Saturday, December 29, 2012

Playing with not photoshop

For a while now I have been capturing and manipulating images on some iPhone photo apps:
Camera+
Considered the best camera app for the iphone sees me leaving my camera battery uncharged and preferring my iPhone for shots and passing images I decide to capture.
Snapshot
I prefer to instagram, I think it gives you a wider range of manipulation and filters. I use it as a photo manipulation app and straight up I love using it!
Paper camera
(as recommended by Suz @vibrantIreland) is a great app and appears initially as a playful photo editor but it can punch its own weight, besides being fun I love it's ease of use favouring comic boom, gothic noir, sketch up and pastel perfect filters. Not as controlled as photoshop but a great place to start. I often combine it with snapshot flicking between the two to push and pull graphic filters.
Phonto
I looked for a long time for an app I could add my name, text, subtle layers of words to images and eventually settled on this one. Basic unsophisticated but adds text.
InstacollageFree
I seldom use recently I've used it for showing several images from an event or the progression of creative digital editing.
My point is play with apps. Find inspiration from the original image, apps and what's going on in your head get creative, explore your self expression.
Create images beyond photography.








Monday, December 24, 2012

All who wander are not lost. J.R.R. Tolkien

All who wander are not lost. Roisin Markham 
I came across this quote during my internet wandering a few weeks ago. I liked it so much I wrote it on a beach stone and it now sits on my desk.
What does it mean to you? let me know in the comments or tweet me
I keep bumping into it... For me it resonates deep into my need for exploration, pottering about, being in nature and nurturing my soul.
Last week as work projects came together and milestones were meet the Christmas season rolled into town. Everyone in our house has been sick and in and out of school/work... so preparations have been less then on target. Ah it will be all fine on Monday midnight and if its not it will be what it is and we shall have a 5am start anyway.
Unusually for me (being self employed) I had a Christmas party to go to - I have a small group of twitterbloggerFBratti that have become good friends, we try to meet up every month or so and keep tabs on each others blogs, work and lives. Suz @VibrantIreland suggested that we should go to #Winterville and in October it seemed like a good plan. It turned out be be a great plan,I'd trust her implacably to plan a tour and event anywhere. About two weeks ago I suggested we make it an over night plan which developed into complimentary rooms at Dooley's Hotel on the Quays in Waterford, it was wonderful to be looked after so well. Catherine @Foxglovelane and Dee @Greensideup are part of the posse and this time out we were joined by Susanna @ZwartablesIE.
We had excellent lunch and drinks at Bodega. We had such a laugh sitting in the window, enjoying good food and great company. As with social media mavens they were photographing their food and tweeting it - I still find that funny! Then there was chat about devices, apps and the best of! As we tweeted and chatted @Bodega joined in and as Lunchtime became well 4pm Colm came over and introduced himself. I enjoyed that.
As we left to go and enjoy the festival on the street of Waterford it was dark and felt very festive. While they flew down Helterskelters and went on merry go rounds I enjoyed the bright lights and laughed along side them.
Light show at Winterville, Waterford.
When people are together hanging out cameras, phones capture laughter fun and the scene around them. But what we experience is just ours. Even in a group our experiences are collective and individual. There photos were joyful and playful as were some of mine but... my favourite shot is the one of shadows...
showing the development of the top image
Even in a city of bright lights with lots of people about I find a moment to capture a shadow of nature and the illusion of a person reflected on to a very different streetscape. Sometimes it suits me to wander...
Have a lovely Christmas I hope it is full of all those things you love.

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