Another Type of Fractal

I've been trying out some tutorials for Apophysis and this one by Claire Jones on DeviantArt is not only a superbly written and well documented tutorial - it produces the most amazing fractals I've seen yet!

How about this for a first attempt? Apart from the colour scheme, it's exactly per the tutorial but if you'd seen some of my results from other tutorials, you'd understand why I'm showing off this one! LOL

Woo Hoo 1st Fractal Accepted

I submitted some of my fractals to Shutterstock in the hope of them being saleable - turns out one of them was :) Given that the current job market is so rubbish, I'm hoping that I can up my output on microstock to compensate a little so although I've still got a lot to learn about fractals, it's nice to know that even at this early stage, some will be acceptable.

I can feel a new addiction coming on!

Exploring forums and blogs as I do, I came across mention of a fractal program called Apophysis so I went and downloaded it (it's freeware, yay!). I had a fractal program on my very first computer, many years ago now - an Amiga 1200 and had hours of fun, creating weird & wonderful Mandelbrot designs. I even turned one or two into cross stitch pictures (very simplified of course). So I just couldn't resist having a look at the new (to me) program. Oh wow! I never realised how many different types of fractals there are or how beautiful they could be.

Here are a few of my very first attempts :)

So if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why! :)

HandM@de Craft fair - Cambridge

Had a lovely day and the sun came out too :) Lots of chatting to lots of lovely Etsy peeps, quick wander round the normal Saturday market then back to the fair to man the team stall. I also had a quick dash round taking some photos so here they are. Click the photo to go to their online shops - lovely ladies all :)

Handm@de Craft fair - Cambridge, UK - tomorrow

Four of the lovely ladies that I've met through Etsy have organised a craft fair in Cambridge and it's all happening tomorrow. I bottled out of having my own table but the Etsy UK Street Team is having a team stall so I'm popping along to give support and man the stall for a little while. Judging by some of the posts on Twitter and Flickr, there is a fair amount of last minute panicking going on which is one thing I'm not missing after all the stress I gave myself for my initial venture into the world of craft fairs! LOL

I'm just going to enjoy myself - talking, eating and taking sneaky candid shots of all the lovely stalls and stallholders. The doors open at 11am at The Guildhall in central Cambridge, postcode is CB2 3QJ if you want to google map it. If you'd like a preview of some of the sellers, have a peek at their blog here.

More Squirrel Action!

This little fella made me jump out of my skin today! I'd just entered the park and stopped by a litter bin to scan the area for squirrels (it's very close to the duck pond) when he popped out of the bin. I wasn't quite quick enough to get a shot of him half in/half out of the bin but I crouched down and talked to him a little and he came almost within arms' reach before dashing off to the picnic table.

Another lunch break in the park

Such a lovely early Spring day today so out came the pocket camera and off to the park I went :) I spotted some early blossoms so it was time to try out the macro and super macro modes (always my first love) and I have to say, considering they are handheld and there was a hint of breeze, I'm actually quite pleased with these two.

I also spotted these willow shoots dangling in the river - I can't tell where the tree meets the reflection and I was there - love this in an abstract way!

And, of course, the cheeky squirrels were out in full force! I think I saw about 6 at various points along the path and another 3 or 4 down by the duck pond where some small children were feeding the ducks. They are mighty brave these little fellas but oh so cute too.