ROTA FORTUNAE

"Rota Fortunae" is yet another old photo I've recently edited. I'm not sure about the colors. Had to force myself not to stay within my usual favorite family of lavender/purple -- which is the actual color of this African daisy. But I'm trying to break out of habits of seeing, and thinking, too! An earlier color combo with brown petals, looked like the steering wheel of an old galleon, but none of the other contrasts within that version were interesting. When I hit on this color combo it gave me the feeling of an old, maybe medieval print of the Wheel of Fortune. And those bits of fuchsia pollen at the center just tickled me no end. So I'm letting it rest for now as is.

Hopefully, someday I'll have a better photo editing program. I'm getting bored with the combo of colors available, and even more so, look forward to being able to change colors independently of each other. Even adjusting for hue and saturation doesn't change the range of colors that automatically appear together within the total picture. I.e., the programs I have only change all of the colors of a photo at once, within a palette based on the major single block of color. (I imagine this palette or range is determined by a ratio of percentages of all the colors within the total photo.)

Yes, I can use the Paint program to color areas, but it's such a painstaking task to do with a mouse. And given shapes and textures, sometimes just impossible to do without looking as retouched as some models do on magazine covers these days. :-) I only use it with very small areas and then only if I absolutely feel I must in order to "rescue" the photo. (Blush! I have a program with which I can draw on a mousepad using a "stylus." Which would be a vast improvement over a mouse, for sure. However, I'd have to set it up on my computer [involving a USB port splitter I got that's just gathering dust and re-organizing my crowded desk space -- no small task -- to accomodate the large drawing board], deal with all the glitches that there will inevitably be, and then learn how to use it. Sigh. Too much right now for this old lady.)

Of course, maybe if I were more patient and thoroughly explored the programs I already have there'd be some really helpful functions I could use. Since first using a computer back in the 1970's, I've always tended to learn program functions as I stumble over them. I.e, I only read manuals in dire emergencies, much preferring a hands-on approach. What can I say? No patience for all that frustrating translating from techie words into action. I'd rather just experiment at the keyboard. And trip over useful functions like I did the other day, one that was hiding in plain sight all along: Miscrosoft Office Picture Manager offers rotating of a photo by as little as one degree. This will be really helpful with that occasional tipsy photo I accidentally take. :-)

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****