What If Wednesday: Steampunk Star-gate & Atlantean Portal
Journey into a realm of possibilities. Step through a Steampunk Star-gate into the what if’s of history. Turn the dial of disbelief and lift the throttle of your imagination. Perhaps you will discover Atlantean Artifacts Revealed, such as the famous Atlantean Bull Mural.
We may find our way through an Atlantean Portal and discover the secrets of Leng and Hyperborea. Step through the portal, if you dare, and visit a surreal shoreline and mystic seas.
Wonder at the what if’s awaiting you and go beyond the field you know.
Antique Angel-3
A mysterious angel print in a lost book.
A memory ?
A miracle ?
Or a lost photographic process -
Remains of ancient alchemist’s art.
Mayhap an illusion of mottled old paper -
A wish-fulfillment of tired eyes
Longing for blessing.
Here are angels of victory.
Let their wings lift your imagination.
Let your dreams be rewarding.
Soar to the heavens
Unfettered from fears.
Antique Angel-2
This is a another close-up of the angel figurine. The modification on this shot produces a more painterly effect that emphasizes texture and colour. Three layers were used and a mixture of two modified textures.
Since the post has 2 in the title I included this second image that I call Victory Angels. It used more complex layers and modified textures to create the finished image.
Antique Angel
This a close up shot of a figurine we have that is usually sitting in the window. After a bit of processing to emphasize colours and texture it is as you see it now. Time and place is replaced by mood and memory.
What If Wednesday: Steampunk Photography
It is Wednesday, time to explore another what if of history. One of my particular favourite historical what ifs is steampunk. The retro-Victorian Science Fiction has generated an interesting body of work. The aesthetic has spread into popular culture, even if the term is not necessarily well-known. A recent winter photo and a nature shot taken a while ago became the basis for these two pieces.
Antique Impressions : Christmas
In the spirit of happy melancholy, as we look back on fond memories of days past, here are two pieces to recall more innocent times and places. Sorry for the absence from the blogs and comments, things are a bit busy at work & home.
Daguerre In Toyland
Women multi-task, Men multi-mess-about. While I was doing my muti-mess-about ( sound vaguely Australian, but is global phenomena), hit on what will be a new photo-sequence that I call Daguerre in Toyland. While I was messing about with textures and ideas for some photos thing got all mixed together. One idea and technique kept bumping into another. I had taken a couple of shots that I was hoping to use for a second Existential Friday post. The subject matter came about as I was preparing some Christmas Material. Among some of the shots were a couple I thought could work be used to create an Antique/Victorian texture – which might work with the Christmas themes.
As this came together and I tried to come up with a texture realized I had a potential frame layer for a Daguerreotype . When I put this together with the Christmas themes I was toying around with ( bad pun for the amazing photo-arty spilledinkguy at Refrigerator Magnate and J. A. Robinson of The Daily Graff ), I had the beginning of a photo sequence.
Note: For more on Daguerre see: Daguerre (1787–1851) and the Invention of Photography , A Brief Guide to Becquerel Daguerreotype my Media Studies resource page CAMERAS & PHOTOGRAPHY ,
For more on people who are creating daguerreotypes and other alternative processes see: AlternativePhotography-Gallery
Also check my two previous posts see: Flower-gram 1 and Captured Light
Ghostly Scene
Part of my interest in replicating the look/style of old photographs came from my early interest, like many youngsters in the 60′s, in ghosts and the paranormal. Those popular books of the 1960′s that featured ghost photography going back to the 1800′s helped spark my interest in early photography, history, and literature.
The first image is an attempt to take a not so good photo and create a ghostly scene in the style of the old photographs of an earlier age. Wonder how long before it starts showing up elsewhere as the real deal .
The second image is from the playground visit, from last week. it ended up looking a bit intense and mysterious.
For more on the history of turn of the century spirit photography and early trick photography check out the American Museum of Photography. You can go directly to the site’s DO YOU BELIEVE? Ghosts & Ectoplasm – The Story of Spirit Photography, 1868 – 1935 for more specifics on the business of spirit photography.
Unidentified Man with Two Spirits - Albumen print carte de visite, circa 1870.
