Kasper-V

Thanks for the tip Rens -- in fact, I signed up with them not long ago. They are very good indeed, and I don't like to 'steal' other people's work.

Thanks for the compliment! I keep going back when I can, it really is attractive. If I didn't live so far away I'd do a 'four seasons' project or something like that.

A couple of offerings from a recent visit to Shugborough a couple of weeks ago (out of 150 photos!) ... And the very picturesque Trent and Mersey Canal behind the House ... And right behind me, the normally picturesque bridge and lock is not looking its best! I'll go back after the facelift is complete ...

Originally published in 1897 as A Mad Song, Wandering Aengus (or The Golden Apples of the Sun) has been popular set to music, and it's haunted my since I first learnt it in the seventies. This image is a composite of two Unsplash photos, woodland by John Westrock and girl by Dylan Nolte. Sparkles, vignette and other fiddly bits by yours truly. I went out to the hazel wood, Because a fire was in my head, And cut and peeled a hazel wand, And hooked a berry to a thread; And when white moths were on the wing, And moth-like stars were flickering out, I dropped the berry in a stream And caught a little silver trout. When I had laid it on the floor I went to blow the fire a-flame, But something rustled on the floor, And someone called me by my name: It had become a glimmering girl With apple blossom in her hair Who called me by my name and ran And faded through the brightening air. Though I am old with wandering Through hollow lands and hilly lands, I will find out where she has gone, And kiss her lips and take her hands; And walk among long dappled grass, And pluck till time and times are done, The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun. The originals (reduced):--

Very well done, Rens: they look quite realistic. I've done quite a few over the years, mostly for comic effect on social media, like this one ... (I guess from your name you're probably a Netherlander? Just in case you didn't know, the squirrel's nest is called a drey, and the brewer's wagon is called a dray -- both pronounced the same way in English.) I started some years ago with Paint Shop Pro, before Affinity came along. I've just made a non-humorous one, which I'll post to the forum in a moment. Finding suitable images to start from can be a problem, and in the past I've 'borrowed' things through Google, like these two -- which is rather naughty of me.

It's sometimes astonishing what images make good kaleidoscopic pictures. I think it's a matter of luck to find one -- when you set out to try, you can get through quite a few without getting a good result. Your moon mandala took me by surprise, Jangbu! It works very well, and I wouldn't have expected it to.

This is cheating, I know -- I made it not in a Serif product but in Paint Shop Pro back in 2011. 'Er and me on a pumpkin. Maybe I'll redo it it AP or AD for next year. Or I might even carve us into a real pumpkin ...

It has a nice rather retro feel to it, Matthew -- reminds me of book & magazine illustrations from the fifties & sixties. (Is the squirrel related to the cat, btw? )

Tea? It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Camellia sinensis! (Nice artwork and wordplay though )

A post on Facebook prompted me to make this image. Tutorialmeister Carl Surry posted a link to this tutorial by Michael Wilson: Here's my effort: and the figure I started off in AP with a couple of stock images, the background by J C Gellidon from Unsplash and the figure by Radu Florin from Pexels. The 'portal' began as an ellipse; actually a circle which I deformed with the Perspective Tool to make it appear parallel to the shop fronts. The flare is a trapezium rotated onto its side. Some clipping, masking, gradients, transparency (in Designer) produced the lighting effect, and I added a pixel layer to paint a few highlights on the right-hand side. Here's the aphoto file: AlleyPortal-000bSMALL.afphoto

I've been thinking exactly the same thing, krbo. Picolay, for instance, uses the depth map to generate a stereo pair or an animated gif. If AP had the option of saving the dm it would offer a number of possibilities.

We dropped in at Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, last Thursday to see an exhibition of photographs by Lichfiled, Donovan and Duffy. (It's on til 4 November this year if you want to see it: well worth the trouble!) I darkened the sky separately to simulate a yellow or orange filter, and used a Black & White and Brightness/Contrast adjustments to get the selective contrast I wanted, after getting the verticals parallel with the Perspective tool. The original:-- (The chap on the bench is a scarecrow effigy of the artist Rex Whstler, who did some fantastic trompe l'oeuil painting here.)

Wow! I thought I was clever, but I've got quite a lot of catching up to do. (Well, I am clever -- I'm just lazy! Your work is inspiring, literally. )

Oh no, not a bug -- and just right if I want to change from the default settings. Thanks.

I've been struggling to try and record this as a video, without success. Here are three screenshots ... Selecting Unsharp Mask (for example) from menu: I press Enter: As you can see, the Radius value is automatically selected, so when I press Enter again: ... the Radius value is highlighted, when I was expecting it to Apply. The next press does apply the filter.