So we’ve often only just shown you the rooftop garden which is convenient for us and looks pretty nice for pictures. But in the last week, a surprise has taken over some parts of the island.
What’s the surprise?
Well, this:
According to the news, it is not only these trumpet trees that are blooming. A variety of trees and plants across the island are too, and I’ve been enjoying the view from the car a fair bit. ; )
On Channelnewsasia.com, the director of streetscape at the National Parks Board (NParks), was quoted to suggest that the dry spell in the previous months, followed by days of rain, could have triggered the mass flowering.
And pretty soon, the streets are just covered with these fallen pastel blooms.
They turn brown too soon.
The photos are perfect for creating floral pet portraits using double exposures! Find out how here.
If you have a film camera that allows you to expose the same frame twice to different subjects, you will end up with a photo that comprises the two scenes overlapping each other. Photos taken using this method are called double exposures. And in the case where there is more than two times the frame is exposed, the result becomes a multiple exposure.
Welcome back to Week 9 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;)
This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Light. This week, let’s explore Double Exposure.
Double Exposure
Because double exposure means that the frame has been exposed to light twice, you can generally expect the final image to be pretty bright/light.
A pretty comprehensive video tutorial on double exposures ; )
So let’s take a look at how to create such photos using photos apps, shall we?
Since double exposures means precisely that, exposure to two different images. You need start with two photos.
How do I pick the two photos?
In my case, I generally think about what sort of visual story I would like to tell, and also whether the photos complement each other in terms of the composition.
Set One | By subject matter
This set of two photos are both taken at Nara Park in Japan. Nara Park is known for a few of its iconic Japanese temples and the deer that roam freely in the park. The two photos couldn’t have been more different, except that together they are two halves of the story that is Nara Park. Both photos are pretty balanced. Photo 1 has two deer, one on each side of the photo. Photo 2 shows a temple squarely in the middle as the focal point.
This is how the photo turned out using the app – Double Photo. The two deer end up framed within the silhouette of the temple, whose facade has been covered up by the forest detail in the deer picture. The sky remains dominant, with bits of foliage peeking through the swirling clouds.
Set 2 | Photos with complementary or contrasting colours/brightness values
This set of photos I picked because they both have a focuse area in the image that is a bright, warm orange or yellow colour. The bright colour in one and the dark silhouettes of the other are very different from each other and should create something of interest visually. It is also typically good practise to pair a photo taken at a shorter distance with a longer short so that the resulting image does not get too busy due to both photos having the same level of detail in them, which cumulates when overlapped.
I flipped the close up of the flower in PicsArt, before blending the two images. This ensures the warm yellow core in both images are aligned. I ended up with bright pink trees under a darkening sky, the focus still being on the setting sun behind the trees, the glow of which is now amplified by erratic yellow stamens emanating from where the sun is setting. I like how the two colours – yellow pink and blue work together in this case.
These are just two examples of how to pick photos. There are many possibilities and you may even choose to go abstract with your choice of photos.
Composite of 4 different double exposure photographs to show the dog in it’s environment.
Double Photo
DoublePhoto is a very basic app that lets you load the two photos you have chosen speedily. You can choose either the “screen” or the “lighten” blend modes to blend the two pictures. The blend mode – Lighten – picks out the lighter colour in the two photos and displays that, the screen mode multiplies the brightness in the photos. Play around with the blend modes and you should see the differences between the two modes visually.
PicsArt
Unless your photos line up perfectly with each other, you may find that you want tweak one or two of your chosen photos. The PicsArt app comes in handy because of it’s all in one functions.
The following set of screenshots shows you how I flipped the flower image to align the focal points of my two photos to the lower left corner of the photo, before I set the blend mode. Again, since the frame should have been exposed twice, you should be choosing either the “lighten” or “screen” blends modes for a lighter/brighter image.
PS Touch
PS Touch is another powerful app, which takes a little getting used to. So there is a learning curve there. But if you are used to having layers and blend modes, plus the other basic functions available to you in Photoshop, then you will appreciate PS Touch.
This screen shows you where the photos layers and blending options can be found. Since the frame should have been exposed twice, you should be choosing either the “lighten” or “screen” blends modes for a lighter/brighter image.
Assuming I wanted Donna’s eyes to peek out of the flowers, I have to move the top layer to position the eye exactly there there is a break in the flowers. I then need to trim the layer below so that the two layers will overlap neatly without the bottom layer peeking out from under the top layer to the left and top of the image.
This screen shows you where the Crop tool can be found to crop the image.
When you are done, click the arrow on the top left to go back to the Project page. You will be prompted to save the project you were working on.
This screen shows the project page, where you can save the project as a picture file to your Gallery.
App challenge photo filtered with VSCOcam T1 preset and tinted pink
Snapseed Black and White, EyeEM and Snapseed Retrolux effects used respectively for the last three photos.
Now it’s your turn to share!
Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 13 Apr end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).
Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!
Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Double Exposures, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )
Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.
Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!
Challenger Photo Grids
Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)
Previously we were training targeting using nose to hand so that we can use it to learn other things like eventually walking on two legs and leg weaving. Not very practical skills but it’s fun :P
Training standing on two legs
Do I get extra if I get creative and touch my chin to your fingers instead, human?
