I’m a ‘Software Artist’ which means I write the code, take the pictures then stir with filters and effects.

The code is in my free app 'Photo Art: Rift Effects' for the iPhone and iPad. All images are created in the app, No other photo tools are used.

Many images start on the North Shore of Lake Superior, near Grand Marais, MN USA. The big lake is always beautiful.

I am exploring for visual styles. That means lots of different combinations of photo + filter. The painter’s ’happy accidents’ technique is an everyday event for me.

As time goes on, and with more practice, I expect to settle on some favorite combinations of filter + photo.

The next release of the software (ver 4.1) will have iPhone full rotation portrait to landscape and a larger image area. The control area will shrink into a drawer as needed to give more prominence to the image.

My favorite method of discovery is to put a group of photos into a dissolve that feeds other filters, and then watch for the ‘best’, most interesting image that pops out.

Adding a rate of change ‘Vary’ to filter settings (parms) is another way to quickly survey for ‘interesting’.

Random is also a great way to discover filter combinations that you wouldn’t normally think of.. Of course many ‘random’ produced filter combinations get trashed quickly.

I call the filter combinations ‘stacks’. Other apps use the term ‘layers’. Stacks can be saved and used as input to other filters or other stacks. With several hundred available filters the stacks of stacks can be extraordinary.