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• Birds are expected (and usually captured) when I pause my day at the marsh. However, in the very low mid afternoon sunlight of one of the shortest days of the year (in terms of daylight!), I was in for a big surprise… At the farthest reach of my usual combo, some 360 meters away across the waters of the marsh, some juvenile creatu- res, not normally associated to the wildlife of marsh areas, though to pay us a visit… couldn't resist sharing these too! Usual 600 mm ƒ4 @ ƒ8 + D810. The undisturbed birds by the presence of these deers can be explained by the perhaps 20+ meters between them. Their re- native proximity is an effect of compression induced by long lenses. C&C welcomed 1 2 3 4

I guess it could sound that way — but I honestly do think your style is unique. Reminded me of a painting my mom had in her house. I really, really want you to remember something — style, “soul” and character is the single MOST important thing when doing art. Everything else is secondary. No amount of technical know-how will be able to cover up for a picture that lacks soul. And I didn’t comment on the contents of your post above. No, not at all. I didn’t comment about image quality, or drawing quality — there is much to say, but I commented on your style — the single most important thing. The image you posted above from the Isometric app is technically superior, and more “pleasing” (proportionally speaking) but it seriously lacks any personality, soul or character — something that was somewhat expressed in the original image you posted here. I truly want you to remember that technical know-how is easily acquired. Loosing track of why you fell in love with Art and loosing your inner focus and instinct, being obsessed with tools and techniques and doing generic work is the quickest way to kill your true “artist” inside. After going to photography school, and learning all those techniques and “rules you mustn’t break” I thought I was great at photography. Then I looked back and reflected on my work from the past — and it was all blurry, it didn’t follow the rule of thirds (the overly used cliche rule everyone uses), and it wasn’t “technically perfect”. But I found out that they were so much better than my images after I’ve gone to school. I always questioned that, why? could this be… And I came to the realization that no amount of rules and technical perfection can fix a soulless image — and the quickest way to loose your character, soul and honesty in your work is for yourself to stop being honest — to be scared of breaking rules and judgment, and to think that your work must be similar to the work of the “masters” to be good art. So many “professional” photographers have critiqued this image that its “horrible that the sky is blown out, bird is at the edge of the scene, colors aren’t saturated enough” yet I love this image. You can feel the liveliness and the soul of the birds. Doing a technically perfect image would only ruin that character. That would be my only peace of feedback for you. Never stop looking, and never blend in :)! If your instinct and drive tells you to do something, do it! You may not be able to articulate why you have that feeling, but it is the right, honest feeling and instinct you need to create good, your work. You will get the hang of affinity or all these other apps — but please, don’t be a generic geometric designer. Your drawings have much to offer :).

Draw a long triangle Rotate it and convert it to curves Select the Node tool and click/hold on the top horizontal line and bend it upwards, do the same with the bottom line Duplicate the shape, flip it and move the flipped shape to look like the image below, now boolean add them together Duplicate the bird shape and move them into a flock of birds and angle them a bit Congratulations, you made a flock of birds lol!

Excellent shots. I agree with the other comments about composition - to me this is a basic tool that is very much neglected. Also the hay is a perfect surround to the images. This is my first post on these forums (fora) as I recently acquired Designer and Photo when they became available for Windows. So far I am very impressed with the software, great value and I find it fun to use. Until now I mainly used LR and ON1 10, plus several others for NR etc., etc. I think I will stick with LR but use ON1 and AF for pixel work. These birds remind me of the American Redstarts I see here in Ontario - they are very friendly and will come very close but are quite active. As an ex-pat I still miss the UK birds (left 40 years ago for Canada) especially the Robin, Curlews, Magpies and Wagtails etc., (I still have The Observers Book Of Birds I won as a school prize around 1957). I noticed your link and whilst waiting for approval to post I had a quick look. It looks interesting although several of the sub-links are no longer available. I was particularly envious of your owl shot. Other than Snowy Owls which have become quite common here I have had very limited success. All the best. Well done. We also had a family vacation for a week in Blyth in the early 60s (the weather was terrible) when we were living in Consett.

