James Brubaker

If the photo looks the way you want it to look, it is a great photo. Oh, you are not sure how you want it to look.

I have often wondered and studied how I want my photos to look.  So, I boiled my study of that question down to five characteristics.  Maybe my study will help you answer the question you ask about your own photos. Read on, I’ll tell you of my study.

First click on the TGO Photo Club page in the left column – Eileen Norington, Jim Dick and Dave Cesari have posted some really great photos there. Dave showed us some birds in the northern white stuff, Eileen showed a Florida bird huddle up to keep warm in our Florida cold spell in the 50 degree range (Ha Ha), and Jim showed what what he finds on TGO’s wonderful nature trails.

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Now, some back ground on my studies and some examples of photos I messed with to illustrate my findings of five photo characteristics.

Did you know that all digital cameras record some form of AR – AUGMENTED REALITY – Each camera setting changes in some way true reality.  Therefore to some extent we photographers are recording a modification of the truth.  We use aperture, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, telephoto lens, CMOS recording sensor, and other camera/software components to help create an image of reality that has been modified.

Companies like Nikon, Microsoft, and Facebook are forecast to spend $20.4 billion, in 2019, to develop hardware and software to help create AR (Augmented Reality).  AR is like the computer was 60 years ago – in its infancy.

So, what makes an  AUGMENTED REALITY image better than a true reality image?  I have been studying that question for months and hope to study it for years.  Over those future years I hope to follow the the development of the products developed with $20 billion spent to create AR images this year.

Even if I am not qualified to to teach AUGMENTED REALITY, I want to pass along to you what I learn.  Maybe, I want to teach you because teaching forces me to learn.  Sixty years ago I accepted an opportunity to teach a gradate level Industrial Engineering Statistics course, using a brand new device called a computer, at the University of Pittsburgh.  I learned everything I taught the day before I taught it.

One day at a time, that is how I learned and taught computers and, thus, enjoyed a 60 year career built around the computer.  Now I want to learn – and to encourage your to learn – digitally AUGMENTED REALITY.  Hopefully, we together, will enjoy learning what makes a photo good for us, the beholder. 

So far, I have boiled my study down to these five characteristics for evaluating my photos:

1.  Controlling  the mood of an image using light

2. Making all 4 corners different, applying the rule of thirds, and making use of letters and angles to create a good composition.

3.  Bringing the viewers eyes back to the subject using proportion and values (shades of color)

4.  Making sure that the subject is surrounded by a setting that tells the subject’s story

5.  Using depth of field to reduce clutter

EXAMPLES of my use of these five characteristics:

USING LIGHT: These photos are really  AR – I augmented a “real” photograph to create each of these abstract photos – I controlled a lot of light in the augmentation.  But the question is, did I use light in the abstract photos to make this room bright and cheerful?   That is how I wanted my photos to look.

USING LIGHT: Here are 5 great photos by the famous Dorothea Lange, depicting the years of the great depression – In each photo, I think, she “controlled light” and posed folks to depict the plight of people in the depression. – By hanging them here did it change the emotion of the dinning room?  That is how Dorothea wanted her photos to look.

Photos from the Hubble Space Craft are real – and bright – and they send a message of our communities pride in being next door to the Space Center.  Does their light –  brightness –  set a proud cheerful mood for the room? I choose them to give the look of pride and cheerful.

Just for fun, I did augment the Hubble Photos a little.  See the “Blue Heron Restaurant” logo bird in upper right?

This is just as my camera recorded it.  The camera washed out the photo and did nothing for my subject. I wanted your eyes to stay focused on the sticks surrounded by the invasive plants.

Hey – With Photoshop I altered the photo to make it much closer to what I wanted to show you. It is not so washed out (altered light), four corners are different, value contrasts by the stick keeps your eyes on the stick which in turn keeps you looking at the photo and not jumping off my photo.  The “L” shaped letter of dark in upper left keeps sending you eyes back to the stick, and finally the grasses in the lower left are at an angle and they point point your eyes back to the stick as does the black area from the lower right point you to the stick!  

By using the 5 characteristics I hope I was able to keep your eyes on this photo, so that I could use it to help tell the story of invasive plants. Anyway, that is how I wanted the photo to look – by definition that makes it a “good” photo.

I was reluctant to show you a PhotoShop modified photo – ’cause my goal is to help you learn what “makes” the photo you want.  Then, encourage you to use camera position, camera settings, time of day, natural light, created light,  and viewfinder composition to make the photo you want.  

