Valfal's photos

Saturday Self-Challenge: Create a photo that looks like it was shot 100 years ago. Finding subjects for this challenge wasn't a problem; figuring out how I wanted to photograph them was. Lighting could have been better. I tried several ways to do this, and finally settled on this image. I used PicMonkey for the conversion to sepia and Photoscape for the antique filter. Unfortunately, the EXIF data got erased when I transferred the image back to ipernity to finish processing, so here it is: Camera: NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D3400 Exposure: 0.02 sec. (1/50) Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 31.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 46.0 mm) Flash: Off, Did not fire Exposure mode: Manual Max Aperture: 4.3 Resolution: 300 x 300 dpi Dimension: 6000 x 4000 pixels Below in the comment section are some alternate editings of the same image. The third image is the unfiltered version. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Hugs to Pam and Marie-claire!

Macro Mondays 2.0: Sound carrier or Player My old portable CD Player that I still use on occasion. I also have a Sony Walkman (see PiP).

Saturday Self-Challenge: Water I had every intention of shooting a long exposure of water, but the opportunity did not arrive for me. Attempted a long exposure shot of a stream with a small rapids, but failed miserably. So I grabbed my trusty old bottle, and photographed some water dripping out of it. Have a good week, my friends! A special hug to Pam and Marie-claire xxx

Saturday Self-Challenge: "Something from my street" My street is a rather boring suburban one. The biggest challenge for me was finding something halfway interesting to photograph. At first I thought to use the stop sign in the picture below as my subject (it is the same one Karen uses for closing the challenges each week). Then I came across this puddle where my driveway meets the street, and decided to find an interesting way to photograph it. I found the sunlight interacting with the water and leaves in an interesting way, so I carefully positioned the camera to capture it (without killing my eyesight in the process!). Have a great week everyone! Hugs to Marie-claire and Pam!

...leading to the garden path at Winterthur Gardens and Museum, located near Wilmington Delaware, USA.

Last week I witnessed an event I have never seen before; the mass mating of mayflies. Mayflies are actually aquatic insects related to dragonflies. They breed in the water, living most of their lives as nymphs. I had heard of these insects all my life, and finally I got the chance to see them in all their glory! I figured the reason for this must have something to do with the extremely wet conditions we had for at least the last 2 years. The thing that always intrigued me about this insect is that it lives only about 24 hours after hatching as an adult. Some species of Mayflies live only a few minutes, just long enough for females to lay eggs fertilized by males. In actuality, Mayflies live much longer than that as nymphs in water...sometimes for years! For more detailed information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayfly Sorry that these pictures are so bad, they don't come close to conveying what I witnessed. It was nighttime and lighting wasn't the best. Have a great week, everyone! Hugs to Pam and Marie-claire!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Anything that flies or floats in the air. This was a much harder challenge than I thought it would be initially. We had a swarm of Mayflies mating a couple of nights ago, but I wasn't happy with any of the photos because I couldn't get a decent one of them actually flying. So I went outside yesterday morning and tried capturing a butterfly in mid-flight with mixed results. This one is the best of the bunch. Have a good weekend, everyone! Hugs to Marie-claire and Pam! :-)

Saturday Self-Challenge: Diagonal Lines in Black and White The doormat on my back porch. Lots of diagonal lines to see here! Another photo of the corner of a rail top is in the comment box below. Have a great weekend, everyone! Special hugs for Pam and Marie-claire!

Macro Mondays 2.0: Fabric One of my favorite fabrics to wear. Have a good week ahead, my friends! A special hug to Pam and Marie-claire xx

Saturday Self-Challenge: Things that start with the letter "T" presented in a square aspect ratio. These two little teddies are part of an extensive collection of miniature teddy bears that I've had for over 20 years.These two little guys represent the origins of what we call teddy bear. The one Teddy represents Theodore Roosevelt and the other represents the cartoon teddy that started the craze. Clifford Berryman was a cartoonist and political commentator. The story about the origins of the teddy bear can be found here: www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Blog/Item/Political%20Cartoonist%20Clifford%20K.%20Berryman%20and%20the%20Origin%20of%20the%20Teddy%20Bear Have a great weekend, everyone! Specail hugs for Pam and Marie-claire! xx

Macro Mondays 2.0: Kitchen Equipment I have done this type of challenge before, so I wanted to try something a little different. Can you guess what it is? The answer can be found here: www.ipernity.com/doc/288603/48763380 Have a good week ahead, everyone! Hugs to Pam and Marie-claire xx Edit: I have made the photo in the link public, sorry about that! You should be able to see the photo, now!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Keys I have always loved skeleton keys like the ones I found in an antique store recently. What have they locked and unlocked over the years? I love the varying states of rust and the details! Have a great week everyone! Special greetings to my friends Marie-claire and Pam! :-)

Macro Mondays 2.0: Inside a Fruit or Vegetable One of my favorite vegetables to eat in salads or as a snack is a mini sweet pepper. They come in three colors: red, orange and yellow. Good ones are sweet and juicy, like the above. Have a good week, everyone! A special hug for my friends Pam and Marie-claire!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Statues or Monuments This monument is a tribute to "Gold Star" families (families who lost a love one in war). It is made of black marble and etched with color photos depicting the sacrifices made by these brave soldiers their families. It is located in a park in Havre de Grace, Maryland USA. In the note is a back view of this monument. Have a great weekend, everyone! :-)