JK Rowling too Struggled bringing Harry Potters Story to a publisher, she got turned down many times, however she refused to give up, been persistant.. And because her determination, the Story of Harry Potter is well known around the world,. Im like JKRowling, I refuse to give up. Her skills are with writing... For me i have 4, writing, poetry, illustration and Song Rewriting. Many people tell me i should go to a publisher.. I can easily get into coloring books first. Got over 100 Illustrations done even colored them... I'm a vector Artist... My #1 program i use Serif Affinity Design. It's Epic and perfect the cool thing about this program you can do both vector and raster art. I even create new Species Names.. And design my own charecters I plan to Publish Novels in my series. I even Created my own Guardians for my creation.. Here is sneak Peek.. I have Many Skills Poetry being my First Skill in life, i use to rhyme a lot in my childhood.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a Poem I written a few Months Ago in Honor of our War Vets.. "'The Poppy a Flower To Remember'' As we read the news, A war going on, In our past hometown land. We choose to volunteer, To save our country, And help our fellow man. Dressed in our uniform, Giving a heart felt embrace. To the ones we hold dear to our hearts, As we leave for the battle we face. As we cram in giant planes, And in ships waiting for us at port. A felling of mixed emotions consume, To the people we help and support. The journey is long, Yet we grow anxious to arrive. Knowing very well, Many of us will sadly, Not come back home alive. Making it to our destination, Flooding out from ships, And dropping from the sky. Seeing the dangers, Chaos we face. We give it all we got. We race towards booms and blasts, For Freedom is worth a Lot. We struggle on Deadly Ground’s, Trying to Stay alive. Hoping we make a Difference, I sit in my trench, Given a moments, For a quick break. Seeing the dead and injured, People fighting everywhere. The odor in nauseating, It's more than I can bear. Yet I quickly spring back up, Fire my gun, At enemy lines. All of a sudden, I feel a strike near my spine... As I lay there bleeding, Far to injured to move. As I look upon the field, A beautiful red flower, Captures my view. I close my eyes, And think back to all the memories, I been with you. The way you brush your hair, in the morning, I would just sit and watch. The way you would laugh, When I goof off a lot. Remembering how teared up you were, When supper was ruined, Yet I still ate every little bite. Wanting to take you out of your failure mood, Giving you confidence , Someday you will get it right. Hearing I was going to be a father soon, The happy joy as we embrace. The painful tears that fell, From the both of us, When i had to leave for base. Yet here I lay dying, Not much time left to spare. Please remember the Red Poppy, For I will always be there. May its Red Color remind you, Of my sacrifice. I gave my Heart and soul, So you can live you life.. I Laurie Ann Garland Writer of ''The Poppy, A Flower to Remember'' in Honor of all Our War Vets, Past, Present, and the Future. Dedicate this poem to the War Vets. They have giving us their lives, limbs, even their very souls so that we may live in Peace and be Free. may we reflect on this Historic day that many Brave Men, Nurses, Doctors , and everyone involved, whom sacrificed and risked their lives. So that we will have peace and live to be Free. Thank You for Everything, Laurie Ann Garland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the Craziest Part...Crystal Frost was first Doodled on the Ipad with my Finger using the App Sketch Club.in 2017 That is when her story came to my head. I Doodled over 100 Illustrations of her Alone Yes Im a doodle A Holic., I would Churn out 4 to five of her doodles on each sitting. I would also Write Little Random Stories about her. What Sparked the Idea.. I was watching MLP FIM with my Daughters, then Twilight Sparkle said, "'Ponies know very little about dragons because they were to afraid or scared to go near them.'' Then an idea raced through my head what if a pony got lost in the woods, got chased by dangerous wild creatures, and was saved by a dragon. They Became good friends,yet as time moved on their friendship bloomed into a relationship, that resulted in he being pregnant for the dragon. unable to stay home she leaves with the dragon, they both go into the wild land, to have their baby and raise the little one on their own. At first it was just some random stories here and There. And i started to like where the story was going. Went to MLP Arena with my idea, told them my plan to Pitch Crystal Frost Story to Hasbro. They told me Hasbro gets many spin off pitches of the MLP TV series All the time, they told me I was very Creative, their Advice was to Wipe out everything Hasbro MLP related in my Story, Created my Own Kingdom and World, and Put Crystal Frost Story in it. On March 2018 within 4 Days i created the ''The Story of Crystal Frost, The Kingdom of Long Heart Stone, and Beyond. '' before that it was just a few random stories, and A lost of Crystal Frost art Doodles, However after that Date 97% of the Creation was created after that More Stories Flooded to Me, More Species, More Creative Worlds and the important