As you swing thru life, your photo is good, if it is the photo you want.   I hope our Photo Club helps you learn to know what you want and helps you practice to get that “good” photo more often!

Before I explain though, take a look a Dave Cesari featured in the TGO photo blog – Click on the Club’s page in the column to the left.

Now My explanation:

I have discovered that I love to look at what I call abstract photographs, abstract art, and everything in-between. Having been educated in engineering and managed and taught business operations in a very precise way, free flowing art of any kind has not been a part of my earlier years.  

But now I have time to play with the freedom of art and still use the precision of a computer program – PhotoShop. Even if I know nothing of art I can create my version of it with PhotoShop.  

I guess if I wanted to create realistic art, I could take my trusty camera, snap the shutter and have it.  But, abstract art is a different story – one can start with a real image, scramble it in their mind, then go to the PhotoShop computer, and create art as a one of a kind image – an image to be seen nowhere else! Your personal image of life.

Since Gloria talks to me constantly of art, I have been on the internet studying art. I may even take some art classes in the future.  But, in the mean time please put up with my playing around with something I know nothing of – abstract art.

My friends, like Bob Hazlett, are all to blame.  They play with my ego and push me onward.  Even if I do not know what they are talking about, they unknowingly push me onward. See what Bob wrote to me this morning:

“Hello Jim:

I enjoy your posts showing the crazy things you do with Photoshop, mixing photography and art.  I got to thinking about mixing mathematics and photography and what you could do with photoshop on Fractal images.

Fractal Geometry is a branch of mathematics often referred to as “the geometry of nature”

Regards,

Bob Hazlett”

I went to the dictionary and found this:

Mathematics of fractals:

In mathematics, a fractal is a subset of a Euclidean space for which the Hausdorff dimension strictly exceeds the topological dimension. … Fractal geometry lies within the mathematical branch of topology. One way that fractals are different from finite geometric figures is the way in which they scale.

Geometric abstract art:

Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-representational compositions. 

Although the genre was popularized by avant-garde artists in the early twentieth century, similar motifs have been used in art since ancient times.

Geometric abstraction is present among many cultures throughout history both as decorative motifs and as art pieces themselves. 

Often used in the architecture, geometric patterns were used to visually connect spirituality with science and art since the 7th century.

The dictionary confused me and I still do not know what Bob is talking about. But, I will study more and learn. For now, I will show you the results of my playing around with what I do not understand.  It was fun:

Stop what you are doing right now!  Look around you and imagine that there never was an artists in this world.  Erase from your mind all the things of art that you see.

The Apple on you i-phone was created by an artist.  Erase it.  Any Jewelry on you hands or neck?  Erase them.  The lamp shade, the sofa, the table, your shirt, your sunglasses – make them all just black and functional.  All wall hangings must be erased.  Curtains and shades? – just hang up old newspaper – it will do the job. No interior design artists exist in the “no artist” world.

Get rid of the Museums of Art In our cities across the United States. Erase all building architecture & landscaping.

Sixty years ago I was graduating from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering – We engineers had our own “Engineering Hall” up on the hill, overlooking the Cathedral of Learning where the art students went to classes.

In 1958, there were very few girls seeking a Masters degree in Engineering.  Being that there were a lot of girls seeking a Master of Fine Arts degree, we engineers soon learned our way around the Cathedral of Learning.

We figured that pretending to appreciate art was a small price to pay to be surrounded by so many young ladies. 

That pretending soon began to sneak into my soul.  I began to appreciate art for real.  For an engineer, that is an unexpected “Oh My.”  I purchased a camera, and spent hours in the University’s darkroom creating photo art.  Engineers’s need artists, I learned – or is it that artists need engineers.

I could see that we engineers could never design a new 1961 Corvette without the help of the artists. In fact I think it was the other way around, we engineers were just putting an engine and driveshaft into the artist’s piece of work. The Corvette is a real piece of art.

Anyway, my way of thinking shifted from “engineering first” to “art first.” The artists do the design, then the engineer’s job is to create machines to punch out the pieces of metal, plastic, and fiberglass. Then we engineers created an assembly line to bring it all together to turn out the artist’s Corvette – a piece of art that was any engineer’s dream.

Keep thinking about a no artist world. The artist designs the picture on the box and the engineer gets the cereal to your kitchen table. The artist says you need holes in your Jeans and the engineer figures out how to wear holes in your jeans, at just the right spot, before you put them on of course.

Study the environment around you and name the hundreds of things that had the artist’s hand.  Now go back to what you were doing.

