This photo is a couple years old. I brought my little Chromebook to work one day and was looking at a photo of Alex on the screen while Alex slept on my computer bag in the background.

Happy Caturday: Photo in a photo

In recent weeks I have been working on a project called Reflected Petals. This has involved taking a top-down image of a flower and then using mirror distortions to create a symmetric design. If the starting image has plenty of detail and some colour contrast you get some really interesting results.

I’ll eventually get around to sharing the outcomes of the project here on Flickr (though I have already published pictures like this over the years).

Ironically this particular image is not part of the main project, but something I did last night when I was bored and desperately trying to think of something to do for Sliders Sunday today. I should have really been going to bed…

Normally I would use the Distort > Mirror filter in Affinity, but here I used the Chromebook running an Android app called Mirrorlab. This program is great fun to play with (if you like that sort of thing), but you soon drift far away from visual reality…

This image is based on a picture of an ox-eye daisy that I published here seven months ago. The quickest way to get a suitable starting image on to the Chromebook last night was to download it from Flickr. I’ll publish a link to the in-camera image as usual in my first comment.

I like this result because of all the woven petals - that’s not an effect you would get in Affinity. Like a lot of these distorted images, most of the beauty comes from the original flower, and the repetition and distortion encourage you to look more closely at what nature has already achieved.

I hope you enjoy it anyway. Normal, undistorted service will resume tomorrow :)

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image! Happy Sliders Sunday :)

Yesterday, late afternoon, when I was on my main frame computer, I got the blue screen of death. Hubby found that my hard drive died. Luckily after the mornings purchase, installation and back up drive retrieval, I'm in business again (Chromebook was indeed helpful, but much harder to use). I only lost 2 artworks since I crashed 2 days after the last back-up. But, thank goodness for back up drives as it saved the day.

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Leftovers and outtakes, but I am back and exhausted in Massachusetts -- and looking forward to a COVID test Monday.

I took this from the London Bridge, which is about a 30 minute walk from the hospital (I was in Havasu to help mom with a medical thing). At least I got some steps in.

The distant mountains are in California. We actually drive some distance through California to get to Havasu Arizona from our area in AZ on the Colorado River. Not that anyone needs to know all that (unless you care to stalk me), but that is my story.

Some of the few pics I took couldn't be easily dealt with on the chromebook's tiny screen (my eyes are shot, really) so I'll get a couple out, possibly, over the next few days. It's slim pickings.

I hope all are having a fine weekend.

I will try to catch up later; going to spend some time with hyperactive Charlie, since I've been away for a week.

This is not what it seems.

But I suspect you guessed that…

Originally it was a slightly off-centre image of a red camellia flower taken on holiday in Devon last year, in a land of acid soils and pretty gardens.

A few evenings ago I spent an hour or so messing around with the raw file using Darktable on the little Chromebook. Darktable is the free, open-source raw converter that’s like Lightroom but saying that rather does it an injustice.

Compared to the other major converters (and I seem to have gathered the complete collection for Windows over time) Darktable is so much more powerful and largely does away with the need for a separate pixel editor like Photoshop while performing all the work on your images non-destructively using the 40-bit (or whatever it is) raw detail. Some of the adjustments, like the colour correction ones, also use very different paradigms than those of most of the converters. And I have discovered that you can get some very interesting different results with your image manglings as a result.

But it’s not for the faint-hearted: a lot of the time I have really no idea what I am doing with it. That always seems like fun for me so I don’t mind…

So, I’m impressed with Darktable. I’m much less impressed with GIMP though. That’s the open-source equivalent of Photoshop. Still, using both means I can edit and play happily on the little Chromebook.

To create this one, I messed around with the raw conversion creating something deeply red and structural, especially in the petals, and with lots of definition to the yellow anthers. Then in GIMP I duplicated the resulting background layer, flipped the duplicate horizontally and blended it with the original layer using Lighten Only as the blend mode. I then created a new layer from the result and blended it back with Multiply using reduced opacity to increase the contrast. Later I did make a few finishing touches with Affinity and Nik CEfex, but nothing of particular consequence.

If you are the person that actually reads all of this then I salute you for your fortitude! Have a happy Sliders Sunday :)

I’ll post a link to the in-camera version in the first comment as usual.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Sliders Sunday :)

It's a while since I have published a set of variants based on one source image. So I thought I might plague you with another.