roles each species had in the stories.. Over time I realize.... that my story had a Pattern it was a Family Tree Time Line.. Loved it So Beautiful. My series span to 25 novels in the series.. Here is the list with a few samples in between... Our Little Miracle The Story of Crystal Frost......Sneak peek.... ( When you wish upon a star Weather you are near or far.. Shining hope up in the sky Makes you tear up want to cry. Want to stay with all my heart Sadly I have to go depart My little child listen to me Your mother loves you so fondly. Yet the time has come to past Your father you will go at last My dearest child one last verse I say I love you with my heart, you will always forever stay... ) Challenges of Being a Father. Return of Crystal Frost The Kingdom of Long Heart Stone Family Unity Tragedy Shatters..........Sneak Peek....... ( Seeing her father obsess over only work and her baby brother wanting to hold him all the time, starts to feel left out resentful for the baby... While her dad is at work, holding her sketch book, she hears her little brother now 2 years old, crying in the nursery, She goes inside,sketch book in her hoof, looks at him with tears in her eyes '' what are you crying For, mom held you in her arms for one full year, and she held on to me only once'' Tiger Lilly hearing the whole thing play out, tries to help Star Shine. However She Quickly turns on her'' what do you know,'' thinking back to that kiss at the festival'' you just wanted mom out of the way so you can have my dad all to your self.'' in tears she runs out of the room sketch book in her hoof..) Beyond the Kingdom of Long Heart Stone.. Star Knight Shines Journey A Dragon in The Kingdom of Long Heart Stone The Final Battle The Challenges of Sudden Change in Life The Truth will set you free Knight Wings Greatest Challenge. Frost Knight Storm Journey Visions of the Blind Varian Frost Swirl Romance and Tragedy........Sneak Peek.... ( The last day Varian, has to leave back to Military Base, seeing Hopes Mother Amanda, Confessing to her.’’ I love Hope more that anything,, I just don’t understand why her Father will not let us be.’’ Amanda respond.’’ He is Just afraid he will loose his baby girl.’’ Revealing to Varian, Adrian’s dream to have a big family. However the accident she been in, resulted in her unable to bear children ever again. The two still kept in the dark about the truth. ) Out of the Shadow and Into the Light Lost At Sea Survival On a Journey for Home The Burden of Knowing the Truth Luke and Lucas..........Sneak Peek..... ( Hearing a rustle in the forest, heart racing, as Anita Appears in his view, walking to towards Lucas her mane and tail decorated in beautiful blue and pink Ribbons, holding in her mouth. A bouquet of fresh picked Golden orange Flowers kept in place with a beautiful blue ribbon. Walking to the place to sand by Lucas side... The Priest begins '' We gather here, in the presence of nature and her beauty , before God and his Son to join these two in holy matrimony,'' continue on, looking over at Anita.'' Lucas wishes share his vow he wrote just for you.'' Lucas feeling nervous, yet with the passion in his heart, gains the courage, reaches for his paper. Looking over at Anita..... ) Snowfall and the Prince......... Sneak Peek... ( Hearing a rustle in the bushes, seeing Richard hoof out motioning her to leave. Turns around for one last look. A tear falling from her eye, dropping on the newborns face, waking up the infant causing her to open her eyes, seeing a clear view of her mother, The Newborn making baby cooing sounds happy to see her mother. Quickly leaves her baby behind, running into the woods, crying, heartbroken as she hers her newborn cries. Richard seeing how emotional Snowfall was through the whole situation quickly chases after her. Prepared to fight to defend the creature he is forbidden to love. ) Glacier Charity and the Guardian... I mixed tributes in my Novel series of creation as well .... Forbidden love Homelessness Trying to find your family war Vets Disabled Blind Youth whom run away from family Anti-social Birth defects Fire Fighters Solders Family couples whom are childless death life missing children Loved ones who leave yet sadly never see their family again And many many more. This is one Crazy Massive Intense Project. and I write every Day.. Here is a Sneak peek of the First Chapter in the first book in the Novel Series... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the middle of the woods, Deep in the thick forest of Tree Top Hills, a small lumber Village, busseled with Clyonies. They tilled the land, turning trees into lumber, distributing, the wood, being used, to build the homes , all across The Kingdom of Long Heart Stone. ''where did he go this time'' carrying her saddle bag Juliette Dew Drop walks through the small village. inside the village a small local grocery store, owned by Mr and Mrs Shops, sold a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. A post office called, Clyasus Express, run by Stamp Wells, where flying Clyasus would come and go delivering parcels and mail to the locals. A small local paper called, News and Views. written, edited, photographed , by a Clyony named Flash dash the one and only reporter in the community.. A small school house nestled down by the brook, teaming with