Alpha, with that kind of encouragement, I might end up doing just that! :-) I know you've seen it, but for those interested in more Stone Magic, you can check out Hematite in the gallery - judging from the very low # of viewings, some of the people here may not have seen it yet. Well, if I can come up with some ideas you might look forward to Jade, Obsidian, and Tiger's Eye... I'll keep everyone updated. :-) Malenchite

Heya, I hope this turns out quickly and well for you. There was a three or four month time gap in my Stone Magic series thanks to a buggy camera that I had to return. But I'd only had it a little while, then, when I was just starting photography. If that happened now... anyway, I sympathize and wish you well. Malenchite

Glad you like it. One of the reasons I've always kept the title of the 'Stone Magic' series as a somewhat generic name is so that I can throw in whatever my imagination comes up with and not worry about being out of theme. :)

Heya, To throw in my input, I use a Fuji FinePix 2400Zoom for all of my images. I got it as a present, but I think it runs in the $400 range. I haven't actually run into the problem of the JPG loss affecting my images - this is probably partially due to the fact that I take the images at 1600x1200 resolution. The large image size means the normal edge effects for JPG's don't have nearly as much impact on the image - at least, that's been my experience. Most cameras also have an 'uncompressed' save mode (usually TIFF format, I think), but the images are gigantic so you can only fit 2 or so on a memory card at a time. Malenchite

Welcome to the forum! Always glad to have new photography lovers around. Very nice lighting on the image. I hope you decide to stick around. Malenchite

Welcome and hello! This is definitely a different view of Ohio than I see when I wake up every morning. Very nice photo, and glad to have you here. Malenchite

Heya, Definitely an image after my own heart, as far as Photoshop manipulation goes. I agree that the weakest point is the gray background. Something with a sharper contrast might work better. The way the editing softened and lightened the face is incredible, though. Keep it up! Malenchite

No joke. :-) Just pulled a towel off my shelf and rumpled it up a bit. It was originally dark green, but I applied a lighting effect in Photoshop to unify the coloration with the symbols. The symbols themselves were also completely Photoshop - just some airbrushing and a Gaussian blur. Malenchite

Heya, It really is a wonderful image - I think the color and lighting add a lot to it. Good to see a picture of you, even if it's a bit out of date. ;) Malenchite

I think the most amusing part about this image is that the backdrop is a towel. :) Malenchite

Hey, that could be another idea for the series: househould objects transformed into sci-fi space technology. :) In case you're curious, the backdrop is something called deep space black flash felt - it looks even more like a star field from far away with a strong flash on the material. Malenchite

As far as I've been able to tell, the word 'nudity' never shows up - the image simply won't appear to those people who have nudity turned off in their user preferences. Malenchite

Thanks for all the encouragement. :) I have to say, this is probably my favorite in the series yet. Every one I do teaches me more about Photoshop and the art of photo manipulation. To give a bit of background for those interested, I've always been into computer imaging for its capacity to simulate magic and other things that are rather difficult to find in every day life (same reason I'm into writing and drawing, for that matter). I'd always been interested in photography as another medium of expression, but I am just a poor college student living in the dorms, and camera equipment combined with scanning technology was way past budget. Last year, my mom came to the rescue by getting me a digital camera for my birthday. This also launched me into another topic I'd been discussing with a friend of mine: nude photography. A digital camera gave the perfect medium for private photo 'development' without needing my own dark room. So, this series started in my first model shoot ever, with a bag of stones I'd gotten (from the model!) as a present a few years ago. Amethyst and Symbol come from that session, where I was basically just brainstorming. Malachite and Quartz were individually developed, and Lapis should be coming along as soon as I get time. Okay, well that got kind of long... anyway, I'm glad that people have been enjoying the series. I may at some point come up with a story behind them. I've always been partial to stone magic and rune/sigil magic in fantasy settings... Malenchite