Friday 4 February 2011

Macro Friday, The Weekend in Black and White, Scavenger Hunt Sunday...




The black and white version of the yellow leaf pic below.
I love black and white :O)


And now Scavenger Hunt Sunday...
Water...
Nice bright yellow leaf (I don't know what it is but it has a lovely smell)
 that was floating in our bird-bath.
(Well it was after I artfully placed it there).

Quote...
We went to Grafton Underwood in Northants on Sunday
and when I saw these paths the Robert Frost poem
just came straight into my mind, so I had to get a shot of them.

Window...
Charlie ponders life, the universe and everything, as well as
the blackbird hurling insults at him from the lawn.
(His bum isn't really this big... this is why you should never let
anyone near you with a camera and a wide-angle lens...)

Page twenty-five of a magazine...
No this isn't a picture of a magazine, it's a picture of a poem,
but hang on in there and I'll explain...
The magazine I chose was Black and White Photography,
and on said page were some featured photographs of shadows.  
Any mention of shadows immediately makes me think of Tennyson's
'I am half sick of shadows, said the Lady of Shallott...'
 (Told you we'd get there in the end...)
The beads are attached to my current favourite book-mark.

Activity...
When he's not working, or cat-wrangling (and endangering life and limb)
 as my assistant, David's favourite activity is photography (see Retro Air).
Here he is in the depths of Northants, minus moustache, but with camera,
and rather snazzy camera strap.
I wanted to get a sort of hand-tinted effect
on this, so I duplicated the background layer, converted it to b&w,
then adjusted the opacity so just a hint of colour showed through.

36 comments:

Ashley Sisk said...

Wow - these images are so beautiful - I love every single one of them!

Vrinda said...

first and second images are very beautiful... Very nice capture!

Vrinda.

Olivia said...

Love your macro!

Simon said...

Nicely done. Love how you interpreted p. 25. I'm still working on that one. Your macro is great as well.

Rosie Grey said...

Wow - what a wonderful set of photos!

Dragonstar said...

I think that leaf looks better in black and white than in the original colour :)

Mommy2Four said...

Very beautiful!

EG CameraGirl said...

I really like the black & white photo as well as the photo that reminded you of Robert frost.

Gina Kleinworth said...

Those are some great macros.

Johnny Nutcase said...

I really like the black and white version of the leaf photo, very nice composition! Cute cat too :)

anemonen said...

Lovely pic for B&W. Like the composition.

Serline said...

I love the Weekend in Black and White entry... very poetic.

Laloofah said...

Your artful placement of the leaf in the birdbath was skillfully executed. :-) I love both versions, but it's amazing the details that pop out on the B&W one - the leaf veins and water droplets.

That beautiful, enticing photo of the divergent paths in the woods is a PERFECT accompaniment to Frost's poem! Bravo! So after taking your photo, which path did you take?

Charlie has a lovely bum, even when immortalized by a wide-angle lens.

As soon as I read that line from "The Lady of Shalott," Loreena McKennitt started singing it in my head. (Since she's one of my favorite musicians, I'm rather enjoying my mental musical interlude!) :-) I love that photo, the beads on your bookmark are a beautiful touch! (I have several beaded bookmarks - only we call them "book thongs," lol - most of which I made. Fun stuff!)

David does look most content in his photo, and appears to have just spied a possible photo op. I must check out his blog. I have no idea what he looked like with his mustache, but he's a handsome dude without it! Are you still getting used to his new look?

You appear to live in an exquisite place for walkabouts and photography!

Laloofah said...

P.S. Dang, why are my comments so much longer than everyone else's? (They don't look that long till I publish them!)

Speaking of which, I keep meaning to tell you that I love the white on black and the font you use for your blog and comments. It makes my comments like I have lovely handwriting. Which I don't. So thanks! :-)

Laura said...

I really enjoyed seeing the variation from the black and white to the vibrant color of the second leaf image...all the photos are quite lovely.

Mona Sweden http://fotoentusiastenfotoblogg.blogg.se said...

Haha, at first at thougt: What a fat cat! A long time ago someone said that a camera never lies. That's not true anymore! love the photo from Grafton Underwood. Thanks for your comment on my blog.
http://fotoentusiastenfotoblogg.blogg.se/category/the-weekend-in-black-and-white.html

Karen said...

I like the black and white leaf more than the colour version. The monochrome gives it more depth. Great shots.