aquatic life, run my Miss Glass, where fillies and foal's would go to learn math, how to read, write, spell, and make friends. looking past the the school house, walking by the tall thick trees, Juliette Dew Drop notices a cleared path, she turns to follow the path and disappears into the thick treed forest... In a valley, stumps surrounding the lumber yard , timber stacked in piles. The clyony wood cutting crew, tired from cutting down trees all morning, were sitting down to a much deserved lunch break. Munch Munch Crunch chatting up a storm. Timber ''anyone going to the family picnic the community is having this weekend.?'' Tree Cutter, looking nervously at his wind up watch, trying hard to keep track of time'' Can't my wife's mother in law is coming over to see the twins, that reminds me I have to pick her up after work, the stage coach is expected to arrive later today.'' Tall Trees,'' Not this time, I promised the kids I would help them with building a tree house, on the Big Oak Tree in our back yard.'' Roots, ''my Wife is due to have our 5th baby soon, she is quite cranky and craving all kinds of weird foods, last night she sent me to the shop, to pick up apples and bean bread, they do not even sell apple bean bread.. why can't she crave something normal.'' Splash '' My wife been nagging me to take her to the city lately, last time we went, she went on some crazy shopping spree, thank goodness the kids came, kept her pre-occupied, and I finally did not come home broke. '' Timber,'' Just bring the kids again.. '' Splash '' She wants to leave them with he sister Sweet Shine. this time'' snoring sounds interrupted the conversation, the stations looked over at the direction of the sound, Timber gets up and walks near Stomper, napping on the ground face in his bowl of oatmeal. Timber,'' Stomper.'' Stomper... snore Timber a little louder ''Stomper'' Stomper... snore. Timber, Getting annoyed, ''STOMPER !'' Freaked out, stomper quickly lifts his head, oatmeal dripping from the side of his face, ''don't cry daddy's here'' he said is a panic sleepy voice, letting out a big yawn.. looking up, ''oh its you guys.'' yawning tiredly.. Timber '' you got oatmeal on your face again'' Stomper letting out a sleepy yawn ''that is nice,'' lifting his hoof, wiping the oatmeal off his face, licking his hoof.'' ''So are you coming to the family picnic this weekend'' Timber asked curiously. Stomper "too tired, Rock Climber had us up all night crying'' yawns as he takes another lick of oatmeal, '' we tried giving him his milk, changing his diaper, and a bath, and he still kept crying.'' Timber ''How about you Ross Forest,'' the clyonies stopped eating, feeling awkward by the question. Juliette Dew Drop, appears out of the path with her saddle bag on her back, entering the lumber sight, the cool breeze blowing the smell of fresh cut trees, she sees Ross Forest and walks towards him. Juliette Dew Drop ''Hello Dear,'' reaching to her saddle bag open the flap dipping her hoof into the bag she pulls out a paper bag. ''You forgot your lunch.again '' Ross Forest,'' sorry about that, I will try to remember next time.'' they both nuzzle each other, then Juliette Dew Drop heads back towards to the path and disappears into the woods.. Taking out his daisy sandwich, muffin, and a canteen of lemonade, a note falls to the ground..Ross Forest stoops down to pick it up with his hoofs, he read the note I have something to tell you.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love writing..Novel series is 25 books long. it covers 10 Generations within this family time line.. Yes i write it all out.. You can see some of my art here, granted they are sneak peaks until 2019 When i reveal the characters from my novel series. .. There are way more charecters than this Already Illustrated.. This is just crumbs.. When you browse my folder you will see i have other folders reserved for those who will be joining me on a creativity to success. www.deviantart.com/raphluna/ga… I was Inspired By Chrales Dickens ''A Christmas Carol.'' to Write no own version of the Well Known story. Raw Written Material in 5 days '' Once Upon a Christmas Tale.''23 Chapters long.. Here is sample to First Chapter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .......Once Upon a Christmas Tale........ .........Ch1........ "'Once upon a time, many years ago. During the time of Christmas, Frost, Ice, and, Snow. In the City of Forest Shine, A creature obsessed in business, That loved gold, With all his heart. Oh how he would quiver, At the thought to be apart. True his partner of long ago. Passed away within their successfully prime. Leaving the creature with everything, only wealth consume his mind. Yet let's continue further. For there is much to tell. How this creature went form obsession of greed. To being caring thoughtful and sharing with those in need.'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This one is Raw Written Material, Full of my Poetic works. However I want to go over it again and write in more Depth and Detail. I Will have this Novel finished and ready to publish by Next Christmas. Granted is Off from my 25 Novel series.. However in the Novel series the book "'Once Upon a Christmas Tale'' is Mentioned in the Novel series. I love Writing so Much, Illustrations, Poetry, and even Storytelling

