Welcome at any Time, Photo Essays, Collages, Montages … CREATIVE ARTS Thursday/Friday Article
Photo Essays, Collages, Montages …
√ To be clear, any member of the GROUP, can post a CREATIVE ARTS article at any time, a single image, etc., multiple images, etc. and/or Photo Essays, Collages, Montages, Poetry, Drawings, etc. .
√ Because PHOTO ESSAYS, etc. are more "labor intensive" than the posting of individual, not necessarily related images, etc., I leave it to members to decide, if/when posting such articles, whether to do so either as part of our Thursday/Friday feature, or, as stand-alone articles.
√ Any member can post a Photo Essay, etc. as an INVITATION to other members to post an Essay, etc. on the same subject … but THIS SHOULD NOT BE DONE IN A CHALLENGING/COMPETITIVE SPIRIT, rather, to expand the scope of the GROUP.
NOTE: I will post the regular THURSDAY/FRIDAY feature later today, but first, we can hopefully have some discussion on the above.
A. Mac
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Let me know what you think … pro/con … examples … I'll be posting definitions/descriptions of Photo Essay, Collage, Montage, etc. in this thread.
I understand why A.Mac would prefer that challenges or contests are not preferred, keeping it all on a friendly basis instead - after all, this site struggles enough through political challenges. However, photos or photo-essays calling for a specific theme, such as pink flowers, unique photos, city colours at night, trees, pets, may suggest ideas for photos to post.
I'm all for anything that expands the group here! I will do some photo essays as time allows and maybe a video or two. Also if people want to read it, I'll dig up my old article on How To Photograph Fireworks and post that later next month. I just got a set of Neutral Density filters for my ultra wide lens. I can't wait to get out and use them. That might make a good photo essay!
Looking forward to it and thank you!
EG, a friend of mine set up a fireworks shot some years back. He had professional level equipment, so he could do some things that were pretty sophisticated. Over in Bay City, MI they have a large fireworks show every Fourth of July and send the shells up over the river that divides the town. When the fireworks starts, they shut down all of the street lights in that vicinity producing almost perfect darkness. My friend set up his tripod in an unobstructed area on an island in the river and focused the camera on the area where the shots were going to go off. Once the lights went down, he opened the shutter and left it open for the entire show. The picture (unfortunately, I don't have a copy) turned out really fantastic. He got the entire fireworks show in one picture. Of course, he did it with a film camera. I don't think that technique would be possible with a digital.
Mac, I think that I'll set up the series about the Robins that we talked about earlier as an essay, maybe later today. It's really too long to put on the Thur/Fri article and might present difficulties for the other folks who are putting pictures there, so on the regular Thur/Fri article, I think I'll put up the lunar shot I sent to you, unless you want to use it. Let me know if you do; I have some other, older, shots that I could use too.
Post whatever and however your images work best for you! Your "Robins" series could be posted as "Part 1", "Part 2," in the Thursday/Friday articles or, as stand-alone.
As for "fireworks", I believe I have perfected a technique over the years … example …
© A. Mac/A.G.
Now that one is spectacular. Disney??
EPCOT in Walt Disney World … I have dozens of fireworks photos from there.
I posted one a while back. Forget where. A vid of some of the fireworks we set off one year.
It's good to post treatises and articles to improve photographic technique as stand-alone, but also for them to appear on the "PAGES" facility of the group where their titles are permanently visible and accessible to members as a compilation textbook on photography.
Hopefully, this will expand the group. I'm not worth a damn when it comes to taking photos. What if I posted an essay on the internet. I'm thinking of one right now that would be beautiful.
What if I posted an essay on the internet. I'm thinking of one right now that would be beautiful.
If you mean "from" the internet, as long as it's properly credited, or, its link is posted, that should work.
Yes, ''from'' the internet.
OK, I'll try to put it together.
"Concepts" could work as essays; for example, a pair of images that shoe "complimentary colors" … one predominantly RED, the other, predominantly GREED, BLUE/ORANGE, PURPLE/YELLOW, or an IMAGE in FULL COLOR along with the SAME IMAGE in BLACK & WHITE or SEPIA, etc. . Two pictures, one with a TYPICALLY LARGE SUBJECT, along with a TYPICALLY TINY OBJECT. The concept representations themselves could be CREATIVE. There's no limit!
I know I could post one predominantly RED, but not so sure I could find one that's predominantly GREED.
Just kidding, A.Mac. I do lots of typos myself.