This set is based on an image I took of a local beech tree last November. 't'were pretty :)

The in-camera original was processed in Capture One using the raw convertor's auto default.

The set is a collection of distortions produced by the MirrorLab app. This is an Android app, running here on a Chromebook. The free version is a very competent program and quite unusual in its versatility. The paid upgrade gives you more options and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to save larger images (though the free version is fine for Flickr).

I've had a lot of fun with this little app - distortions give a new view on something familiar. But, as ever, the key is finding a starting image that works. I think this one probably does better than most I have tried...

I hope you enjoy the set. As ever I'd love to hear your favourites :)

As usual, I shall publish a link to the in-camera version in the first comment. The commentary is the same for each so you only need to read it once, if that.

I've selected this one for Sliders Sunday - I like the idea of a window in the tree.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Sliders Sunday :)

View from the top of the Gatescarth Pass, with some nice light on Harter Fell (Mardale).

Camera jpeg edited in Snapseed on a Chromebook

edited again using free lightroom on chromebook

Last week, when I managed to steal five minutes for my hobby, I messed around a bit with GIMP, the free image editor that comes from the OpenSource/Linux stable.

I was really quite impressed. Like Darktable which is the equivalent raw converter, it is arguably more powerful and configurable than the main commercial alternatives like Photoshop or Affinity Photo.

The filters are particularly interesting for me as they are a unique set of processing ideas, and even the ones that replicate the standard-issue filters like rectangular to polar conversion, ripple, lens vignette and edge detect are so much more powerful and tweakable.

But the power and flexibility come at a price: complexity and lack of ease of use - just too many choices. But that makes them great for Sliders Sunday playtime...

Most of the filters are destructive (that is, you apply them and move on without being able to come back and adjust them later in the workflow)... or at least I think they are: I really ought to read the manual, lol.

GIMP is available as a portable app on Windows as well as Linux. And because it runs on Linux it also runs on a modern Chromebook - I've used it quite successfully on that as well for messing about (but this was done in Windows).

I mention Gimp here partly to encourage you to try it if you like playing with software. It's free! I won't be abandoning the commercial software for my main workflow, but I shall definitely adding it to my toybox.

This is an image that you have seen before (see: Lacemakers ). I apologise for that, but if I'd known I was going to publish it I would have started somewhere else :)

It's almost all created from one GIMP filter: photocopy. It makes the Photoshop variant look like very basic in comparison. Subtract blend was used somewhere in the workflow... or was it Difference? GIMP has more blend modes than you can shake a stick at...

I'll post the in-camera original in the first comment so you can see how far we came.

(If you are wondering about the title, hydrangea comes from the Greek for water jar - a lack of imagination from me then!)

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Slider's Sunday :)

Further up on Grey Crag. This stile needed some careful negotiation!

Camera jpeg edited in Snapseed on a Chromebook.

Happy Fence Friday!

I had a molar extracted and it caused me a fair amount of pain so I worked in the mornings and then spent the afternoons this week in bed. I've discovered that Pippi is as big a couch potato as I am. She LOVES TV. George thought she just liked bird videos created for cats so I showed her a couple of those. She loved them but I got bored so I switched tabs on my Chromebook and went back to watching TV shows. Turns out Pippi likes those too! She's never sat on either of our laps until I hauled out the Chromebook and suddenly she wants the best seat in the house - lying on me as I try to watch TV. She will truly sit still for 2 hours watching the screen on my Chromebook. I have no idea what she sees or what she's thinking but I love our new routine of chilling in the afternoons watching TV together.

Happy Caturday: Describe your cat in one word

(Sorry, "couch potato" is two words but it perfectly describes Pippi this past week.)

Ball-bearing.

This was an experiment in one idea which kind of morphed into three.

I’d noticed before that the metal case on my Chromebook had a nice bevelled pattern which I thought would make an interesting abstract sometime.

Then for the Crazy Tuesday theme of minimalism, which is something that really interests me and a kind of photography I’d like to explore, I thought of a single ball bearing against a bland background. And that became the Chromebook top to get the repetition of the circular shapes with size contrast.

And then when it came to taking it (in a late rush as per usual) I used a desk lamp to supplement the daylight with the idea of removing the colour later, but that created another contrast in colour with a warring boundary between the two.

So we here we are three ideas in one implementation. Never a good thing but an interesting starter experiment for the ideas.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Crazy Tuesday :)

[Handheld on the little camera; mixed daylight/tungsten halogen desklamp.

