Today’s Bloganuary prompt is: What are 5 things you are grateful for today?
People say things like “count your blessings”, but I don’t think of them as finite entities you can count one, two, three.
Most things have both good and bad aspects to them. You can’t have the good without the bad. But, in my experience, if you focus on the good your life will be a bit less frazzled. I actually started hosted a new blogging challenge related to this today before I read this prompt, info below.
One-to-three is a monthly photo processing challenge on my other web site, theSquirrelChase.com. I’d love to have you join in: The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways. Then share the results, with a link to this month’s post. I’ll do a start up post on the first of each month, including a round up of entries from the preceding month, so we can all share in the creativity and fun.
Here’s my January 2022 contribution:
More of my variegated amaryllis. I may try to turn this into a Christmas card for next year so I’ve been trying out lots of ideas. Thing is, I like the flower so much that it always looks good to me, no matter what I do to it. Do you ever have that problem?
One-to-three is a monthly photo processing challenge on my other web site, theSquirrelChase.com. I’d love to have you join in: The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways. Then share the results, with a link tothis month’s post. I’ll do a start up post on the first of each month including a round up of entries from the preceding month, so we can all share in the creativity and fun.
Here’s my December 2021 contribution:
This was a really fun little spot in Lyon: An old fashioned silk workshop. I have to say it was one of the places I never would have found on my own. Even though I am a bit of a snob about doing-it-myself travel, in this case being on a Viking tour was a great experience. I thought that the workshop was beautiful, and the silks were amazing.
One-to-three is a monthly photo processing challenge on my other web site, theSquirrelChase.com. I’d love to have you join in: The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways. Then share the results, with a link tothis month’s post. I’ll do a start up post on the first of each month including a round up of entries from the preceding month, so we can all share in the creativity and fun.
Here’s my November 2021 contribution:
Another one that was pretty ho-hum, but it represents the place well. (It was a pretty gray morning and I wanted to get all three of the pyramids but my back was against a wall (literally) and this was the best I could do. I liked that there were people walking along for perspective, and to make the place feel alive. I used Topaz Studio 2 for these.
It is common to see a few arches when you look down a narrow alley. In places where there wasn’t room to put in a foundation the buildings support each other.
Where space is tight the buildings support each other.
The Mairie (town hall)
This town hall has a fascinating structure of partial arches carefully balanced. It’s held up for a very long time, the building was completed in 1676. You can read a bit about it here: The Vault of the Hôtel de Ville in Arles.
The town hall has partial arches carefully balanced.
Van Gogh’s arches
The garden of the former hospital building is maintained to look like van Gogh’s “Garden of the Hospital in Arles”.
Romanesque arches
The Church of St. Trophime is a lovely building with lots of arches, inside and out. If you are interested here is the Wikipedia article about it: Church of St. Trophime, Arles. The article includes a description of the fascinating sculptures around the portal.
The West Portal of the Church of St. Trophime.A lovely little side niche in the Church of St. Trophime.
One-to-three is a monthly photo processing challenge on my other web site, theSquirrelChase.com. I’d love to have you join in: The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways. Then share the results, with a link tothis month’s post. I’ll do a start up post on the first of each month including a round up of entries from the preceding month, so we can all share in the creativity and fun.
Here’s my October 2021 contribution:
Original image
G’mic Colored pencils
Topaz Line & Ink
G’mic highlight bloom
How to get the looks above:
I used filters in the G’mic plug-in for the GIMP and in Topaz Studio 2. I was looking for effects that would make the bicyclists stand out better.
The GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is open source (=free!) software that compares to Photoshop. G’mic (also open-source) is a plug in that has over 500 filters. Both of the G’mic filters I used are in the Artistic group.
Background
Since having to isolate due to the pandemic, last spring, I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation with photo processing and I thought it might be fun to share some of the things I’ve discovered and see what others are doing.
I’m hosting the challenge on the other site to try and keep my WordPress.org skills.
Sometimes I take a picture because it has elements that show what a place was like then, when I pull it up, it seems blah. That happened with this one:
Roads radiating out from the Arles Arenes.
Since I was up anyway, thanks to jet lag and a hungry cat, I started to play with this in Topaz Studio 2. Doing artsy stuff fits with Arles, since it is where many of the impressionists came to work, argue and drink.
Amie-Lu and I migrated today. The easy way-we took the Train de Grande Vitesse from Gare de Lyon to Avignon. Gare de Lyon is a lovely old train station that is a major hub for all trains heading south and east.
from the outside
from the inside
Gare de Lyon
Avignon was noticeably slower moving than Paris. Some of that might be the heat, but I think it was more the approach to life showing through.
I took the wrong straight (I needed to take the bent one) and eventually realized it. Sitting next to a dog who looks a lot like Max I decided that everything happens for a reason, and the reason for this mistake was clear: cassis sorbet. It was meant to be.
Max-alike
cassis sorbet
Palais des Papes
Instead of making a reservation and spending the evening dining Amie-Lu and I picked up a sandwich and some fruit at a grocery store and went exploring as the day wound down.
Avignon has a lot of warm yellow stone in the walls of its various edifices, and intriguing little passages.
We wandered along the outside of the city walls, took in the famous Pont d’Avignon then found a stairway up the Roche des Doms and enjoyed a gently lovely sunset from the top of the town.
XingfuMama 