Low-Tech Tuesday: Photo-App
The other day I happened upon a free app that I had to try with my camera-phone ( I think of it as a camera with phone & messaging capabilities). I tried it first with a close-up shot of the flower in the kitchen. As you can see it has a kaleidoscope effect with vignette. I became quite enthused and decided to test it out some more. I took a long distant shot of shot of a shelf.
I then wanted to see what a portrait of a person would look like, so I experimented with my children (family can be so handy). First one up was Tasha, who looked right at me.
Then came Alex, who tried to ignore me (older children have a tendency to do that, if they find your behaviour embarrassing). He did at least lend me an ear.
By now my excitement and enthusiasm sparked a bit of experimentation. Why not take some portrait shots of people a little further afield ? Like Australia or perhaps Texas. So to my computer I went and blogged my way to other parts of the world.
First up was Ashley of the Syncopated Eyeball.
Then I dropped in on George (She Kept a Parrot) in Texas.
By now you may be wondering where I happened upon this free app, well it was the kitchen table.
Tasha had left part of a small plastic kaleidoscope toy on the table. I happened to pick it up and an interesting thought. Only part of the toy was there, a single fractured lens. What would happen it I positioned it in front of the lens on my cellphone ? The flower on the table made an excellent choice of subject, and so it began.
You can see my enthusiasm was justified. The app was definitely free ( the original toy was free). The advantage of not needing to download and install anything was particularly useful, since my cellphone camera is not Smart enough to use more digitally based apps.
This little plastic gizmo is delightfully hands on and creates a wonderful randomness to the photographic process. It is primitive and adds an element of toy camera to the results. I did need to adjust and crop some of the images before adding the old style taped borders. I guess you know by now why I identified this post as Low-tech Tuesday, ……. it isn’t Wednesday yet.
Angelika Award
This post is tagged under a number of headings including photography & art. The most important though is education. This is a story of 21 men & women from vastly different parts of the world, different backgrounds, and ages who, through the power of blogging, have shaped the education of a young person. They have never met this person nor have they directly communicated with them.
On March 23, 2012, I posted Existential Friday: Duelling Philosophers. It was about an assignment I had given my small group of Philosophy students (secondary school Grd. 12). I included a sample of what one of the students had composed, a debate between two philosophers in the form of a rap duel.
There were six responses and nineteen likes, as of Tuesday, March 27. I showed the student the post this morning. At first s/he was a bit surprised that I had actually posted it. Then I pointed out the likes and responses. The student’s face lit up and excitedly told their friend. Other students also took note. Near the end of the period another student dropped by. When she was told that her friend’s rap assignment was “published” and it had 19 likes and 6 responses, she wanted the address so she could check it out.
My student wanted to make sure s/he had the address too. I asked her if her parents would be coming to interview night this evening. At first s/he said they were going to be too busy. I mentioned that I had hoped to tell them about their “blog”.
This evening they were there to see me. They came right over and said their child insisted they come and see me to find out about the rap-blog. This was a special interview night for myself and my wife. We are retiring. This is our last parent-teacher interview night in our teaching careers.
It was a slow night. Second semester tends to have a low turn out. Those parents were the only ones I had. I have a very different mix of students because of the Assisted Study Program and the number of students are small. Let’s just say this last interview made the evening and the job very worthwhile. I was able to tell our principal about this whole incident before the evening was done, extra bonus.
As for the student, 21 individuals have touched that young person’s life. As with any teacher, they have no idea what seed they may have planted and nurtured through their small action of clicking the like button or putting a small comment to indicate that they took the time to read that student’s efforts. In acknowledgement for their actions, I present them with the Angelika Award, they are all angels in the shadows. The shadows of their wings have spread very far indeed.
Surreal Thursday: Motivational Posters
We have all seen them. Those motivational posters. The sell them at drugstores and online. They hang up in offices and classrooms. They are up there on bedroom walls and on the inside of lockers. Smaller versions become wall calendars or desk calendars. People recite the slogans/quotations/mottos like prayers & mantras. They are constructed realities designed to appeal to a target audience. They support values, beliefs, & ideologies, like any mass media text. Well today is another Surreal Thursday. It is time to look at things through a different lens.
In modern English, the lines from the John Donne’s MEDITATION XVII Devotions upon Emergent Occasions would read/look like this:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
Remember written text is another form of mass media. It has codes and conventions. The text reflects spoken language. Spoken languages changes and so does the text. The text can be carved in stone, not so the spelling 7 grammar rules.