Taking it was a bit of a fiddle as I wanted to get the in-focus line to join the bearing and the orange bright spot along a diagonal for strength, and have the blue orange boundary along the opposite diagonal. After a bit of contorting it got there... ish... kind of :)

Developed in Capture One with keystone correction and careful cropping, and attention to colour balance and detail.

In Photo combined two versions from C1 to retain sharpening around bearing but to demphasise surface texture.

Curves in LAB mode to reduce contrast except in darks around bearing. Tweaked colour to try and get the balance between the two areas more even… not terribly succesfully.

A bit of inpainting to remove dust and annoying highlights in bearing. Sharpened with Unsharp Mask and High Pass/Linear blend. Gave up. Published :)]

Chromebook editing...it's not easy.

Mrs. Blue and one of the Chromebook Pixels which were donated to the GNOME Foundation by Intel.

Three variants starting from the (Rose Froze HDR image).

These were all produced using Mirrorlab, a fun Android app, in this case running on a Chromebook :)

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image :)

It's a while since I have published a set of variants based on one source image. So I thought I might plague you with another.

This set is based on an image I took of a local beech tree last November. 't'were pretty :)

The in-camera original was processed in Capture One using the raw convertor's auto default.

The set is a collection of distortions produced by the MirrorLab app. This is an Android app, running here on a Chromebook. The free version is a very competent program and quite unusual in its versatility. The paid upgrade gives you more options and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to save larger images (though the free version is fine for Flickr).

I've had a lot of fun with this little app - distortions give a new view on something familiar. But, as ever, the key is finding a starting image that works. I think this one probably does better than most I have tried...

I hope you enjoy the set. As ever I'd love to hear your favourites :)

As usual, I shall publish a link to the in-camera version in the first comment. The commentary is the same for each so you only need to read it once, if that.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image :)

It's a while since I have published a set of variants based on one source image. So I thought I might plague you with another.

This set is based on an image I took of a local beech tree last November. 't'were pretty :)

The in-camera original was processed in Capture One using the raw convertor's auto default.

The set is a collection of distortions produced by the MirrorLab app. This is an Android app, running here on a Chromebook. The free version is a very competent program and quite unusual in its versatility. The paid upgrade gives you more options and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to save larger images (though the free version is fine for Flickr).

I've had a lot of fun with this little app - distortions give a new view on something familiar. But, as ever, the key is finding a starting image that works. I think this one probably does better than most I have tried...

I hope you enjoy the set. As ever I'd love to hear your favourites :)

As usual, I shall publish a link to the in-camera version in the first comment. The commentary is the same for each so you only need to read it once, if that.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image :)

The theme for Happy Caturday this week is furniture. I was tired this week so left the photo shoot until this morning. I got up early, made the bed so that when the cats got on it I could take a lovely photo with my camera instead of just a quick snap with my phone. I then went downstairs and plopped on the couch with my Chromebook. When George heard what the theme was and why I had made the bed so early he pointed out that with Jimmy laying on my legs and Ella sitting on the arm of the couch behind my head, I was the favorite furniture. So true. So here's Jimmy on m legs as I look at Jeffrey's picture on Happy Caturday!

Happy Caturday: Furniture

PS I may still try to take, and post, a GOOD photo of a cat lying on the bed given I've gone to all the trouble of making it!

I keep saying I'm going to clean out my makeup bag and organise it...hmmm

This is the first time I edited a photo using nothing but a Google Chromebook! Didn't use Lightroom or anything only use open source on-line tools!

Have a great Thursday! Nearly the end of the week!

Jane loves to catch virtual mice on this game. Sometimes she will pounce on them, sometimes she hides and sneaks up on them, while other times she just rolls around and acts silly.

80mm f/2.8 Pentacon AV Projector Lens

A couple of months back I went wandering around one of the lesser stately homes near where I live. This one had a lot of links with William Wilberforce who was so influential in the abolition of slavery but that is incidental to this account.

I noticed a very strange feature of the huge and dilapidated walled kitchen garden…

In one corner there was a large bricked floor that was peppered with rusting metal grills each with unique shapes and covered with iron bars and metal netting. Beneath the grills were chasms of echoing blackness. They were like portals to the catacombs of the netherworld.

And then, on a lower level of the property, I discovered a pond. And what was strange was that on the far side of the pond, quite inaccessible to me, there appeared to be a window into a half-underwater room. It seemed that the catacombs had been flooded. How curious!

