I'm Not Kidding! Yet.

 Proof that I'm serious about being back. Here's another old oldie:  

Girl In The Treetops.

Another LuminarAI edit from a 40+ year old negative scan.

Hey Out There! Wake Up! I'm Back! Maybe.

 Has it really been ten years since my last post? Holy shit. New editing tools like LuminarAI, PicMonkey, the DxO Nik suite tells me it's time to revisit those old home-made porn  boudoir images for another go-round. Here's one, edited with Luminar AI (find it here: https://skylum.grsm.io/danielgauss3379 )

Hiatus.

Taking a cue from the Europeans, I'm taking the Summer off.  Posting will return when it cools off..  meanwhile, enjoy this..

A Pedestal's Not Good Enough

Instead, I placed (a teenage version of) my bride... on a local hilltop. And since I had the cactus flower lying around on the desktop..

Cactus Flower

Recently, I started practicing extracting elements from images.  Yesterday's "Moonshine" image was the first try, and it seems to have worked out well.  Here's another "assembly" of old and new images.  The prickly pear blossom was shot just this afternoon.  The nude, about 35 years ago.

Blossom was "extracted" using Photoshop Elements "Magic Extractor".  Tree limbs were distorted with Elements' "Liquify" filter.  Black and white image was colored using "Tint" tool in Picnik.  Other tools used have slipped my mind.

Double Shot of Moonshine

This one took a couple of hours, and has numerous effects, as you might imagine.  Only the smooth, young buttocks are from an old scan, (original below).  The moon, and hawk are from current digital captures.  In fact, that's the famous "Super Moon" of just last March.

Elements were separated from their original files with Picture Cutout Guide, and assembled in Photoshop elements.  Some additional lighting effects were also added in PSE.  Many effects in Picnik, went into the final image, including "Thermal Image", "Doodle" (the clouds and stars), and of course, the "Mom" tattoo.

Original image from mid-Seventies

100% Pure Aryan Goodness

I don't know that for a fact, but she was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, with a German surname. Close enough.
I could regale you with amazing stories of things that went on in her mother's kitchen while her mother slept less than 20 feet away, but that would just leave you frustrated... use your imagination.

A pretty straight hand-colored image from scan of a black and white 35mm negative. Added "soft focus" filter in Picnik, then un-softened eyes and lips.

Oh! And because Mother's Day is coming up: the tattoo!

She Walks Away.

..and no matter how much you want her to, she won't turn back.

This is another of those "this and that" processes, most of which I can't even remember.. try this? Nah. Try that? Yeah, that works. Let's add something else. Original color print. Some Photoshop Elements, some ACDSee Pro.

Hey!, you wonder, is that Margaret? Why yes.. yes it is.

Color It!

That's right.  You have permission to download to your printer, then have at it with your box of Crayolas, colored pencils, or bodily fluids.  Stick it on your refrigerator, or put them online and post a link in the comments.

This idea came from the fine folks at PhotoJoJo.com.  It's a good site, with fun photo ideas. Check 'em out.

Sheer.

Every day could be an exhilarating, terrifying adventure.

Starting point: a very small size digital file, (under 50 KB) from a scan of a Polaroid SX70 print. Using ACDSee Pro,eEnlarged to around 450KB, added "glowing edges". In Picnic, painted out all undergarment lines to accent the sheerness of the dress. Played around with light and exposure to get an effect of "nothing under the fabric". Added border.

The Twins

Your pride is showing.

Trouble.

....And if you can't see that, well, you're on your own, friend.
.

Suzie V.

Other than the lighting, and softening of the focus, this one is virtually untouched, because why would I mess with it when I nailed it?      :D

Girl On A Swing

Except for cleaning dust specs, and increasing saturation, this topless young lady is posted "as is"...

Beach "Bum"

On a beach on an island in Lake Michigan, about 1986.  The usual techniques.

Climb It.

Once the "Dune Flyer" has descended the dune, they have to make the less graceful ascent.

When I created the original Dune Flyer image, linked above, my "painting" skills in the Picnik editor weren't as finally honed as they are now.  For instance, I didn't know then how to create subtler color tones, which is why the model here, a former college classmate,  is no longer a bottle blonde, but has hair  much more her natural color.

Coldstone Creamery.

It's OK. It was a _________________ cemetery. (Insert a religion you love to hate. Easy one for me.)

Haven't posted a picture of the fabulous Margaret recently, and this one hides a secret I won't tell. See previous.

Air-Cooled Coochie

(and I spelled it right without having to look it up)

I bet my friends who were involved with this project will scratch their heads in puzzlement, because they won't remember this, until they realize there's some digital undressing going on here. My technical skills aren't quite at the level yet where I could remove the top as easily as the bottom, and we weren't paying her enough to do it "live".

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Just a quick "oil painting" conversion of a mirror self-portrait from either very late 1969 or January of 1970.  My very first 35mm camera, a Yashica TL Electro, purchased at the DaNang PX just prior to coming home. Eventually, I would learn to hold the camera properly.

Let The Sunshine In...

Click to play

Another day, different colors.  The sun makes it warm.

Like yesterday's image, from the same session, this was first converted to black and white from the original.  Needed a lot of cleaning up, as the scanner was really picking up the "silk" texture, and all of these old 5x7 enlargements are really starting to curl bad.

Added the sun in ACDSee Pro, the graduated tint for "sunlight" in Picasa, then painted the colors back in in Picnik.  The original: