Three Generations---

Gail Slaughter, her son and the third generation pose for a New York City photo, and then Gail sends it to me. Big Mistake!!!

(Picasa and Paint Effects)

Sharpened Watercolor Flowers 1053

I did this on Microsoft Photo Editor from a beautiful flower photo sent me today by Gail in California, without whom I am nothing...........


---m---

"Dune 740"

Gail Slaughter of California took the beautiful dune shot to the left and sent it to me, knowing full well, perhaps, that I would take that beauty and mess it up with my OWN version, seen below.




















How did I get so much sky?

Well, in Microsoft Photo Editor you can select a portion of a picture, copy just that section, and move it around. In this case I took a hunk of ground and all the sky I could, then copied that section lower down, repeat repeat repeat until I had pasted a whole lotta sky over the sand. (The "SMUDGE" tool works great for blending out lines and gaps and irregularities to make the effects look fairly seamless.)

"The Mind of Mary 1245"

Mary Taitt sent me a sketch of a "Zen Rooster" she did, and I pictured her mind at work doing it for this posting. Again, just a way of having fun with the Paint program. And OpenOffice, and Picasa, and a few other tricks those of us lacking Photoshop play with.

"Andree's Visitor"

This is a small "test" version of a larger posting Andree in Vermont is presently working on. It's a picture of a hairy woodpecker at her birdfeeder. Sometimes I do such things just to "try out" a given layout or composition, and see what's what. The poetry is by ME!

"Rainbow Easter Dream 1115"

(Derived from computer art by Mary Stebbins Taitt)

"That Face 1115"

Computer rendering in Picassa and Paint, by Michael Serafin, from a sketch by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Sunflower Art" by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Trinidad Beach 1058"

Original photo: Gail Slaughter

Framing and effects: yours truly

"An Irish Rainbow"

The top picture is by Mary Stebbins Taitt (a detail of a larger work). Below is my St. Patrick's day greeting which was created from Mary's painstaking work. Incidentally, Mary tells me her Leprechaun was originally a picture of a Slovenian statue. Weird people over there!

"Skyking Project" in Picasa

The effects shot shown at the top of the post lacked something when it was taken as a crop from a larger work. What to do, what to do. Finally I rotated the image and then applied various color schemes. The extraneous detail was lost by oversaturating, and then the image was sharpened and tinted several ways. The result was a nice bunch of backgrounds for something else later!

"Of Two Opinions"

Which is "real" and which false? (Silly questions around HERE!)

The top version, if you look closely, has more "water" in it than the lower one. It was added in the Paint program using color matching and the Pencil function. With that much more water, for better balance it needed a reflection of the sun in the water, and then I wanted to recrop it. To do this, the whole right edge of the shot had to be "painted out" wider to match the original colors. (Which, if truth be known, aren't in the "original", either!)

"Open Door" from a shot by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Tennielle Revisited"

Sir John Tenniell(e) was the illustrator who closely cooperated with Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) in creating "Alice's Adventures Underground" and "Through the Looking Glass", otherwise known as "Alice in Wonderland".

(original, enhanced)

"Fiske School Project"

This is not an original photograph or a painting...not exactly, anyway. It is really BOTH. Andree in Vermont took a photo of Fiske School. I cropped the photo and adjusted it in Picasa. I then exported the result to Paint, where I retouched it to hide a TV antenna in the shot.

"Fiske S'cool Cupola"

(Original photo: Andree in Vermont----Picasa work: Michael in Michigan)

"Commercial 532"

"Doorway Rainbow" by Mary Stebbins Taitt

Fine art? It's fine with me!

The Engraver's art is handled by us every day in the form of fives, tens, and twenties, and we take little notice of the craftsmanship involved. Sometimes it takes an extraordinary example to begin to open our eyes wider and start to appreciate the skill and exquisite taste of the designers of our currency.

"Project 1910"

What does it MEAN? Who says it means ANYTHING? Maybe I was just having fun! You be the judge!

"Wordless Wednesday...Approaching Storm 840"

"Wordless Wednesday...Approaching Storm"

My new (est) blog

Do you like "blonde jokes?" Click here:

http://callingallblondes.blogspot.com/

"Total Lunar Eclipse"

This wonderful photograph was taken by my excellent friend and colleague Mary Stebbins Taitt during the Total Lunar Eclipse of February 20-21, 2008. It is an enlargement of an original taken with a Canon EOS 30D with a 300mm telephoto lens, so she informs me. The temperature was only about 6 degrees but that was a GOOD thing...the atmosphere was clear and cold. (She was in Detroit, Michigan.)
(all reproduction rights reserved: Mary Stebbins Taitt. Used by special permission.)

"The Mars Effect"

Effects: Michael Serafin
Original photograph: Mary Stebbins Taitt.
(all rights reserved)

"Detroit Skyline with Ghosts"

This is an interesting composition by Mary Stebbins Taitt of the skyline along the Detroit River, accomplished with the help of................magic! from http://imagik.blogspot.com/

"Jungle Fortress 104"

In this Picasa Experiment a small detail from Mary Stebbins Taitt's Lighthouse underwent a transformation in its digital state, with the result you see here.

"Grosse Pointe Lighthouse"

This creative work by Mary Stebbins Taitt is a digital collage assembled from four separate elements (and a lot of careful computer work) to obtain what you see here. You can learn more about the work and how it was done (and about Mary herself) by clicking on the title of this posting.

"Senufo at the DIA"

Mary Stebbins Taitt sent in this report of a visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts (one of her favorite places): "It was very cold and windy, the sidewalks were icy, and there was blowing snow, so we walked in the DIA and looked around. I participated in a workshop on Senufo, an African artform. I joined near the end, so didn't have as much time as the others to learn about it, but I had fun anyway." Mary sent in this picture to show us.

"The Inner Beast"

If you look closely, you'll see the artist as she sees herself (at least sometimes!)

Original art by Mary Stebbins Taitt.

http://imagik.blogspot.com/

"Polar Coordinates Terrarium"

This beautiful image was created by Mary Stebbins Taitt with Photoshop CS.

"Approaching Storm 840"

This is an image created in Photoshop CS and colorized and cropped with Picasa.

The original was by Mary Stebbins Taitt.

This is a detail generated by Mike Serafin.

"Astrolabe 1210"

An astrolabe was an elaborate three-dimensional apparatus used since ancient times to help chart the course of the stars and planets.

This vision was derived from a work by Mary Stebbins Taitt, and was processed on Picasa.

The finished original, "Equisetum Globe" can be viewed on Mary's blog http://imagik.blogspot.com/

"Self Portrait"

The artist on too much caffeine? This is an experimental shot done with a Kodak C513

and processed with KodakGallery and Picasa.

It was taken through a store window and reflected from a mirror within "A Frame Above", in Jackson, Michigan.

Photo and effects by:

Mike Serafin

"Moonship"

Photo Credit: http://www.nlpu.com/

.

Found at: http://hiraya.co.nr/

.

Thanks to Mary Stebbins Taitt for the reference!

"Sun King"

This is a Picasa treatment of a photo by Gail Slaughter.

"Blue View"

This a Picasa treatment of a photograph taken by Gail Slaughter.

"Icicle Detail 1"

Photo: Dennis Whitehead

Crop and process: Adobe

By: Michael Serafin

"Tree Circle"

Is this a cosmic tambourine? Not exactly. It's a new work by Kate Jackson, of Messing, England. Also see "Circle of Hearts" below for more information. Kate's link is

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.asp?memberID=69463