Antique Impressions: Interiors
I keep coming back to themes and techniques of time & memory. Try to vary the subject matter and explore new variations on the techniques and textures. Hopefully I won’t become too repetitive in style & subject. I also am trying to explore the themes without becoming overly maudlin or depressing. I am working on a couple of weather related material that will explore different style and tone. Things are getting a bit crunched – we have to get rest of Alex’s stuff down to his new place for September, deal with other family concerns, then get back for the next school year. I wonder why I am always so concerned with the passage of time and memory?
Professor Palindome’s Chrono-Postcard 1
BACK OF CARD
Dear Lady Finchdale,
It has been more than a century since I was last in your gracious presence; from your perspective this message arrives mere minutes after my departure and I have experienced only an hour and thirteen minutes in my new surroundings. From either point of view this marks a historic event; you hold in your hand the first successful chrono-exportation postal delivery. You are at home enjoying the spring of 1891, while I am here in the colonies in the spring of 2011.
By the by, The Dominion of Canada, as they now call it, has numerous provinces and stretches across the upper half of the North American continent. I am presently located in a small community of Elliot Lake – in the mid-Northern part of Ontario province. What is quite remarkable is the economy of this town is mainly based on tourism and retirement. A whole generation in their late fifties and up can retire to a life of leisure and comfort. Unfortunately there is a growing uneasiness as the number of senior citizens begin to out number the young in this part of the world. As always humanity is unbalanced – age, gender, education, and income – on a happier note is that the pursuit beauty, harmony, and art are still with us.
The photonogram – you were correct about the calibration of the phontonic image capturing device and the aetheric imprinting plates sensitivity - on the front of the postcard is of a commercial garden nursery where garden hobbyists can purchase a variety of plants, ornaments, and garden maintenance equipment. Interestingly much of the aesthetic harkens back to our own era or that of the Japanese culture. This present era is such a mix of contradictions . For example, this community’s main economy had once rested on lumber and mining. The ore that had been mined here was used for a power source and medical purposes. The cost became prohibitive and there has been much debate over the value of this power source. Remarkably, for all of their technological and scientific prowess, this society has yet to master the use of the aetheric stream. They struggle with the search for alternative energy sources and can not see the obvious answer.
I must bid adieu as the aetheric steam engine is almost fully charged for the next chronal exportation and I am eager to see what time has in store for me. Hopefully the next postcard will not be too soon/late.
There is much that we do not know about Palindrome or his technology. We don’t even understand how the text on the back of the card scrolls while you read it. For a bit more information on Palindrome click the postcard above.
Antique Impressions: The Window
“A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.” Mark Twain
“Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it,
he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world;
nor could the world see the man within.” Claudia Lady Bird Johnson
If you see a writer staring out the window, they are working at turning the intangible into words. J.P.K.
Into the woods: Crow on a rock
These two variations on the same photograph were experiments in blending textures and layers of the modified photograph. I ended up with some silhouette effect that resembles old book illustrations that you might find in a children’s’ book or folk tale collection. The photo quality also evokes an older photographic processes Each has its own strength and weaknesses. Which do you prefer ?
Flower-grams & Cyanotype Cinema
Another post that opens a window that looks into a world of might have been history. Two more flower-grams, images created by digital means, that appear to belong to an alternative Victorian or Edwardian reality. Plus a strange little animation that would not be out-of-place in a cyanotype cinema, if such a steampunk peep-show theatre existed.
Spring Flowers: Pictures Antique,Plastic & Digital
Three Spring Flower photographs, each one of a different type of flower, and each photograph is in a different style. The first is of blossoms done to evoke an antique photographic print. The second photograph of Spring Lilac was modified with my textures to emulate the look of a plastic camera. I know there is an app for that, but did it the old-fashioned way, creating my own textures and blending the layers.
The final photograph of a Spring Clematis maintains a traditional contemporary digital style ( looking for oxymora) .
This is post 175 – how did I get here ? At this rate I’ll have used up all the free space for media files. I’ll have to consider my options once I get there.
Flower-gram 4
Here are some flower-grams that are variations on one photograph. I used some of my textures to create these variations on the early clematis bloom.
The blue and the gold.
Here are a couple of other shots. One more variation on the clematis and then a bit of yellow to add some Spring sunshine to the post.
Antique Impressions of the Manufactured2
Went to the local plant nursery with my wife and daughter. I took a few pictures of the garden ornaments and bric-a-brac . Somehow it all had a very Victoriana-Steampunk tone to it all. It may have been a time slip, an alternative reality, or just typical style of garden ornaments. Then again it could have been my choice of subjects and use of imaging effects ( Media constructs reality).
