365~June 6th ~ 12th

Posted in 365, B&W, cat, Fuji, FujiX-T2, photography, UncategorizedTagged , , , , ,

We are in another ‘colour’ week, although black & white are not so much colours in my mind, but no matter, I like doing B&W stuff. I was quite looking forward to it but it turned out to have an annoyance factor of at least 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. So I’m not all that happy with some of my shots, but, every day’s a school day so onwards ever onwards.

Day 157 ~ Quality. ~ The definition of quality is “the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.” Or, “a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something.” Today, I strongly encourage you to use the second idea of just focusing on a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by your subject. This prompt is not a requirement to post your best quality image.  I challenge you to really think about what quality says to you today. 

Straight in with an AFAC (airy fairy abstract concept) prompt so that wasn’t the best start for me. I’d rather have done the first definition, plenty of quality gear in our gaff, like extra-virgin olive oil, or lindt chocolates, but no, she wanted the quality of a subject. I just could not get my head around it so instead focussed on ‘quality time’ which is kind of AFAC, so this is me and Phil having quality time. 🙄

Day 158 ~ Roadside. ~ One of the things I really like about a 365 project is that it gets me out exploring the beautiful city of Ottawa that I’ve called home for the last 4 years.  I’ve also found myself on countless roadtrips exploring the surrounding countryside, villages, and towns, as well.  It’s been an awesome way for me to learn more about my new home. When I go out exploring, I’m often surprised by what I find along the roadside.  We were out touring around downtown recently and I saw the unique bike structure near the parliament buildings.  It was being used for advertising.  I had to grab a photo of it as I thought it was kind of cool.  When processing, I converted it to black and white to fit in with this week’s theme. Show us what crazy, unique, or interesting things you find on the roadside as you go about your travels today.

Sigh. Well at least it was specific, but no-one round here leaves crazy, cool interesting things on the roadside, though there are some dodgy looking motors on the wrong side of the tracks area of Wardley. I remembered Wardley has one of the announcement-of-where-you-are stones places tend to have up here, so I walked up to photograph that instead. In days of yore Wardley was a mining village, so it’s stone has a carved miner’s lamp decoration, though the lamp portrayed looks like a Marsault lamp invented by Jean Marsaut, a French mining engineer. Wouldn’t have been used here in the North East as they used a Geordie lamp- invented by George Stephenson. Oh well.

Day 159 ~ Plenty. ~ Have you noticed that converting a photo to B&W can really make the details pop? Past their prime flowers are a favorite subject for me to photograph. Part of the charm is the fading color… but, when you convert to B&W your eye really goes to the tiniest of details. This faded daisy has plenty of delightful details. Each individual petal has a charm of its own. The withering center with delicate puff is spectacular. Find a subject today that represents plenty and convert it to B&W. It can have a lot of detail, represent a feeling of plenty, or any other way the word speaks to you.

Another AFAC although you’d think there were plenty of ‘plenties’ in the world. Another thing that annoys me is having too much to choose from, and it’s hard to make up my mind. I have plenty of clothes/flowers/boots/CD’s etc etc etc, but in the end I went with a dandelion. Plenty of seeds, I thought, though Connie tells me each seed represents a dream, so plenty of those too.

Day 160 ~ Paper. ~ White can be a difficult color to photograph.  Doing so requires careful attention to the “temperature” of your image by adjusting the white balance setting.  Today is a good day to play with adjusting your white balance manually.  I generally have my WB set to 5000K, a good right in the middle setting.  To determine the white balance setting in a particular image, photograph something in your scene that is white.  Since today’s prompt is paper, you can also place a white piece of paper in the scene for a test shot.  You want that piece of paper to be a true white in your photo.  Adjust your white balance either up or down to achieve the white you want.  Temperature can be edited in post-processing, but it sure is nice to get it as close as possble in camera!  To understand light color and Kelvin, take a trip to the lightbulb aisle at your local home improvement store.  That is the quickest way to see what is meant by the various numbers! See what you can do with shooting a black and white image in color.

Well today was a work day and this afternoon a dental appointment so I didn’t have time to fanny on. Ergo I ignored most of that, the prompt was Paper, not white paper and I certainly was not going to traipse off to B&Q’s lighting section, still not sure how that would help matters at all. I used my origami skill set instead.

Day 161 ~ Capable. ~ Capable – having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing. I think I am capable, but I am move (I think she means ‘more’ not ‘move’) capable with my husband by my side;  together we make a good team.  We have been together for 42 years, have four grown children, and have weathered life together as you can see by the wrinkles. How do you manage to be capable?  Remember it is black and white week!

Seriously??? Can you hear me groaning as I am just thinking about how much this one annoyed me. This is the Mother of all AFACs. How do I manage to be capable of what?? You can’t just be capable without an of something attached. Pfft. If I list all the things that a human being is capable of, and me in particular, we will be here until forever. Well you won’t no doubt, you’ll step aside from the vehicle and move on the next blog. I had smoke coming out of my facial orifices for this one. Phil couldn’t help either as he knows I’m multi-capable and so is he. I checked out other peoples offerings on instagram, not much inspiration, an out of focus cat, someone’s daughter (badly composed) a chopped down tree stump. Sigh. Anyway I got on with the laundry whilst racking my brain (no it DOESN’T have a W in front of it in real life grammar) and hung out some clothes on my dryer, which promptly collapsed when one of the side supports snapped. Phil and I propped it up on garden chairs and I concluded that it’s good to be capable of improvisation in a crisis. Sorted.

