the teddy’s arms.  Finishing the whole thing off by putting a hat on his head. He looked quite handsome Of course, we don’t have to mention that I put off doing something else because of this shot, but honestly, this was a lot more fun than reviewing my financials

So here's Big Bear

]]> http://jimworrall.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/self-portraits-using-dynamic-bw-on-the-lx3/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:16:25 +0000 Jim Worrall http://jimworrall.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/self-portraits-using-dynamic-bw-on-the-lx3/

Two self indulgent portrait shots using the Panasonic LX3 in “dynamic black and white” mode.
I used a computer monitor as the sole light source and opened up the lens aperture to f2 in order get enough light in.
Both shots were taken hand held. You have to love this camera.

Well this afternoon was interesting.

I took my son to the birthday party of one of his classmates.

My son is special needs and so is his class.

There were at least 4 other kids from the class, there.

When they all got together, without teachers,

with bright shining flashing lights,

and sugar,

was like knowing you did something wrong and you’re waiting to get caught.

Tense.

But they all had SUCH a good time.

PICS:

Running out of interesting stuff around the house to shoot.  

Maybe tomorrow I’ll venture out?