The next time you meet an artist, bow down to them and say “Oh my, Thank you for making this world a beautiful place.”

In my case, I will also say “Would you like to go to your art gallery this evening?” The Blue Heron Restaurant is a wonderful Art Gallery that even serves great dinners. The team of artists. that Gloria organizes for the gallery, make the Blue Heron Restaurant a beautiful place.  Thanks!

I hope my photo art work helped make my story more interesting,      Oh my, maybe I am an artist?

If you see see art, you saw a beautiful world.

I am a photo artist. We artist are all alike:  1. We all want the  viewers to say “Oh My”. and  2. We all know there are 8 guiding dimensions to consider when creating a piece of art.

To be successful, all the artist needs to do is bring the first 7 dimensions together so that  number 8 gets the “Oh My.” Simple as that:

1. exposure – from dull moody to bright strongly expressive
2. tone – from racy high contrast to soft low contrast
3. color – from vivid colors to excite senses to pastels that quiet the senses
4. focus – from an all in focus flat photo to some out of focus to give depth
5. axis – from the rule of thirds, to leading the viewer to the subject, to making the viewer find the subject
6.  objectivity – from recording all facts to being selective 
7.  complexity – from the subject standing alone, to its interactions with other elements, to abstraction like floating clouds.
8. viewer response – “Oh My”, that image makes me relaxed, angry, laugh, dream of another time, …….

If a photo artist did not get any one of the first 7 dimensions correct, they can improve their errors by using PhotoShop. But, there is no PhotoShop for Viewer Response corrections.

See, you are starting  to understand the artist’s challenge already.

First, study these images in light of the 7 Dimensions:

Contrast (2), rule of thirds(5)

Interaction with the elements(7), rule of thirds(5) 

Color(3), emotion(6), rule of thirds(5)

Abstract color(3), interesting, complex, axis, find the object (5), rule of thirds(5)

Same art, different color(2/3) 

Peaceful, Calm, Tone(2/3)

Did you study the images?  Bet you can do better than the artist. See, nothing to it.

But, now that you are so smart, how does the artist correct number 8?  How do they correct things to get the “Oh My!”

The light bulb just went off in my head.  The artist must know what response they want and from whom.  Is that a novel idea: “You need to know what you want in order to know if you got it!”

Listen artists – Here is the road to success.  Use these two Brubaker dimensions (number 9 and 10).  Success is not guaranteed, but it is the best you can ever do!

9.  Intended viewer group  – Know who you want to view the art – for example, I want both Republicans and Democrats to view my art titled, “Evening News – Election Results”

10.  Intended response –  I want Republicans to say “Oh My” and  Of course I want the Democrats to say “Oh My,”  – How can that be with one piece of art?

Is the Donkey saying: “I am now the boss, thank you Mr. Elephant for the apples. If I want anything else I will call you when I wake up.”      or      Is the Elephant saying:  ” You fought hard and you are exhausted. I offer these apples as my sincere condolence.”

See what you think of the “Oh My” response I wanted from the viewer on these photo/art images:

Feel doggie love – “Pet me”

Love a horse’s inquisitive nature – “What are you doing”

Relax, relax, enjoy

Feel the excitement of Free Energy

Joy of talking with a little friend – maybe about those Disco Nights

Love of nature – Nature is a world wide art gallery

Babies are cute – beautiful and restful at the same time  or  Fear – “How do I get back into the nest?”

Pride  – “We are special, don’t touch us.”

P.S. Of course we writers want an “Oh My” on things we write – So, now that you have read what I wrote, in unison say “OH MY!”

Sometimes you respond when you saw what i want you to see

We know that the photo above is one of Gloria’s masterpieces of art – or is it a digital photo of mine of her’s? – or does it matter? Is it now mine? – not really – ’cause I stole a bunch of pixels? (in this case, with her permission) – Oil, watercolors, colored pencils, now pixels enter the art world!

You tell an artist “A digital photographer is a better artist than you are.”  I will tell the photographer “An artist can create a better image than you can.”  Stand back and let’s see if we started a fight.

First, here is an announcement from the Milton J. Weill Art Gallery in New York City:

“On View: January 11 – February 19, 2018 – Modern art has always been built from the blocks of its own history — just never at the breakneck speed the digital world now allows. The exhibition explores what happens when past and present collide, when paint becomes pixels.  In the process, lines are blurred: those between ownership and originality.  All “art is theft” Picasso once said. And when a work ages enough to be in the public domain, do we call it old — or just ready to be reborn? – with pixels?

