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Sky's the Limit … Unless One is Adept at Pushing the Limits ~ Creative Arts Three Day Weekend

  
By:  A. Macarthur  •  last year  •  48 comments


Sky's the Limit … Unless One is Adept at Pushing the Limits ~ Creative Arts Three Day Weekend
 

Leave a comment to auto-join group 2023~ The CREATIVE ARTS GROUP ON THE NEWSTALKERS

2023~ The CREATIVE ARTS GROUP ON THE NEWSTALKERS


Both of the photographs below were good compositionally - but were  underexposed  and both had featureless, flat, uninteresting skies  making them more or less unpublishable for most print and visual media. So, because I keep a database of  sky images and have the ability to make skies interchangeable in many image instances, if he viewer looks carefully, he or she will see that the SKY IS THE SAME IN BOTH IMAGES, BUT FLIPPED IN ONE OF THEM.  It does not matter in the end, which image has the sky as originally photographed - what matters is that  both images are significantly stronger with their new skies.

original

original

Restorations & Edits © A. Mac/A.G.


Article is LOCKED by moderator [A. Macarthur]
 

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A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
1  author  A. Macarthur    last year

First-things-first; check the article at the link.

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
1.1  shona1  replied to  A. Macarthur @1    last year

Arvo Mac... great photos.. love train trips...my favourite form of transport.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
1.2  Kavika   replied to  A. Macarthur @1    last year

Love the train photos.

We can't have trains and tracks without John Henry's Hammer.

 
 
 
pat wilson
Professor Participates
1.3  pat wilson  replied to  A. Macarthur @1    last year

Those are great ! It's amazing to me how you can manipulate the skies/clouds in your pics.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.4  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  A. Macarthur @1    last year

Thanks, and love those two photos.

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
2  shona1    last year

Arvo...I am not a happy Vegemite..Jaws has moved in for the moment..a three metre white pointer..hope he leaves soon...

256

And what is better than having one fozzy in the gumtree...two fozzies..

256

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2.1  Kavika   replied to  shona1 @2    last year

I like fozzies better than white pointers.

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
2.1.1  shona1  replied to  Kavika @2.1    last year

Yesss....but at least white pointers don't grunt and snort in the middle of the night... and then decide to have a brawl on the fence outside my bedroom window..🐨🐨

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2.1.2  Kavika   replied to  shona1 @2.1.1    last year

No, they don't but they do eat people from time to time and the Fozzies don't, at least I've never heard of them eating a human...jrSmiley_2_smiley_image.png

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
2.1.3  shona1  replied to  Kavika @2.1.2    last year

Drop bears are Australia wide..😁😁

The drop bear (sometimes dropbear) is a hoax in contemporary Australian folklore featuring a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala. This imaginary animal is commonly spoken about in tall tales designed to scare tourists.

And we do it so well..🐨

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2.1.4  Kavika   replied to  shona1 @2.1.3    last year

I'd forgotten about the Drop Bear...LOL stories around the campfire, remember having a barbie throwing out the blanket and playing two up and hearing stories of the drop bear after a few middies.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
2.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  shona1 @2    last year

Yep, I'd prefer the fuzzies to the sharks any day.  I've not wandered into the oven deeper than my thighs ever since I saw the movie "Jaws", and more recently "The Shallows". 

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
3  Kavika     last year

A foggy morning at Stone Creek. Kinda looks like an old Dutch Painting. 

512

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
3.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Kavika @3    last year

An everyday view where I live - one of Chongqing's nicknames is "The Misty City". 

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
4  Gsquared    last year

The Guitar Player

          800

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
4.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Gsquared @4    last year

Good one.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4.2  Kavika   replied to  Gsquared @4    last year

I love it and it reminds me of George Benson.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
5  Buzz of the Orient    last year

Sunday is Lantern Festival here, marking the end of the Spring Festival and New Year's celebrations, so here are some photos about Lantern Festival that I've posted before, but I have nothing new about it. 

1.  It is still cool in February, but by lighting a candle inside the paper lantern it heats the air and sends the lantern soaring into the sky.  This photo and the next one were taken in Chongqing many years ago.   Since that time candles may have been outlawed due to lanterns lighting fires on landing.

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2.   And up one goes into the sky.

