Art Appreciation through Flattr

For a long time, I've been searching for a practical way to appreciate the work of my fellow artists, be they photographers, videographers, musicians or what have you. Today, I finally decided to become both a creator and a supporter of Flattr. What this means in practice that as a flatterer of art I set aside a small amount of money each month to appreciate the work of the people I normally engage with. This flat amount is divided across all my single acts of appreciation on Flickr, 500px, YouTube and SoundCloud. So for example if I favorite a piece of art on 500px, that person will receive a micro payment at the end of the month, which is in proportion to the total number of favorites etc. I've given across all services I've linked up with Flattr. All that person has to do, is sign up as a Flattr creator, so he/she can receive the payments. So, if I'm following you on 500px or Flickr etc., it actually pays off to become a creator! ;) The flip side of the coin is that I'm also a Flattr creator, so if you appreciate my work as a Flattr supporter that appreciation will generate a micro payment to me in the same fashion. In practice, I'm not expecting much to happen on that front, but if you like my work Flattr is a good way to show your support. :) I've decided to invest a flat rate per month to this cause, since to me it feels like the way it should be. You create something that other people enjoy, they can show their appreciation in something tangible albeit small. I see something that I like, I pay the artist through showing my support.

P.S. I just wish +Google+ would join the ranks of services, which allow Flattering people with micro payments. :)

Light Fantastic

Light Fantastic, a photo by svimes on Flickr.

Tonality, simple as that. The scene itseld is not spectacular but the light and the dynamic range provided by D800 is just spectacular. A splash of color after such dreary grey periods of rainy days made me grab a couple of frames from my back yard even though I did not have time to venture further. It's funny that I used the need multiple exposures on my D70 to get even close to this result. Fighting against noise as well was a major obstacle in capturing eye pleasing results.

Old Bark is Tougher

Old Bark is Tougher, a photo by svimes on Flickr.

Yesterday, I found a really great photography location purely by chance. It is a 15km trail that starts from a lake called "Lac de Mondon".

La Redole

La Redole, a set on Flickr.

This waterfall is the middle one of the three waterfalls in Gimel-les-cascades. It is the smallest one of the three, only 27 meters in height, but I thought it was the most photogenic one.

NineOhNine

Stepped back in time to my tracker days and created this tune: NineOhNine. :)

500px

Let's face it, Flickr has been in "maintenance mode" for quite a long time and I've started looking at alternatives. Don't take me wrong, I want Flickr to succeed, since I've invested a *lot* of time and effort in creating a photoscape, which would be hard to encapsulate should the service disappear from the face of the Internet. 500px seems to be geared towards serious amateurs as well as professionals looking to showcase their pictures. Today, I decided to join up and give the service a go. At the same time I decided to move to Lightroom 4, whose 500px plug-in seems to work -- mostly. Why I say mostly is that the fact that I have to resample my photos for them to meet the 500px store's 3600px lower limit, the plug-in seems to "disagree" which photos have already been published. I guess it could also be due to the fact that I'm still a bit new to LR4 as well... Another minor issue is that there is no way to define your own license for the photos I have uploaded. For years I have licensed my photos under the Creative Commons license, apart from a couple of photos uploaded to iStock photo and now 500px. If 500px wants to win the hearts and minds of Flickrites, they will have to create an app to import photos from Flickr to 500px...

The Grotto Series

The Grotto Series, a set on Flickr.

Of late I have been more and more in tune with an impressionistic side of self expression. The onset of spring has inspired me in many ways. "The Grotto Series" is an impressionistic approach to the mystical waters of a pool of water inside a grotto.

"Hallowed Black"

Arch, a photo by svimes on Flickr.

Of late I've surprised myself on a couple of occasions, where I have started to use quite an agressive post-process filter called "Hallowed Black". In Lightroom terms it basically consists of kicking up Recovery and Fill Light, as well Contrast and Saturation quite aggressively. In addition the saturation of red and orange is decreased, whereas yellow and green are kicked up (+ some split toning). The end result is the heightening of any reflected light and exposure of minutest tones in the dark areas. It suits certain subjects as this one quite well, don't you think?

On Impressionism

Delicate
Originally uploaded by svimes

In terms of wikipedia:

"Characteristics of Impressionist paintings include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on the accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism

How to achieve this through photography, where brush strokes need to be post-process and often yield uninteresting gimmicky photographs?

What I've ended up doing is finding visual angles, which yield a sense of movement and accurate depiction of light through refelction on bodies of water, be they poinds, rivers, lakes or the sea. To me the post-process is still not the main thing rather coming up with these shots in a "natural" way.

This approach of course narrows down the subject matter quite somewhat, but I've been thinking about applying this to portraiture as well. :) Anyway, impressionism seems to be an interesting approach to expression and I will continue to investigate it.

Galleria MYSTIC

Galleria MYSTIC
Originally uploaded by svimes

Bicycling past the gallery
you seem to be unaware
of its existence.

The thought above is a contemplation of the relevance of art in this society...

Does art matter?

What do you think?

Lactarius Rufus

Lactarius Rufus
Originally uploaded by svimes

Had a nice weekend in the woods and came back with approximately 30 liters of Lactarius Rufus. In terms of the end product, we ended up with approximately eight liters in all. In addition, we bagged some 10 liters of different types of Boletus namely Boletus Edulis, Boletus Pinophilus, Leccinum Scabrum, Suillus Variegatus, Suillus Bovinus, Suillus Luteus, Suillus Granulatus and Xerocomus Subtomentosus.

These Lactaria were preserved in vinegar or ligtly salted and frozen. It took me nearly six hours to cook them last night, since Lactarius Rufus needs to be cooked before it can be preserved or eaten. The net volume of all the lactaria ended up approximately 8 liters, 6 frozen and 2 preserved in vinegar.

Thinking of...

Thinking of...
Originally uploaded by svimes

Thinking of green pastures
galloping madly in the sun
fresh hay between my teeth
or just savoring the freedom.

Lightroom Presets

Lively Discussion
Originally uploaded by svimes

I am really fond of the new preset templates I found on the Adobe Website for Photoshop Lightroom. Well, to be honest I'm thrilled because someone had created three Ansel Adams presets, which replicate the "Kodak" tone control created by Ansel Adams. My BW shots just got better tones from now on. ;)

Chateau Gaillard

Chateau Gaillard
Originally uploaded by svimes

The white rocks of Les Andelys on top of which Richard Lionheart built Chateau Gaillard were unconquerable, were it not for the sewers. :)

Avenues of the Sea

Avenues of the Sea
Originally uploaded by svimes

It was quite interesting to watch the steady stream of ships making their way to their destination, slowly but surely.

Fun, Fun, Fun, in the Sun

Fun, Fun, Fun, in the Sun
Originally uploaded by svimes

Saint Malo has a very idyllic beach, which was bustling with activity when we visited it.

Low Tide

Low Tide
Originally uploaded by svimes

I think I enjoy sunsets more in monochrome, since you can get really nice contrasts and tones with that light.

Test of Time

Test of Time
Originally uploaded by svimes

Test of time: water against wood.

Lycanthropic Vision

Lycanthropic Vision
Originally uploaded by svimes

The moon is calling to me
and my blood is singing.

Brahehus

Brahehus
Originally uploaded by svimes

Cold tones have rarely set on my images, in the post process, but somehow the bleak history of Brahehus called for bleak colors. Brahehus sit on top of a hill close to the village of Gränna in Sweden. It is a magnificent place overlooking the lake Vättern. I climbed the footpath up the steep hill to take this picture. On the top I realized that the lazy people could have taken the E4 to it. ;)