Explore new work from artists Eric Corriel, Bill Domonkos, David Galbraith and Joaquin Trujillo — as well as intricate collages from artist, Sally Gill.”

I manipulated my photograph of  Gloria’s masterpiece to created my own pixeled art.  How do we know what is real?

Last Friday I gave a presentation at a Florida Photo Club meeting, attended by both photographers and artists, on the subject of manipulation of a photograph to create art.  It was a lot of fun and the folks there were very kind to me – No one “Booed” and no one started a fight.

Fine Art Photography has always been considered an oxymoron. But with advent of automatic digital cameras that oxymoron has changed.

By definition, a fulfilling work of art is beautiful or tells a story or both, and the viewer has an emotional response to the image – the emotional response will be unique to that viewer.

Today that image can be hand made with an artists paint or a manipulated photograph of pixels.  I like this new capability.  I will tell you how I used that capability just yesterday.

I sat in the waiting room of my Dermatologist for over an hour.  I was half listening to the TV news while studying the wall of the waiting room. I even whipped out my iPhone and snapped a few photos.

The one hour wait passed quickly and when the Doctor arrived, I showed him some of the photos I took of his office walls.  It helped us connect, he laughed, and I think we had easier discussions concerning my skin’s health. And, I had material for this blog.

The purpose of my little story here is to encourage you to find a “pixel” pass-time while waiting anywhere. You do not have to actually create pixels, just think about how you could create them.  It is really a fun way to spend enforced wait time.

I started with this – through the receptionist’s window – a paper hand telling where to unlock the window – and a sign for exam room 3 and a thermostat on the wall behind.

Influenced by the tv news, I created this.

I started with this exam glove dispenser

Influenced by the tv news, I created this chalkboard ad for Nitrile Exam Gloves.

How about these images?:   Beautiful or tell a story?  How ’bout the emotional response to the image

Left or right – Some viewers see and others saw

“A people without knowledge of their roots is like a tree without roots” – That was an advertisement that scrolled across the TV. For, twenty dollars,  they would check your DNA. Suppose I came from Iceland  – Land of Viking explorers – Epicenter of Mythology and Fairy Tales.

I drifted off to sleep, saw a psychedelic image of Iceland,

and viewed a Fairy Tale. When I awoke, I called the Fairy Tale “PERLA AND THE DRUMMOND DUCK”

Do you know Perla’s parents were born in Iceland and moved to Canada right after Perla was born. They hated Canada. Mother said the Canadian geese were too loud – their voices disturbed her peaceful sleep. Dad said their habit if eating the limited horse grass was disrespectful – and after eating all that grass the geese pooped on the remaining grass – disrespectful.

Mom said, I want to go home, back to my roots. – back to Iceland and the mid-night sun

Mom dreamed of Iceland and the Northern Lights 

.  But we can not do that. Since 982 AD, Iceland has banned any horse entering or reentering Iceland.

Mom and Pop fretted so much about their loss of home that they died up there in Canada. Young Perla and friend Addies moved to Drummond Island, USA.  But the Geese ate and pooped in the USA too. Addies said “ I hate this land, this pasture, these geese, and the Drummond horses.  I want to go home.

Perla said to Addies, “Mom and Dad did not know how to adapt and make new friends – the loneliness  killed them.  Perla said, “We must try – We must try to gain new friends. – We must try.”  With that, they both closed their eyes and drifted off to seep.

In their dream, They ask the Canadian Geese “Did you ever think of leaving the pasture and be like the duck, Eat, sleep and poop in the water?  The geese replied  “Well, maybe you should leave the pasture and and go live with the ducks.

The Horses said “You mean go away from what makes the Icelandic horse special – and live with the ducks?”  They felt strange and shed big horse size tears,

They felt strange, they cried, and shed big horse tears.

but they went to meet the duck on Whitney bay.  They stood by the water’s edge and envisioned a strange new land.

They saw a place where white horses pointed the way for any lost ducks, where the great 8 legged horse, Sleipnir, of Norse sagas, performed on stage. They, in their dream, saw Perla swimming all day. Their friend, Jim, canoed beside her – and the duck, the duck carried another Jim on its back.  Addies said “How can we make friends in this strange world of he duck”.

The strange world of the duck

Then, they both awoke. They said, we must stay in the pasture and try to get along with the horses that accept pooping geese  – the land of the duck is too strange.  We must give up some of our ways and do as these horses do. It will be OK.  We will not loose those important things of our roots – We can still Tolt, do the Flying Pace, grow long hair and change color in the winter.

