Digital Art or Photography?

 

The above photograph is the result of merging two different photos which can be seen down below. I have always loved digital art and composites before I even knew what they were and from learning so much over the past few months I decided to give it ago. It’s funny I never really discriminated between a shot straight from a camera and one that has been completely modified like the one above until I heard members of my photography discussing it and apparently there’s huge debate around the issue. To me I think a pretty picture is a pretty picture and that is all that there is to it. So whether you call what I produced above photography or digital art or something else, to me it’s pleasing to my eye and that’s what matters to me 🙂

To those that are fantastic at photoshop you are probably cringing at the sight of this, I’d say if you zoom in close you can see where the two photos merge and I really saturated the shot with an orange filter after but I think it adds a dreamy feel to it. Also, me being the ever so critical art teacher, the sun is in the wrong position and as a result the light source for the rest of the image is off but whatever… I’m still pretty happy with it considering it’s my first try 🙂

 

Day 63: Doorway To Another World

 

Today I visited Altamount House and Gardens in Tullow, Carlow. It is an old house from around the 18th century and the gardens are kept in that style too. It is a beautiful place full of flowers, trees, swans, peacocks and there is even a lake. Although I took shots of all of these things today it was this door that really took my fancy as it is so weathered and beaten and has such character. It’s crazy too think that once upon a time this door was shiny and new and lords and ladies would pass through it never thinking that one day any member of the public could be standing in the same spot. Back then it would have been pristine in condition with no stories to tell and no character but now the door looks like something out of a fairytale, it looks nearly make believe and it is a thing of beauty for all the wrong reasons. Reasons that the lords and ladies would have turned their noses up to I am sure! 🙂

Day 61: Black and White

 

The photography club that I am a member in are organising an exhibition for a local art festival which takes place during June. The theme is black and white nature and I am trying to get some strong shots for it. So today I decided to experiment and see what kind of black and white shots I could get and how much I could add to it by using different tools in Photoshop. Here’s the result 🙂

Duckett’s Grove

Duckett’s Grove, which is located just outside if Carlow, Ireland, is one of my most favourite places to visit. It is such a beautiful building and is full of history. It housed generations of the one family and important political figures hid out in the house during their fight for Irish independence. Also the architect who designed the house was considered to be slightly crazy as there are so my different styles incorporated into it and it is because of this that there is no other  house similar to it. The house burned down in the 20’s, if my memory serves me right, and when I was a child, the child of the last servant of the house inherited it and used to have a horse riding school on the grounds. It is now a tourist attraction but before that, when I was a teenager, it was a place to go and sneak around at night time with torches. It really is a place full of history! 🙂

Here’s a link to the website if you want to look it up: http://www.duckettsgrove.eu/