A Short Film

I haven't posted anything in a long time, I know- not that I haven't had anything to share, but perhaps the opposite.   I have too much to share.  But when you're me, getting tired of yourself happens easily.  So allow me to shine a light on someone else- my son, Jude.  He draws comics and makes cartoons.  He is only 12 years old, and has been working on his tour-de-force animated movie for a couple years already, hoping to get it done by this Christmas.  But that huge project didn't stop him from finishing a shorter cartoon for this Halloween, taking a month to create the 8 minute short.  And it's the best thing he's completed so far.  Here it is, enjoy:

https://youtu.be/41SvY29NMqQ

RED

I've been in a visually red mood lately.  Something I can really appreciate happens when I transform shots into red shades, but I can't really put my finger on what that is.   Not that these shots don't stand on their own before the red transformation- a few of these I have already posted in other variations, and the rest of them that have been previously unseen I will still probably post later on in their original colors and/or black & white.  But these are definitely worthy of interest to anyone who might want a splash of red (art) on their walls.  A couple of these are actually QUITE large panoramic images that could be printed on some rather large canvases...

A link to the full slideshow (46 images):

http://lifeisart.ca/RedLandscapes/

The photo quality is MUCH better in the slideshow link above, but just in case, here's some samples:

Wallpapes

Do people still download wallpapers for computer desktops?   
Well, they will now!
Especially since I fashioned some new ones for myself, and am now sharing them with you!

My desktop space can get easily cluttered, and i find it helps to have a desktop image that is simple, and often black and white images work best and help me focus the pertinent items.  

So here's some classy, mostly black&white wallpapers that I've been using, from my photos and artwork, all in the often-used 1920x1080 format (although if your screen is of different proportions, the "Stretch to Fill Screen" option works well with all of these).  I've included some of the full color versions if you're feeling wantonly reckless...

Just click on the title below each image to download the full size image:

YEAHitIS-BW-wallpaper.jpg

BlueJesusPlayingAGreenSitar-BW.jpg

BlueJesusPlayingAGreenSitar-color.jpg

DankVancouver-BW.jpg

fine-BW.jpg

FlagEagle-BW.jpg

FlagEagle-color.jpg

FlagEagle-fullcolor.jpg

Flight-BW.jpg

Flight-color.jpg

Grass-BW.jpg

Grass-fullcolor.jpg

Seattle-BW.jpg

Yes, I suppose you could use them for something other than a desktop background, or you could just look at them.  Or you can just go away for all I care.  You never listen to me anyways.

All caught up...?

No, I'm not sure what this means, especially since I'm definitely NOT all caught up...

(the baby and cowboy were real-life friends, as evidenced by the original photo, which I took when I was but a youth.)

Random Digital offerings

Because I keep churning it out, here it is.  These photo manipulations (and they are indeed all originally photographs of mine, even though some cease to look like photographs) have become my new way of doodling.  

NEW, OLD!!!

Yeah it's been a while.  So what?

Anyways, I've been terribly busy with work but last night I finally had a chance to do something for fun, for me-
I took this old painting:

Blue Jesus Playing a Green Sitar

And I worked on it some more.  Digitally.  I've always loved this painting and considered it one of my favourites if not my absolute favourite.  But there were a few areas that bugged me.  Not to mention that the "professional scan" I got done also had some flaws. Like that light glare over the darker green background, and glare within the black outlining.  Now that I professionally photograph artwork myself, looking back at this old digital copy makes me think I could do a much better job myself.  Which is encouraging.  Anyways, besides correcting the flaws of the scan, I also let myself digitally re-work this whole painting, and the new version, for now, is thus:

But as usual, I couldn't stop there, so I switched things up to make a few more versions:

Maybe I got carried away.  So what?

By the light of the HDR moon...

The Moon.   It was huge the other day.   I was driving home late at night and had to stop and get gas.  I also had to take a picture of the moon.  Luckily I had my camera and tripod in the trunk, and nobody trying to get gas drove over me and my tripod in the dark beside the gas station.   Even with just my 200mm lens I was able to get the moon with THIS much detail:

I took a few shots and made this scene:

And THAT's what it looked like.  "And now you know the REST of the story..."

 All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

The Eagle and the Flag

I've been seeing a lot of eagles lately.
I'm hoping to have a whole series to show at some point.  But I'm also trying to figure out what to do with some of the shots to make them more interesting.  
Like the picture I got of this cutie:

(detail)

So I simplified the background, and I liked the overall image.  It looked like something one might use to decorate something.

But I could't just leave it so simple, so I started trying other things,

And then it hit me, and I made this MASTERPIECE:

Because the only thing better than an eagle is an eagle wearing a pink captain's hat.  Am I right?  Probably.  Also probably right that you probably would want this on your wall, or t-shirt, or tattooed on your chest.  Probably.

(definitely noticing the difference whatever compression is being used to upload these to blogger-  I'll make sure they look correct when I eventually post them on my eventual for real website...)

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

2 things

One:  Animated time-lapse snow sculpture?  OK!

"The Snow of Man"
https://vine.co/v/MAVwMnDBEpM

Two:  A made-up fictional and also make-believe album cover?   Sure!

Sometimes I wish there was money in making fake album covers, but fake bands tend to have extremely low budgets...

Random Branches & Trees

Part 2 of my collection of random scenic imagery.  Here are random shots of branches and trees, with varying amounts of digital manipulation, and in various states of undress.  

Here is the slideshow (13 photos):

http://www.lifeisart.ca/temp/Branch&Tree/


Here are a few specimens:

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

Random Seascapes...

i've been going through old photos lately, and collecting together my favorites of those that don't belong to any particular collection or outing.  There have been a few scenic photos especially from this last year that I feel are worthy to share.  Some may even make for great big ol' prints to go up on a wall or two.  (Let me know if you are interested!)  

I have enough that I've tried to break them down by theme, so to begin the first of a few photo posts, here are some random seascapes:


Like this one near Stanley Park:

And these two at Cresent Beach:

And also these two from White Rock:

 (This one is my fave.  It'll look really good printed big on canvas)

Also this one from Richmond:

Plus more!
Click the link to see the full slideshow (17 photos)

http://www.lifeisart.ca/temp/Seascapes/

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen