Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

This WAS a photo of a tee shirt I had hanging over the door. I see faces and people and bones, ha..

Yay! So glad you are back and posting in the Cottage again, Drifa.

It took me a while to figure out how this is a tshirt - what a cool pattern! I can definitely see what you mean about bones - it reminds me of an x-ray. The smaller bits also make me think of fingerprints.

A Drifa thread! I love having the Cottage back too, and its great to see you. The more I look at this the clearer I see bones, mostly hands and fingers. Or like finger shadow puppets, but creepier.

This is definitely a creepy-vibe shirt! I agree, there are definitely bone-like shapes in there, but it also makes me think of ghosts, or at even just... echoes of things long-gone.

Thank you, Tara, Aerlinn, Taethowen (have we met before?) and Tari. I am so happy to see all of you again. Its such a great reunion! *hugs*

This WAS a photo I took of a daylily. *grin* I love finding little faces and beings in these abstracts the effects create. I see a dragon lily there. *grin*

I see a dragon too! Such a fun effect to come out of that filter!

I... don't recall if we met previously? My active years on Old Plaza were roughly mid 2003 - early 2007, so if you were after that, we didn't cross paths at all.

Hi Taethowen! Thank you!

I joined the Old Plaza in September 2003. Maybe we did run into each other. *grin*

Here is Drifa the Dwarf that I created a few years back. I took a photo of myself and bearded it up. *grin*

I like your t-shirt! It's like the negative effects really do have a dreamlike quality of a zombie crowd suggesting a lot of waiting groups.

Your dragon is very cute, in his little heat haze.

Don't think I ever saw this picture of your beardedness; I do feel that you need to get to a barber and get that thing plaited though!

@drifa, I love the beard edit! It does look quite realistic. Blends in with your actual hair and everything.

The distortion of the lily photo reminds me of looking at something through a window running with rain. I had fun staring at it and saw several faces just now!

@Drifa maybe we did! I didn't venture out of Rohan much on Old Plaza, but apparently I... helped run the Moria Health & Beauty Spa for a few months in late 2003? I just uncovered that gem yesterday so WHO KNOWS. Anything is possible.

The beard edit is *fantastic* and you are way more photo-editing skills than I do if you were able to accomplish that!

Hahaha, I love Drifa the Dwarf! Nicely bearded. Dragon lily is almost like fire reflected in water with the ripples, nice contrast. I'm not very familiar with filters and effects, so it's cool to see what you can do! Also dragons <3.

*sneaks in to take a look at things and try to see* Hi, Drifa! :)

Lirimaer - We must have a discussion someday on the characteristic of a dwarven beard. *grin* Thanks!
Zôrzimril - Thank you. It has grown out quite a bit since that picture was taken. It is long and lustrous now. I brush it 100 strokes fully every day. *wink*
Taethowen - I spent most of my time in KD. Didn't wander much at that time. Thanks!
Pele - Hi! nice to see, you! *hugs*

This is a photo of the shore-line where I was living. I took it a few years ago. I see an imp and what looks like some creature's skeleton, hahaha...

Inspired by Pele's wonderful randomness, I thought I would share some photos of the mushrooms I took a few years ago. It was a beautiful Autumn the year I took the photos. I remember it well. The mushrooms had sprouted in abundance, colorfully decorating the trails through the forest. In all my time spent living at my old home, I had never seen so many mushrooms. I have a lot of photos but will share a few for now. *grin*

Love the mushrooms!Best keep the hobbits away... All of the images are great the first reminds me of a black and white slide of bacteria - mostly because I have a friend that works in a lab and they draw similar stuff all the time but more cartoony. And I love the shoreline, I def see the imp and skeleton! I was thinking Hellhound at first glance instead of imp.

oh those are gorgeous. I especially love the red-capped one, something about the way it curves upwards is just beautiful

Mushrooms! Those are so cool--do you know which ones are edible? It's so easy to imagine little fairy tale creatures when looking at close-ups of mushrooms, especially that red cap one. It's like if you watch out of the corner of your eye you'll be able to see a bunch of tiny little elves running around their mushroom forest. *grin*

Nice forest reflection shot too! Especially those hints of orange and the splash of red--mysterious since we can't see the tree it's coming from.

There is *definitely* a creature's skeleton along that back bank, for sure. I almost want a copy of that picture to frame!

The mushrooms are very cool! I love the look of the little yellow ones in the second photo, and the red one all by itself. So pretty!

@drifa Mushrooms! Though I did not think of photographing them growing. :D Just picked whatever edible ones I found as if I were a greedy hobbit.

And all those pretty pics make me want to go out into the forest some more!

That shoreline photo has some gorgeous colors - looks like a crisp fall day. I definitely see the skeleton!

Love that you took inspiration from Pele's thread - this is the kind of Cottaging I am here for! The macros of the mushrooms are quite lovely - I especially like the composition of the little red one and the colors of the brown one surrounded by green foliage. Also, what a variety! :O

*brings out feather duster and goes to work dusting off I See Things*

Thank you all! Wow, it is hard to believe that it has been over 2 months since my last post. I guess I haven't been seeing things lately.

I found some inspiration in Tarawen's wonderful Photography thread. Thanks!

I am learning how to use my macro lens. Here are a few photos I took. Still have to master it, but they are not to bad. The first one I call Cold Buds and the other, Little Hooded Leaf.

Aw, macro is hard and these are lovely @Drifa! We don't really get true autumn around here, it's too warm, so I have to live vicariously through everyone's photos. I love the dots of pink of the little buds around the leaf.

