An almost surreal dock scene

A series of photos of a dock scene taken around Port Huron, Michigan at dusk. It is a rather mundane scene but it still has a weird surreal quality about it. The photos were shot in the sequence shown.


A simple shot of a dock pile still makes an interesting photo because of the overcast lighting. Bright sunny conditions would not worked out as well.


I moved back and to the side to show more of the pilings. Again, the lighting works very well for this scene.


I zoom out to show more of the dock and include the figure of the boy as well.


My favorite version is this one where I centered the first piling and include even more of the dock. The figure is further down near the end of the sock.

Interesting photo possibilities are everywhere

These photos were all taken in Paris, France. There are seemingly mundane scenes that we come across that can make wonderful images. Keep your eyes open !


A scene out of a Paris hotel window became a striking image because of the color and the framing created by the darkened room.


The shadows of the ladder rungs make this a very interesting composition. Also the colors and shapes create a nice abstract image. These are the type of scenes that one is likely to overlook.


These rooftop scene is interesting because of the composition and lighting.


I altered this late afternoon Paris street scene by enlarging the central portion of the photo and adding it to the original. The odd light quality also helps to make this an interesting photo.

Photography while traveling

I always take a lot of photographs when traveling looking for images that I might use later in my photomontages. Italy offers many opportunities for interesting images. Here is the Leaning Tower of Pisa which I leaned quite a bit more using Photoshop. I also altered the flag on top to add to the action.


They hadn't quite dressed the manikin in this dress shop window in Lucca which made an novel photo.


The buildings are pretty interesting in Lucca. Here I captured a house painter standing in the window which created an odd image.


My wife browsing in a Lucca dress shop, another interesting image. Some of these images are quite surreal without adding objects or altering the images.

Memorial Day 2009

More photo experiments

Photos can easily be digitally altered to create interesting compositions. This is a great way to experiment with design and color.


Here is a shot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to which I added a new sky and the black areas in the foreground.


An elongated photo of the Pompidou Center in Paris. I added the black square shape in the foreground as well as the white area on top of the wall.


Another view of the Pompidou Center to which I added black and white shapes, creating an interesting design


A shot from the interior of the Pompidou. I elongated the photo and added a few color squares.


A double image of a Paris street scene which also has been elongated.

Some photo experiments

Photography is a great medium for experimentation. One can take very unusually composed or lit scenes or photographs can be digitally altered to create interesting and striking compositions.


This is a photograph of the kitchen in the apartment I used to have in New York. It was dusk and I only had the kitchen lights on which resulted in a very unusual photo.


A New York street scene which I elongated and added an orange sky for drama.


A Chicago scene to which I added black areas creating a weird image.


Another Chicago scene to which I added black, white and some color areas.


A photo taken in Paris to which some flat color areas were added. Even rather mundane scenes can be made quite interesting with digital alterations.

Fun photo experiments

Here are a few of my photographic experiments, the computer is the perfect medium for this type of work.


An elongated photo of downtown Chicago to which I added several images of my cat's ball.


The beach at Puerto Vallarta with floating pesos.


A nude figure study with abstract color shapes creates an interesting composition.


A scene in downtown Lucca, Italy abstract color shapes added.


Another variation of the same scene.


Finally, a negative of the previous image creates a weird effect.

More of my photography

I love taking photographs of signs, here are a couple the make interesting pictures. When traveling I always take a lot of photographs, some of which I may use later to create photomontages.




This one is titled CAT ON FENCE. I just missed him but you can see his tail as he leaped away.


I was able to get a nice shot of him a bit later when he got used to me.

Another career interest: Photography

Photography has always held a great interest for me. I have occasionally done a few commercial photo assignments and have exhibited some of my photos in galleries. Here are a few random shots of subjects that have interested me.


A photo of grandaughter Ryan wearing a mask that she had made.


An interesting photo of a swimming pool.


A bird outside my front window.


Laura sleeping in front of one of my paintings.

A few more photomontages

Jeanne
This image was created using four different photographs. The background was a photo of my late wife sitting in a room in Lucca, Italy. Over this I added the sky, lemon and the bird.


Muse With Pear
This image consists of three different photos.


Paris Tomato
The same window as in the above image with a tomato added.


Rectangles,Birds & Square
The same sky photo was used in this image as was used in the first photomontage A different room was used and I added two birds and rectangles as well as some loosely drawn lines.


Reflections
This was created using three images, the overall room shot with two images of the onion added. When creating photomontages just have fun by putting unusual images together and see what happens. Again, all these photomontages were created using the Adobe Photoshop 5.0 program. You don't need the full, more expensive Photoshop program, Photoshop Elements will work fine.

Some early photomontages

When I first began experimenting with the digital medium I created a number of photomontages. The computer is perfect for this type of work. These were all done using the Adobe Photoshop 5.0 program. I have a huge stockpile of photographs that I have taken over the years that I can choose from for subject matter.


Death Of A Wasp


Flight


Floating Objects In Dark Room


Floating Yellow


Jeanne In Clouds

More ricefield photomontages

Here are five more photomontages in the rice field series. They were all done using Photoshop 5.0




This is my cat Laura.






With photomontages anything goes, just let your imagination run wild.