autofantasia's photos with the keyword: Harry

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!

This week's Sunday Challenge had the theme of metallic and although I did take several shots this week with the theme in mind, in the end I've opted for a shot I took a while back, but have never posted. It was taken at Classic on Show on the outskirts of Stokesley earlier this year and the subject is an old bicycle, which was made by Hetchins. I'm not sure of the age of this particular bike, but for over 75 years Hetchins have apparently been building superior quality lugged steel frames for the discerning enthusiast and racer so it could be very old indeed. Hyman ('Harry') Hetchin actually started selling bicycles in the 1920s; later he acquired himself a partner and frame builder, Jack Denny. Victory in the World and Olympic Championships in 1936 entitled Hetchin to display the champion's colour bars on his transfers. The elegance and fine workmanship of the frames have made the marque legendary. You can find out more about the history of the marque, model types and frames of special interest by visiting the site below: www.hetchins.org It's also worth pointing out that Hetchins are apparently still very much in demand and are produced today by Hetchins Lightweights. The latest model is called the Magnum Opus Ultralite and you can find out more about new production by visiting the site below: www.hetchins.com