What gifts are you buying this Christmas?

That's the thought on lots of people's minds at the moment as Christmas 2009 quickly approaches. I've started my Christmas shopping by selecting some t-shirts and photographic prints over at Red Bubble where I am a member. Logging onto the Red Bubble website today, I noticed a fancy-dancy new tab for people looking for gift-giving solutions. Not only does it look fab and you can type in your favourite keyword to search whatever your little heart desires, but you don't need to worry about parking, or the shop not being open or traffic or tired shop assistants! It's all on-line, and you can shop in the convenience of your pyjamas and it's delivered to your door - what's not to love! Go on, check it out...Happy Christmas Shopping!

Feature Sunday

Using Stumble Upon's feature of finding random images from the web, here are my pick of 5 random photographic images:

Le Carrelet - France 2007 from The Michel Rajkovic Portfolio

Fashion Mistress by Joseph Cartright Photography

Glass Chamber by Andrew Pearce Photographer

DYPTCH002 by ProspectOfTwilight

Image by http://www.eliara.com/

More or less to CRAPULOUS than meets the eye?

The term Crapulous refers to the feeling you have when you've eaten or have drunk far too much. If you're not sure, check the link and the little robot man will also pronounce it for you.



Well, I propose that a new meaning be given to the word Crapulous. You see, I visit this photographic website, that shall remain nameless. Their acceptance criteria is quite stringent. They don't want simple flowers or kittens or cute puppy dogs, and that's fair enough. They have high standards and want them maintained. They like dark, moody, art shots with just the right amount of grain, of movement, of tilting, of textures, not too processed and not to raw. Viewing the accepted images can be quite breathtaking - there are many stunning images. To date, all the images I have attempted to upload have been rejected. It's quite common to receive rejections, and as long as you don't let it get to you, then that's ok.



Earlier this week, I decided to take a look at all the images of mine they had rejected. Obviously, I'm biased, but I think they're fabulous. They think otherwise, they think they're crap. And b-i-n-g-o - we have a new use for the term Crapulous!



I present to you one of my Crapulous images:

Feature Monday - Photographic Treatments

Well, the discussion about "treatments" has been to-ing and fro-ing for a while now over at RedBubble. With comments like "Ooo, nice treatment!" being made on their work, artists just cannot be sure that a comment such as that is a positive or derogatory term. Do members assume that the image created was done so with just one click of an editing program, was it done purely in camera, or did it take hours and many layers later to create such an image? With the mass availability of inexpensive digital cameras and editing software, taking photos of anything and everything has never been more popular. And you only need to google Photoshop plugins, and you are flooded with endless choices of easy one-touch editing add-ons that will instantly "create" that special image for you. So, of course many will think that anything that is out of the ordinary would have been done while using an instant plugin filter. This isn't always the case - and this is what offends some artists when others leave comments such as "nice treatment". Perhaps, along with our instant world, we have also become lazy when using the written language. So when leaving comments like "nice treatment", what we're really meaning is "Excellent choices" as put so well by Shawhouse - mind you he also went on to add "I think you made excellent choices to arrive at the eye-catching image you posted here and that I can barely see on my stupid, sucky monitor that I inherited from my little brother a hundred years ago, I should really upgrade, but I’ll never afford anything decent, I should really get roommates…".

Using an example of a simple subject everyone has available to them - and apple or similar - the challenge went out to the members of A Photographer's Craft. Show us their best "treatment" - in other words, show us their interpretation of that subject. Below are examples of apple images from RedBubble members who took part in the challenge. Each is of an apple, and each has applied their own spin, interpretation, treatment - call it what you will - to make that image their own.

So, if you're going to be jumping onto sites such as Redbubble, or Flickr, and you see a WOW image that simply takes your breath away, leave a comment, and take the time to explain why you like it, rather than just saying "Ooo, nice treatment"!

"Apples" by Adrian Rachele

"Monastery" by Dana DiPasquale

"Apple" by Karri Klawiter

"Pyrus malus" by me

Feature Monday - Fine Art Photography

The days fly by, the months fly by, our lives fly by if we're not careful. We need to remember to stop and enjoy the views around us and take in the sights and sounds that make up our every day. This week, there's a bit of a mix to my Feature Monday. The first image is by Dana DiPasquale, and maybe because I'm gripped with cold and can dream of nothing nicer than dipping my toes in that glorious golden water she has captured, it certainly holds an attraction to me - and it's surely warmer than where I am at the moment!





Another image that makes me dream of holidays spent in the sun, relaxing and catching up with family and friends - surely a most deliciously exotic location and captured beautifully by lallymac.

And while I'm daydreaming of warmer climes, why not daydream about other times - in this case, the '70's. With retro being all the rage at the moment, how fitting to capture the craze and shoot some simply '70's styled bowls, add some edgey cropping and you have a very hip-an-happening piece of wall art to impress your friends when next they visit! Very cleverly done by Nikki Trexel.

And finally, this image brings me crashing back to earth and what is reality in today's society. You can live in the most modern of societies, but that doesn't prevent parts of society from struggling to function in the way that society would like us to. This image by Rose Atkinson shows just where we as a society have succumbed, that we can simply walk by and carry on as though the crumpled lives sitting or lying propped against the city streets are simply ragged clothes and not fellow human beings.