We won’t let go!

We did let go.

One of the glories of living in Georgia is raking leaves until March.

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck

The Weekly Photo

My friends and loyal readers know how much I delight in playing with photos. “Café Art” is my term for my manipulated creations. This week in my “POW” posts –  there is one for photos, and one for “art” –  the two selections form an interesting combination. The photo selection looks more like my usual café art, while the manipulated photo seems almost realistic.

Together with “The Weekly Photo”, this project is almost concluded. I set out to post a “Picture of the Week” and a “Photo of the Week” almost a year ago. Some weeks were missed due to circumstances, but it was a lot of fun. Like most of my endeavors, there were multiple objectives. Few viewers discovered the POW pages behind the posts, and even fewer stumbled into the albums. These will be more accessible when my sites get “freshened up” in the new year.

Yes, of course, clicking on the images starts you on a trek. Enjoy the trips!

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck

Cottonwood in Winter Frost

Once again a treasure from Stephen Blecher. He writes:

Hello Everybody, here is a picture that was scanned from an old negative. It was impossible to make a good print directly with an enlarger, because the the density range of the negative didn't match the print paper, so the set of negatives remained untouched. I recently came across them,  and with the miracle of Photoshop I could make interesting prints. This picture was taken near Chatfield in late November, under unusual conditions. It was very cold and fog was rising from Chatfield reservoir, as a result hoarfrost formed on everything, producing a uniform coating. You can see it's not snow. Since fog was still present, the visibility was limited and the sky had no color. The overall effect is quite somber, but it certainly gives the impression of a cold winter day. (The jpeg doesn't reproduce the sky accurately).

To see a collection of photos by Stephen Blecher click the photo.

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The Weekly Photo – Just Sitting Around

Not much happing after Thanksgiving and Black Friday since just about everybody is doing their part for Cyber Monday. Alright, so just two out of five are doing their shopping online, but all are enjoying the glorious sunshine.

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck

Playing with Photos

For many years I have been a doodler. My dictionary defines doodle as “to scribble or draw aimlessly…”. Of course, I take issue with “aimlessly”, it has always been “just letting ideas flow”. These days I like to use a photo as a basis and see what “flows” when using tools like “Artistic Effects” in Word and other Microsoft Office apps as well as photo editing and painting programs. So it isn’t doodling anymore –  I am creating Café Art!

Here I will let you, dear reader, peek into the making of a recent opus. It starts with this photo of a young dear. It is my “Photo of the Week” – click on it to go to the post page at Gallery Ludwig.

This time I did not have a specific result in mind. I tried my usual favorites, especially the plaster painting effect that PaintShop Pro calls “Artistic Effect .. Topography”.

A number of variations later, I liked this:

The I followed another tack.

I played with many effects, made color and cropping changes and finally settled on this color pencil sketch for this week’s “Picture of the Week”. You can see it larger on the post page at Silver Canvas.

Do you like my choice? Do you prefer another one? Please let me know, I appreciate learning what others like.

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck

Fall day at the Farm

The farm in this case is McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth, Georgia – always a delightful place for an afternoon stroll.

Fall Day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck

Fall Colors - 4

At last some of the fall colors we have all been waiting for. The weather this year has not cooperated and most of the leaves have fallen before they had a chance to show their glory.

.:.

© 2012 Ludwig Keck