"GREED" is appropriately the color of money, Buzz.
CONCEPT: LIVING THINGS: Great vs. Small.
© A.Mac
IDEA: Objects around the house photographed with a smart phone … healthy food vs. unhealthy food, etc.
Nice!
What happened to EG's dog photos?
I was wondering that too. Beautiful dog!
I got confused and deleted it. I'll repost.
Meet Kobe. On Tuesday evening we picked up this one year old American Staffordshire Terrier - Boxer mix from the Chequamegon Humane Association in Ashland, WI. Kobe is 40 lbs of cuddle!
Both images were taken with an iPhone 11 Pro Max & Edited in Adobe Photoshop CC 2020.
He's beautiful EG. Sorta like our Bryzzo.
Cute, friendly and one of the best watchdogs I've ever seen. Lots of false alarms, though. He'll bark if a burglar tries to get in, if my grandsons try to get in or if a jogger is three blocks down the street. Better than an alarm clock since one of our neighbors goes jogging every morning at 7:15.
That's a cute pup you got there!
I love that dog and better yet you rescued him...
I work with the bully breeds at our local shelter getting them socialized and ready for a furever home.
I just finished working with Angel. She is 60 lbs and 5 1/2 years old and was horribly abused. (I won't go into it) and now she is totally leash trained, house trained, good with other dogs, not cats though and loves kids. She is ready for her forever home.
Mine will bark at anything that moves. Even if she sees a neighbor leaving their house.
Kind of like the dog version of the boy who cried wolf.
60 lbs? Lightweight.
Last time the vet weighed mine she was 98.
Cute but I don't think I would be sneaking into your yard. Haha
Beautiful colour.
Yeah, I'm partial to the Am Staff. Kobe's going to need a little work. He's not as attentive as he needs to be yet, and I don't think anyone's worked with him beyond sit. He's very intense.
Thank you for all you do to help these poor animals find a new way of life, and a new forever home where they will be loved and happy.
How long was he in the shelter?
This really pertains to most shelter dogs. It takes them 3 days to figure out where they are, 3 weeks to start to understand their role, and 3 months before they are fully in their role as a dog with people that love them.
If you don't have a crate for him, it would be best to get him one and set it up in a quiet place. He needs to decompress and this is a great way for him to do it. It's also his ''safe place''.
This is a great list of do's and don't when you adopt a shelter dog.
Again, thank you for saving Kobe.
That would sorta be like the wolf who cried boy.
He blends in really nicely with the upholstery. Just kidding. He looks really loveable.
Kobe is originally from Alabama and was in the shelter back in December. I don't know how long and then he came back for about a week before we picked him up. There was something about him getting into it with the neighbor's dog, but no one saw the start and the shelter staff said they didn't have any issues with him there with other dogs. Cats yes, other dogs... no.
We were actually looking for a crate today. There are some online, but we are trying to find one locally so we have it now. He's doing pretty well. We got him to sleep at the foot of the bed last night, but yesterday during the day we were both out during the whole morning. He has separation anxiety for sure. He chewed a bit of the trim by the back door, Knocked everything off and away from every window he could get to.
Kobe is super focused on the wild rabbits around the yard. He watches where they've run to and is more focused on finding them than doing his business.
Yup, separation anxiety for sure.
It seems that he has a strong ''prey drive'' not unusual for a dog of any type.
Remember everything is very new to him, he's going to make mistakes but that is part of the deal. Be patient with him as he needs to find his way with your help.
Oh yeah. He's a good boy. We are all just adjusting to each other and finding our balance. B just texted he's snoring loudly and farting something awful.
LMAO, well pitties are known for snoring and farting...Welcome to the club.
That's a good thing you're doing Kavika. Angel looks like she would be an angel. How can someone abuse any animal is beyond me.
These are wildlife photos by Thomas Magnelsen.
One of my favorite photographers! "All MAMMALS"!
I visited his Gallery in the Denver Airport.
I have a couple of his art books and we went to his gallery in Park City Utah.
Recollecting the Famous Photographers series, many of which we worked together on.
Photo essays are fine and I have posted some before. I just think they are more like an article and usually don't get much traction.
That is why I like your weekly postings. They are inclusive and encourage participation.
Photo essays are fine and I have posted some before. I just think they are more like an article and usually don't get much traction.
It's hard to know … the subject, the number of photos … individual preferences … I think the best way to proceed is to post what one cares to share and hope it connects with who is on the board, and/or who comes bye once it's posted.
