The Flickr Eyejewels Image Generatr

In June, 2020, Kitten and I flirted on Flickr, and she would be one of the first people I would ever meet from this medium. I implied, I guess, that she should contact me in world, and she did. Chats turned to inspiration for the first time I would meet someone through Flickr and pose them as a model.

It was through our conversations for that project that Kitten suggested I start writing stories to accompany my pictures. I am not shy about saying so: her idea proved an extension of the art I enjoy.

We haven't seen as much of each other in the past year, but I am glad every time I do, and she's someone I can count on, truly.

I feel blessed to have this Kitten be my friend.


Kitten was featured in my first series.
---
Pose created by Wolf Braham using AnyPose
Photo taken at Wolf Braham's private studio

Another one from the shoot a few days ago.

This is from the archives...my little pond in my back yard...

This beautiful area is located in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens...at every turn in the path, there was something lovely to view...

New photo of one arranged shelf. Mineral details in notes.

Best viewed large.

this is trying to symbolise the contrast of man made objects and nature but also to try and show that they can both live in co-existance.

Please NO multi-invites and glitters.

Another from the set of make-up photography I did with Becky. The first time I've ever tried lit, model photography and the first time I've ever used off-camera flash aside from one tester at the weekend.

Loving the cold, blue look you can get out of it whilst still remaining faithful to the original make-up.

All these shots were taken in an ad-hoc studio in a small kitchen with a low ceiling and cream walls.

Model: Jocelyn Galloway
Make-up: Rebecca-Jane Joseph ([email protected])
Photographer: Yours Truly (www.edbarton.co.uk)

Camera Info
Canon 5D Mark II
Samyang 85mm 1.4 lens (probably at f4)

Strobist Info
Yonguo YN560 shoot through umbrella, camera high left, probably on about 1/4 power.

Triggered with Yongnuo RF-602.

Also had a 105W CFL Bulb pointing at the ceiling so I could manually focus as the room was pitch black by now.

Annddd had a couple of reflectors lying around for fill.

Will be uploading more over the next couple of days.

Took this pic last summer. Decided to reprocess it using Topaz a few days ago.

Took this one a few weeks ago.

Processing was a lot of experimentation so I hope you like it.

I didn't have time to look for the tag, so I don't know what this lovely is.
Thank you, Flickr - particularly Sunita Regina - for identifying this gorgeous plant for me. I found a site that tells a bit more about it - best of all, it seems I must have read the tag at least once, as I think I actually planted it in the right place! I'm thrilled to learn that I can dry flowers for a bit of joy through the bleak season. Thank you, Flickr!

Information: www.paghat.com/masterwort.html

The Pitaya from Vietnam is also known as the Dragon Fruit, and is a stunningly beautiful fruit with an intense colour and shape, magnificent flowers and a delicious taste.

The fruit are available in red and yellow. The plant itself is not attractive, and looks like a triangular cross sectioned cactus climber.
The flower is unique as it only comes out at night as a large scented bloom, for one night only.

The internal flesh is translucent with a melon like taste, and the yellow is the most flavoursome.

When I had my acreage, I planted quite a few of these plants, but was unsuccessful in getting fruit, and that may have been a pollination issue.

I want to take this opportunity to recommend a Flickr friend dragon762w who, while remaining incognito, posts some very interesting images.

View Fire Breathing On White

Angles Theme.

Jim at Mere Mailbox

Celine at Fanime Con 2009.

Today was a Winters day here in Brisbane. The temperature was 24degC, there was almost no wind, and it was just perfect.

This is a Golden Penda tree (Australian rainforest) and there are plenty growing around my suburb. I took it last weekend when they were in their peak, but it was a bit windy, so the branches were dancing around, and annoying me as I tried to take the shot.

Today, the Lorikeets (parrots) were going bananas in the trees enjoying the feast of flowers.
Lorikeets are small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar and soft fruits.

I used the 100mm macro and wound up the ISO to 800 to give me a 3x stop advantage, and took this at f7 1/125 sec handheld.

Because the Penda gives an overpowering yellowness to images, I wanted to adjust it to highlight the stamens so In PS raw converter I wound the black level up significantly, then the adjusted the brightness to compensate so that it produced a highly contrasting yellow on black look.

The image could have been sharper and less noisy in better circumstances.

View Parrots Paradise On Black

Jim at Mere Mailbox

r = \frac{1}{u} = \frac{ h^2 / GM }{1 + e \cos (\theta - \theta_0)}

The above really is one of the orbital dynamics equations :-)
This image is a macro of an acrylic art piece that Mrs Mail bought a few months ago. I keep thinking about how to do a wider view of it, but wanting to do something special, yet haven't decided, so I have so far done a couple of macros, and find it quite mesmerising when looked at closely.
Watch this space.

