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CB&W: B is for… Boundaries

/ afairymind / 12 Comments

Dead Hedging

boundary lines marked

containing Earth’s wild spaces

guardianship claimed

Meadow Fence.jpg

This post is for Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is Letters A or B, and I decided to show pictures of some of the boundaries of the meadow and wooded area.

Woodland Fence

Both the first and last pictures show newly erected boundaries, as management of the wooded area has recently been taken on by the same couple – Kate and Ollie – who own the meadow. They’ve been putting in a lot of work to regenerate the area. The first picture shows a stretch of dead hedging, created from branches and other foliage gathered during pruning. This type of hedging provides habitat for insects, birds and animals, whilst also providing a barrier that blends far more naturally into the landscape than a fence. The gate in the final picture below takes you through onto their own land next door. I’ve been invited to go through the gate to photograph around their pond, though I haven’t done so yet.

Gate

I hope you like the pictures.

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CB&W: Two Different Things

/ afairymind / 11 Comments

bear-in-boot-2

“Silly Little Bear,

what are you doing in there?”

◊

Mummy Bear

smiles at her cheeky boy.

◊

“I’m playing hide and seek

of course.”

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Laughing,

Little Bear runs away.

◊

“You’ll never find me,”

he says.

Bear in Wheel.jpg

This post is for Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is two different things or the number two. 

The photos are yet more that I took in Cornwall this summer – this time at Wheal Martyn, an old china clay mine that has now been turned into a museum. The bears were scattered all around the site, providing visiting children with a game of find-the-bear as they explored the different areas.

I couldn’t resist joining in!

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Cee’s B&W Challenge: Crooked and Squiggly Lines

/ afairymind / 17 Comments

This is my entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is Crooked and Squiggly Lines which immediately brought to mind the many pictures of curious tree roots I have in my archives . I hope you like them.

roots 1

Writhing,

 coiling,

serpentine formations

slithering

 out of the darkness

of concealing earth,

tendrils stretching

into sunlight

in search of nourishment,

 longing

for richer soils.

 

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GPC: February’s Monochrome Garden

/ afairymind / 15 Comments

This post is for Jude’s Garden Photo Challenge. For February we’re asked to share monochrome photographs from around the garden.

I took all of these pictures around our garden earlier today. I’d intended to share photographs from my sister’s garden as I did for January’s Garden Photo Challenge – she has lots of nooks and crannies with interesting statues and ornaments – but unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to take any. Each time I’ve visited her house the weather has been too foul to venture out of the door! I managed to find lots of things around my own garden, though, that I thought would work quite well in black and white.

I hope you like them.

Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Food and Beverage

/ afairymind / 26 Comments

This is my entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is Food and Beverage.

This is another of those themes that I didn’t think I’d be able to find much for at first. I don’t usually take pictures of food, other than the fruit growing in the garden. Once I started flicking through my archives, though, I found a few things I could use.

The apples pictured were collected off our trees last year. I took the photograph in August but never got around to posting it on here. The jars and the oranges show my only attempt at making marmalade – it didn’t work very well! The snowman is made of coconut ice and is decorated with sweets. I used to make them with the children in the play area as one of our Christmas activities.  The chocolate coated Brazil nuts are something I make for my family every Christmas. My dad can never resist sampling them for long.

I hope you like them. Do you have a favourite?

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Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Buildings #2

/ afairymind / 5 Comments

This is my second entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge for the theme buildings.  I decided that I may as well post the rest of the pictures  I’d originally intended to include in my last post seeing as they were all ready to go. These ones are a little less ‘vintage’ than the last set.

Cerne Abbas medieval cottages, Dorset, UK
Tiled roof, Nottinghamshire, UK
Whitby cliff houses, Yorkshire, UK
Fountains Abbey ivy covered house, Yorkshire, UK
Rundown barn, Nottinghamshire, UK
Old sheds, Nottinghamshire, UK

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One-Four Challenge: September Week Three

/ afairymind / 14 Comments

It’s time for the third September edit of Robyn’s One Four Challenge.  This week’s edit is in response to Joanne’s suggestion that she’d like to see a black and white version of the image.

Week two edit

Week Three Edit

I again began by opening the original image in Camera Raw where I made these changes:

Temperature: +20
Contrast: -100
Highlights: -19
Shadows: -78
Whites: +21
Blacks: -8
Clarity: +100
Luminance: 40
Luminance detail: 45

I then opened it in Photoshop Elements 13 where I cropped it and added the black and white gradient map.  I also used the blur tool on a light strength setting to smooth out some of the pixelation, which was quite severe in places. I thought at first this was due to the high clarity but after reopening the original I realised it was actually present from the beginning.

I also had a little play around with the image in FotoSketcher, adding an aged look, but decided in the end that I preferred the non-distressed version. I thought I’d share the distressed version with you as well.

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Week Three Distressed

Personally, whilst I love black and white, I miss the colour in this image and look forward to its return next week.

Here all the edits together for comparison:

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