I like it. Does make the flower the star of the image. Most of the time I post images to the web they go to my 500px account like this one: I will get several requests wanting to know how I accomplished the image and then they think I'm holding back on the facts. The image above is straight out of camera but resized for forum. As my late friend Don used to tell me all the time, "Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then." It was simply, right place and right time combined with my camera accidentally doing what it was supposed to. Shot with Nikon L340 which is totally auto except that you can choose the ISO. Early Sunday morning, bright sunlight hitting this honeysuckle bud on the end of the bush while the rest was in shadow. Also, it was processed with another photo editor which is why I never posted it here. Love Macro photography regardless of who does it. Not preaching, but I see God's hand in the tiniest details of the things around us in nature. BTW, it isn't spamming. Love to look at your works.

That gives me an idea for some artwork of a pop art nature! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell%27s_Soup_Cans An image of a can of gluten-free, vegan soup with no lumps in it. It will need to be a fantasy image because I have searched and cannot find any at all! William

When I showed up at work on April 6, 2020 I was informed that I had been laid off because of fears over the Corona virus pandemic. Well, that just gave me back about 11 hours of daylight to use until work cranks back up (or I decide to go ahead and opt for early retirement). So I went home, ready to file for unemployment. When I got home, got a call. A local business saw this as a good time to invest in a new website, and I was his choice. It would require lots of coding, pulling out some of the few strands of hair I have left, and photography. So I grabbed my Nikon and struck out to capture the images I would need. However, my old Nikon just didn't have the quality I needed for my web design shots. It showed when I got home and started editing the images. I had already been looking at purchasing a used DSLR camera, but I hate to buy something someone else has already abused. So, figured I would kill two birds with one stone. I still kept the budget small (around $300.00 US) but made the jump, making the purchase with the income the customer paid down for me to start production. Then I realized that, since I would be using the new camera for photos for web design, I would need (clears throat) to "practice" with the new camera in order to get proficient when operating it. This would also give me an opportunity to hone my editing skills because we all know that no matter how good an image is you will need to do some kind of tweeking before you can use it. So, I guess it was a good investment. I know my images are working better. With less time spent trying to bring out detail from poorly recorded images, I'm able to spend a bit more time trying to be artistic with my editing. Be safe, be well . . . make pictures.

