A return to Blogging

As I re-enter the world of blogging perhaps a review of the past is in order.  When I first began it was on another platform.  I was a full time freelance photographer out in the world doing fun and unexpected things and it was an entirely new way of self publishing that I found thrilling.  I started before the word meant something to people.  I’d say blog and people would respond— What’s that?  No so now. Social media has taken over and it’s so common we don’t even blink about it anymore. The world has grown up so quickly and so amazingly I almost feel like this blog is old school except that it’s really not.  It’s simply another way I can continue to express and share my creative side for myself.  I grew up with being published was common, an everyday occurrence.  Having a personal blog is just another way of publishing content. It’s fast, easy, e\personal and there are no rules. I like that.

The world renown Chef Grant Achatz said “Rules? There are no rules, do what you want.” And that equally applies to any creative endeavor, including making Ai art!

So why did I stop blogging way back when?  I got sidetracked by an odd situation around a post that made me feel like I was doing something bad.  I wasn’t but I did take it down by the request of a client. There was nothing wrong with it, it was likely a privacy issue even though nothing and no one was named of course. The experience made me shy.  And life goes on and we get busy.  Not only that but life changed too.  I fell in love, got married, buried three wonderful cats, I’ve changed jobs, transitioned to specialize in being a live theatre photographer and you could almost say at this point I’m retired— except I’m not. I work a lot, I create a lot and I love a lot.

Then Ai happened. In 2023 I began playing with Ai tools to experiment with it. After trying the top pro contenders at that time I settled on Midjourney and haven’t looked back.  On any given day I might spend at least a couple of hours having fun creating images that at times take my breath away, make me laugh, or even stun me because they are so beyond what I could have conceived of when I first put a text prompt in to create an image.

Back to the blog.  My brain runs amuck with ways to use the images, and ways to show them.  I rarely share much with the exception of Facebook and Instagram on rare occasions. It’s time for that to change. After a lot of consideration I decided it’s time to revisit my blog and share some of my Ai artworks.  I hope you find them as fun to look at as I have by creating them. 

Comments welcome!

I’ll be blogging more and talking about my process, opinions or who knows, but I promise it’s all about creativity.  For now I’ll post this video gem I created in 2023, very early days for my Ai stuff. It shows a wide variety of styles I used to create a valentine for each day of February, the month of love.

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About charr

Charr Crail is a Northern California photographer and artist with an avid passion for creating unique digital imagery. Charr, a full-time freelance photographer, spans the divide between photojournalism and extraordinary art via photography and can trace back her evolution as an photographer/artist from three dominant sources. Her father made his living as a newspaper photographer and as soon as he could, was taking young Charr, then four, on assignments to capture a lifetime of experiences and images. He instilled a sense of adventure and curiosity in her as they would often meander down unknown country roads of the South – just to see and capture what was out there. Soon after, Charr would develop her eye for photography and journalism as “the river that runs through everything she does”. Charr’s mother blessed her daughter with the ability to appreciate art in its various mediums. Further, her mother was able to pass along the joy, satisfaction and excitement one can experience in actively creating something beautiful. It’s no surprise, then, that Charr would become a photojournalist and later a photo editor spanning two decades working for Northern California publications including The Sacramento Bee. Often, her assignments would include community events with a “close to home” theme woven into every image and story she captured. Her photojournalistic experience has therefore been nuanced through everything she produces. She’s also drawn to the wonder of color and the beauty that can be found in the composure of a face and the make-up of the human bodyscape. Charr has won countless awards for masterful pieces including; the Professional Photographers of America LOAN Collection for two consecutive years, WPPI Grand Award and her work has been featured in the Di Rosa Museum in California’s beautiful Napa Wine Region and is also part of the permanent collection. Separately, she instructs digital photography workshops that teach students how to blow out the creativity of their photography in simple methods using programs like Adobe Photoshop and how to market using mobile devices-- Visual Content Creation using Mobile Devices.. Charr lives in Sacramento with her husband Chris and kitties Leeloo and Sadie.

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