Lovin’ On Lana
Smoke ‘n Mirrors
Right now Sophie and Studio Quat are facing off becoming reacquainted. Studio Quat is becoming House Quat, she’s moving in with us. Along with all sorts of crap treasures from Mama’s house, the old studio grande.
Notice how I don’t capitalize that one. It has been … decommissioned. Like a battle ship. Or a church. Or something.
I’d planned on moving SQ to the new, improved! Studio Grande but that is not to be. At least not now. The studio, like my house, is a victim of moving Mama’s stuff. There is not a single clear surface. And when I do get them cleared I’ll be faced with concrete. Remember the concrete countertops? Well, at the tender age of 17, I figure Studio Quat deserves upholstered furniture and puppy playmates.
I’m sure she’ll eventually agree.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to paint…so I’m not. But you can’t keep a creative girl down. That’s where the ipad and iphone come in handy. I can sit at the sofa at the end of the day, feet up on the coffee table and make fun stuff.
This is one of the pony pics. A snapshot taken with the iphone. Unedited. What you see is what the camera saw.
This is it arted up in in the ipad using Paint FX: Photo Effects Editor. There’s a free version and a premium one. I bought the premium, cost me a whole 99 cents. For under a buck this thing has a lot of creative potential. All sorts of filters. And you can layer them.
I can’t tell you which ones I used in this because I didn’t set out to write a blog post when I played with it. I know I used a lightening brush to bring out my hair.
Here’s another version of the same photo. I used three apps here. The first was Captions HD. It’s a fun little app, amazingly versatile. And once again, cheap. I can’t find the receipt but I’m sure it wasn’t anything more than a buck or two. Good thing for making cards and such. Then I added some layers in Paint FX. And then I softened everything in Glazes, an oil painting app. At $2.99 Glazes was a splurge… but cheaper than a latte so I have no complaints.
And the last one for today, a totally different feel. This is a combination of two apps. The first is a new app I bought tonight, another splurge at $2.99, ArtMasterpiece FX HD. The original effect is a sketch with the feel of an old master, the kind of thing I had to draw over and over back when I was in school. It was quite nice but I can never leave a good thing alone so I threw it in Vintage by Jixipix, which changed it up even more.
So there you have it…one photo, and not a very good one at that, transformed into three totally different looks. Easy-Peasy. Addicting. And fun. OMG, So. Much. Fun.
So that’s it for now, my sweetums. Which one of these do you like the best? Would love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. And if you know anyone with iphone or ipad be sure to share this with them.
Like An Old Married Couple
And dat’s da truth!
Vintage Ponies
In my desk at work I have a photo, looks like it was from the 40s. Maybe 30s. It’s a woman cantering a horse in an outdoor arena. It’s taken from a slightly higher vantage point, looking down a little and straight on.
If I remember right, the woman is wearing a plaid shirt and jodphurs. She’s riding in an English saddle. Or should I say on an English saddle? Whatever…
I have no idea who she was. It’s just a photo given to me by a co-worker who found it in a stack of old photos she’d bought somewhere. Maybe a yard sale. Memories sold to strangers.
I always thought I’d do something with it someday. There’s something about old photographs that intrigues me. Mysteries faded by time. But now I don’t have to violate other people’s images…
Because (drum roll please) I CAN MAKE MY OWN, my very OWN, faded, crumpled vintage images…from photos I took this morning!
YAY!!! Thank you geeks who grew up to be app designers…I luvvvvvv you!!! Indeed I do. Because with a little bit of digital manipulation I can turn a crappy snapshot into something fun! interesting! And in this case, vintagely ARTY!
Like this one. The three of them were hanging out up by the barn. In the original photo Saki is blurry from a head shake. But throw some aging grunge into it and it turns into something more. Mysterious. Arty.
And this one…I’m calling this one Secrets. Partial faces. Communication. What are they saying? Why am I ignoring them?
Are they whispering behind my back? Maybe talking about my hair???
That’s the writer in me talking. The reality is they’re both checking to see if I gave the other one a treat. And I’m trying to snap a photo before someone moves.
Now this one is a bit self indulgent. A terrible snapshot, all blur and no substance. Then I arted it up and something in it works for me, the sense of movement coupled with the angle of the walls. Every time I look at it I find myself liking it even more. Maybe because it makes me dizzy. Reminds me of when I had vertigo…but that’s another story.
You’ve seen a lot of these, with Saki or Lana standing behind me. But this time we’re both looking off in different directions. Well, you might think that but look again. His eye is soft and he’s watching me. My eyes are in the front of my head but I’m really watching him in the monitor.
Aww geeze…it’s all smoke and mirrors, isn’t it?
As always, my best beloveds, I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below. If one of these photos jumps out and screams luvvvv to you, tell me about it. And why.
And if you like this, please share it with your friends.
Technical Info: There were all taken on my iPhone 4S using the basic photo app. They were digitally altered in Vintage by Jixipix.
Uber Artsy
The morning had that special quality that comes after a night of rain. Light but hazy as the moisture burned off.
The ponies were hanging out in the shed. Waiting.
Lana was first to the fence. First to greet me with a throaty nicker. She always is.
Notice the tufts of hair on the fence. This is her favorite rubbing spot
She’s getting used to the camera in my hand. Used to our pause before feeding.
This is my favorite photo of the day. In fact, I think this has HAFP…high artsy fartsy potential.
What’d I tell you…is that Uber Artsy… or what? This one’s my new favorite for today.
Barnyard Noir
I like this photo. There’s an edginess to the composition. It’s…arty.
Almost staged. Like there’s a story behind this…but what?
Like, why is the mare looking so bored frightened? What evil intentions lurk in the donkey’s mind? And WHERE is the gelding in all this???
The word noir pops into mind. Bleak, sleezy 1950’s hardboiled detective novelesque noir. Maybe the glimpse of flesh in the lower right corner is a clue. Maybe it’s the hand of EEEEEEEEEE! SCREAM……..
Or maybe it’s just my own hand holding up the iPhone.
BINGO!
Okay, now that we’ve established that I have an overactive imagination and am easily distracted, let’s get to the meat of this post. Let’s get to showing you more photos of this same photo arted up.
Question: Why do you art up your photos, Susan?
Me: Because I’m not a photographer, I’m a photographer’s nightmare…a painter with a camera in my hand.
You: Ohhhhhhh….
Here it is with an HDR filter. HDR standing for high dynamic range o’light. Or o’something. There are MANY to choose from, this just happens to be the one I chose today.
And this one is a combination of effects all piled on top of one another in Photoshop.
This is an oil paint filter. A bit softer than the others.
And another oil filter, this one reminds me of the Crazy String stuff the kids used to play with. As bizarre as it is, this one is growing on me, especially when you see it larger.
Watercolor. You see me use this one often. Or some flavor if it.
And last one for today…Vintage. One of my personal favorites. Definitely adds mystery….
There are many many many MANY variations and layers to all of these filters. I’ll be exploring them, one at a time, in future posts. Look for them under Cool Apps in the Photography Menu.
Meanwhile, I’d love to hear which of these is your favorite. Let me know in the comments below.
And a challenge for my writer friends (or anyone else). Come up with a plot for Barnyard Noir. Sort and sweet, like a haiku. Oh yes, please do. We could have a lot of fun with this. As always, in the comments below.
And here’s another look at Perry, in case you need more inspiration.