SEVEN LIFE LESSONS FROM THE B&W PHOTO CHALLENGE
Admittedly this title is a desperate attempt at one of those profound "I learned wisdom and turned into Eckhart Tolle in one week" sort of posts.
So I'll say upfront these are not going to be quite up to Louise Hay standard.
People keep saying that in order to grow into a frolicking whale on Steemit you need to do a post every day. It's actually quite hard to do a post every day, it involves stuff like typing and editing photos, which is why I've only ever posted once or twice a week. But now that I've seen that I actually can do a post each day, no promises, but who knows, I might keep it up.
Black & white is quite cool really - My thing tends to be bright colours, so B&W was a bit of a stretch, but now I'm more interested in that style. Some times in order to grow we need to be forced outside of our comfort zone. (just kidding, but you can call me Louise now)
Having to nominate someone each day brought home to me how little I interact and network with people on Steemit. I find it easy to randomly comment on posts, but popping up and saying "I nominate you" is a real stretch. I felt like a door knocking missionary.
The photo geek side of things - just about every image editing programme does B&W but yet again my favourite one is the free Android app Snapseed - I don't know how that app can do so many things better that just about everything else (yes, including Photoshop), but yes, it does! Snapseed is free software at it's best.
Contests can be fun if they are your gig. I've never done a contest before because I'm not really into them. But from now on I won't run in terror if I see the word "contest" If it involves pictures, I might even have a crack at it. In fact I'm entering a controversial art one now. I am much more wild and uninhibited now that I've opened up my consciousness to contests.
By forgiving others we forgive ourselves. I forgive @dreemit for nominating me, she wasn't being deliberately pushy, she was just following her true nature as an American. Thanks @dreemit, I forgive you, and you have forced me to grow as a person.
Shorter posts with just one image are much easier for the slowest typist on Steemit (me) to do, so like everyone discovering that Zappy thing and going shorter, I'm going to stop pretending I can write 5000 words a day and just be happy as a literary dwarf.
That was all seven of my photos in order - I'd like to say more about them, but that would be against the spirit of the contest and I'm a dwarf who has already done way too much typing.
I appreciate your forgiveness, I had to similarly forgive @rigaronib for the same reason haha. Honestly, I nominated you because if there's anything you are truly into, it's posting pictures even in comments.
I love the style of every single one of the pics you chose, and like you I learned a new appreciation for black and white by doing this. l
During the absolute busiest couple of weeks of this entire year happened to be when I was both posting these and nominating people, which was a bit shitty since I found myself unable to keep up with encouraging those I chain lettered into it.
Also, I did read your comment about me being among people who have made it possible to play nicer with others and I was really, really touched and flattered by that. Americans do tend to be priggish, judgy, spoiled, excessive and extremely self-centered compared to the rest of the world. The society here fosters all of these things as well as a sense of entitlement. I like to think that I fall outside of these categories, mostly because I am hyper aware of it and have a strong belief in self improvement, self awareness, and personal responsibility. I think the area I've worked on the most in my life over the last number of years is empathy. The only thing I truly can't abide is the mistreatment of children.
Those I appreciate and gravitate to the most are the 'what you see is what you get' individuals. For me to consider someone a friend and not just be friendly with them, they have to be real and unpretentious. Which is why you and Deb are two of my favorite people not only on steemit, but on the globe.
Thanks for being you!
Thanks for the awesome comment - I think that was longer that my post! - You are a literary giant, thanks for being so amazing
:) The dog is cool, but the shoes make that ultra cool
So you like Deb's mum's shoes :)
How do you like our blender? - Ever heard of a blender blowing up? - I took it outside with smoke pouring out and off it went...
Pretty awesome you summarised it really well :)
I like most of your B&W's. They look like drawings. I guess you photo shop or do something to give them your unique look. I don't photo shop, I don't even know how to make a B&W photos. Maybe I will try some limited manipulation and join in the fun.
That app I mentioned - Snapseed - is brilliant - the effects on my photos are mostly not Photoshop - they are mostly Deep Art Effects and GoArt - I might do a post about all this.
I do use Photoshop for framing and fine tuning but the effects filters are not as cool as the Android apps. (so basically I'm doing all this stuff with $10 worth of apps)
Looks good. Definitely a form of art. Have you thought of selling your work?
No - it's all a confusing area - in the digital era everything is copy and paste in the blink of an eye, and I know how easy it would be to get anything free - so I just share my pics online to enhance our websites and on Steemit - in a way they do pay off indirectly, but I figure if I really worked it I could only maybe earn $100 a week - same as Steemit probably could if I blogged like a maniac - but crypto investments can pay that in 30 seconds, so I figure worrying about payments would take all the fun out of it
Is this a painting or a photography i just can't figure it out. It's beautiful
Thanks - they are all photos that I've run effects filters on - I really like the look :)
Thats pretty cool man. Awesome.
Thanks - and I have more!
Wow. If you tell people this a painting then they will surely believe it. Awsome.
very interesting post bro