Image Manipulation 2: Photo Repair

This photo dates back to 1929 and if you look at the top image you can see that it showed it's age. My mother showed me the picture and asked if I could fix it with my computer "magic". I had never seen a picture in this bad a condition but decided to take the challenge. By the way, the child in the center, that's my mom aged 1 year old - isn't she cute! (Nice boots!)Anyway, I work on it for a week off and on, trying things I'd never tried before. The final result is the photo on the bottom. I'm still not entirely satisfied but I learned a hell of a lot while I did it. And I enjoyed myself doing it!

What I Do (Part 2) - Image Manipulation

Creating computer images from scratch is often difficult, time consuming work. Image manipulation is way more fun but can also be difficult. I work with already existing images to produce new, original images. It's even more fun when you work with images of people you know (muahahaha!).

At the top left is "Forest Fayrie". To give the image depth, I used an extreme close-up of a bush then blurred it. Next, I looked through all my files for an appropriate model. I chose this Asian model because she had the neccessary fayrie-like attributes. Then, I gave her pointed ears and slanted her eyebrows and tainted her green. I searched and found a nice clear picture of dragonfly wings, cut them and pasted them. Finally, I cut and pasted a bunch of flowers in front of her. This created the illusion that she's really tiny. There's a lot of checking to see if part of the image is too dark/light, too blurred/sharp. The exact process is a little more complex, but you get the idea.

Next is a modified image of my buddy, Francis. He brought me this picture of himself just as he was about to leave the Bahamas. He said he was satisfied with the image of himself but didn't like the background. I told him to leave it to me and started chuckling like a madman. Having known him for twenty years or so, I knew exactly what to do to his precious photo. The Enterprise in the sky recalls one certain episode where the ship looks like a cardboard cut-out. It moved with a jerky motion that always had us in stitches. The Death Star from Star Wars? Why not? As he didn't like his boss at the time, I cut a face from a photo of Albert Einstein. Since it was black & white, I had to tint it with a flesh tone that more or less matched others in the scene. Just for fun, I added Homer Simpson crawling in Einstein's hair (Einstein's a genius & Homer is not - get it?). At the time, Monsters Inc. had just come out on video and we both liked Mike - so there he is on Francis' shoulder. A naked girl? Heck, what warm-blooded male wouldn't like that? And I added a whole bunch of other stuff, some obvious, some not (I made him a Terminator - just for fun). See that other little green guy at the extreme lower left? That's Glyx, a cartoon character I developed a few years ago. I have a feeling that you'll probably be seeing real soon.

Finally, this is an image manipulation done by a professional with a fancy computer and lots of expensive software (Maxim magazine). This one's totally nuts. All the cars, people and, yes, chicken are real pictures. Whoever did this image is a master. Every image is seamlessly put together (all I added was the words). One day I, too, shall be a master.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!! (I almost forgot.Thanks Tony)

 

"Fanny Mae" - by Luke A. Fallon

A chrome beach ball? No, no. This is Fanny Mae - rather Fanny Mae sphere. Inside is a big spoon-shaped thingie and above that floats what looks like a lavender lotus flower. You can barely see it and if you look at it from certain angles the image might just disappear. That image of a lotus flower is Fanny Mae - as we see her on our plane of existence. And it's, like, really, really hot inside her sphere. Why? Because Fanny Mae is a star. No. Not like Brad Pitt. Like the stars we see in the sky at night. All of them are alive - all life forces. This image is based on the novel Whipping Star by Frank Herbert (best known for his Dune novels). I fell in love with the novel as soon as I read it - and re-read it! I've been wanting to draw Fanny Mae for a long time. Now, with the tools I have, I think I've done a fairly good job. Too bad Frank Herbert's not around to see it.

By the way, Fanny Mae falls in love with the secret agent that watches over her. Charming! 

"Mountain Lake Sunrise" - by LAF

It took me a heck of a long time to get this one finished: the image was too dark, the mountains too crowded or the water had the wrong texture. But experimenting with the software finally lead me to this image. My heart told me that nothing more could be done, but my brain insists that one tiny element. Stoopid brain! Now, everytime I look at it I have to restrain myself from making any changes. So tempting ... 

"The Sorcerer's Island" -(#1 & #2) LAF

Sometimes, I find it really difficult to be objective about my work. Consider this one; there's a storm going on, obviously. But do I use the rain effect or not? It seems like a distraction from the image. But I'm able to control the rain's "density" and the angle at which it's falling. I can even make the rain fall up if I wanted (just like Forrest Gump!).

Opinions are appreciated. 

COME RELAX AT A PLACE WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME ... OR AT LEAST YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!

Welcome Pius X Class of 1980!

All friends gather 'round for stories of then and now ...

Across The Universe

This image is from Hubble's Ultra Deep Field camera. Astronomers pointed the telescope at the emptiest, blackest place in the sky and got this image. These are very distant galaxies. The tiniest, faintest dots are galaxies that are 20 to 25 billion light years away. The age of the Universe is thought to be 30 billion years old. The farther we look into the distance, the farther we look into the past. Note: 1 light year is 300 000 km/second (speed of light) x # seconds in one day x 365 (days in one year)! And that's only one light year! Multiply that by 25 billion ... that's a lot of Air Miles!

Rebirth Cycle

The "Cat's Eye" nebula and a nearby nebula with starbirth. At the center of the "Cat's Eye"(left), the remains of an exploded star. With time, the dust and gas from this star will collect (globules on the right) and form new stars (blue). With one star's death, one thousand new ones are born. This cycle of renewal takes place at all levels.

The Rosetta Stone (thanks Len)

 

The original Rosetta Stone was a basalt slab discovered near Rosetta, Egypt in 1799. The stone was inscribed with three identical texts : Greek, Egyptian demotic (Arabic) and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The identical texts proved to be the key to decyphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.This Blogg is called Rosetta Stone because I hope it will be the "key" to understanding the human condition through differing viewpoints human condition. By understanding others we can better understand ourselves.I hope that there will be a good deal of humour, too.

In the beginning ...

Well, this is my first time blogging in my own. It will take some time to get used to it. But I have all the time in the world! Thank to Marisa for recommending this. That's another one I owe you!

I always thought it would be cool to have a Blog loosely based on the format of Ancient Greece : Just a bunch of people in togas, sitting around and talking about current events, Nature, Science, Philosophy ... whatever. The flow of free discussion is important to learn and to grow. No closed minds here!

Well, not bad for a start. What's next?