Motivational posters attempt to re-affirm or establish a set of values, beliefs, and ideologies. They do not explain how to act upon them.
For George’s son-in-law, and all those other people that do not realize that a photograph is both a medium and media content. It is a constructed reality that also supports the way we believe – or what to believe - the way the world is. Even a “Natural photograph” is a constructed vision or composition, just like a painting or drawing. They were photoshopping in the darkroom long before computers.
What If Wednesday: 1940′s E-Book
The early E-Books of the 1940′s had a difficult time establishing themselves, in spite of war-time paper rationing. The strongly traditional education system was not comfortable with such an innovation and most bound books were kept in better condition; the North American throw-away mentality would not become a strong business/consumer model until the 1960′s. The E-Books had trouble acquiring access to a large variety of material. Most established writers were still under contract to the large publishing houses. There was an attempt to cover the lack of material by supplying an anthology style format. Of course this put them in competition with the still successful pulp magazines, which together with the growing comic-book market, held sway over the news-stand outlets.
To further compound their problems, this was the Golden Age of Radio, and access to wireless networks were dominated by both national and regional broadcasters. Radio of this time period emphasized group/family audience and shared experience. It was also providing the majority of its programming live. Immediacy was the key word. In a time of war, people were drawn together for mutual support and shared common experience. They needed a form of mass media entertainment to take their minds away from their troubles and also provide up-to-date news to keep them secure.
The final obstacle that these early E-Books faced was a lack of a consistent long-lasting power source. Once again these innovators ran into problems with established industries. Power companies were reluctant to make changes to their electrical plugs to accommodate this new technology. Since a number of Radio broadcast networks were closely connected to electrical generation, there was little appetite to open the doors to any new form of mass media technology.
As a consequence, the E-Books had to rely heavily on kinetic generation of electrical charging. This necessitated that the books were as thick as most standard book and had the additional weight of the early electronic components. This made E-Books more cumbersome than they could have been and the added weight increased the risk of damaging the components.
The E-Books did leave one lasting impact on vernacular language . Because of their unusual variety of content and innovation in their front display menu many people responded with some confusion ( another obvious marketing weakness), A common expression entered the language that is still with us today; “You can not judge an E-Book by its cover.”
Antique Impressions: Transmission & Reception
Between transmission and reception
Are lines of communication.
Constructed from beliefs, values and ideologies,
Our expectations are filled with messages
That reverberate past intention.
Consumed ideas are polished by beliefs & values,
Then tarnished by ideologies
That outlive their time.
Note: I was experimenting with some metallic texture layers the last few days. I have an image that I wanted to create a partner for, however, every time I try I have ended up with something else. To see how far apart a couple of related textures have taken me just compare the images in today’s post with the one from yesterday, Friday’s Memento Mori image, Wednesday’s flower image, and Angel Metalika and the blue flower image. All were in some way created using one or two of the same texture layers.
The associated poem is built on a couple of Mass Media Principles ( See my Media literacy blog) - All Mass Media construct a reality that contain messages based on values, beliefs, and ideologies. As to the idea of how our accepted ideas/norms (truths) can change over time, part of my reflections came from reading My childhood home; an urban zoo — Part 3 by Rangewriter .
Versatile Blogger Award
First thanks to Nia of photographyofnia and J. A. Robinson of The Daily Graff. They both nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award, it just took me awhile to figure it out. I kept tripping over my Procrastination and Confusion Awards. I blame it on my diabetes and Seasonal Affective Disorder (age). That is why I purchase products to help my memory.
Now I have revealed 3 things about myself, just need five more points. Let me see,…… my left eye has an artificial lens. I was born with a cataract in the left eye. Unfortunately due to other health issues it was not spotted till after I was 5 years of age. it was considered too late to perform surgery. I only had an artificial lens put in a few years ago. My brain is now hard-wired to interpret a single lens view of the world( like a camera). This could explain my interest in photography and digital constructions of reality – did I mention I’m a secondary school teacher with a teaching background in English, Developmental Literacy & Special Education ( Specialist in all three), and an extensive experience in Media Studies & Literacy . My wife is a Local Artist and an Art & Drama, and History teacher with extensive experience working with Special Needs Students. We met during our first couple of teaching years.
Both our children have special need challenges. Our oldest, Alexander is presently taking a post graduate program in Character Design & 3D Animation at Fanshawe College. Here is a short sample of his work. He story boarded the concept, acted out the two roles using motion capture, created the short clip, and composed the music himself. Being a LD learner does not mean you can not think, create, or produce. You just have to work harder than everyone else.
