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I am still experimenting with the Julia variation. This time, I added a bit of the rays variation to a transform. Then, I put it off-center for some variety, just like the sun doesn't always have to be in the middle of the picture.

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I am sorry that I haven't responded the past few days. I have been busy.

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Tonight I have been experimenting with the Julia variation.

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This is one I made back in June, but never posted. I rendered with a low quality setting to preserve the grain. Quality = 25, and I normally use 1000 for images that I post online. In the rare event that I print a fractal, I normally use 2000. Not that there's much visible difference between 1000 and 2000. I also went back to using flam3 to render. I had been using the internal renderer.

One thing I'd like to see in the not-too-distant future, is all the various versions of Apophysis put into one program, and that flam3 be updated to support all the variations in all the versions. However, I don't want to be pushy. The developers of both flam3 and Apophysis have done a wonderful job, and have put a lot of work into getting these pieces of software out to us.

Swizzle

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Here's an idea for the Apophysis users out there. If you're having a difficult time creating a new fractal, take an old flame and change some of the variations.

Bubble Worlds

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I couldn't decide which one I liked the best, so I rendered them both.

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First of all, this isn't my style. I applied a trick I learned from looking at some of Exper's parameters. This is really his style. I applied swirl and polar to a transform, and wah-lah. I had no idea the combination of those two variations could produce these nice little swirlies.

Goatman mentioned fractal music in a comment he made. Yes! There really is such a thing as fractal music. There are various software available to create fractal music, though I haven't tried it yet. Based on his comment, I may just decide to make some! There are quite a few fractal music sites on the web, and therefore, there is a large variety of fractal music software. I have no idea which one is the best, but I will research it and figure it out. I'll start here: http://www.fractalmusiclab.com/ In the meantime, if anyone comes across my blog and reads this, and knows of a good fractal music program, please let me know.

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I used the same gradient for this fractal that I did in the previous image. In the Apophysis software, the gradient is 411_040221-54.

Gradients can completely change a fractal. Some colors can bring out parts of fractals, or shadow them. Other areas of a fractal can be highlighted differently by using a different gradient. Below is the same fractal with a different gradient. The gradient used below is 423_040221-74.

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Math trivia: .999... = 1

It really does.

Seagrass in Spring

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A lot of times "hot spots" can ruin an image, but this time, I think the hot spot in the upper right corner actually adds to the image, giving it a feeling of light.

While you're in the mood to look at art, why don't you look at BeadBabe's Valentine's heart. This is not your everyday Valentine's heart. I think she has expressed herself wonderfully with this project.

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I ran into Coppercat while browsing fractal flames. He is also a fractal artist, but an artist with a twist! He also makes music, and it is the perfect type of music to sit down and create fractals with. His style is electronica and trip-hop. Click on his name above to visit his site, and listen to his music! There are free mp3 downloads there for your enjoyment.

I'd also like to give thanks to Exper, because he has helped give me some new ideas. My creativity had dried out, and I hadn't been making fractals the past week. He has helped renew my source, so, thanks Exper! Be sure to check out his work, especially his recent swirls pieces!

Also, never underestimate the power of the linear transform. Creating a linear transform and then reflecting horizontally or vertically can make copies, and this helps to fill-in the frame. (But watch out when you then move those reflections - the image blurs! This may be good for some images, but not all!)

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Spring Flowers on Saturn

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Tweak Tag

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These two images were created by "playing" a game called "Tweak Tag". The game of Tweak Tag is played like this: Someone will post parameters to a fractal in a forum or other location, and other users will tweak the paramters to come-up with their own fractal. What I mean by "tweak", is that once you have the parameters, you move/rotate/flip/add/delete transforms, change weights, change variation amounts and so forth. To see an example of Tweak Tag in action, click here. By clicking on that page, you can see the original parameters and each tweak done to them. Mine are in there somewhere. Give it a try and see what you come-up with! (Original parameters were "donated" by New2DA.)

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I think someday soon I will be trying out this piece of software - Kaleider.

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Starry Infinity

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Normally you see spirals of this sort in images created with the Ultra Fractal program. But, this is strictly an Apophysis flame. This time around, I rendered with a very low quality setting - only 25 - in order to keep the graininess, because I believe this gives the spiral a bit of texture.

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We get great enjoyment from our bird feeders. Since we became serious feeders we've been getting a nice variety of birds. My favorite is the lone red-bellied woodpecker that started showing up a few months ago. Its name is a rather curious thing, because you see, its belly is not red, at least not visibly. Its head is! Why is it not called a red-headed woodpecker? Because there already is another bird with that name. The red-headed woodpecker is quite a bit different than the red-bellied woodpecker. Its head is red, too. The difference is that its entire head is red, while the red-bellied woodpecker's head is really only red on the top. There are also differences in the body markings. See the links above for more details.

Our new friend is so very majestic. He has quite a strong presence on the birdfeeder. I had never seen one before last year, and now I see him almost every day.

We were always fending off the squirrels, because they claimed the feeders while we weren't looking. I should say my husband was the one fending them off, because I rather liked them, and felt sorry for them, because they need food, too, after all. So, this Christmas my husband got a very special gift. It was a squirrel feeder! Now, not only do we feed the birds, we feed the squirrels.

Just a few weeks ago, my husband went and bought a bird bath from the Concrete Lady. We don't keep it filled right now due to the cold weather, but I can't wait to see it in action in the spring. Today I spotted a cardinal checking it out.

I've always loved nature, but it seems the older I get, the more I appreciate slowing down and really watching it.

Calf Arts

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Do you know what calf arts are?

Radiance

You may remember this fractal:

All that was applied to the above was a sharpen filter. Today I learned a little Photoshop color trick from Wontar, and below is the result. I'm only practicing right now, and to me, the color changes look good. But I'd like to know what you think about them. Please let me know if you like the above fractal better, or the one below. Also, please give me your reasons explaining why you chose that fractal. If you don't like the altered image, please let me know what I could have done to improve it. I really appreciate your feedback, because I can't get better without your help. I like to know what my audience wants to see!

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Trapped Tinkerbell

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I really like the title that Goatman chose for this one. I really can see little Tinkerbells inside the glass spheres.

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In late May and early June we'll be vacationing. We've thought about Hawaii, Disney World, and now we're thinking about Peru. We went to Mexico a couple years ago and loved it, so I think that South America is made for us.

Bad Dream River

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I would really like to alter my style of fractals a bit, using Photoshop 7. What I mean by this, is that I'd like to make them even more abstract than they already are. I don't have any plug-ins for PS7, so just what can I do with what is already available to me? There are already quite a few different filters that I could apply. Some of them can give an artistic effect, such as "brush stroke", to make them look painted on canvas. The image above is a pure flame fractal, finished just about five minutes ago. I might "play" with it a bit, and see what I can come up with. I'll post the altered image on this blog if I come up with anything. In the meantime, if you're a Photoshop guru, and would like to pass some ideas on to me, please do so. Just remember, I've only used Photoshop about three or four times in my life, and really only very briefly during those times.

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I couldn't make it through the first few chapters of The Hobbit. I guess I wasn't cut out for fantasy literature. So hopefully today I will find the time to start We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. I've read a couple of her books and have enjoyed them.

In other news.... Jennifer's and Jim's water bill was too high. They couldn't, for the life of them, figure out why. Their house was checked for leaks. No leaks anywhere. One day, Jim stayed home sick from work and kept hearing the water running downstairs. This is what he found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WofFb_eOxxA (You do need high-speed internet for this.)

Spiral Gyra

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Inner Beauty

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