Simply put CoolIris allows you to take a gallery that looks like this

and make it look like this…

for more info and far better example

http://www.cooliris.com/

Firefox plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5579

Once installed, just cruise the net, looking for images that have an icon like the one below in the bottom left when moused-over.

Click the icon, and wait for the magic!

She is the biggest and the best in my little world… and she’s even better during this time of year. There are no harsh, piercing winds preventing my enjoyment of all she has to offer: the music, the food, the art, the architecture, and the views… she is one of the more beautiful cities I have ever been in.

It appears as if the buildings were all designed to intermingle with each other. Individually, each building is it’s own piece of art. Together, they form an intriguing collage of shapes, lines, positive and negative spaces. She really is like a large sculpture; each and every different way I look at her, she presents new scene for me to interpret.

It is when the sun goes down that I fall truly in love. Everything about her is perfect at night.

I can walk through her streets at night with no distractions other than her beauty. During the day, she may be one of the busiest cities in the world, but at night, she is empty. It can really be quite eerie. To think that five hours ago, hundreds of thousands of people were pouring through her streets. Now, I’d have a hard time finding more than five people walking on the same block. I’ll admit at being selfish here. At night, I do not have to share he with anyone. At night, I can go where I want. No people to dodge or stand in my path. No passing cars or busses to wait for. At night, she becomes my therapist. She provides alone time, quite time, for me to think my thoughts out. I can just sit, stare, and think. At night, she is without sun to add to the heat… or fill any shadows.

While she may offer more during the day, this city was built for nighttime viewing. The beauty of her buildings and the shapes they create are amplified by their artificial lighting. The lights accentuate certain features. The lights create shadows that add a whole new feeling to the buildings that is not seen during daylight hours. It is sort of an interesting concept. These huge, magnificent buildings are busiest during the day. I would think that 98% of her visitors see her buildings under daylight. Daylight that flattens certain features, and casts an unbearable glare upon the people underneath. They see her in a daylight that protects from danger, while hiding her beauty. Only 2% of her visitors have the opportunity to see her in her true beauty. I wonder if the entire 2% even take the time to look.

She is beautiful.

She becomes different at night…

She becomes mine at night.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

This past Christmas found me a bit short on cash. I did however have a massive stack of inkjet ink and photo paper, as well as a plethora of photos that I have taken over the years. One thing lead to another and the result was A Book of Quarters.

The Process

Twenty-five photos were cropped six inches square. Some photos were left to scale, others were enlargements of detailed sections from the originals. The twenty-five photos were then split into four, three inch square sections (A, B, C, D.) The A thru D sections were randomly placed into four piles, where each pile got one section from each split as well as equal counts of A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s, so as to prevent 1 pile from having all the A’s (or B’s, etc.) Each pile was then randomly rearranged. The rearragement had two purposes. One was to keep the book interesting and have some logical progression (or as logical as possible at least.) The second was to prevent each books page four (or five, six, etc) from containing a section from the same source.

The Result

Four books that contained one section from each of the twenty-five source photos. After some extensive page flipping, arranging and rearranging, the four recipients (parents, sister, brother, and wife) were able to take each of their individual photos and combine them to make a whole.