Each week, K’lee and Dale offer prompts for us to consider as the latest challenge. This week it was Dale with:
choosing to turn everything; Inside out/outside in/upside down for a change.
Well I tried my best to get all three into this one image, so here is a photo of an inside, which is within a picture of the outside, it is upside down, and itself within a photo of an inside – pretty meta!
‘Inside, Outside, Upside down’, 2019.
Ken
This week Frank challenged us with the topic:
I thought that it might be interesting to scour my photos from the frequent travels to the Netherlands for some more material. As a result, I thought that Tourism might be an apt theme for this week!
I feel the mermaid looks a little dejected in this photo, like so many other tourist spots, this was filled with people taking the ubiquitous selfie. Spare a thought for the feelings of the mermaid, she was once the sole object of peoples focus, and slowly she became the background to peoples shots, a smiling family, recorded for posterity with their childhood story. Now she is relegated to the out of focus fuzzy celebrity that people want to be seen with, the focus squarely on themselves, in the search for the cult of self.
‘Dejected’, Copenhagen, 2017.
Slow down, take time, spare a thought for others around you. This Thursday it was #World Mental Health Day, we all need a little help sometimes, the struggles people face are not always black and white, they are mostly invisible, spare a thought for others, spare time for yourself.
Ken
This week Debbie has challenged us with the following:
Welcome to One Word Sunday, and over to all of you to join the challenge with your own sepia post.
Sometimes a photo screams to be in black and white, sometimes it needs a little colour, and sometimes you just want to bend it to your will.
I am not sure why I chose this photo, it was a mixture of just wanting to see what I could do with it, the incongruity of using what is seen as an old technique on an image with very definite modern elements, and an awareness that the sepia would pop on the highlights of the wet-suits.
‘Floating’, Sennen cove, 2019.
Ken
This weeks challenge from the Lens-Artists is:
Taking photos of people or animals when they have no idea that you’re doing it is called candid photography. One of the beautiful things with photography is being able to catch someone in the act. It adds natural life to your pictures. Even if my choices here are mostly in B&W, of course feel free to use what you find most suitable for your shots!
So, this week I thought we would go for candid photos of people or animals – Have fun with the challenge, and we are looking forward to seeing your candid finds!
This sort of challenge is hard for me, I rarely ask people if I can photograph them, friends are usually aware I have my camera with me, and so even if at times they are unaware that I am taking the shot, is this true candid photography.
Sometimes I find I have taken a Candid photo quite by accident, and where the figure is identifiable I am left with the quandary of what to do with the photo, can I use it, as I did not subsequently ask their permission to use it. Animals are eaisier they nearly always give their meow or woof of consent.
Anyway here is a photo from a recent trip to St. Ives when I walked around with Focus set manually to a few feet and snapped away, in search of interesting street scenes.
‘Smiles & shakes’, St. Ives, 2019.
Ken
Well this week V.J. has challenged us with ‘Sky’
Yes I think it is fairly correct to say that I am also obsessed with the sky, purely from a photographic view point I often spend a long time getting the sky ‘just right’, sometimes to the determent of the rest of the photo as the sky then becomes the focus!
Sky and skies often appear in the lyrics of my songs, and when I am out walking, moor, hillside, fell, countryside, it amazes me how big the sky is, and how small we are in comparison. Even when walking in wood or forest you occasionally see the sky, and then when you come out of the trees, bam! there it is, stretching away before you.
Only in cities and towns do I find myself bereft of the sky, as buildings close in from all sides, yes you can look up, but look up too long at your determent, and urbanity will bite you.
Anyway a photo from a recent trip to Dunster castle, I think it is safe to say my focus was more on sky than building and landscape here! A three photo stitch where the focus of the middle photo is mostly sky.
‘As far as you can see’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
Ken
For this weeks Friday Fun we have been asked:
we wait for so much in queues, for appointments, events, family occasions, etc
please share your pics or stories of waiting …
‘… to be blown away’, Hells Mouth, 2019.
Ken
This week the friendly Friday photography challenge is:
This week on Friendly Friday your topic is ‘photo edits’. . . Join in the fun, this week, on Friendly Friday. You are limited only by your imagination
We most of you probably realise that the photos that reach here never do so without some form of editing, I shoot primarily RAW files, but occasionally jpeg for certain situations where I want the camera to do the editing.
Therefore every photo is edited to some degree, but I see this as akin to stepping into the darkroom to develop the film, and photo! It is just these days I have far more control and if more than simple ‘development’ is required, it is now far easier an quicker.
So choosing a recent photo here is the undeveloped RAW photo:
‘Out of the camera’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
Here is a basic edit, something like what would have come out of the camera if I had shot in jpeg.
‘Basic edit’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
And then below a bare minimum of how I would edit, cropped, straightened, and a small amount of processing. This would be the least work a photo would have before it reached the blog or my photo albums.
‘Minimum’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
If I liked the photo it would end up with a little more tinkering. A new sky maybe, some of the saturation taken out, a little more texture.
‘Tinkering’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
But then of course if I go this far why stop! A little glow, some post Bi-filtering, and overlay, get rid of the figure in the archway.
‘Further’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
Maybe even pop it on the study wall to look at!
Or maybe have a further tinker and even use it for another blog post – so here is one – Altered way
Ken
Each Friday Sam challenges us with the following:
The Which Way photo challenge is all about capturing the roads, walks, trails, rails, steps, signs, etc. we move from one place to another on. You can walk on them, climb them, drive them, ride on them, as long as the specific way is visible. Any angle of a bridge is acceptable as are any signs. There’s no topic to this challenge. All you need have is the “way” visible and the main focus of your photo.
This week a photo with a story which can be read here – Gatehouse
‘Altered way’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
Ken
This week Cee challenges us with – Circles, Curves and Arches
I think by now most of you will expect a photo like this for a challenge that even remotely mentions anything circular!
‘Stone girl’, Castlerigg stone circle, 2018.
Ken
Every 2nd and 4th Thursday Parul at Happiness and Food, asks that we share pictures of Trees. And Each week at XingfuMama we are asked to ‘Pull up a seat‘. So this week a joint effort.
‘Seat and Tree’, Dunster Castle, 2019.
Ken
