ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Hello Friends, hope Summer is treating you well Big heat wave here in the Washington DC area, and driving up to Canada to finish clearing some personal belongings from a time I used to live in Montreal. Will be gone a few weeks, but might check in sometimes as I finally decided to get myself a smart phone after resisting the technology for so many years The introverted side of me likes the idea of going on nature walks without distractions, but then again I got into a car accident near home a couple weeks ago and found myself having to rely on the other person's cell phone. Lucky to a certain extent as it was more of a slow motion accident where the other guy swerved in front of me at like 10 miles per hour, so it could have been a lot worse considering all the rugged back country roads I've traveled without a phone. Now I'm starting to discover some wonderful apps like WeatherBug and AllTrails to help with my photo hikes, just hope I don't get too addicted!
In any case, thanks for all your amazing support in these last couple months since I started submitting images again. Still have hundreds left to share, maybe a fresh batch after this trip to Canada, only wish I had an extra clone or 2 to help with time management! Very happy with how my premium content is progressing otherwise, on a good day I'll get a couple paid downloads when there was a time I'd be lucky to get a couple per week. Of course that doesn't mean I'll be drinking martinis on a Tahiti beach any time soon, but every little bit helps and I'm always humbled when my premium images are worthy enough for breathing new life into someone else's art. Also very grateful for the constant words of encouragement, I think a lot of us share similar ambitions by wanting to make it in the creative arts and I've always believed we're in this together instead of against each other.
By that token, I would like to mention another fellow deviant by the name of Eli Vokounova, aka lucid-light Someone who creates wonderful fractals and recently made me aware of Patreon as another venue for selling images with subscription pledges. In her case as low as $1 per month, and even though I was reluctant to pledge at first for being in a similar situation of wanting to make a comfortable living through art, she eventually won over my almighty dollar. Turns out we share many other things in common, and at the end of the day I can afford the extra $1 per month with my increased premium download sales If you like fractal art too, feel free to visit her Patreon page below:
www.patreon.com/elivokounova
When returning from Canada, I'm considering starting a Patreon account for my stock. It would however be a whole new challenge for me, and the idea of exploring unknown territory tends to come with a degree of fear, so I'd like to know what you think. No doubt I'll need to keep my submissions fresh every month and with so many images to choose from, obviously I could not submit them all at once. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to focus on specific subjects I love to photograph like waterfalls & waterscapes, in the hopes of giving you more of what you want and less of what you don't (like grunge & decay which may not be everyone's cup of tea). For those of you who have already benefited from my premium stock here, do you think it would be more appealing to access a greater number of images for a fixed price of say $1 per month as opposed to paying for 50 points / cents for each individual download? In the beginning stages when populating my Patreon gallery, I would also be open to requests for those who want to see specific images from my dA account copied over to Patreon.
I'll leave it at that for now while I pack for my trip. See you again in a few weeks!
Nick
In any case, thanks for all your amazing support in these last couple months since I started submitting images again. Still have hundreds left to share, maybe a fresh batch after this trip to Canada, only wish I had an extra clone or 2 to help with time management! Very happy with how my premium content is progressing otherwise, on a good day I'll get a couple paid downloads when there was a time I'd be lucky to get a couple per week. Of course that doesn't mean I'll be drinking martinis on a Tahiti beach any time soon, but every little bit helps and I'm always humbled when my premium images are worthy enough for breathing new life into someone else's art. Also very grateful for the constant words of encouragement, I think a lot of us share similar ambitions by wanting to make it in the creative arts and I've always believed we're in this together instead of against each other.
By that token, I would like to mention another fellow deviant by the name of Eli Vokounova, aka lucid-light Someone who creates wonderful fractals and recently made me aware of Patreon as another venue for selling images with subscription pledges. In her case as low as $1 per month, and even though I was reluctant to pledge at first for being in a similar situation of wanting to make a comfortable living through art, she eventually won over my almighty dollar. Turns out we share many other things in common, and at the end of the day I can afford the extra $1 per month with my increased premium download sales If you like fractal art too, feel free to visit her Patreon page below:
www.patreon.com/elivokounova
When returning from Canada, I'm considering starting a Patreon account for my stock. It would however be a whole new challenge for me, and the idea of exploring unknown territory tends to come with a degree of fear, so I'd like to know what you think. No doubt I'll need to keep my submissions fresh every month and with so many images to choose from, obviously I could not submit them all at once. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to focus on specific subjects I love to photograph like waterfalls & waterscapes, in the hopes of giving you more of what you want and less of what you don't (like grunge & decay which may not be everyone's cup of tea). For those of you who have already benefited from my premium stock here, do you think it would be more appealing to access a greater number of images for a fixed price of say $1 per month as opposed to paying for 50 points / cents for each individual download? In the beginning stages when populating my Patreon gallery, I would also be open to requests for those who want to see specific images from my dA account copied over to Patreon.
I'll leave it at that for now while I pack for my trip. See you again in a few weeks!
Nick
The Voynich Manuscript and Nostradamus Connection
I have good reason to believe that Michel de Nostredame - aka Nostradamus - was personally connected with the Voynich Manuscript. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge this theory goes against conventional wisdom. The radiocarbon dating of the manuscript's vellum places it between 1404 and 1438, and Nostradamus lived between 1503 and 1566. I am well aware of the apparent discrepancies. I do not necessarily challenge the validity of the radiocarbon dating for that matter. To the best of my knowledge, the radiocarbon dating was done on the vellum. That does not otherwise prove the age of the ink applied to the vellum, and by extension, when the Voynich Manuscript was actually written (except perhaps that it was some time after the radiocarbon dating of the vellum circa 1404-1438). Nothing at face value excludes the possibility that the vellum was recycled or left as blank pages for over a hundred years. I am basically keeping an open mind, and I invite you to do the same if we can
Heads Up
Soon I will be posting a journal which might appear strange to you. It pertains to personal research I've been doing into the Voynich Manuscript, and how I believe Nostradamus is connected with it. This upcoming journal is basically a transcript of my research paper. It is primarily meant for documentation purposes so I can leave my imprint of it across multiple online sources. Realizing it is more academic in nature, which might not attract much interest here on Deviant Art. But I suppose it still counts as literature, and who knows, it might inspire others to become more curious about the Voynich Manuscript 🧐 Feel free to comment (or not), but now that my research paper is finally published, I plan to take a break and crawl back out of this Voynich rabbit hole for a bit... perhaps refocus on my photography again 🙂 (plus a lot of other stuff to catch up, including sleep)
My Interview with Shoutout Colorado
For anyone interested in reading more about me, feel free to check this interview I had with Shoutout Colorado: https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-nicolas-raymond-photographer-visual-artist/
Google Bard and Plant Identification
As you might know, I like experimenting with AI. Starting out with image generation, even though I am less interested about that now in favor of revisiting my photography (and a growing obsession with deciphering the Voynich Manuscript I will not elaborate upon any further in this journal). I am however still using AI in other ways. For example, I am using Google Bard to help plan my photo trips as it can return maps, and pins dropped on that map to reveal places of interest I asked for in the first place (like waterfalls and historic landmarks). I've noticed Google Bard can also help to identify things like plants if you attach an image within your query. And that's what it tried to do right here, from a photo I captured in the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens in Grand Junction: Worth noting, I submitted this photo a few months ago on iNaturalist, hoping that another human could help me identify it. No luck there as far as I know, but I was drawn to this image, and wanted to
© 2016 - 2024 boldfrontiers
Comments40
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Have a safe trip!!