It's a photo processed in AF + Color Efex Pro 4. The white trees are birch trees indeed. The picture was taken in an nature reserve near the port of Antwerp. Patrick

A seed or some bark/rush. It also look like cuttlebone (? "os de seiche" in French), but more yellow, that people give to birds.

It's just about nature ! -)

Hi everyone. I haven't been very active photographically wise but I'll try to change that. I went in the woods a few days ago and I wanted to try my new Tamron 70-200mm G2 lens. So I found this small toad (I love landscape and wildlife photography) and tried to photograph it (I used my 70-200mm Tamron lens). It's not the best photo of a toad but I'm still satified with it. Let me know what you think because I still like getting advices from better photographers. Here's what I did on this photo. I played with the basic settings in the develop persona (exposure, noise reduction, clarity, etc). Because some elements were in focus and disturbing the eye away from the toad, I used a dept of field blur tool and I made sure to put the center of the tool on the eye of the toad. I changed the exposure of the background with the help of a gradiant tool. Added signature.

• I spent three hours, in the early afternoon, shooting corporate portraits of a new management team put in place after a very hostile takeover by some american interests. Sure, I was doing the right thing (it did cost them dearly!) but I didn't feel so happy with this bunch of proud, superficial, in- fatuated, cold, and arrogant executives and managers. The job was well done and very well paid… but I had to put my "soul" at ease and, to wash away the bitter feelings, I know nothing that beats a visit to the close by marsh. Specially today, as it was the first snow! Mother Nature treated me well —maybe She felt how I needed Her to cheer me up— and surprised me… as usual! This was a delicious moment and I would like to share with you Her beauty and kindness… In one of the takes, a Kingfisher is perched… can you spot it? Have a look, have a good time… C&C welcomed! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 What, a shy snow you say? This is south Austria… not Canada! :P :D :P :D :P Sure, I did shoot some birds but that's the following thread… be patient… here is the link: Tip: the Kingfisher is in picture 8 Part 2, with Egret ballet, is here: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/27703-no-ap-2-•-birds-in-first-snow-—picture-heavy/

• Em@il question: — "I see you are posting only birds… why do you say you're not a birder?" I post birds (or else!) because I don't post my professional work. When I am assigned a job, though I make the pictures, the com- missionner has to unique right to use them for ever given the takes are clearly identifiable to a brand … it is in all contracts. As a passionate photographer, I even take pictures in my free time. These pictures are mine to use as I will. Some years ago, I was living close to a nature park where 4 legged creatures were the main subject. Nowadays, I am close to a marsh.