Day 162 ~ Ink. ~ Ink day!  Who wants to try a new trick?  Don’t worry, “Ink in Water Photography” is very simple and fun although it can be a bit messy! Honestly, you don’t need any special equipment and this can be done with a cell phone. I took this picture using a large vase, some white foam core, a desk lamp, some ink from a fountain pen, an eye dropper, my camera, and a tripod. If this does not tickle your fancy, no problem!  Show us ink!  Pens, tattoos, books, typewriters……..Have fun!

Well thank the deity of your choice that Mrs. Cocktail Dress came up with a bonafide specific task! She is my new fave prompt giver. I’d done the old ink in water shots in the past, so decided to go with tattoos as Phil has a couple of artistic ones, but they just didn’t work in black and white, so I got out my fountain pen and did one of my calligraphy shots instead. Sorry to say my calligraphy skills are a bit ropey as I haven’t done any proper work in calligraphy for years, but it’s inspired me to get a special pen for it for future and I’ll be practicing my alphabets, so next time I need to do it I can impress you with it’s gorgeousness.

Day 163 ~ Richness. ~ I hope you have enjoyed color week! I always hate to see it end! We sure have explored Black and White photography in a variety of fun ways!  As you go through your day think about the richness your image will hold without the distraction of color. Consider highlighting patterns and textures, light and shadows, people and things.  You can shoot in color and then convert to B&W or if your camera has a B&W mode give this feature a try. It is a great way to train your eye. There is much richness in the details, so let’s show them off today! 

Another AFAC but one that I didn’t have trouble with. Winnie has great patterns and textures and I caught her sitting in a box with the light on her face and her body in shade, and she lends herself beautifully to black and white, being a grey/black/white cat. Also she enriches our lives immeasurably as does Lord Vincent, it’s my fave shot this week. Finally winning at black and white! 😃

So there ends the black and white week. Starting today we’re on another composition technique week, and this time we are ‘isolating our subjects’. I’ve had a look through the prompts, 🥴 Stay tooned!

52 thoughts on “365~June 6th ~ 12th”

    1. Lovely! I really enjoy working with colour, but my wife is shooting black and white and has captured some remarkable shots. I think one of the great things about photography is that there is always more!

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  2. That’s a beautiful pen indeed, FR.

    When I was in the sixth form at school, my English teacher corrected my spelling on an essay. I had written ‘racked his brains’, and she crossed it out and wrote ‘Wracked’ in red pen, then added ‘Surprised at you!’
    I looked it up, wrote down the definition, and slipped her a note at the end of the class. This is a more modern definition, I only had a paper dictionary back then.

    ‘Wrack and rack are etymologically distinct, meaning they come from different words. Many usage guides will advise that you should use wrack for meanings such as “to utterly ruin,” and rack for “to cause to suffer torture, pain, anguish, or ruin.” If you follow this advice, the proper choice for what you do to your brain when thinking very hard is rack. However, wrack has long been used as a variant of rack, and numerous fine writers have avowedly wracked their brains or found something nerve-wracking.’

    Even now, 52 years later, I frequently use ‘wracking/wracked’ because of her. 🙂
    Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. A surgeon gave the pen to Phil, he gave it to me, I was looking on Amazon for a calligraphy pen and found the one I’ve got for £6.90! Looks like it should be more than that and it’s a nice weight too. Rack or wrack, either will do really.

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  4. Now whose comments are jumbled up? Not just me….

    How do people actually find your local Londis? That sign is in a terrible state.

    ‘Today, I strongly encourage you to use the second idea of just focusing on a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by your subject.’

    Who writes these? The guy at the end of Matrix Reloaded? Soem pretentious Canadian film critic?

    Kudos to the photographer for great pics, and to Lord Vincent for his usual scene-stealing turn…don’t isolate him!

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    1. My comments are all in the right place for me anyway. Everyone knows where Londis is it’s been there for ever and if outlanders can’t find it that’s fine. That’s Winnie at the end, not Lord Vincent, different colours/markings/gender 🙄 thanks for visiting! 😊

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  7. You did really well here with some of the challenges. In particular I like the first, the hand holding with a pair of ripped pants near them, and the origami boats. Altogether I’ll give you a definite A+ for all of them!

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  10. Another good week even though the prompts are irksome! My favourites are Winnie & the dandelion (thanks for the mention 😄). Your calligraphy is marvellous, I am in awe – my chicken scratch is dismal at best! The road sign is wonderful, the hands holding are sweet, and your resourcefulness with the laundry exceptional! Good luck with next week! (fingers crossed)

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  12. From this week from you I have learned that black and white certainly, in you way you used it, is more powerful with contrasty patterns. I seldom use black and white as here there are so many colors, even at night. Once I showed some photos to an Indian friend and he laughed the similarity with colorful places there : )

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  14. The ‘capable’ prompt made me laugh out loud. I don’t think I’d have stuck with those ladies as long as you have, as they seem to use language to obscure rather than to clarify. Your photos are great, though. I think my favourite is the little paper boats.

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  20. Definitely some fluffy concepts from the lady this week, but she is from Ottawa (so were practically neighbours in the grand scheme of Canada)! Someone should tell her that you need to photograph a neutral grey colour to get the right white balance! 🤣 Anyway, nice b&w shots!

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