Victoria Day Flower-gram
In celebration of Canada’s Victoria Day Weekend here is another flower-gram and a couple more digital recreations of an earlier age.
Flower-gram 3
Here are three more images in the flower-gram series. These digital photographs have been processed to suggest traditional photo-grams, cyanotype, and vandyke images. To learn more about the real deal check out the alternative photography gallery. I admire those who work in these traditional methods for their skill and artistry. I can only emulate these through the digital darkroom. I find the chemical work a bit too daunting.
Considering that these images harken back to the late 19th century and this is a Canadian blog, hope you have a Great Victoria Day Weekend ! Enjoy !
Cat & Gargoyle and The Garden Reflections
Summer coming to a close. Some images and memories for a digital album. Where does the time go ? It is like a cat ready to leap while we sit still as stone looking at possibilities reflected in a birdbath. Or maybe we are just busy living.
Shoes, Shadows, Cats, Tomatoes & Flowers
Today mix of objects and styles. First up are some Faux Victoriana tomatoes and brick-a-brac. Can you see the two ornamental cats in the photograph ? One is hiding, but (hint) it is very supportive.
The next photograph is of Miss Jada. Her last role was in The Gardens of Ulthar post . She just had some surgery done yesterday, but she is up and a round looking for birds, chipmunks, moles, and mice. I created a mat in keeping with the Victoriana mood and the monochrome photograph.
Here is a study in Shoes & Shadows. I used a variation on the frame that was used in the first photograph, but I included a mat that I composed to go with the monochrome image.
Here is some Brica-brac for the year 2010, or just another mess that needs to be cleaned up. Is the doll listening to The Wiggles or the wind-up radio ?
My wife’s water lily is starting to flower. The colour of the mat came from the water lily leaves.
The final photograph is also from the garden. This photograph was not adjusted or altered except for the addition of the mat. I composed the mat pattern to imitate the fencing in the background. Enjoy !
Digital Quilting: Garden and Car Photography
The work on this year’s school calendar never ends. My wife and I have spent a good part of the summer on this. So has the school secretary, and she is coping with extra work brought on by the reduction in office staffing. We are running out of days. I have been working on graphic design techniques. Tried to make sure the images for each month has a unique style. I didn’t want to repeat the same thing over again. One technique I experimented with was creating digital quilt patterns. They didn’t suit the calendar.
Here are a couple of my own photographs with some surreal quilt patterns. The garden shots are from this year. The car was in the local Canada Day Parade from a few years ago.
I used Redfield plugins to create the effects, including the stitching and the art media effect for the car shot.
The last composition is a bit strange. I guess the molten glassy frame could be part of a mix media quilt, at least a digital quilt.
Red Lily in Mystic Case
Here is something a bit dark and mysterious, a deep red lily in a strange mystic case. Perhaps it is a flower from the Gardens of Ulthar. Maybe it is a cursed or blessed flower from Ancient Eagyptia. Could it be a clue to a murder mystery involving a collector of rare artifacts or a prize at a garden party that has been attended by a Great Detective ? Is it a sought by a heroic wanderer on great quest ? Does a pulp hero race to acquire it before the master mind of evil can use it dominate mankind ? Or could it be an image a beautiful flower from a Northern Ontario Garden that has undergone some digital magic ?
Enjoy the possibilities !
More Flowers from A Digital Scrapbook
Here is another set of recent photographs from our garden. I placed them on a digital scrapbook page, I’ve been playing with the techniques while trying to create some graphics for our school calendar. It has been a frustrating process, as I mentioned in the previous post. At least the last post actually had some viewers. Half of them were real: the rest were phantom referrers. I am really getting sick of them. Any real people out there, I hope you enjoy this scrapbook page.
Flowers for a Digital Scrapbook
Computer woes left, right and centre ! Ended up getting a new computer. Now trying to deal with windows 7. Older hardware – printer and scanner - have been touchy with new operating system. Not all software and drivers are working in harmony. My wife and I entered Spanish Garden and Art show. More on that in a later blog. For this post I’ve used some recent photographs from our garden to experiment with a digital scrapbook design. A blend of paper and wood, with some leaves – hopefully it doesn’t look to kitschy.
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