That evening, Perla and Addies joined joined the other horses. They made no comments about wanting to return to Iceland.

Here is what happened in the pasture. At midnight the human of the pasture would sit and talk with them for hours. They were given treats of sweet food and fresh hay.

“Hey, these humans are real heroes.  They give us food, shelter, love, exercise, and they plan to take care of us for a long time.”  In Iceland, when heroes died, their horses had to give up their life to be buried with the hero.  It is not that way here.   WOW.”  Perla said, “By trying,  we have just found a great new way of living – we have adapted and we made new friends.”

Perla and Addies smiled and lay down by the fresh mound of hay and dreamed of another day in the pasture, with their new friends, with the geese, and with an occasional duck.  And Perla said, “We lost nothing – we can still TOLT, do the Flying Pace, grow long hair, change color in the winter, and we still are the most nice friendly horses in the pasture.”

It pays to try hard, to embrace the new ways and new friends, and still hold on to those important thing’s of your roots that make you a special person/animal.

THAT IS MY FAIRY TALE.

As you can see, I am not sure what I saw.

Question 1: If you can operate your cell phone camera, why would you ever turn to PhotoShop and destroy what the “person” behind that little round circle on your iPhone saw? You know there must be a very little artist inside your phone looking out of that little round hole with a paint brush painting very quickly what he saw when you push the “snap photo button” on your phone. 

Question 2: Why did Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) who was a Spanish painter and sculptor create surreal and abstract art when he certainly had the skill to paint as accurately as that little person inside you your iPhone

by Pablo Picasso

Question 3:  Why did enough folks around the world pay enough attend to the art pieces of Pablo to to make him famous?

by Pablo Picasso

Question 4:  Why would I spend any of my limited days on earth messing around creating surreal and abstract “things” from photos that I took or found on the internet? Especially when the photo I started out with was a perfect image of the beautiful art created by God – I am talking of the clouds I asked you to look up and enjoy in the last blog.

As seen out the front window of my car by my iPhone

Answers: Guess what? I can not really answer any of those questions but I sure love pondering each of the questions. I can explain that I sure love PhotoShop for letting me spend wonderful hours at my computer.

I cropped Gods abstract creation to focus on the clouds and flipped the image

cropped and flipped again

I ask God if I could use the above abstract to create my own abstract – She said OK

Explanation:  Playing with PhotoShop at midnight is a substitute for going outside at midnight to check on my horses and cows, or for sitting at a computer developing business software, or falling asleep in front of an old movie, or reading a book on abstract art, or polishing my antique tractor and motorcycle, or  mowing my pasture in the cool after a 100 degree Texas ranch day, or for climbing down the cliffs to see the phosphorescent on the ocean as the waves roll in, or walk in the woods at midnight to see the phosphorescent of foxfire or St. Elmo’s fire .

Next years Explanation: I have done all of those things in the past, but now I think in the Abstract and Surreal.

This is one of my recent abstracts having to do with Gator-aid. You will have to wait to see how this abstract “painting” came about.

Back to this year: – Why abstract art? — I got this reason from one of my on-line studies of the subject:

“The pinnacle of painterly achievement isn’t creating something that looks so real it can be mistaken for a photo. That’s the pinnacle of technical skill. You’re duplicating the results cameras give.  

The pinnacle of painterly achievement is going beyond replicating reality. It getting someone to see and feel something they haven’t seen or felt before. To see the familiar afresh, to see and feel more.”

That’s abstract art, in its full range from slightly abstracted to pure abstract.

God as an abstract artist: Now lets look at some of Gods abstract creations – each photo was taken with in moments of the other – God is a fast prolific artist:

The purpose of this little article is to help you look up at the sky, see Gods art and feel something you had not felt before  – see the familiar afresh – see and feel more.

As you seesaw thru life is it real, abstract, or surreal? Did you see and feel afresh?

I have no idea what to write about today

– So, say I to me – “Write about several things” — So, say I – “I will” –  Read on and see what I wrote.

I noticed only a few of my neighbors are ever out and about.  That made me wonder about the production of rope. Maybe I should get into that business.  What does rope have to do with my neighbors? Well, all the neighbors that were out and about  had a piece of rope in their hand. In all cases, there was a dog attached to the other end of that rope.

That made me think about how living in a “Town” shapes us human beings. I lived the first twenty years on a country farm. Thousands of animals passed through my life on that farm. Granted, many of them were chickens.  But I do not recall ever putting a rope around a chicken’s neck and having it lead me around on a moonlit night.