Yeah, I just looked back on one I did. It did get 26 comments. I guess not that bad.
Thanks for the link; I missed that essay first time around, probably it came at the time my wife's cancer was diagnosed and kept me off the site … and lots of other places.
I remember that essay, it was fantastic. The Elephant Queen I loved it.
I thought that was an excellent photo-essay, not only for the photos themselves, but for teaching me things I never knew about. So, as you can see, with 26 comments, it was certainly not a waste of time. I'm the champion here for having the fewest comments on my photo-essays. LOL.
I did enjoy your China ones. Got to see places I never would.
For the time being I will post China photos only on this group and the Discovery group. I'm a target on the Front Page, and anything Chinese is a provocation with a lot of members these days,
These are all beautiful essays. Mother Earth and Mother Nature are truly great artists who share their wonderful wide variety of beauty with us. From the large and small of life forms, and the bright and colorful to the stark and colorless that represent the many different aspects of the world that surrounds us.
Thank you all for sharing your choice of what makes life enjoyable for you for others to enjoy as well.
My essay for today is a sampling of varied plants where Mother Nature does the math.....
An aloe
Arizona Lily Pad
Crussalas Buddha Plant
Fractal Cabbage
Romanesco Broccoli
Hoya Pub
When mankind thinks they are so much smarter than Mother Nature, these beautiful samples of her mathematical genius proves them wrong.
FRACTALS, are patterns that the laws of nature repeat at different scales. A number of years ago, a study was done that involves stirring one color of paint into another with analysis of the patterns formed … it resulted in a field known as THE MATHEMATICS OF CHAOS … which, unlike what that name implies, determined that a mathematical phenomenon, rather than a chaotic one, existed. Your essay illustrates the phenomenon as it exists throughout nature.
I watched a whole television episode on art, nature and fractals. It might have been a PBS Nova episode, but I no longer remember.
I studied Fractals in art class when I was in high school. Our Teacher was a big fan of fractals, and opened the door to a lot of areas where fractals came into play. I was not very good at freehand art, as my hand was much too free and undisciplined. Unlike my Father and Brother who were wonderful freehand artists. I envied them so much, as there was so much I wanted to create in art. And they took their artistic ability so much for granted.
Thankfully, in later years the computer opened the door to a new way for me to create what I have dreamed of being able to do for so many years, and has allowed me to express my inner self in my own way.
Humans cannot compete with the beauty of Mother Nature.
Very true. All we can do is sit back and enjoy, admire and appreciate what she shares with us. And just about the time we think we have seen everything, she up and shows us a whole new side of her.
Mother Nature is her own 'Neverending Story'.
Last night I read one about the rarest flowers in the world. A lot of them were Orchids.
A top one is the Corpse Flower.
Amazes me that a lot of them have a symbiotic relationship that makes it almost impossible to thrive with it.
The Ghost Orchid needs a particular fungus to survive.
I agree completely.
Indeed the Corpse Flower is a very unusual plant, and one that Mother Nature must have had a bad day to create. The flower is beautiful, but, the smell is totally obnoxious. It is also the largest flower on earth. It smells like a dead body, thus the name Corpse Flower.
There are two on some lists that are from the US.
One is a tree/bush that no longer grows in the wild.
Another one is one that is becoming rare, an American waterlily.
It is a shame what we take for granted.
It really is. These are such beautiful flowers. Thank you for sharing them.
What cracks me up is that people actually pay to see and smell it at the Huntington Library.
I went for a showing one year, some time ago, and I could only stand to be there for a few short minutes. The smell was so bad it made my eyes water. So I'm with you.....anyone who would pay to have their stomach turn wrong side out within a few short minutes have way too much money to spare. Just looking at it is bad enough, and should be a harbinger of what awaits them.
....or where Mother Nature is capable of creating beauty that Man is incapable of competing with. Even J.M.W.Turner could not match the beauty of a great sunset, but could only attempt to replicate it.
Very true, Buzz. Even Man at their best cannot surpass the natural beauty of Mother Nature.
So this is where everyone is. I was looking for people and here you all are.
When I finish building my fairy garden I will post pictures. I have to fix my fairy house - got a little damage when it was stored last fall. I do love the pictures. I find them relaxing.
Please, Please do share it with us. I think we would all love to see your Fairy Garden.
I am hoping to get to the garden store soon to get some pretty flowers. I also have a hummingbird garden that is not doing so well this year. Could be the snow that keeps falling - had another freeze warning last night.
