autofantasia's photos with the keyword: and

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the subject was polka dots . This particular challenge sounded pretty easy at least until I tried to find something that I could shoot which actually had polka dots on it. For a while it looked as if I might need to 'broaden' the definition to include something that say had spots on it like a set of dice or the spots on a ladybird poppy. However, at the last minute my wife dug this old blouse out from the back of the wardrobe and so I was able (for once) to stay within the terms of the actual brief. No doubt now that the challenge is over I'll find loads of suitable photo opportunities that feature polka dots ... such is the life of a "Sunday Challenger" ... groan! Also for Sight and Sound ... how about The Andrews Sisters (before my time - lol) with "Strip Polka" - enjoy: youtu.be/OyILRoOhvyQ youtu.be/U8ew-WY23mM BTW, my Club subscription expired today, which is why most of my images are no longer visible. I've already renewed once at Christophe's increased rates and had hoped by the time that 3 months was up the IMA would be in charge, but alas no. I'm very reluctant to do so again so will probably leave things as they are and keep my fingers crossed that the deal does eventually go through.

What might be described as a 'nearly ran for a recent Sunday Challenge , the one which asked us to read through the challenge ideas thread and pick yourself a challenge that hasn't been ... done . This one was pulled from the archives and would have gone under urban decay .

For this week's Sunday Challenge , for which we had to use the online random point generator to generate (not surprisingly) a random point that we then had to visit and photograph. Sounds easy, but if you live in a rural location more often than not the random points were in the middle of nowhere and barely accessible. So, I reduced the parameters somewhat so as to hopefully get some points in town that I could get to easily and eventually it sent me to Friarage Street in Northallerton, which is where they are currently building a new Marks & Spencer food store. The shot I've posted was taken from the corner of the building site looking up at one of the gable ends where they've rather interestingly left many of the bricks protruding out. At first glance I thought they were all sticking out an equal distance, but on closer inspection (although perhaps not evident from this shot) I found that the amount they stick out decreases as you get nearer the apex of the building. I'll bet that was a fun job for someone and I can't help but wonder if they were left asking ... what's the point of that then? By the way, I've added a screen shot of this random point from Google into the Notes. Interestingly nearly all of those buildings have been demolished, including the bungalow (top centre) to facilitate the construction of this new store.

And because you can never have too many dogs in your life here's yet another in my "Dogs At Car Shows" series of images. Not sure what type this one is, but it was pretty damned cute.

As regular visitors to my photostream will know, I struggled greatly with last week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of high key . Thankfully, I found this week's challenge of low key much less stressful. And whereas last week I introduced you all to Gerald The Dinosaur, this week it's the turn of Harry The Owl who is one of three metal owls that make up an ornamental sculpture to be found in our back garden. He's the furthest to the right of the trio - hence him being called Harry ... the other two then are, as you may have guessed, called Tom and Dick. I took the shot outside after 10.00pm last night once it had got dark - heaven knows what the neighbours would have thought if they saw me. I had the camera on a tripod and for a change worked with manual settings throughout ... even the focus! As for the key light that was a small pocket torch that I had positioned to my right hand side behind a small board of MDF so as to stop any light spilling onto the foliage behind where I'd positioned Harry. Best of all as far as I'm concerned is that I've posted this pretty much as it came out of the camera. The only 'work' done on it was a slight crop and I 'dodged' the white in his eyes just a smidgen as I felt they were a little flat. So, there you go, not quite SOOC, but pretty damned close!

Looking along the main path outside Brompton Church, near Northallerton, surrounded by the local cemetery.

I had so much fun with this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of selective colouring , that I ended up with several possibles and here's the last of the ones that nearly made it. This was a candid I took at a car show and is probably one of my favourites. Not only because of the girl's beautiful smile, but because of how I came to get the shot in the first place. I'd been taking photographs of some Opel Manta cars on what I assume was a club stand when I noticed this pretty girl using the mirror of her car to check her look and apply some hairspray. I thought it would be a great candid, but either I was too slow or she was to quick in realising what I was up to. So I missed the shot I was actually after, but ended up with this, which as I say is one of my favourite candids.

I had so much fun with this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of selective colouring , that I ended up with several possibles. Here's another of those that didn't get used and, once again, featuring Mr Smiley. He sure does like to go climbing. First, it was the tree in our front garden and now here he is climbing up the back wall of our house!

This is my entry for this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of selective colouring . For anyone that likes to know about such matters, I use PaintShop Pro whenever I'm doing this kind of exercise: although I know there are loads of other options available. I start by getting the original image tweaked to the point where I'm happiest with it and then create a duplicate layer, which I sit above the original image. I then convert the duplicate layer to mono/greyscale before deleting out the area I want to highlight, which then lets the coloured original underneath show through. Finally, all I need to do is merge down the two layers to form one single image ... job done! This particular shot was taken a while back, but I'd never gotten around to posting it online and I felt it leant itself well to this week's challenge. Mr Smiley always makes me smile when I see him and hopefully he'll have the same effect on anyone visiting my photostream.

An alternative version of Something Wicked , which was my entry for the recent Sunday Challenge when the theme was numbers . This time with a bit of selective colouring on the clock face. I think this still works, but I preferred the completely mono version I ended up using. The original image is in the Notes (top left corner).

This week The Sunday Challenge had the theme of numbers: as simple as that . As long as the shot contained at least one number then pretty much anything went and you could process it (or not as the case may be) in whatever way you wanted. I did have a few shots in the archives that I thought about using, but in the end I decided to take some new shots and eventually decided to use one of All Saints Parish Church in Northallerton. This rather impressive looking old building can be found a few hundred yards away from the main High Street and occupies a corner plot offering up many opportunities for taking photos. The original image is in the Notes (top left corner), but as you'll see I've done some processing on it since it came out of the camera. Although it was taken around midday, I decided to convert it to greyscale/mono to create a slightly more sinister feel as if it were actually coming up to midnight and the witching hour, hence the title.

Such a pretty and alert looking Collie ... couldn't resist taking a shot!

The now infamous and internationally recognised sign!

Reliant 3-wheelers enjoy something of a special place in British culture. Perhaps the most famous is the one that featured in the BBC's long-running sitcom about the Trotter family, Only Fools and Horses . The van is often and incorrectly, referred to as a Robin, but it is actually a Regal Supervan III. The Trotter's original is now on display in the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, but the popularity of the TV programme has led to a profusion of 'replicas' being built, such as the one you see here. Motoring masterpiece, cultural icon ... I'll let you decide!

The Honda Super Cub, in its various versions such as the C100, C50, C70, C90, C100EX, and C70, has been in continuous manufacture since 1958. This one is from 1987 and what intrigued me most about it were the solid spoke wheels ... never seen these before.