Thanks Aerlinn! Congrats on the awesome icon!

Caught this lovely lady sitting in a tree. And another macro shot. Still working on getting shots crisper and more focused.

It's taken me far too long to pop in here and see what you've created and I have only myself to blame. Drive, these are all fantastic! I'll refrain from gushing about every single one (though they all deserve it) and say simply I think your Drifa cosplay picture is fantastic and whimsical, and your latest snaps have amazing color contrasts and shading. I'd say you are doing a fantastic job getting crisp, focused shots. I am quite envious.

Aww I'm glad to see more photography from you, Drifa, and quite flattered to have inspired you at all! <3

The macros are lovely! The soft colors in Cold Buds in particular drew me in. Is that ice? on the branch? Whatever it is, you've captured some incredible detail.

That bird photo is spectacular. You've done a great job getting her in focus amidst all the tree branches, and the lighting is lovely. The flowers in the last one look a bit like snowflakes themselves!

I am so happy for you that you've got a macro lens - it's something I hope to reinvest in for my newer camera someday soon. Please continue sharing your photography with us!

Playing with macros is so much fun! The Cold Buds one is so serene to look at. And I love that sweet shot of the cardinal. They're some of my favorite birds, but I haven't seen as much of them around my yard this year as I usually do (though I do still hear them nearby). And I'm with @Tarawen on the flowers in that last shot--they definitely look like snowflakes!

*is attracted by wonderful photos* Those are so excellently detailed, Drifa!

Thank you all for dropping in! I appreciate your kind words!

I am not a cat fan, but both my sons are. This is my grandcat, Elliot, taken a few years ago. We call her Moose (Andrea Beck's children's book series, Elliot Moose and TV series).

Oh Drifa I looove cats! Your grandkitty is gorgeous!! I have a special fondness for torti's and calicos. Her eyes are gorgeous, she looks like a happy and very sweet cat. I love how she is framed by the vegetation.

I don't know why I haven't been here before but your photos are gorgeous! So much nature! Of course I love the cardinal, which I don't have where I live. I love the way the lighting brightens up her breast! The mushrooms are really lovely as well as Cold Buds. I really like macro photos and looking at small things, would love to get one someday. Looking forward to more!

Thanks Lailyn! I wish I did like cats . They are so beautiful, especially the eyes!

Like the title of this thread states, I see things. Can you?

OK, I might be hallucinating (who knows at this point, I haven't been sleeping as well as I should), but I see a dragon in the tree in the last photo... *blinks in confusion*

I see... some things in some things? Definitely love the detail! And snow!

Hahaha, looks like a dragon it does. I see a sea horse and an eye in the old log with the mushroom. I see things, I tell you!! Thanks for dropping in, A Good Wife and Pele!

I tried my hand at coping this lady in the red hat by Kees van Dongen, a Dutch-French painter. The piece is called, The Corn Poppy. I call mine, Ama Teurish, hahahaha. I had fun doing it, and that is what is important.

Okay, so here is The Corn Poppy:


Here is my sketch:


Here is Ama Teurish:

Love the new photos there are awesome! My I see what people were talking about with the dragon. I also like the cardinal - we don't get to see them often where I am so I enjoy pictures of them. I also think your simple sketch and colour copy study are interesting is there a reason you chose this particular piece?

Thanks Fuin! Something about this artist's art intrigues me. It's simple but detailed, if that makes sense. I like The Corn Poppy's big black eyes. I do not know all the technical terms why. I just like interpreting his art in my own style. I would give anything to be able to paint.

Here is another Kees van Dongen's painting. This one he called, La femme au foulard (The Scarfed Lady, I believe).



Here is my sketch:


And here is my interpretation and what I came up with in my paint program ( I have Paint Shop Pro, by the way):

That is an interesting way to practice artistic creativity, @Drifa!

Thanks Pele!

Looking forward to seeing some of these beauties!! This photo is the actual daylily from my second post above.


Here are some missing photos from the first NuPlaza crash.

Ooooooo Drifa! I absolutely *love* this latest photo. It's really cool to see the original after you shared the edit with us way back when. Thank you for sharing it - and your lovely sketches - with us!! <3

Now I want spring... just a little bit. A lot.

Throwback. After reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. First Martian, which I already posted before the crash, and my other Martian.

Ohh I remember the first martian from the first time you posted it! I think it's a fantastic drawing, with the second martian it comes across as very androgynous.

The second one I assume from how the white is framed it's a pencil/pen? Did you draw it with the swirls or add those later as an effect?

Hi Fuin! Thanks! I added the border and the swirls in my paint program. I also used a few more effects. The swirls really gave the hair some texture and depth.

I sketched this first.


I then used these lips that I sketched sometime ago instead of the ones on my first sketch. The first lips were too fat, I thought.


More effects with a photo of some mushrooms.

@Revered Grandmother Funny you should mention, 'it comes across as very androgynous.' I just finished listening to The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. The reading quite moved me. Have you read/listened to it?

It was such a beautiful day today. The clouds were gorgeous.

Coming by to admire the clouds! Currently no more sun and clouds for me, but a slightly red-tinged eastern sky - must be a lovely sunset by the sea...

Love the photo of the mushrooms! That's a really neat shot making them into a world of their own as it were! Your cloud photos are super nice I really enjoy the leaves of the trees with them gives more depth to the image and the variations in the greens on the leaves is neat since they are back lit in at least one of the images

Thanks, Pele and Fuin!

A chewed-up leaf. It looked cool lying there on the ground. I can see skeleton faces in it.

Looks like interesting type of lace to me.