...that I've dropped my old and trusty Canon too many times. It no longer was trusty, only old. It's just a shame that I once again forgot that it was crappy and broken and took it out with me. To my defense, now that I do have a new camera, I no longer need to forget the fact that it's broken and try to take photos with it. So these photos are taken a year ago. October 5th, 2019.
But truly, the day that I finally realized that my camera and/or the lenses in it have some issues, was about a year ago.
Sharp from the center, blurry sides. Or in this case as this photo is vertical, blurry top and bottom.
I remember taking few photos on my trip to Hämeenlinna and realizing that something was wrong as in some photos the blurriness was so evident that I could clearly see it from the small camera display. Did continue taking the photos though, because although some were horrible, not all were that bad. And then I forgot all about these photos.
Until now.
I was cleaning my computer, throwing away photos that aren't that good and saw these. Thumbnails looked good. Larger images didn't.
So I decided to play a little. There's a program called Topaz sitting idle in my computer as I do not like to add the kind of filters it has to offer to my photos. There's not much I or anyone can do to a photo that is bad or has issues to begin with. Then again when I start manipulating photos in that way that it's obvious that something has been done to them, I shamelessly use any means possible to make the images look the way I want them to look. And half of the time also just experimenting with them.
As I've said before, I'm not a fan of filters, although I do think at the same time that filters are neat and fun to play with. Trying out different filters also of course give me more perspective and knowledge on the fact how the filters look like. Usually it's easy to tell if someone has used a filter on their art and don't get me wrong, I do not think it's a bad thing to use a filter. But I do wish for two things though.
First of all I would want artists to be more open about their art. Is the painting made digitally or did you hold in your hand an actual paint brush that you dipped to real paint. I sure wish the word digital would be used more often and especially when the brush strokes are made with a ready made filter. My second wish is that people admiring art would recognize the hard work of artists. When someone uses a pen or a brush (digital or a real one) to draw almost every single stroke, one at a time and when it's just a photo with a filter. Although either of them may look horrible or awesome, who am I to tell what people should like, I would want people to know when someone made art with just few clicks and when someone practiced years to be so good that they can paint or draw great things with one stroke at a time.
Not gonna say more on that matter now, of course there are some blurry lines and what people like is their business and nothing I say changes that.
But now the photos. And the retouched, filter versions.
Most of the art filters made me nauseous so I chose only those few that looked okay or interesting in some way. Did not bother to adjust that much the filters. Except the glow which I will ponder more after these photos.
| Original | Topaz Impression | Topaz Glow B&W |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
| Original | Topaz Impression | Topaz Glow |
 |  |  |
| Original | photoFXlab (Timeless II) | Topaz Glow |
 |  |  |
| Original | Topaz texture (Lots of light) | Topaz Glow |
 |  |  |
| Original | Topaz Glow | Topaz Glow B&W |
 |  |  |
First row, second picture and second row, second picture are artsy fartsy filters.
Third row, second picture. It seems that all the Timeless II filter did was change colors. Neat but somewhat futile.
Fourth row, second picture. Filter: lots of light. Looks like an Instagram filter.
Fifth row. If it's blurry, it's blurry. Ain't nothing gonna save that. But Topaz Glow sure is an interesting feature to add to a photo. My choice of glow in all of these photos is dark, but there's also a light option which in different l´kind of photos might work perfectly if you really want the object to (like the name says) glow.
Dark edges on the other hand make the image look more like a scene from a cartoon which I think I'm going to experiment with more. And then there's also the smudge option that again makes the image a bit more artsy.
Now the thing with filters is, at least in my opinion that they are an awesome way to make your art a little bit better, to stand out. If you use them carefully. Only applying partly to the image or blending it somehow. Soft light, multiply, screen, there are various options to use filters wisely. Otherwise the art or filtered photo may end up looking like all the other photos out there.
Here's that same dark glow applied to my paintings that I've made somewhere around the year 2000, perhaps even before that. Oil colors to a plywood covered with canvas.
Topas Glow sure makes the art look different. And I like it! Cracks in a painting, spiderweb what ever you want to call it.
I could leave the cracks only on the moon behind the tree. Or to the loose limbed creature so that it would make it pop out from the background more. This sure needs more research and experimenting.
Or, what if I would add it to my latest bodyswapper, as an animation? Create something new.
https://nftshowroom.com/insaneworks/gallery/insaneworks_bodyswappers_bald-and-beautiful
That could be cool.
P.S.
Thank you @isaria for buying my art.