View Microcosmos On Black

Black and White (In Colour) Theme

Jim at Mere Mailbox

This is Melbourne Central Shopping Centre which is built around an old shot tower (see below).

There is a large 84M glass cone shaped roof above the central part of the centre, which is in the heart of the Melbourne CBD, and above one of the city railway stations.

When I took this shot (no pun intended) the sky was washed out white, so I replaced it with a more interesting sunset pink sky.

I have some more photos from this centre which I will publish soon.

The 50M shot tower was built in 1890 and was used until 1960.
The historic building was saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated into the massive Melbourne Central complex in 1991

If you haven't heard of a shot tower I have taken some words from Wikipedia:-

A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of shot balls by freefall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is used for projectiles in firearms.

In a shot tower, lead is heated until molten, then dropped through a copper sieve high up in the tower. The liquid lead solidifies as it falls and by surface tension forms tiny spherical balls. The partially cooled balls are caught at the floor of the tower in a water-filled basin.

View The Upshot of it all on black.

See another Shot from underneath the roof
www.flickr.com/photos/meremail/3556672264/

Circular Theme

Mere Mailbox

i took this in 1984 when we toured the US.

Taken on film, and scanned, I decided to use a texture following some impressive work by a contact JohnDan1 who specialises in texture. He always links to the texture used from his contacts, and the one I used is here.

This is my 2nd attempt at texture and I am not even sure if I am doing it correctly, but I am happy with this result.

Mabry Mill is a watermill located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia USA. It is a tourist attraction mainly for the picturesque views of the mill itself. A short trail around the mill connects historical exhibits about life in rural Virginia. The trail allows visitors to view the gristmill, sawmill, and blacksmith shop.

Mabry Mill became operational in 1905 and served as a gristmill until the mid-1930s. E.B. Mabry operated the mill from 1910 until 1935.

View Wheely Good On Black

Circular Theme

Mere Mailbox

A moment in time captured in a Melbourne Art Gallery.

View Contemplated On Black to see what is in the painting.

This turned out surprisingly better than I expected. No flash allowed and the extremely large room was very monochromatic, perhaps by design. The painting was literally jumping off the wall in colour and detail.

I selected the painting with marquee, then selected inverse which of course changes the selection to everything but the painting, then applied a Gaussian blur at a level that put the emphasis more on the contemplatee rather than the contemplator. Other than that, the shot is straight out of the P&S Lumix camera.

Gaussian distribution |ˈgaʊsɪən|
noun Statistics - another term for normal distribution .
ORIGIN early 20th cent.: named after K. Gauss , who described it.

normal distribution
noun Statistics
a function that represents the distribution of many random variables as a symmetrical bell-shaped graph.

Take A Seat Theme

Mere Mailbox

Rumblemumbles and I were having some fun with a new brooch that she bought, and for some reason it appealed to my humourous nature.

This is not the my favourite shot from the ones we took, but being currently disabled and armature challenged, taking photos is not easy, and the best shot suffered from the lips being out of focus more than it is here.

View Pearly Whites On Black

Mere Mailbox

It's a sculpture of a hammer thrower (sans hammer) that sits in Melbourne's Botanical gardens.

View The Strain On Black

John Edward Robinson
Bronze sculpture
1974
Queen Victoria Gardens


Artist John Robinson has a long history with Australia. Born in London in 1935, he came to Australia briefly during the war as a child evacuated to escape the German bombing of London. He returned in 1952, living on the land in South Australia, which is where he rediscovered his early talent for sculpture. Returning to England in 1969, he devoted himself to sculpture full time. Robinson's reputation as a figurative sculptor grew quickly. In 1973, the City of London commissioned his Hammer Thrower. In 1974, he began to focus on more symbolic forms. Robinson's major commissions include four sculptures for the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Gymnast for the New Olympic Museum, Lausanne, and The Pathfinder and Water Children, now with the City of Melbourne.


Mining giant Conzinc Riotinto (now known as Rio Tinto) commissioned Robinson's The Pathfinder, which they planned to install in their proposed new building. When the building failed to go ahead, the 'dynamic' sculpture of the hammer thrower in action was placed on long-term loan with the City of Melbourne, which sited the bronze in the Queen Victoria Gardens. The hammer held by the figure has been stolen several times and duly returned or replaced by another. Lord Mayor Councillor Whalley unveiled The Pathfinder in April 1974.


Melbourne hosted the Olympics in 1956 (way before Sydney!)
There aren't many mentions of it around the city, but this is one.