Visual subterfuge and verbal misdirection are, of course, a joyous pastime, but I am duty-bound to remind you that today is Sunday and that means Sliders. The link to the original image is in the first comment… ;)

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image series. Happy Sliders Sunday :)

Margarita, Digital Camera, and Chromebook

Using Darktable on my chromebook most of my edits seem good until I edit in the chromebook simple editor and wow the punch of colors here really works for me!

Rootling around on my Chromebook, I found this picture that I took some years ago.

I haven't used the Flickr app on this thing before, prefering to use Chrome. But let's see what happens!

chromebook effort

Does a photo of my Chromebook —with my name— constitute a selfie?

15 May 2020.

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▶ Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.

▶ For a larger image, type 'L' (without the quotation marks).

— Follow on Twitter: @Cizauskas.

— Follow on Facebook: YoursForGoodFermentables.

— Follow on Instagram: @tcizauskas.

▶ Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.

— Lens: Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R.

— Edit: Photoshop Elements 15.

▶ Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.

I miss my regular editing programs...perhaps I'll get my computer tomorrow

Jane is obsessed with this game you can play on a tablet or Chromebook (like here). For months, she has asked to play a little every time one of us is on a digital device.

80mm f/2.8 Pentacon AV Projector Lens

Stainton, County Durham, UK .

First attempt at uploading photos to a chromebook from my phone then to flickr.

A series of new "paintings" I made on a Dell Chromebook in Sumo Paint

Working on my Chromebook

My chromebook wallpaper

Lenovo Chromebook...I Just Love It

The ultimate tracker. It's Field Day Weekend. Biggest event of the year for our armature radio guys and gals. They will track down as many contacts as they can.

A couple of months back I went wandering around one of the lesser stately homes near where I live. This one had a lot of links with William Wilberforce who was so influential in the abolition of slavery but that is incidental to this account.

I noticed a very strange feature of the huge and dilapidated walled kitchen garden…

In one corner there was a large bricked floor that was peppered with rusting metal grills each with unique shapes and covered with iron bars and metal netting. Beneath the grills were chasms of echoing blackness. They were like portals to the catacombs of the netherworld.

And then, on a lower level of the property, I discovered a pond. And what was strange was that on the far side of the pond, quite inaccessible to me, there appeared to be a window into a half-underwater room. It seemed that the catacombs had been flooded. How curious!

Visual subterfuge and verbal misdirection are, of course, a joyous pastime, but I am duty-bound to remind you that today is Sunday and that means Sliders. The link to the original image is in the first comment… ;)

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image series. Happy Sliders Sunday :)

My school bought 100s of new chromebooks for the students. So I decided to buy one and give it a try...They have replaced the computers and tablets.

County Durham, UK.

Trying out the colours in snapseed on a chromebook, still learning with both. :>)

This little $200 Herman Miller Eames LTR (Low Rod) table is the perfect lounge workstation when you don't want to do seriously work.

Sitting in an Herman Miller Eames Lounge(670) / Ottoman (671) after a full day of work. Samsung ARM Chromebook.

May 26 2023

Sick Boy Clicker

testing chromebook workflow

This image from a recent foggy morning outing was a test case for an upcoming overseas trip to see if I could use a simple Chromebook to upload from an SD card to Google Drive and then edit online and post to Flickr. After a little trial and error getting to know the Chrome OS, it looks like it will work pretty much as I hoped to allow me to post on the run with a minimal investment in a 3 lb Acer C7 version of the Chromebook to avoid lugging around a full size laptop. After uploading to Google drive, I chose to use PicMonkey as a "first pass" online editor. Pixlr and Pixlr Express are also available as a Google app which I plan to try later.

2018 version of this: www.flickr.com/photos/fwa2500/16205851419/

...a little "glamour" shot of the device I am currently testing.

Working on my Chromebook

[NOTE: Picture censored for Facebook/public consumption. Uncensored versions are on our flickr (friends only).]

Carolyn fell asleep on the couch while looking at her chromebook.

There's Oranjello's favorite ribbon by her leg... It later gets lost. Pretty sure in the long run, it's traumatized Carolyn more than the cat. "Where'd that ribbon go?" Months and months of this...

Carolyn.

passed out.

blanket, computer laptop hardware, couch, ribbon.

censored. edited.

upstairs, Claire and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

August 31, 2018.

... Read my blog at clintjcl at wordpress dot com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress dot com