Hi there, I'm sorry is one of those images yours then? Are you David Bartus? I have meant to put the links to the sources in but forgot. I will definitely start doing that in future. I'll probably (hopefully) be putting some tutorials together for how I'm creating these although I've never done that sort of thing before so it will be a steep learning curve. Also I had noticed his right eye (left as you look at him) was a little wonky but didn't want to change it as it's nature and nothing's perfect in nature. Well that's what I thought anyway Best wishes, Mark

Hmm... I started working on it again after a little break. Well... I think I will change again, because this logo is good, but I think it's too agressive. Since I want to use it on my website and as possible watermark on photos, it need to be simple and elegant at the same time. I tried this one in white with transparency on a photo and it's very agressive. The logo is good, but for a brand or something like that, maybe not photography. I know lot of photographers are having a Photologo signature and other have some small images too like So, I need something simple, clean, elegant that represent me and what I like. I also don't want to copy anyone logo and that's hard since there is millions of them on the web. I like travelling, nature and wildlife. I also love mountains, but don't want to copy the guy above lol. So something that inspire liberty and travel. I thought about something like this windy shape. You still can see the N, but very subtle. What do you think? Well. I like it more since it's more elegant, but I have two issues that need to be addressed. 1. Would like to keep the same space all the way between the two, but it's very hard. How can I achieve that? 2. I'm scare about this little part. Do you think it's too thin for web?

Just bought Affinity Photo from the Black Friday Sale - really enjoyed trying it out with the lockdown trial. Been experimenting with some of the brushes I got in the BF sale., working on an idea for a fanzine inspired by The Beach Boys song Angel Come Home. Gold Photo painted over mostly using Frankentoon Neptune & DAUB Watercolours & Washes brushes and multiple layers. Blue - flattened gold image painted over with various brushes (mostly from Frankentoon Nature, but I installed Xenon & Powder Blast brushes at the same time so prob also used some of them) Original photo - paper angel on a Hawaiian shirt napkin background. (Photo of Dennis Wilson is one I found online, taken by Ebet Roberts. Wings are from digital scrapbooking kit Broken Wings {elements} by Little Butterfly Wings. Napkins were from Tescos 😀 )

— "…some kind of mystic communication…! I would like think so but I know it is not true. It is more like taking the time to see / use the available light on a subject; having both the bird in the right position and the long lens to capture the moment… I still experience great difficulties at being obeyed by wildlife! ;) When too close, birds are not behaving the same way. Sure, having an eye for beauty is imperative in any/all cases but being trigger happy helps too! ;) The more one observes, the more precise the observations! Thanks for your comment!

• For months, I've been trying to get some decent shots of a Hooded Crow with no luck. From figu- ring out better locations to ultimately baiting these far too clever birds, attempts were in vain every time! That afternoon, I was mentoring a photo club from Graz and I was not going to lose that chance. In the middle of an explanation of a difficult camera setup shooting strategy, this fellow decided to rest on a pretty close by twig… at a perfect distance from the lens to get full frame takes of it. I stopped everything, rushed behind the camera, aimed and shot these. The club members were puzzled a bit… they had their backs to the scene. Given the camouflage colours of its plumage, it was very hard for them to see what I was looking at though the lens was clearly indicating the direction. Usual 600mƒ4 @ ƒ8 on D810 combo C&C welcomed 1 2 3 4 5 AP was used to remove a piece of this black and yellow plastic ribbon Wildlife Services are using on trees at times!

