Author: dalecooper57

dalecooper57 may or may not necessarily be my real name, although I couldn't swear to it. An aging hippy living in Devon, I do all this stuff (and I do mean everything - blog, animation, music, photography, the lot) on my lovely smartphone because I started like that, and now I'm too stubborn to get a computer. I don't have a theme, because I don't see why I'd want to talk about the same thing all the time, so why only write about one thing? So if you like eclecticism, humour, nonsense, opinionated ranting, and occasionally educational stuff, you've come to the right place. Any and all feedback is welcome, both positive and negative, on the content, style and overall look of the blog. You keep following me, I'll keep telling you stuff, ok? Cheers, dalecooper57

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Close up.

On By dalecooper57In nature photography, photography14 Comments

Hello from the sweltering oven that is the UK, welcome to the *checks notes* 239th edition of The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which I’m using as an excuse for my inability to come up with a more original prompt this week than; Close up.

I have managed to plan a route for my daily walk that is mostly shaded by areas of woodland surrounding my neighbourhood, so my photos were taken either out walking or before the sun roasted everything in the garden (or “lunchtime” as I think it’s now called), including this year’s first flowering of my spectacular Stargazer lily.

There are eighteen buds like this on the single stemmed Stargazer lily

What did you focus on for this week’s challenge..?

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

Cosmic Photo prompt.

On By dalecooper57In photography1 Comment

Oops, almost forgot to post your prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week, due to a lack of imagination on my behalf, is; Close up.

I’ll try to think of something more inspiring next week, promise.   ;~}

Have a great weekend, see you on Monday.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Shadows.

On By dalecooper57In arts, editing and effects, photography14 Comments

Hi there, welcome to your Monday pick-me-up, The Cosmic Photo Challenge, here to usher in a new week of photographic creativity to take your mind off the daily grind.

This week we’re concentrating on a lack of light, more specifically; Shadows.

After the blisteringly hot weather we’ve been having, I didn’t think I’d have any problems capturing some nice, stark silhouettes over the weekend, but the skies remained stubbornly overcast and I thought I was going to have to resort to archive pictures.

But it occurred to me that photos taken at night are chock full of shadows, in fact they’re mostly shadows, so I took a few of those in the garden.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, the sun made a brief appearance for about ten minutes, reflecting off windscreens of cars parked outside the window. This created an overlapping collage of shadows, made from the net curtains, a window hanging and a spider plant, all cast on my living room wall. After a spot of fiddling with contrast and brightness, I had some wonderfully arty images.

These are all single exposures, the ones at night were just a bit longer.  ;~}

I even appear as a reflection in the picture frame

What shadowy activities did you get up to since we last got together? Go on, you can tell us…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

Cosmic Photo prompt.

On By dalecooper57In photographyLeave a comment

Good evening, here’s your Cosmic Photo Challenge prompt for this week.

For Monday’s post, I’d like to see pictures on the theme of; Shadows.

That’s it, nice and simple (extra points for anyone with a photo of Hank Marvin), have a great weekend.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Look to the skies.

On By dalecooper57In nature photography, photography17 Comments

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s just The Cosmic Photo Challenge, here to start your week with some upwardly-focused pictures, with today’s theme; Look to the skies.

The weather has finally cooled down a bit in the UK, but at the end of last week even the sky looked like it was on fire. Saturday was a little better, although it was still a very sweaty walk I took across the fields above Barnstaple, where I made a few bovine friends to pose in front of the little fluffy clouds.

How was your weekend, what did you capture for us..?

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

Cosmic Photo prompt.

On By dalecooper57In photography2 Comments

Hello, I hope you’re having a pleasant evening, I’m just here to give you your prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge.

This week we’ll all be aiming our cameras upwards, because I’d like you to; Look to the skies.

That’s a nice easy one, enjoy your sky-gazing and have a great weekend, see you on Monday.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Distortion.

On By dalecooper57In arts, editing and effects, photography12 Comments

Good morning, welcome to a new week and a new Cosmic Photo Challenge to start your Monday with a bang, or at least a snap.

This week’s challenge is all about; Distortion.

As I cheekily suggested in Friday’s prompt, this could be a chance to play with editing features you maybe hadn’t experimented with before. But any images of distorted objects, shots taken through an obscuring surface, etc. however you wish to interpret the theme is, as always, up to you.

I used an app called Glitch Lab to produce my pictures, the originals of which I have also included for reference.

Now let’s see what sort of twist you gave the prompt this week…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

Cosmic Photo prompt.

On By dalecooper57In photographyLeave a comment

Hello, everyone, I hope you’re having a pleasant Friday, I’m just here to give you your prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge.

This week I could have gone with the obvious Summer Solstice theme, but I’ve decided to be obtuse, so we’re going with; Distortion.

The purpose of this prompt is, in part, to encourage those of you who have yet to play around with editing apps, (I’m looking at you, Frank) to experiment a little.   ;~}

However, should you wish to find distorted subjects to photograph, or to achieve distortion in another way (shooting through frosted glass, for example), that is perfectly acceptable.

Have a great weekend, I’ll see you on Monday.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Nature in black and white.

On By dalecooper57In editing and effects, nature photography, photography12 Comments

Good morning, welcome to a monochrome edition of The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week is looking at; Nature in black and white.

I took my pictures in the garden and on my Saturday morning walk, trying to find mixtures of textures to replace the missing colours.

Now it’s time for you to showcase your shades of grey.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge

Cosmic Photo prompt.

On By dalecooper57In photographyLeave a comment

Hello, I’ve just popped in to give you your prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week requires you to capture; Nature in black and white.

Let’s see you turn those lush greens and vibrant colours into shades of grey for Monday’s post.

Have a great weekend, see you again soon.

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.
Tag your posts with #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge