Post 6- Creativity in a crisis

Inspiration at Last!!
I have been looking at You Tube videos and Facebook sites looking for inspiration during the period of self-isolation. One of my friends Mick Govan posted a link to a video by Doug Chinnery called Creativity in a Crisis and I watched it with great interest.
The video was made last week in the context of the coronavirus lockdown and he showed us his approach to being creative with images taken in his home.
Doug is a great exponent of Intentional Camera Movement and Multiple Exposures and has produced many very useful videos on these subjects over the years and this is no exception.
In this video he suggests looking around our homes for decorative objects and combining images of them with multiple exposure techniques. He is a Canon shooter so has the possiblity of combining, in camera, up to five images whereas my Fuji XT-20 will only combine two. His camera also has a number different blending modes whereas mine only has the one.
Undaunted by  these limitations I set about capturing images of three decorative cats against various backgrounds and took four quite interesting shots. I also found a small vase of plastic flowers. Within fifteen minutes I had half a dozen base shots. Some of which are shown below.

Doug's approach was to take his multiple exposure images into Lightroom to select ones with "potential" and then develop them in the normal way. He then took them one at a time into Photoshop for further manipulation. He the duplicated the background layer and used the free transform tool to move and distort this new top layer. He then went through the various blending modes available selecting those that produced an "interesting" effect to save as a new image.
Although his system is quite simple and relies substantially on serendipity the real creativity comes from recognising when a chosen blend mode has produced an image that is both interesting and has real artistic merit. It is at this point that my own insecurities about my abilities comes to the surface again. Do the images that I find interesting have any real artistic merit????


I am now at the stage in my development where I am starting to say. I LIKE IT! and I HOPE YOU, THE VIEWER, DO TOO!
I have posted some of the many images that popped out from this, my first session, of what I will call "The Doug Chinnery Technique". I hope you like them!!!!

Post 5-and then there was Coronavirus!

Last week everything changed as we became aware of the implications of the Corona virus first reported in China. Initially it seemed like it was "another side of the World"problem but then BANG, we are all being asked to avoid all face to face social contact to slow down the spread of the infection.
Moy and I are very lucky as this isolation will not have any impact upon our income but it is clear that everyone who is working will be seriously impacted and many employers will close down. The Governments Powers are limited when faced with a crisis such as this and they will, I am sure, face criticism from many quarters. I sincerely hope it does not result in civil unrest and the break down of society which is entirely possible.
Avoiding contact with the infection, washing our hands and avoiding touching our nose, mouth and eyes are the major things we can do. We will be staying in the house until further notice except for the unavoidable shopping trips.

I intend spend some of my time improving my post processing skills and maybe use them to create some new images.
I also plan to get around to the job of scanning the old family photographs into a digital format.
Hopefully something good will come out of the experience.

I do hope we do not catch the virus and that all our friends and family remain well or recover quickly. Fingers crossed. I hope anyone reading this also keeps safe and stays well.

Good Luck!