Sean Duggan Blog

Self Portrait as a Tree

Tree Man [iPhone 4]
January 8, 2013
(click in the image to see a larger version)

My nearly 12-year old daughter now has an iPod Touch, which means that, in addition to her listening to her music, playing silly games and texting with her friends, she also has access to all of the photo apps that work on my iPhone. With these newfound creative possibilities available to her, I am enjoying introducing her to the joys of the mobile digital darkroom. To show her how easy it was to combine two images using the Image Blender app, I turned myself into a tree!

The secret behind this type of texture blending collage is blend modes (in this case, the tree is set to Hard Light) and a little bit of very simple masking. The masking capabilities in Image Blender are basic, but for a project like this, which does not require precise edges, they worked very well. In addition to Image Blender, I also used Toon Paint to create a simplified grayscale version of my portrait prior to making the composite (an optional step that could also be accomplished with other apps simply by making a high contrast version of the face), as well as Filterstorm for some basic tonal adjustments, and Vintage Scene for the aged paper look.

I'm looking forward to continuing this journey of visual discovery with her and seeing what she creates along the way!

The Organ Grinder of Berlin

Organ Grinder, Berlin 1994
(click in the image to see it larger)

One from the archives. My current book project has taken me back into my neg files in search of specific image examples. Along the way I ran across this image, taken with a Bronica at the Brandenburg Gate 13 years ago.

Cusey's Arm

Cusey's Arm, Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

This is a companion image to the previous post.

Cusey

Cusey, Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

A Reminder: while I am off traveling updates will be posted every two days (more or less...)

Allejandro

Allejandro; Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]

Allejandro runs the restaurant where we ate on most nights (and even some lunches and breakfasts). It was the same last year... we usually ended up eating at Allejandro's place. Great food, relaxed atmosphere, good prices, and excellent pisco sours (the Peruvian cocktail).

Allejandro is from Chile and is a big, larger than life personality. The kind of chef who comes out from the kitchen with a drink in hand to greet the patrons with a laugh and a joke and see how they are enjoying their meals. He makes one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever had. I am looking forward to having more of them when I go back next year!

Blacksmith

Luis, Blacksmith...Ollataytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]

Much of the work we did at the Bridges workshop in Peru involved portraiture of the local people. Luis' small blacksmith shop was a few doors down from our hotel and when I found him at work one day I asked if I could photograph him. Here's another image of him at work.

 

Cusco Riot Police

Cusco Riot Police [Canon 10D]
(click in the image for a larger version)

On my final day in Peru there was a countrywide transit strike and large demonstrations protesting the high cost of gasoline and insurance rates for taxi drivers. This meant that no taxis, busses, or cars of any kind were operating that day. Since I had to get to the Cusco airport for an afternoon flight to Lima, this presented a bit of a dilemma. Apparently, even if I had been able to find a taxi driver willing to brave the demonstrators, he would run the risk of having his car pelted with large rocks if he ran into any of them. In the end, the proprietor of my hostal enlisted the aid of a friend and they used two dirt bikes to transport me and my luggage to the airport, using narrow, cobblestone back streets to avoid the main groups of demonstrators. By the time we left, things had quieted down considerably, so it was an uneventful ride, but we did drive along streets that were littered with rocks and large chunks of concrete, which I presume was evidence of previous violence.

This image was taken in the main Plaza de Armas. In this area of the city the protests were large but peaceful and the riot police in the Plaza spent the day on the sidelines. I asked if I could photograph them and they were most obliging. The man on the far right is named Amelio.

The scuffed and scratched surface is from an old piece of plastic that was scanned and then added in Photoshop.