Fractals were among the very first thing that bit me with computers. I was fascinated that the tiniest of equations, nothing more than x becomes x square plus c (or x -> x²+c), if run over and over for a particular range of x and c, can generate pictures reminiscent of seahorses, mountains, swirls, leaves, coastlines, and many other shapes regularly occurring in nature.

Unfortunately, calculating fractal images on a computer requires many calculations, hence may take a long time. I certainly did send my 486 of hence into endless calculations ever deeper into the Mandelbrot and other fractal sets to find more and stranger looking images. Fortunately, machines kept getting faster all the time, and the days when my computer was busy for a full 10 days to calculate one picture are now over [horihold in this case, it's located at the very edge of the Mandelbrot set in terms of fractint's 16-bit integer maths].

Over the years, a substantial amount of pictures has come together, which I'd like to share with you here. If you have any questions about how any of these images is made, please do not hesitate to contact me.

You may find that you have a use for these as backdrops for your computer screen, to decorate your flat, or simply to look at them. The images are free for personal use. If, however, you would like to use any of these images on any of your own web sites/print/other media, or commercially, then please get in touch as regards ©. (and yes, I can produce many of these images at much higher resolutions)

In view of the numerous bandwidth thieves out there, I was forced to put a block on people using my images directly from my server, I hope you understand. You can, however, still save the images to your disk, but can no longer display them on your web site from my server. (Thanks to chimageguard)

Enjoy!

And, just in case my fractal images have given you ideas of your own, you might want to look at the wonderful Xaos fractal explorer. It's open-source, it's GPL, it's available for linux, for windows, for the Mac, and for the PC. And it's simply gorgeous. Compliments to the team!

If you want a fractal screensaver, look no further than electricsheep.org !