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3.   This is a photo from the internet to show how the lanterns can fill the sky.  A.Mac filled the sky with pink clouds, so I'm filling the sky with lanterns.

R-C.40d3ec9f6da52457243597b19d2d5ed4?rik=Cxe14Cj8wbk95A&riu=http%3a%2f%2fi.ce.cn%2fenglish%2fNational%2fgallery%2f201402%2f15%2fW020140215509247239133.jpg&ehk=0T9fDPvDlVymj%2bf5kb%2fsw4nmC1N3iDLT5kkq1YLyCMk%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

.

4.   This is one of my favourite photos that you've seen more than once before.  It was taken around the time that I first met my wife in Chongqing.

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5.   Lanterns are hung like this along the walkways in a park in Chongqing.

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6.   Lanterns and other New Year's decorations for sale in a store in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

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7.   At the entrance to our neighbouring Sichuan Fine Arts Institute campus.

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8.   Hanging from the trees.

800

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5.1  Kavika   replied to  Buzz of the Orient @5    last year

Love the lanterns.

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
6  evilone    last year

I added 2 black angelfish to the 75g this week. They look stunning! I had just finished a water change and the hose I use to refill the tank creates those microbubbles in the water. 

original

Sunset in the fishroom. Here are 3 of the 5 working aquariums down in my basement. The 75 is flanked by the two 40s.

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I found an unused 47gallon rimless on a local FB group and will be picking that up this evening after work. I think I'll swap the forest tank on the left with the rimless.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6.1  Kavika   replied to  evilone @6    last year

Beautiful, love the Angelfish.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
6.2  Ender  replied to  evilone @6    last year

The Angel fish can get big I read. I have never had those. I am only small.  Haha

My Father use to have an Oscar when I was young. Jumped out of the tank a few times.

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
6.2.1  evilone  replied to  Ender @6.2    last year

Angels are up to 3" in body length, but with fins can seem larger. These are the first 2 I've ever had and I asked a lot of questions online before I decided I'd put them in the tank. 

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
6.3  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  evilone @6    last year

Although I've posted this before, not sure if it was here, but I once had a small aquarium that housed 4 goldfish - one gold, one mottled gold and white, one white and one black (named Blackie).  A few days went by and there were only 3 in the bowl - and Blackie seemed a little fatter.  Another few days and there were just 2 left and Blackie was bigger.  A few more days and only a big fat Blackie remained.  That was my one and only experience in keeping fish in an aquarium, so my advice to you is - keep a constant eye on your black angelfish. 

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
6.3.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @6.3    last year

Actually, maybe Blackie was a piranha in disguise. 

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
6.3.2  evilone  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @6.3    last year

Anything that fits into a fishs' mouth will get eaten including other fish. I do a lot of research and even then there are no guarantees. 

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
7  author  A. Macarthur    last year

Why "THE (metaphorical) SKY" - in the AGE of DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY -

is NO LONGER "THE LIMIT"

I will not be upset nor offended if any/all GROUP members choose not to read the item below in its entirety, nor, even tif they pass it by altogether. It's just something I wanted to explain.

I do several things with PHOTOGRAPHY …

• Take Photographs

• Restore photographs that have been damaged or diminished in quality by various effects of time and age

• Edit photographs, the photographers of which are deceased and whose works has typically ended up in estate sales, etc., in some cases, sadly destined for eternal obscurity, or worse, landfill components. When I acquire these, the following parameters MUST be met:

1) The "seller" must show proof of acquisition and current ownership of the photographs

2) The "seller" must stipulate IN WRITING that the photos are NOT COPYRIGHTS PROTECTED, THAT THEY HAVE NEVER (knowingly to the seller) BEEN PUBLISHED, and, that upon purchasing the photographs (almost always KODACHROME TRANSPARENCIES), that I am also PURCHASING THE COPYRIGHTS.

Of the three such acquisitions I have made, no photograph among them has been less than 25 years old, some, being more than 100 years old; this is likely a manifestation of these having been property from liquidated estates due to the passing of their owners. 

All of the above so noted, any of these images subsequently published in any format, if attributed to the copyrights holder, will, if the attribution appears overprinted on the published image itself, will NOT BE CREDITED TO MY NAME, rather to a nom-de-plume I use to associate with my having restored, edited, etc. or literally having saved from its original iteration and all derivatives, its ceasing in any and all forms to continue to exist.