Anonymous said...

I, too, choose the monochrome over the color leaf, it's perfect!

Barbara said...

Laloofah - I do prefer the b&w leaf shot myself - but then, I tend to prefer most shots in b&w.
- I hate to say it but we took the path of least resistance to get back to the car :O)
- Charlie and his bum thank you for the compliment.
- Haven't heard of a musical version of TLofS, will check it out. 'Thongs' is a strange word - it conjures up images of inappropriate underwear that is visible over the top of jeans worn by people like Katie Price or other chavs of that ilk... :O))
- David also thanks you for the compliment. Grafton Underwood is the site of an old USAF base from WWII, so there are a lot of old bunkers etc hidden in the woods that David found terribly interesting. And I much prefer him without the moustache. His friend at work has made him a fake fur moustache - LOL! I am planning quite a few photos with it - the possibilities are endless... cats might be persuaded to wear it too... If you have a look at 'My Favourite' on this post you can see him with facial hair. And if you scroll down to 'Autumn Harvest' you can read a little about where we live and why it's handy :O)
http://barbara-wordswordswords.blogspot.com/search/label/Memories%20dreams%20and%20reflections
- What's not to like about long comments? Thank you for making them, they always make me laugh. Whenever I look at this font I always think 'Rats, I wish my handwriting were like that', (only a bit more joined up). My handwriting is terrible now, I type more than I write by hand and it shows! (I think the font is called Reenie Beenie and I got it through using Draft Blogger).

Unknown said...

Love your take on these! Beautiful magazine shot and the cat looking out the window is great. My favourite is your beautiful woods photo, which goes so well with the quote!

Buckeroomama said...

Perfect photo for the quote --beautiful!! I've always loved that Robert Frost poem. :)

Photography said...

You take wonderful images :-) Stop by if you can http://flowerphotography1.blogspot.com/

TaMara Sloan said...

I love your images! You do amazing work.

Christine said...

Love the quote photo, works perfect for that image. Do you know you have word verification turned on?

Kelly Frances Dunn said...

Everything here is beautiful work! I esp love the water with the yellow surprise and I LOVE the window shot with the cat :D

Laloofah said...

Barbara ~ Thanks for your great reply!

Know what's funny? The Memories, Dreams and Reflections post you directed me to so I could see the mustachioed David and some of your area is the first post of yours I ever saw (can't recall now where/how I found it). And it was your landscape/travel photos - and your "Autumn Harvest" photo in particular (I LOVE that shot!) - that inspired me to follow your blog! I was focused (no pun intended) on your photos and didn't read a lot of the text, and had obviously forgotten that I HAD seen David with a mustache, so now that I "know" you, I must revisit that page more thoroughly!

I think David looks good with or without mustache, but I'm sure he'll look terribly debonair in the fake fur one and look forward to seeing photos and passing judgement. :-)

You've got the right idea about how the Book Thong got it's name! It's a piece of string (I use hemp) with a few fancy beads knotted in place at either end. You put the string part in the "crack" (ahem) of the book pages to mark your place, and the beads hang outside the book at the top and bottom. Hence "book thong." (I swear, that name was NOT my invention, but it is rather apt when you see it in action!)

Hope you enjoy that sample of Loreena's musical interpretation of TLOS! Loreena often sets a rather epic poem to music on her CDs. I really love her rendition of "The Highwayman."

Bird's Eye View Photography said...

Fantastic quote picture! Love.

Brianne said...

I love love your water shot.

julie said...

Love your quote & lovely picture to go along with it!

A'n'G Johnson said...

These are all FABULOUS photographs! I loved each and every one - though the water shot is one I'd love to hang

Seizing My Day said...

Lovely pics... I can't pic a fav!! maybe the road less traveled?!! =) Fun post all together! the Lady of Shallott quote made me think about Anne of Green Gables... ha ha!!

Mommy2Four said...

All beautiful shots! Your quote though, gets me, as it's one of my favorite poems :)

Gretchen said...

Wonderful shots... everyone of them! :)

jillconyers said...

Love the magazine shot!

Anonymous said...

I do actually like the B&W more, and usually I love vibrant yellow but it seems to bring the crisp lines in the leaf out more.

Your poor cat with the bum photo ;) hehe. All of them are quite lovely!

Barbara said...

There is nothing 'poor' about Charlie - he's a rogue :O)

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