In all cases, there was a dog attached to the other end of that rope. OR was it I that was at the other end?

In this new modern life, we only provide a few ways to experience nature and the outdoors. Walking the dog (or having the dog walk us) is one way to get out in nature to have our noses “smell the roses” and have our mental and physical cycle “influenced by the phase of the moon.”

Whether a full moon or not, it is good to stop and smell the roses!

Hey, you “DO” believe that the phases of the moon control us?  I have been reading that some folks believe the moon influence us a lot. Tells us when to “create” babies, it tells when murderers should murder, and it tells other people when to be grouchy, or when to feel you should be energized.

According to Chaffin Mitchell, AccuWeather staff writer:

The lunar theory is the idea that there’s some correlation between moon cycles and human behavior.

Lunacy is linked to the moon.  Lunacy and lunatic stem from luna, the Latin word for moon.

 It is believed that people were more likely to show erratic behavior during a full moon.

A publication in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service titled “Lunar effect” shows the moon brings about social tension, disharmony and bizarre results. Police records in Florida, show an increase in murders and aggravated assault around full moons.

Scientific studies have also proven:

1.  The moon affects our sleep patterns.

2,  Supermoon’s cause baby boom.

3.   Moon phases tell when to be Grouchy and Nice

4,  The moon regulates menstrual cycles. Not very often in our  retirement community?????

5,  And, the new moon (Little moon light) controls animals:  For example, many small animals are more active during the new moon phase, because they are less visible and have a lower chance to be eaten.

Do you think the moon affects people?  Are you grouchy once a month?  Do you toss and turn all night once a month?

Some say yes and some say no.   Controversy – I love it –  (another New Topic)

See, I surround myself with people who are respectful, who are kind, and who are opinionated. – In business I hired that way.   In life I select friends that way.  But that opinionated part creates controversy sometimes. But, controversy is good – it brings out new ideas.

If you listen to your friends when they express new ideas, how can you loose?  Friends enjoy you because you listen and you get lots of new ideas without doing all that research work?

So, go out and walk your dog, look at the moon and let it influence your good side, and, kindly disagree with a friend.

Then:

Have a cup of coffee with your friend, listen to your friend talk, and as a result, learn something new, and both of you will feel good.  —-  How can you loose???

As you see, I have been seesawing between topics.

Hey,  Who designed the clouds in the sky?  Beautiful to see, are they not? Must have been designed by a professional sky scape architect.

The dictionary says architecture is a carefully designed structure of something. Clouds are a structure of something – of moisture.  But, who was the architect.  – Are the clouds really forms as I see them or are the forms I see as a figment of my cloudy mind? If so, I think that makes my cloudy mind the architect.

In college we studied architecture. It had rules. In my case we studied and created layouts of production shops – we designed  steel mills, machine shops, automobile assembly plants – We did all that to make it easier, safer, more economical, – In short, improve working conditions and make the owners more money.

There were many rules of architecture we had to learn. We were Industrial Engineers.  We designed and changed the architecture to support our findings and creativity. Beautifully designed efficient production facilities.

Our Florida home is ruled by the community’s Architecture Committee who has many rules.  The result is a carefully designed structure of things – the street, the houses, the landscapes.  Our street is beautifully designed according to rules of the architecture committee.

But, then I look up, the clouds form structures too  – They are beautiful.  But there are no rules – and the winds aloft change the structure ever so gently – every few seconds – not according to rules. The clouds just change and a new architecture is made of clouds – of moisture.  They are beautiful.

It is impossible for me to look at a cloud and not see something of an earthly shape. Being an Engineer, it is also impossible for me not to use  PhotoShop to help me show you the forms that I see.

This is a cloudy night over New York City

Cheryl sent me this iPhone image of the Super Moon

I focused in and said the point of interest is not the Super Moon – It is the two cloud faces around the moon.- Can you find them.

Over the gate to TGO – Oh, I see something I bet you do not see.

Did I help you see it?

Over my Bay on Drummond Island

At the upper end of the Rain Bow, on my street in Florida, I see a dog’s head blowing smoke?

The purpose of this little “Cloudy Mind” story is to get you to enjoy your sky more than you did before reading the story – Stop, Look Up, Study, and Laugh at what you see in the clouds.  Let your mind be the cloud architect.

You may be embarrassed to tell others what you really saw. That is OK – Keep it to yourself for you alone to enjoy.

Sometimes I sawsee things that are not there – add little PhotoShop and now I seesaw them.