Yeah I read a polar vortex is supposed to hit this weekend. A lot of places are going to get colder than normal weather for this time of year.
And it looks like there will be more snow falling your way soon. I really miss my garden. I so enjoyed working with the plants and seeing them grow.
I have no green thumb for house plants. Even false ivy turns yellow and shrivels up for me in the house. But, growing things outdoors seems to be my calling in that regard.
Yep, Western NY is supposed to get snow. I am not impressed.
I have a problem with house plants as well. I can do outside flowers & veggies (and tomatoes). I have great success with geraniums (even when we bring them in for the winter). But inside plants shrink away from me. As a Wiccan it is a little embarrassing to say plants don't like me.
Same here. House plants run from me. The best I had was an Orchid that lasted about a year. Never did bloom.
I fare better with outdoors.
I did order my new tree for the front yard. Was kind of hard to find and expensive. Hopefully it comes in good shape and I can get it to grow.
I will have to take a pic of the tree my hubby dug out from the foundation of the house. He replanted it out front and it is now over six feet & leafing...... When the rain and snow stop I will get a picture.
Fingers crossed on your new tree.
Right now I have two pots with aloe veras in them. A lot of aloe veras in them. No matter how often I cull the plants they just keep pupping and growing more. So I stopped culling them, and they are still pupping away. I have given away a lot of the pups to neighbors here as I don't want to throw away healthy plants, but, they are pupped out as well. I don't want to put them in the ground as they will multiply to readily.
However, one neighbor has a brown thumb for plants so I give her new pups every few months, and she passes them on to her Friends and family.
It cracks me up when you say that. Pups. Haha
She was really surprised her when I first asked her is she wanted some aloe pups. She thought they were some sort dog pups and said, "No thanks, I don't want any more animals than the one I have." We both laughed when I explained they were baby aloe vera plants called pups.
Lookin' good; let's keep it going. I was going to use this article as "informational/inquiry" as opposed to our regular THURSDAY/FRIDAY … but this WILL BE OUR REGULAR THURSDAY/FRIDAY. I will be posting some pictures later.
Chipping in to the discussion …
© A. Mac/A.G.
© A. Mac/A.G.
What adorable little chippies! How sweet!
I'll be back later wtih more comments and posting - a hospital visit is required (NOT covid-19, no worries).
I will add a bit different kind of thought to the list...
An interesting thing I've noticed about that creation, is that it is hard to keep my eyes remaining focused on only the man's face or the bird's head. The focus tends to travel back and forth, which may be meant to have the effect of unity of the two, rather than separation.
I think the reason for the interaction between the two is that the human is a shape shifter, meaning that they change their appearance back and forth between the two of them. Thus, the attention is indeed meant to be focused on the two of them, as they are actually one in the same, and show how they shift from one character to the other, depending on the circumstances at the moment.
So your understanding of how their focus is intended is correct.
Just put up an essay on the main group. It's called ROCK n ROBIN. Hope you enjoy it. I haven't put one up here yet but I have a pretty good nature shot, well kind of a natural shot actually. I was experimenting with my new camera the other day and got this one. I tried it again this evening using a tripod but there were high clouds (you don't notice them except through a telephoto lens). Couldn't get the pictures to focus. This one was taken on a clear evening about a week ago. 47 power optical zoom and then digital zoom on the computer.
Here's a link to the ROCK n ROBIN essay.
Everyone should see this!
Early Saturday morning in Canal Park, Duluth MN.
EG, the bottom photo is classic "Middle America".
It was odd not seeing any cars on that street.
"Social Distancing/Quarantine-in-place"?
Yes.
Maxfield Parrish colours in the top photo, and down memory lane in the second one.
I studied the techniques of Maxfield Parish (a Philadelphia artist, BTW) and how he achieved the colors in his paintings. He never mixed pigments, using colors as they were in their tubes, and rather than mixing pigments, i.e. Red + Yellow = Orange, he would produce translucent "glazes", one on top of the other to "mix" them optically rather than physically (chemically)! Each layer would have to dry before laying another on top, so Parish would put the painting in the sun to dry before each successive layer … and on, and on. To achieve the "stained glass feeling of his paintings, he'd begin by priming his canvasses with the most opaque white ground … a highly reflective one so that as light passed through each translucent layer of color, it would reflect back off of the ground and back through the layers!
I could go on, but I'm sure this is not as interesting to most people as it is to an obsessive analyst like myself.