Or my paws to fingers?
Ok fine, so you want nose to fingers only.
Training Leg Weaves
I don’t wanna do the leg weaves anymore, human, no matter how your are waving your finger to get me to target through your legs. So I’m just gonna flop on the floor in protest.
And if my bum happens to land on your foot, I don’t care.
See, this is my I-don’t-care face.
But I still want the treat… ….. …. how about I trade you a rollover?
I rollover long time, human. *wriggle wriggle*
Shit, why do I think this is a waste of time?
Because the human doesn’t exactly want to reinforce behaviours I don’t want to encourage, so I can’t treat if I ask you to do a leg weave and you decide to rollover instead :P
Anyway, I guess Donna’s doing this from a combination of factors, she gets too bored of the treats and she wants to get the treats by doing the easy stuff that she already knows.
So I changed the treats after that…
The results?
Here’s a video of Donna doing the looping around my left and right legs.
I’m kind of wondering should there be a reason to prefer male or female dogs. I mean, people usually think that male human children are naughtier and harder to manage than female kids. Is there such gender difference in dogs, you think?
The dog’s rump and why it needs scratching from humans?
Well technically, that area at the base of her tail is called the rump, I think. It’s funny how rubbing that spot causes her to wag furiously, and how the wagging stops when the rubbing stops. And also how she would draw circles in the air with her nose when she really enjoys getting her rump scratched.
But why does my dog look sort of blissed out sometimes when she gets a butt rub? According to this Elizabeth Tumbarello article, the area of the dog’s rump at the base of his/her tail is filled with sensitive nerve endings. In Donna’s case the sensation of scratching is pleasurable because of this. However, this is not universal to all dogs. Some dogs may not like it so approach strange dog rumps with care ;)
And why does Donna blatantly present her rear end to the human and demand to be scratched her on the rump?
Besides the simple fact that it feels good, Dr. Bonnie Beaver, professor of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University, explained on thebark.com that the rear is also ‘a very hard area for them to reach themselves… and how nice it is if someone will scratch that for you.’
Dog butts itch, human!
OK, so I get that Donna sometimes needs a hand. And when she doesn’t get it, she goes and rubs her side against the back of the sofa D: You can imagine the layers of hair she has left there – – Actually I lie. Even when we give her a hand, she still likes to go rub against the back of the sofa. Sigh.
How to tell if your dog wants a butt rub
Look at the video.
Step 1, Turn around and unceremoniously plant the rear end in the human’s face :P
Step 2, Turn head back and give human the look. You either demand it or you plead for it. In Donna’s case, she just takes it for granted that it’s gonna happen so she just stands there and waits.
Step 3, If you are satisfied with the human’s services, give her your toy as a reward.
Step 4, But remember to keep her focused on the task at hand. Humans get distracted by toys easily.
If the dog moves away or removes her rump from my hand, I would safely assume my services are no longer needed. ; ) Mission accomplished!
She could at least treat me to a coffee… :P
Does your dog like his/her butt scratched? What does he/she do to get your attention for that?
Is your dog scratching too much to be normal?
If he/she is only scratching in 1-2 spots, it might be insect bites or hotspots. Here are some great itch-relief products on Amazon.com
It’s been a few months since we touched on the topic of Donna’s Thunder Phobia. In the last year, we’ve tried the Thundershirt which I felt has some good effect and I’ve written about it quite a bit. And later on, we bought the Adaptil DAP Collar for her so this post is really quite long over due.
Just like the rain that we experienced in the past week after a dry spell.
The Adaptil DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) Collar is as you can see in the picture above, is the nondescript, flat, grey, strip of plastic wound around Donna’s neck. The collar stays on for a month for maximum effect. Retailing at SGD$59 at our local pet supplies store, this collar that lasts only a month is not that affordable an answer for thunder phobia. For that price, it asserts that it will release pheromones that will calm the reactive dog.
Nope, doesn’t look calm, does she?
So it’s back to the ThunderShirt and her collar over the DAP collar, the whole works. I call this her Thunder Battle Armour.
Tense, but not quaking at least.
To be fair, our dog does go majorly over-threshold when it thunders heavily – the pee and poo anywhere, the drool, the running around and climbing to escape which leads to things in the flat being disturbed and displaced, when left unsupervised. So perhaps that collar may work with dogs with a less severe fear of thunderstorms. I said may because I wouldn’t know. But a look at the reviews on Amazon – Adaptil, D.A.P (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) Collar for Medium to Large Dogs – 27.6″ – shows that it does work for some people with dogs.
Outside of the storms, she is a very calm dog so we have no need of the collar to work any magic. We did not see a difference in Donna’s behaviour for the month that she was wearing the DAP collar. So that logically concluded for us that the collar did not have any discernible effect on Donna, and we weren’t inclined to continue with the collar into the second month.
