Category: Gardens

  • Bo’ness Steam Locomotive Re-Imagined As AI Artwork in my  Fan Of… Series

    Bo’ness Steam Locomotive Re-Imagined As AI Artwork in my Fan Of… Series

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    This week’s Fan Of… #234 is AI-assisted artwork featuring the Bo’ness Steam Locomotive. This old steam locomotive runs a short tourist route out of Bo’ness Station to Kinneil on the southern shores of the Firth of Forth. Bo’ness Station is also home to the Museum of Scottish Railways.

    The inspiration — Exploring the World of AI-Generated Artwork: My Journey in the ‘Fan Of…’ Challenge

    Probably, most of you are wondering why AI; it all comes down to the time of year. Here in Scotland, daylight hours in winter are pretty much between 0900 & 1500 & unless you get one of those bright clear days, the weather can best be described as dreich (those grey, miserable, wet days) where the light is not so great. Don’t get me wrong, If there’s something worth photographing, I’ll happily be out in the worst of weathers?

    I also work in retail; this sees an increase in work hours & very little chance to get out with Snappy. End result is that I can feel my creativity start to wain; not being able to get out with my camera certainly puts a dampener on the creative spirit — & so to AI & Hot Mods.

    For more about AI in the creative world, visit Susan’s site & in particular, the series of posts that she’s writing: Post 1 & Post 2.

    This form of AI artwork allows me to use my own photography as a basis for AI prompt engineering. In all my Fan Of… posts about AI creativity, I’ll show the original image & then the various outputs from Hot Mods as I work with the AI to create new artwork.

    As you’ll see through these posts, the expected output is not always what I wanted (I’ll share these as well), so back to re-writing the prompt.

    Last week was the Glenlee; this week, I’m working on the old Steam Locomotive that runs out of Bo’ness Station.

    This is the original image I shot & used for the basis of my prompt engineering.

    From Real Photos to COllaborative AI Artwork: My Experiment with AI Art

    Bo'ness Steam Locomotive
    Bo’ness & Kinneil Steam Locomotive
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  • Glenlee, The Tall Ship Re-Imagined As AI Artwork in my  Fan Of… Series

    Glenlee, The Tall Ship Re-Imagined As AI Artwork in my Fan Of… Series

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    The inspiration — Exploring the World of AI-Generated Artwork: My Journey in the ‘Fan Of…’ Challenge

    Tall Ship sailing through a storm, being attacked by dragons
    Tall Ship sailing through a storm being attacked by dragons
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  • From Photos to Fantasies: Exploring AI Art Manipulation in my  Fan Of… Series

    From Photos to Fantasies: Exploring AI Art Manipulation in my Fan Of… Series

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    The inspiration — Exploring the World of AI-Generated Artwork: My Journey in the ‘Fan Of…’ Challenge

    My wife, Susan, recently used a function within the paid version of ChatGPT called Hot Mods (to help mock up cover designs for the book she’s currently working on) to enhance one of her pictures of the Kelpies.

    To learn more about ChatGPT & the use of AI as a writing assistant, have a read of this awesome post by Susan: Revolutionising Writing with AI: My Journey Begins. In her post she describes how AI has allowed her to work whilst suffering from CRPS, & how she has engineered ChatGPT to work as her assistant.

    Below is her original shot & the subsequent re-imagining based on her prompts.

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  • Celebrating Winter’s Delicate Art: Frosty Leaves in Macro Photography  Fan Of… #231

    Celebrating Winter’s Delicate Art: Frosty Leaves in Macro Photography Fan Of… #231

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to). This is also my post for Macro Monday.

    Capturing the Magic of Frost: A Close-Up Look at Ice-Crystal Adorned Leaves

    Frosty Leafs
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  • Icy Puddle — Fan Of… #230

    Icy Puddle — Fan Of… #230

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to). This is also my post for John’s Cellpic Sunday.

    Icy Puddle
    Icy Puddle

    This week’s Fan Of… is an Icy Puddle. This iced-over puddle had formed some interesting geometric shapes. I used my phone inverted at ground level for a unique perspective.

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  • Frosty Leafs — Fan Of… #229

    Frosty Leafs — Fan Of… #229

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join this weekly challenge whenever you think, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to). This is also my post for CFFC: Anything that makes you feel cold & John’s Cellpic Sunday.

    Frosty leafs
    Frosty leafs

    This week’s Fan Of… is frosty leafs. I spotted these in the carpark on the way to work on a cold morning. The humidity was relatively high, so ice crystals had formed on the leafs. I used my phone inverted at ground level for a unique perspective.

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  • Garden Macros — Fan Of… #228

    Garden Macros — Fan Of… #228

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    Autumn leafs
    Autumn leafs

    This week’s Fan Of… is macros in our garden. We recently had a rare bright day where I was able to get out with Snappy & his macro lens. Some of these shots featured in my post for CMMC: November Macro or Close-Ups. I thought I’d share the rest for my latest Fan Of… post.

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  • Perpetual Calendar — Fan Of… #227

    Perpetual Calendar — Fan Of… #227

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    This is also my post for John’s Cellpic Sunday.

    Perpetual Calendar

    This week’s Fan Of… is Our new perpetual calendar. A perpetual calendar is one where you can change the month & dates; they come in many different forms. Our old one was a cardboard flip calendar where you just turned over the month & date as required. We recently saw this wee gem whilst out shopping & had to buy it. It features an adult bear & their cub. The months are etched into wooden strips & the numbers onto wooden blocks.

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  • A Happy Wee Car — Fan Of… #226

    A Happy Wee Car — Fan Of… #226

    Hi All 👋 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).

    2016 Smart ForTwo
    2016 Smart Fortwo

    This week’s Fan Of… is My Mum & Dad’s Smart Fortwo. My parents car is a one of a kind owing to the wrap that it has on it. The car was an ex-demonstrator & was given this unique, bright & cheerful wrap to really stand out on the roads. Whenever you turn into my parents road, this happy wee car stands out a mile, sat on the driveway

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