I assume, then, that Parrish's unique technique for mixing and applying colours to his paintings, explains why the colours in many of his paintings are quite unusual.
Parish's colors were "mixed" optically rather than chemically … this by the transmission of light through translucent glazes to a reflective white ground color which were transmitted to the viewers' eye. Analogously, think of layers of colored glass stacked upon one another with a projector-like light behind transmitting the optical mix.
Complex, unique and very effective. You may recall I once posted an article about Maxfield Parrish's works on this group.
ABERRATION OR ANOMALY?
A photo of mountains in Sichuan Province. This double exposure was not intended, and happened by itself in my camera - it has not been edited.
Ghosts appeared in a photo I took in a theatre - I added colour saturation to the photo and framed it.
This is neither an aberration nor an anomoly, but only appears to be. Although it looks like a city skyline taken from across a body of water, I took this photo inside a cave that was lit with coloured lights, and it has not been edited, only framed.
These photos were taken by Conrad Tan. I just discovered his works a month or so ago.
These are of a black wolf taken in NE Minnesota, an area that grew up in. We would see wolves quite often and they were not a ''scary or evil animal'' as they are portrayed in books/film. They are one of the most magnificent animals on earth. Highly intelligent and with a strong social structure. Sadly man has come close to bringing them to the edge of extinction in the lower 48 and many parts of the world.
They are also an intricate part of the Ojibwe creation story and are held in high respect by us. There is NO HUNTING of wolves on native reservations in MN.
Those eyes!!!
Indeed! So piercing! They seem to penetrate into one's soul.
My cat has those same eyes.
Wow, those are intense wolves. Their eyes really stand out! Great photos!
It's a series of photos of just one wolf, Perrie.
Ya ain't sneaking up on me.
OMG! Now THAT is too funny!
Suggested photo caption: "Here's lookin' at YOU, kid."
Here is one of my very early creations of a woman Shaman, and using a very unusual wood burl as a background.
As I've said before, I'm running out of superlatives...so.....
Thank you Buzz.
Moment/Getty Images
This is not my photograph, but it is similar to something I actually saw when I went on my cruise down the Li River through the Karst Mountains of Guanxi Autonomous Region, from Guilin to Yangshuo. I saw almost this very thing yet either failed to photograph it or lost the photo if I did. I have already posted a photo essay on my cruise through the mountains.
Great photo, Buzz. Beautiful birds and scenery as well.
Well, as I said, it isn't my photo - but I wish it was, it could have been something similar.
What kind of birds are those? They don't really look like ducks or geese. At least not that I have seen before.
I believe they are cormorants. Their necks are longer than they appear in the photo. They are the ones who do the fishing, the man doesn't. They have big strong beaks and a band is put around their necks so that they cannot swallow their catch, but bring it back to the raft.
Thanks Buzz. It's a bit hard to tell what they are from the angle of the photo.
This is a really good article with lots of photos that explains cormorant fishing.
Thanks Buzz. Very interesting reading.
My experience there was quite different from the one in that article. I flew to Guilin about 13 years ago, before I had met my wife, to meet a date and had arranged for a private tour with an English-speaking guide to accompany us there and on the cruise down the Li River through the Karst mountains to Yangshuo. It was when we arrived at Yangshuo that I saw the cormorant fisherman on his raft just off the shore - probably there to pose for photos.
Sounds like a very enjoyable trip. I am learning many things about the history of China in watching some of the historical drama episodes, from the Ming Dynasty and before. Then from the Ming Dynasty to when China began. While modern day China looks little like the early days of the country, many of the names of today do sound familiar from those early years.
The stories you share here bring those days into reality. (smile)
I absolutely love that photo, Buzz.
Speaking of birds.....here is something some of you might enjoy....
My daughter in Toronto has been in lockdown for a while, but she told me it wasn't that bad for her because she can work from home, and she has her dog to keep her company. He's a rescue dog, named Clark, 8 years old and she says he's extremely well behaved and friendly.
Is that a Tri-colored Aussie? When we bred Aussie's (14 years ago) we had a few that looked like that.
I'll ask her, but it was a rescued (shelter?) dog so she might not know, and it could be a mix.
Looks a lot like a Border Collie Buzz.
Oh yeah THEY'RE BACK. Spotted the first Hummie of the year this afternoon. Didn't have the camera set up but I will tomorrow.
I'll come back to this later to comment about CORMORANTS et al, but I want to post this week's Thursday/Friday article.
Thanks to everyone who made this thread an interesting success!