The OneOwner Experiment

I follow few opinions blogs. Be that because I value my own opinion over that of others (they don’t agree with me) or because most opinion blogs are monetized (require monetary compensation to read) or because most opinion blogs are highly biased to one or the other extreme . . . whatever the reason, I follow few opinions blogs.

Maybe it’s because few opinions blogs that — in my opinion — have the right mix of critical thinking, logic, honesty, and willingness to admit when they are wrong. 

However, I do follow many photo blogs. Two such blogs are lightscatter and 2clicksaway, both run by oneowner, a. k. a. Ken Bello.

I follow them because they offer ideas for subjects and composition and because of the often interesting post-processing and treatments of the photos.

I would classify the photos as closer to photographic art than just photography. Why am I mentioning the blogs? Well, because people might be interested in what he offers . . . 

. . . and because I wanted to try my hand at some of what he does. Mind you, it’s not exact. It probably isn’t even close. But, it’s close enough for me. 

So, here are the original photos I snapped specifically for this post.

First off, The Frond on the Road Marking . . . 

. . . a photo I snapped during one of our walks along Aliʻi Drive. 

Almost all of these were taken along Aliʻi Drive.

Next up, Love and Rain the Other Way.

Next up, we have Reflector and Grass (01 & 02)

I should mention all of these were snapped with the Samsung Note 8. 

Because of the lighting and the angle, I had little hope for these photos as starting points.

Next up we have the imaginatively named Staples Pole with Numbers.

Followed with . . . Staples Pole with Ty.

I admit this too gave me pause as perhaps not offering as great a creative opportunity as I imagined when I snapped the photo. 

Next up we have a photo named for what it brings to mind; namely, something straight out of the movie Cleopatra. No, not the Asp but rather . . . The Fan of Egypt.

It’s a little dark because it was late in the day and in a shaded area.

This next, and last, photo is of a door I see every day after leaving the gym. It always piques my curiosity and would like to go in there as I Always Wondered Where They Made Them.

So, there we have it. The seed photos I would use to generate photos based on for years having studied oneowner’s offerings. 

I considered treating them in Lightroom as that’s what he uses for most of his processing. However, I wanted to retain at least a semblance of originality so I opted for the SnapSeed App on my Samsung Note 8. 

Side note: the above photos were output with the newly-designed watermark. However, while the photos I edited in SnapSeed bear a similar watermark, it was added using the Text option in Snapseed and consequently doesn’t conform to the above format, size, and placement. That’s because I originally planned on using the WordPress Android App to create this post . . . before realizing life is way to short for that kind of aggravation. 

So, did I achieve my objective? 

He doesn’t use frames but otherwise, I think this at least captures the spirit of some of his work. 

This next version is, I think even closer. 

I mentioned I wasn’t too hopeful for the reflector and grass photos but I used the cropping and distortion option to reframe the photos and came up with these modifications for the originals.

Not being classically trained in the arts (any arts) I can’t very well judge the end result other than comparing it to similar offerings. 

It looks close but, not having the eye for such things, I don’t know if major flaws in presentation and treatment make the above nothing but humorously infantile attempts at art. 

Similarly for the Staples and Numbers photo. I was so unsure that I tried two slightly different versions before calling it quits.

I like them both but — as I often state and maintain — I ain’t exactly a judge of good taste, let alone art. 

Except for this next one, which I really like. I mean, I’m still not a good judge but I’m willing to go out on a limb for this one. 

I also like the colors and treatment on this offering:

But, it could be those are both too gaudy, too . . . too . . . low-brow. I don’t think you would see stuff like that in an art gallery . . . but, you might see something like this:

There a certain drama there that speaks to the struggles of humanity, to the hopes and fears of countless individuals . . . or, they should clean the door every so often. 

So, there we have it . . . 

. . . but, I couldn’t very well stop there now, could I?

I have this other Android App called Paper Art . . . and 29 other versions of the above. If you don’t want to look at them here in the post, here are a few other options for you.  

If you fear you might miss some of my clever writing, don’t worry as there’s not much more writing below. Besides, some will surely point out none of my writing is clever but, since you’ve already read to here, it’s a moot point. Not that it will keep some people from making it nonetheless.

To see the photos in their original size or presented a bit better, please visit the associated SmugMug Gallery HERE.

For a full-screen slideshow click HERE. There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the bottom-left of the screen with the transition set at 3 seconds or you can manually control the transition by clicking on the < and > symbols to the left or right of the photo.

If you rather, you can just keep scrolling through the other 29 renditions of the photos.

Here are the variations for the Frond on the Road . . . hey, that would have been a good name as well. You know, a play on words on “fork in the road” . . . 

Note I added the regular watermark on the photos where the original was not visible . . . not that anyone cares.

Here are a couple of variations on the Reflector and Grass photos . . . not many as I didn’t find any of the variants all that interesting.

Unfortunately, most of the variants of Staples and Numbers lost the detail of the staples . . . but, I’ll let you in on a secret . . . I hadn’t really noticed the staples until I looked at the photos after I got back. The numbers motivated me to snap the photo. 

The Ty photos are probably my favorites of the bunch which goes to show that you shouldn’t judge the original until you’ve processed the crap out of it. 

The Fan of Egypt offered up some interesting variations, including a couple with a vaguely reptilian or wyvernian feel to them.

I thought the door would offer more opportunity than what it did . . . still, not bad. 

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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