This is Donna in the last two weeks, she seemed to find comfort under the study table. I have to say, this is also the more enclosed room so maybe she felt safer in here. Unfortunately, it didn’t even thunder very badly on that day. This dog has an overactive reaction to the slightest thunder after a couple of months without exposure to it. So the counter-conditioning with food restarts. And on days when I am too tired/impatient to do that the whole day when it storms, she stays quietly tense under the table (after she goes to toilet, which is always her first instinctive behaviour).
Mirrored photos can be gimmicky. But that is not to say there is no place for them in mobile phoneography. The mirror, after all, is a well-used metaphor in so many occasions and samples of literature.
Welcome back to Week 8 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by weliveinaflat and firebonnet ;)
This challenge asks you to (1) share a good photo that you took or edited last week, (2) run it through a photo app on your smartphone or mobile device and share with us the result. We’re back to the theme of Collage. I’m stretching that to include the feature – Mirroring.
Mirroring
The mirroring feature in photo apps reflects your photo vertically or horizontally so that you have the original photo and its reflection in the final image.
App: Camera360
App: PhotoMirror
While it is a novelty to play around with Donna’s body parts ;) haha, I find the theme of Nature particularly interesting using this feature.
App: Camera360
What is originally organic now becomes artificially symmetrical. Intricate patterns are formed that are not found in real life. And suddenly you realise that, everywhere you look, there are all sorts of interesting patterns to be found both in nature…
App: Camera360
… as well as in the man-made world.
App: Paper Camera App: PhotoMirror. One hand versus two in solidarity, the same subject but two images with two different stories.
You can find patterns in something as nebulous as the shadow, telling the story of the interplay of light and dark.
App: Camera360
And there is no need to be constrained by the idea that it needs to be symmetrical. A mirrored image can still be cropped to give a more interesting frame.
App: Camera360
An all-in-one app like Camera360 for iPhone (the version I Have on Android does not have this feature) will give you mirroring functions at a tap (in the Funny section of the app). However, it may not give you that many options in terms of tweaking the mirrored image.
MirrorPhoto
The MirrorPhoto app is interesting because it gives you some leeway in controlling your mirrored image.
The app MirrorPhoto allows you to select from 6 types of mirror effects, the format of the photo (with regards to dimensions), the distance between the subject of your original photo and it’s reflection and it has a cropping function.
PicsArt
The app PicsArt does not give you as many mirroring styles as MirrorPhoto, but it has some pretty powerful features that I like. I like the slider that controls the displacement of the image (#5 on screenshot below). I also like the Masking brush (#6 on screenshot below) which allows you to paint over and reveal the original image. I don’t imagine I would use it very often, but just having the option means you have more possibilities with the app ;)
PicsArt screenshot. Distortion > Mirror effects
As an example, I have the mirrored photo of a low angled shot of a flowering tree here:
Mirrored with PicsArt app.
And a version of it with the lower right cornered erased to show a branch of the plant to break the symmetry of the mirrored image.
A portion of the original image revealed in the lower right corner. Can you see?
This feature is very useful for creating reflections in water, as demonstrated by this video:
Get Inspired
9 mirrored photos/edits on Instagram using the iPhone app MirrorGram
Photo of the week Donna leaping up to touch nose. Photo cropped with Snapseed and filtered with EyeEm. Photo mirrored with PicsArt Bokeh and Light streaks added using Cameran app because I wanted to draw attention to her motion.
Now it’s your turn to share!
Create your challenge post from now until Sunday, 6 Apr end of your day. Post your Photo of the Week and your App-ed version of that photo on your blog. (You can follow my format above if you like).
Pic 1 – Your Photo of the Week can be taken with any equipment – a regular camera, a DSLR, a smartphone, hack even a pin-hole camera if you so choose!
Pic 2 – Pic 2 is optional. The theme this week is Mirroring, but if that is not your cup of tea, you are free to choose other app effects for your app-ed photo. In all cases, it would be helpful if you can name the app effect used so we can understand what you are doing ; )
Add the challenge badge and link your post to the host and co-host sites. Be nice and visit with some of the other challengers for this week! :) And do remember to leave me your blog post link in the comments below, in case I do not receive the pingback/trackback from your link.
Questions? Feel free to pose any questions in the comments below or email me at weliveinaflat@gmail.com. Next up, what happens after you have linked up? Why you start getting your challenger photo grid filled up!
Challenger Photo Grids
Every week, challenger grids get updated with the new photos! At the end, you get to grab your grid off this blog for your own pleasure. :D Meanwhile, you can view one another’s photos on the blogs by clicking on the linked numbered weeks above each challenger’s photo grid. I will try to keep it up to date as quick as I can ;)
Next week, we’ll get Snappy H’appy with MultipleExposures! Thanks for checking out this Photo Challenge and making it all the way to the end of the post! ;)
Hello! Donna is the Singapore Special you see in the photos of this blog.
Mongrel dogs can adapt well to living in a flat, and we hope you'll see that they are not scary at all. :) To adopt a dog, visit adoptadog.sg#adoptdontabandon
weliveinaflat health articles get the added insight from our vet partner, the lovely Dr Jo from Creature Clinic, so you may be sure what we say is credible. ;)
Welcome back to Week 9 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by 
2. 
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– shows that it does work for some people with dogs.
Welcome back to Week 8 of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge hosted by 
