I saw a lover of mine last night. It was a brief meeting, Too brief. This one is for him. Until we meet again in another strange city...
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Happy St. Paddy's Day :) xox
Like several other people this week, this was my other double exposure idea for the March prompt. And this is the second version. In the first version I tried layering three different pictures together and I couldn't get the scale right so it looked quite odd. This one also looks odd, but I liked the surreal dreamy quality of the black and white background and the bottle practically exploding with light. When I first conceived of this picture I started with my pose. The sunburst was really important to me. I figured I would like the way that looked if I could capture it inside the bottle. Then, of course, I didn't have a bottle. In the first version I tried downloading a random picture of a bottle, putting myself in it and then putting the whole thing into another picture and it was simply too many elements to manage and I really struggled with the scale of the whole project. So, I went out and spent $6 on a bottle and then staged this shot. After that it was a relatively simple matter of filters and layering the pictures together. Snapseed has a good tutorial about double exposures but it's kind of complex and I had to watch it a couple of times to figure out how the brush worked. It's still not a very fine tool but the results were far better than my first go round. Conceptually, I knew I wanted the background to be black and white and the bottle to be in color. Anyone who thinks their life would improve if only someone would grant their wishes sees their world this way, I think. A dark landscape with golden things locked away and out of their reach. I'm a little obsessed with double images now. There are so many story possibilities with two pictures layered together. I have another idea I'm playing with, I'll see what I can get out of it. And meanwhile, the results of the second Smut Marathon are upon us so my next task is to read feedback and see who the judges picked to win the round. I'll post more about that as well as my second round entry this week. Happy sunday everyone!
It's "Double Exposure" prompt week over at Sinful Sunday, which is very convenient since I've been wanting to play around with this photo edit for awhile. I had a very specific idea at first that resulted in a picture that was way more work and didn't turn out as well, But I'll probably post it sometime this week. This particular picture was inspired by a quote from Lady Gaga "The truth is that I can always bring my past with me, but I can never go back. You gotta leave yourself behind." When I heard her say that, I immediately saw the above image in my head. Or rather, I saw the possibility and hoped I could get what was in my head. So I set up my camera and took two shots from the exact same spot. This one: I lined up where my extended foot was in that shot - you can see a pen under my foot because I didn't have anything more practical, like a piece of tape... - and then took several variations on a standing picture. I ended up using this one because of my upraised hand against the glass instead of the window frame. When I merged them, I liked the translucency of my prone figure but wasn't sure I liked the translucency of my standing body. But Snapseed's double exposure tool has limits and I fussed for awhile and couldn't get one picture to be completely solid while the other was translucent. So I left it. I came to like it better once I cropped in the top version and it looks like I'm escaping through the window. It was a fun experiment. I'd like to do more double exposures and see if I can find some editing tools that have more delicacy to them so I can get a more nuanced result. happy sunday everyone!
I really wanted to add text or a drawing to this picture but everything I put on it just detracted from it's simplicity. I do enjoy the edit and filter though. I've been playing around with Snapseed and this is their "Frozen" tutorial. I love the way my skin looks like frozen metal.
But more importantly, it's the first round of results for the Smut Marathon. When I participated last year, I didn't do any cross posting to this blog. I think I posted only one of my entries because I happened upon the perfect picture to accompany it. I'm gonna change that this year for as long as I last in the marathon so here's my first entry: Blind Date He burst into the pub with a snow flurry and she sat up straight, nervously smoothing her hair as he scrubbed his glasses with his tie. Then his blue eyes caught hers. The busy pub went silent, her cheeks flushed and his warm smile spread over her like a sunrise. And here's my assessment of that piece of writing: "meh." It's ok. It's got some nice moments, it fits the prompt but there's nothing about it that really stands out. And fittingly, I'm in the middle of the pack in the voting round. Which is just what I deserve. But what's hilarious, and also happened last year, is that the comments are polarized about my writing. Some commenters liked the sunrise simile, some hated it and thought it was trite. And honestly, while I always vote for myself out of principle, my smut marathon votes rarely line up with the judges so there truly is no accounting for taste when it comes to writing and erotica. Even and especially my own. Which is part of what makes this marathon so interesting. I found this prompt really difficult. Writing flash fiction or any sort of story in under 100 words is not my strong suit and I admire anyone who does it well. Here are a couple shout outs to the other pieces I voted for because they were far better than mine. Losing Everything by Sorcha Rowan. Ok, Cupid by Zebra Rose And now we're on to Round 2. Good luck to everyone who decides to keep participating. Also happy sunday. XO
I love this piece of poetry so much. It's so human... the tendency to argue about senseless things while life passes us by. I suspect this photo is too passive for the quote, especially the line I chose to use, but c'est la vie, though I do like the open feeling of both the question and the photo. This was the first photo I took for last week's Sinful Sunday prompt of "White." It didn't seem quite right so I went with a different one last week. But I love the mix of patterns here. . This february photo fest has reignited my love for my photo project but also reminded me how much work it is to take pictures, do all the editing and post every day. I'm trying to think just far enough in the week that I'm prepared for any days I'm really busy but not too far that I can't act spontaneously. I want to actively participate and see what each day brings me. So thanks Molly, as always, for a chance to participate in Sinful Sunday and this February Photofest particularly. I've pushed myself artistically in ways I never would otherwise. And getting to see everyone else's work every work spurs me onward, so thanks to all you bloggers and photographers out there too. Speaking of things that inspire, it's the first week of the Smut Marathon and I've decided to participate again. It's an intriguing prompt this week, difficult I thought, with very mixed results, But swing by the opening round, see what you think and then vote. have a good week everyone XOX
White skin and white wine in soft smoky light... I am inarticulate appetite... I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings. — Mary Oliver RIP
This is a late tribute to a glorious poet who died a week ago. There's no one who phrases things like she does and I strongly identify with the desire to be improbable beautiful.
Beauty comes automatically with being young. It's easy to see beauty in youth with its round freshness and glowing skin. Beauty in age and experience requires attention and depth of desire and effort and sometimes it comes in spite of itself. Through improbability. But improbable beauty is always worth the effort. Be fearless. Be glib. Be enigmatic. Read. Never give up. — Lauren Kate
It's prompt week for Sinful Sunday and I actually planned ahead and thought about this picture! Which just goes to show you that occasionally new years resolutions turn into real things.
The prompt is the Letter F and while there are a lot of F words I'd love to be, including firm, foxy, forgiving and well-fucked, I chose some words I want to represent my coming year: So this little piece is about Fearless Forward motion (in Fishnets and Fuchsia) Here's to 2019 and the first Sinful Sunday of the new year! Go check out everyone else's F words by clicking the lips below. |
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