An example; a 35mm Kodachrome slide that • needs to be CROPPED to create a stronger COMPOSITION, • is POORLY EXPOSED but otherwise potentially publishable, • has a VIABLE SUBJECT in the FOREGROUND but a featureless, colorless or distracting background, • has ONE OR MORE DISTRACTING ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT which MUST BE ERASED and REPLACED SO AS TO MATCH ITS SURROUNDINGS (yes, I can do that).

Photo editing and processing (post-processing) used to be done in darkrooms, the best known of its practitioners likely being Ansel Adams. In the digital age, what editing may have been tedious, if not virtually impossible before digital editing , is likely doable to one degree or another today.

And then, there's this …

original

 © A. Mac A.G.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
7.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  A. Macarthur @7    last year

Well explained.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
7.1.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @7.1    last year

Forgot to say that I thought the image was fantastic.

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
7.2  Gsquared  replied to  A. Macarthur @7    last year

Do you have a particular app or program you use to be able to interchange the sky images so perfectly?

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
7.2.1  author  A. Macarthur  replied to  Gsquared @7.2    last year

Depending on the nature of any given image's "need", i use a number of Luminar applications. Sky orientation is important in terms of horizontal and vertical orientation as is color and light intensity matching or, at least coordination. Not every sky looks like it belongs to every foreground. Replacing a sky is a first step, balancing exposure, color saturation and alignment are where the challenges exist.

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
7.2.2  Gsquared  replied to  A. Macarthur @7.2.1    last year

Thank you!

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
8  Kavika     last year

512

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
8.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Kavika @8    last year

LOL

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
9  author  A. Macarthur    last year

San Juan Peaks, Colorado Rockies, 1999

original

Cropped for Composition, Replaced Featureless, Uninteresting Sky, Corrected Original Color and Slight Underexposure

© AMacG/Philly

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
9.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  A. Macarthur @9    last year

Excellent composition.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
9.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  A. Macarthur @9    last year

It's pretty clear that my photo postings and compliments for yours are intentionally blowing in the wind.  I'll keep that in mind from now on.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
10  Kavika     last year

One of the least visited National Parks is Lassen Volcanic National Park in NE California. I've been a number of times and it is the rival of any of our National Parks including Yellowstone without the massive number of tourists.

The Native American name for what we now know as Mount Lassen was  Kohm Yah-mah-nee , meaning “Snowy Mountain” in Mountain Maidu.

These are photos of it taken from the Internet.

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Please click on the link for some of the most spectacular photos that you'll ever see of one of our national treasures.

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
10.1  Gsquared  replied to  Kavika @10    last year

I visited Lassen one afternoon many years ago, when I was in Northern California for work for a few days and had a day off.  It was really beautiful and I've always wanted to go back.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
10.1.1  Kavika   replied to  Gsquared @10.1    last year

It really is a spectacular park with active volcanoes. Mount Lassen last erupted in 1921 and as with the other volcanoes in the park, is still active.

 
 
 
pat wilson
Professor Participates
10.2  pat wilson  replied to  Kavika @10    last year

Wow. On my list.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
11  author  A. Macarthur    last year

original

Sunset Volcano, Flagstaff, Arizona in Winter

© AMacG/Philly

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
11.1  devangelical  replied to  A. Macarthur @11    last year

thanks for providing this oasis of sanity every week, amac!

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
11.1.1  Kavika   replied to  devangelical @11.1    last year

DITTO

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
11.1.2  author  A. Macarthur  replied to  devangelical @11.1    last year

I appreciate that greatly, devangelical; I was thinking of posting something about fractals but, since fractals grew out of a study entitled “The Mathematics of Chaos,” doing so might compromise my sanity rating. Still, many thanks. 

If I mention to my wife that someone connected me to “sanity” if necessary, will you confirm it?

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
11.1.3  devangelical  replied to  A. Macarthur @11.1.2    last year

uh, sure... as long as she doesn't question the source...

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
11.1.4  author  A. Macarthur  replied to  Kavika @11.1.1    last year

Especially appreciated given you are one of the few NewsTalkers I have met in person & sadly, the others are no longer with us. I greatly value our friendship and the days we got to spend together.

 
 
 
A. Macarthur
Professor Guide
12  author  A. Macarthur    last year

Thanks to all; see you Thursday night.

 
 

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