From an enthusiastic bird shooter, this is a pleasing comment! As I said before, I'm not a "real" birder since it is, for me, never about the subject but the light that's falling on it. True is that my frequent visits to the marsh made me discover facts about the birds themselves: beauty, elegance, and beha- viours but these serve the predictability of their next move in my quest for Mother Nature's many wonders. As said before too, I am a photographer and have very little to do with imagery, creative or manipulative. Honestly, I was pretty PS litterate and accomplished but with time, the business pushed me more to the photo aspect of the image… not as documentary only but having that "lighting approach" I use also. At this point, all my work is processed in CO9 as it provides me with a great set of tonal tools for my approach to final rendition and workflow… and since CO9 hardly performs quick edits as beautifuly as AP, the "inpainting" and "clone" tools are important in my workflow. I will stay in CO9 to tweak all tonal aspects and use AP for the cropped images (most of the time) final pixel editing. It is never important that it is! I succeed good SOOC only in studio where I control the light but out in nature, the thinking is different: most important is to capture all the dynamic range and that only (in terms of PP). What ever software one uses, none have the ability to restore an image where no data was previously recorded in the file. Starting with a good RAW file ​is always the best starting point. I am in a position where I have the means to get any tools I need to reach my goals. So I buy the gear that will get me at the proper dynamic range recording. Lenses help little in this but the cameras will. I have chosen two D810 for their DR. With proper DR, all is possible. Did I answer your questions adequately? English is not my mother tongue…

Ok... I tried redoing the entire project. Not sure what else I can do. This time, I removed the windmills, the houses, the birds and a log. Removed the haze. Added a clarity live filter. I increased the exposure for the mountain using a graduated tool (from the botom of the mountain to the sky). Added white balance. Lens correction filter. Added vibrance layer. Added luminosity/Contraste layer. I tried ading a HSL layer with no success (I couldn't increase the color of the sky without affecting the rest of the photo). There is still noise in the photo and I can't remove it.

The base picture came from one of my many nature walks, and with a bit of imagination I tried to create a fairy tale type picture. Yes I know. . .I'm out there! 😀

Hi @Uncle Mez ! Nice to see you again with a fine project. Did you draw the tower? Is it a vector or a pixel object? It's really good, but the top should be lighter (perhaps like like the shadow parts at the bottom), since it disappear on the background and she looks truncated without her head! And if it was possible, I would have made it higher (not larger) in the second and third project (especially the third, the red part above "musique" is too empty. I love the colours too, they blend nicely with a nive texture. and the "fils de fer" white drawing, the Tour was used as an antenna (perhaps now too), it looks like radio waves or, in a strange way, make me think of birds flying around. The third project is best for reading the date (21 juin), the other ones should have "juin" and "fête" in bold too, since "21 juin" + "musique" = "fête de la musique" here, without any doubt. And for the last, as being my picky self: "Paris gare de Lyon 12e" or "Paris gare de Lyon XIIe" (no cap for "gare", "12e" or "XIIe" with "e" in exposant = 12e arrondissement, no need to add "Paris 75012", since Paris is already mentionned and 75012 postal code means département 75 (= Paris), 12e arrondissement ). And I would wrote "place Henri-Frenay" because I'm fond of "we're French and don't put caps everywhere, damnit!" and "put tirets when people's names become place's name" But out of work I'm a normal girl Really nice project, and the Eiffel tower drawing is inspiring, perhaps I'll try to redraw it in AD. Last point: no translation for "featuring guest" and "special guest"?

I nearly forgot to post this, as everyone seemed to be starting Easter early on Good Friday. Based on the Tin Chooky that stands in our hearth, here's this year's Easter greeting card. Made mainly from primitives in Designer, with a little bit of Photo. No birds were harmed in the making of this image. Nor chocolate!

Font style choices Please. ( Blossom and the Dragon ) Blossom is a Furry Equine Clyony Species. I personally Invented the word for the new species, for my written novel series. Her body sports a more furry Clydesdale horse like style. The Dragon is Skyler a creature in the story. I don't know much about Font Rules.. However I do not want to get Sued by the font owner.. Personally I do not mind paying for the license to use the font . However there are limitations restrictions and rules. I'm considering Designing my Own Font Style like I did for my Trademark.. the color background what do you think o.k. Needs Improvement . Alex Blue Bird Sketch Style of my Characters. combined with my tweaks in the design Alex Blue Birds Color style. Alex Blue Bird Illustration Skills is Shattering EPIC ! Should I use my Full name or The initial and use my last name. What do you think ?