Using GIMP to create Beautiful Art

Every so often I take a bunch of photographs with no real plan of where they’ll end. Tonight I photographed this little trinket that my wife brought home a few years ago. I suspect it originated from her grandmother’s home. I loved the rustic feel of this little eastern man towing his cart around for his entire life.

So I grabbed one of my spare empty frames, using their white backing paper and glass top as the perfect background, and chose a spot in the sunlit lounge-room. After taking a few shots using my 60mm Macro lens and a home-made snoot, I closed the curtains and grabbed a reflector.

Holding the reflector over the top of my camera’s flash, I held the camera with one hand (and silently cursed myself for not having a tripod to hold the the reflector), I shot a few different angles of this interesting little trinket. Every few shots I would spin the frame around (as it was sitting on a bar-stool) and shoot from a new direction.

Combining texture photographs, also within my Redbubble gallery, I had fun dodging/burning/etc with GIMP to create the following images. I freely admit that there was no general direction when combining these images, but as they progressed and the result began to appear, I began to realise that this creative method was giving both life and age to this little trinket.

Here are the final images:

Each are framed large on a white background with differing frame types

How did I achieve this appearance?

I duplicated the original image and added a texture photograph as the ‘between layer‘.
1. The texture layer became the colour for the piece, adding the depth to the rust.
2. The original image stayed as the top layer, and had it’s primary colour (white) converted to transparent.
3. The duplicate layer was pushed to the bottom. It served as the white-background for the final image.
4. Using dodging, burning and various other built-in blending techniques within GIMP, I tested a few options to see how the top two layers would combine. The main aim was to make the texture blend in with the trinket but disappear around the transparent areas.
Once successful, I then merged all three layers together.
Whilst this quick tutorial is simplistic, it should make sense to other artists who use GIMP. Each image took an estimated 40minutes to create, and one was re-created during the process!

I trust you will purchase these photographs, either framed or as cards. I really would like this new lens. It would help me to shoot portrait and family photographs over the Christmas break. Please?

Five Ways to Make Money from Photography

1. iStock

After reading Mike Cherim’s article going through the last 12 months upon iStock, I was reminded that I also have an iStock account. So I must thank Mike for invigorating my activity on iStock. But twenty minutes upon the site reminded me why I never did go back after I first registered. The process to upload is long-winded and monumentally unnecessary. It all floods back to my memory now: Users have to submit three photographs, they get adjudicated as to their relevancy and aesthetics, and if you are lucky you become a money-maker.

Yet I will try again. Mike’s iStock journey tells of the two months it took to finally get his work recognised, plus the 12 month journey to start making some serious money. Hmmm… It’s early November 2009 now: A 2010 beginning on iStock would be good present to myself. Like any process, I’ll play the game and upload three photographs. First to answer the quiz!

2. Redbubble

I am a veteran of Redbubble, having been registered since its early days. A member since April 2007, I’ve watched it grow in lots of different ways, take a few tumbles, and survive a few interesting screams from the forums.
My reasoning for using this site is to present the best of the best of my photography. Whilst many use it as a photo-depository site, I consistently only upload artwork that I feel will sell … and it does.
The biggest advantage of Redbubble is their amazing ability to produce your artwork quickly and post it out in a reasonable time-frame. (Just remember: The closer you order to Christmas, the longer your delivery may take!) I regularly promote my Redbubble artwork around friends and family and work-colleagues: I sell a few cards once a fortnight. I had the good sense early on to buy a lot of my photography in the early days: I can now offer clientele cards at a moments notice.

3. Image Kind

I am a newcomer to this site, so it is still growing on me. What makes it easier than most is the upload-program, very similar to the one that Flickr.com utilises. A quick download to you desktop, and you can begin uploading images straight away. Much like flickr.com, images are easily titled, tagged, described and presented for viewing.

4. Zazzle

This is an interesting site. All manner of artwork is accessible and allowed. I often upload illustrations and text-based imagery which I then present on T-shirts, mugs, mouse-pads, ties and various other apparel and accessories. I am currently working on uploading a select few photographs that I refer to as still-frame and stock images. Look out for these in the near future.
Zazzle is actually surprisingly easy to navigate. Initially you might find it navigation-bloated, but it gets easier as you get more involved.

I’ve now set up a section of my computer so that each artwork has its own directory. This also holds a README.txt file that holds the mark-up value, Titles, sub-titles and description. This enables me to easily fill in the blanks when creating a new product.

4. Promotion and Marketing

Yes, the best way to sell your photography on the internet is to promote it wherever and however possible, and to market it so as to present your artwork in it’s best light. In the same way that you prepare a location before you shoot a subject, it is important to present your artwork on the internet so that people can appreciate the effort, it’s beauty and it’s intrinsic value.

Three Extra Websites

I am not listed at any of these sites, but they look very interesting. If you are a photographer who catalogues and sells work with any of these, feel free to leave a comment reviewing any of them.

• Dreamstime not only allows artists and photographers to upload their best work, but also enables contributors to keep a blog of related articles!
• Fotolia provides a compromise between photographers and buyers, by protecting a photographer’s intellectual property rights and offering high commissions, while legally lowering the price barrier so that everyone may enjoy/afford these beautiful images.
• Shutterstock has tips and tricks to help your photography look and present better.

That’s all. Now it’s your turn to sell your artwork and photography upon the world wide market!

Windows

I’ve re-sorted my Redbubble art again. This is where I bring my photography of a similar style up to the top of the queue. Today’s theme is ‘Windows‘.

Please take a look through each one to decide which you’d like, then press the ‘Buy/Preview’ button to determine how many of each you’d like to buy.

All of these photographs are available to purchase as a card, on a calendar, on a canvas, laminated and framed.

Macro Photography at Wittunga

I took a walk with my macro lens yesterday. I have a lovely 60mm dedicated-macro Canon lens that fits very nicely into my Canon EOS 400D. Together we visited the flowers at the Wittunga Botanic Gardens, shooting their petals and features at all different angles. It was a good morning.

Today the sun is out and the sky is semi-blue, so I am going again, this time with Susan Adey, a fellow photographer upon Redbubble. Should you be interested, I’ll see you there at 1.00pm. Otherwise, I will show our results later tonight.