InGinouity on scanned images and Web Cam photography for ignoramuses (ignoramae??)

It all started with my beau asking me for photos and me not having any. I had two bad cameras, but nobody at hand to make photos of me. My beau lives 5000 miles away and my son at that time was, and still is, a little boy, too young to make decent photos anyway.

When my beau started insinuating that I had probably been in a terrible car crash and was horribly mutilated, I thought it was time to do something (though he added that he would love me anyway).

I tilted my scanner, clicked obtain, closed my eyes and sat as still as I could. The result was "eyesclosed", my first scanner-flic. I had experimented some with my sons Lego dolls and his toy cars, but I had never actually used it for portraits. What surprised me of the result was not the technical quality, because scanned photos are as granulated and blotchy as you can get. It was the dreamy, unearthly quality of the image that I really liked. As most people, I hate to be photographed and always seem to come out looking like I have been dragged out of the bushes feet first after a long, long night on the town.

Somehow the scanner seemed to like me. It gave these real soft, pastel images in all shades of blue, green, gray, pink. Before I knew it I was totally hooked and scanned first myself from every angle, climbing on my desk because the cable was so short. Or propping the scanner sideways on cushions, tossing a blanket over my head to keep the light out. I experimented with how far I could be removed and how close I could get.

Then it was my sons turn. I did not face scan him, as I felt he was too small to understand he had to keep his eyes closed and the light of the lamp is extremely bright and I was afraid he might damage his eyes. But I scanned a cute belly button and his li'l hands and feet.

Then I started working with props like a black lace bustiere that belonged to a great aunt, a garter belt that belonged to my grandmother, worn on a silk stocking. I put on my old ballet slippers and my oldest training socks. I put on the wettest of wet lip gloss over the reddest of lipstick and added sunbursts and lights.

My beau loved them and told me I should do something with them, but what with all this talent on the Web, I did not think I had anything of real importance to show to other people.

About a year later I did an on line course in Dream Weaver and I used some of the scanned images on a homework page and my teacher came back to me and complimented me on them. He more or less said what my beau said, that they were too good to hide.

I still don't think they are all that hot. But I do agree that some of them are quite pleasant to the eye, or funny or endearing. The main reason I did decide to put up these pages is the fun I had in making the images. You don't need a lot of photographic knowledge to get good results. Come to think of it, you don't need any photographic knowledge, just a bit of imagination and feeling for composition. So I hope that I can inspire a couple of you to flip their scanners and start experimenting.

While making these pages, I decided to make a section for images I took with my Web Cam, for the same reason. It is not a very high quality camera and what makes it's images so different and charming is their imperfection and blotches and coloring. It makes them so suitable for applying special effects and frames and borders and filters, without feeling guilty about it.

The rest consists of some mouse drawings I did, some tubing, a handful of backgrounds and one complete Web set. Also my scrapbook layouts and a series of 18 tags on Vodoun.

Be happy and healthy and enjoy.........

Oh, before I forget: no guestbook here, if you want to comment, feel free to email me