Our daughter is a Downs person with a hearing loss. She is a master of electronic games and the computer. Her present favourite comedians are Laurel & Hardy. Big brother was researching Charlie Chaplin and other slapstick artists to prepare his animation short. Natasha was hooked on performers that had her Baba laughing at the motion picture shows a long, long time ago.
Now comes my nominations for Versatile Blogger. There are so many possibilities and I really encourage people to check out both this list and the others who have links featured on this blog.
3.n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s
7. iltana
10. Astrawally
11. Images Straight from the Lens
14. Warped Prism
15. HoaiPhai
* I had a double nomination so here are a few more.
16. Aberrant Art
17. Bird and Baking
18. Eden’s captures
Enjoy the Day !
Not so Golden Arches
“You deserve a break today. Abandon all ______________, you who dine here.”
A contest! Fill in the blank and you could win a virtual burger and fries.
Scanning for Enlightenment
Steps to Enlightenment
This post is all about creating challenges for one’s self , acknowledging inspiration, and expanding the creative process. My challenge right now is getting my thoughts and words in order.
I was looking for ways of challenging myself and trying some different creative techniques & processes when two events converged together. As I briefly mentioned in another post, my wife & son are collaborating on an art project. It is challenging them because of generational differences and artistic sensibilities, not to mention the mother-son stuff in the mix. The goal is to paint a wooden table-top. My wife does most of her art work on wooden plaques, mirrors, an other unique surfaces. The table-top was prepared with a sander – besides photo-documenting the project, I now had the opportunity to get macro-shots of unique texture surface – great for my photo-processing ( see robin in previous post).
The new textures were great, but I wanted to open up things. I wanted some new subjects and new approaches. The second event arrived and I saw the light ( watch for falling puns ): the post, Devices on Refrigenator Magnate ( make sure to visit to see creative & quirky photography & processing ) featured a wonderful composition that used scanography ( scanner photography ) . Once I put the new textures together with the idea of trying my hand at scanner photography the light went on. I began looking about the house for suitable subjects & possible components for a composition. I had achieved a small moment of artistic enlightenment.
As to process, the first image incorporates six photographs. There were two were texture images plus one modified image of pages from an old dictionary. Two other images were of a step-ladder in our laundry room, and a cut out window opening in a plastic bin. The repeated image of the crow in flight comes from a photograph taken by my son a couple of years ago. The second image combines to scanner photos with a layer of a table-top texture. Click the images to see enlarged images, and remember to visit the Devices post . Enjoy the Day as you seek your own personal enlightenment !
Finding Enlightenment
Antique Impressions of Nature 4
As I emphasize with my Media Literacy students, all mass media constructs reality. The basic codes and conventions of photography shapes the message being sent to the audience. A photograph is built up as you choose your subject, how the subject is framed, the choice of camera angle & distance, and of course colour or black&white. Above that the photograph can be manipulated in a darkroom (digital or physical).
I have been particularly interested in how I could transform the message & content of my digital photographs to capture a mood and tone of a previous age and media technology. Here are further explorations and experiments in a digitally constructed antique reality.
An interesting side effect in this image was how the brickwork appears to bend and curve. Fortunately our wall is more secure.
My wife was on Manitoulin Island a couple of weeks ago for a workshop for art teachers. This shot was one of a series she took during the workshop.
Even today, we still think of a photograph freezing and capturing a moment. In reality photography creates a moment. A photograph is an artifact that both preserves an aspect of reality and isalso distorting / creating reality. We must learn to read the photograph to fully appreciate the message and the art. One final note, all the photographs in this post were taken with my new cell-phone ( see earlier post).
Antique Surreal Impressions
Daisies’ asphalt dreams ~
This is a contradiction:
Mixing Media
With rusting culverts ~
Antique Surreal Impressions.
The Camera never lies down
In the same point of view twice.
See Dee Picture ?
How can you be sure
In Camera Obscura ?
Try to remember,
When mixing Media
There are contradictions
In Implied Spaces.
You say Tomato,
I see Tom-ah-to;
The camera gets the picture.
Picture a Constructed Reality
Filled with Implied Spaces.
There are contradictions
In Implied Spaces,
This is a contraction
~An Antique Surreal Impression~
Of mixing Media.
Me-Dee-Ah is the I-Dee-Ah
Of Implied Spaces.
Get the Picture ? A Contradiction.
Wadi Hanifa-A Constructed reality
I was looking at a CBC Photo gallery concerning a Toronto architectural firm’s role in rehabilitating what was once a toxic landfill in the middle of a Saudi Arabian oasis. Wadi Hanifa (or Hanifa Valley) is the longest valley near the capital of Riyadh and part of a natural water drainage area for a region of more than 4,000 square kilometres. Moriyama & Teshima Planners’ work on rehabilitating the water in the Valley received an award. Some of the images in the CBC news gallery are quite striking, but as I viewed them the media teacher light started flashing. I started to think about some of the basic media principles and the critical thinking skills I try to instill in my students. How constructed were these photographs ? What values and beliefs were these images promoting ? Was there a business interest to consider ? Were these images modified ? Were they selling a product, service, or idea ?
What I noticed was the following things. No specific photographer or studio was identified as taking the photographs. Some of the photographs seemed to be done in a more hyper-realistic/artistic style. while others had a more natural lighting and colour. In some of the images there were elements that appeared to be placed into the composition. Were some of these images re-touched or modified to create a more dramatic tone and emphasize the return of nature and the natural world ? Look at the examples below and then use the link at the start of this post to see the whole gallery. What is your impression ?
Whale Pods
This is an exercise in digital imagination. I have a fondness for puns. I decided to turn a bad pun into a visual image. None of the original photographs used to create this piece are mine. Remember all mass media is a constructed reality.
Project Complete, ……….. Mostly Complete
Hopefully, my wife and I can finally relax when we think about the school calendar project. We’ve finished our portion of the job and can take the mock-up in on Monday to go over it with the Principal. It will then go to the printer. In previous years Elliot Lake Secondary School would do a black and white calendar. Sometimes the calendar was done in-house, other times it would be done by a local printer. Costs were partially covered by the local Ford dealership and the calendar would include their advertising. My wife, who is the art teacher, would select pen and ink drawings from her students to be included as part of the calendar.
This year the Vice Principal and the Literacy-Success Instructor were able to get funding to do a glossy calendar. The pictures for each month were to represent character education goals. Initially the plan was to have a group of senior art students photograph tableaux and art installations. This idea mutated into including more photography of school events that would represent the various goals – monthly motivational posters. This then created new issues. The students didn’t have enough time to do all the months. The wide selection of photographs were intentionally taken for a specific purpose and target audience - basic media principles. Instead of being used to decorate the school / be used in the yearbook, the message and medium was being altered. That meant a new media reality was being constructed. These were not just dramatic or amusing photographs to document school events and high-light student activity and accomplishments. The photographs had to convey the specific character traits.
Instead of my wife organizing and mentoring students, she ended up reviewing and selecting content. I ended up with a more hands-on role in designing the overall character trait images for each month. Our home computers were getting older and they did not appreciate the large graphic files we were working with. They chose to , um… retire. It has been an interesting summer.
We needed a photograph or image of the school for the cover of the calendar. I played with one of my shots of the school.
In the end we chose to use a water-colour painting that my wife had done. It was used on the cover in conjunction with other images of school activities.
As you may have noticed in the above images, our school has a wind turbine. At the time of the turbine’s installation, E.L.S.S. was the first and only secondary school in North America to have a wind turbine. It was part of the school initiative to develop environmental awareness in the school and local community.
The above photograph was not used in the calendar. The next three photographs were used as components of various graphic designs.
Above is a shot our school courtyard and garden. The garden is managed by community volunteers and students.
Our school band has been very successful in competition.
The next image is a modification of a photograph I had taken of one of our students. It was part of a school campaign to promote an E.L.S.S. Reads Program. The goal was to get as many students and school staff to read The Hunger Games.
The photograph was modified using a Redfield plugin, Virtual Photographer, and PaintShop Pro. By the way, yes the young lady can really play the violin, a number of other instruments, plus sing and act. She is also a Ontario Scholar. We may live in a small Northern Ontario community, but our students and our schools are active and successful !
The final photograph was taken by a senior Art student. It was one of the student photographs that didn’t get included in the calendar and I wanted to make sure people still got to see it.
Enjoy!
Reflections by My Son
These two photographs were taken by my son. They were part of a set he had done for a Media Class assignment. The Birch Tree shot was eventually used in the school calendar. Ironically the tree had to be cut down within the year, upsetting staff and students. As a consequence, the photograph had added significance. Besides being a very striking image, it was the photograph taken of the tree.
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