Black and White Photography – Travels with Ali

~ Birds of a Feather – Monochrome Triptych ~

I have to admit that I looked up triptych – the theme chosen this week by Elke. I also had a look at a few others for inspiration. Whether I’m on the right track or not, who knows! I’ve learnt something new anyway.

Cheeky cockatoos that I took on a walk around Lake Claremont on Saturday. They are quite a nuisance with their raucous squawking and incessant pecking but they are cute to look at.

Black Swans are native to Australia and you can always be guaranteed to see them swimming in the lakes and rivers. The photo of the white swans is from the River Crouch, Essex.

I took these photos recently on a walk along the river beach. An Ibis and Cormorants.

I think this type of photography needs more research from me. It’s not quite right so I’m determined now to work out image splitting.

Any tips would be welcome!

~ To Market, To Market to buy a Fat Pig ~

Sarah from Travel with Me has challenged us this week on Monochrome Madness with the theme markets.

Markets have been around for thousands of year. Amazing when you think the concept has not changed much. People visit markets for a bargain, cheaper produce and fresh food. The oldest market still operating is The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul dating back to 1455. We have visited this market but I found it quite hot and claustrophobic.

I loved a market when I was younger and visited many London markets when I was working. Petticoat Lane, Camden Market and Roman Road to name a few. I was very much into vintage clothing back in the day and these were wonderful places to find antique items. Of course my mum was horrified when I came home with a black bin liner of old clothes.

Nowadays many of the stalls found at a lot of markets have items made overseas, as locally made goods cost so much more. Although you do come across some artisan markets but you won’t be finding a bargain there.

Girokaster, Albania – Perusing old army items
He did buy one of the white hats and wore it throughout our time in Albania.

Kruje, Albania

Sihanoukville, Cambodia – A lady sorting shellfish

Hong Kong – Dried Vegetable Stall

Hong Kong – Flower Market

Wanchai Street Market, Hong Kong

Central, Hong Kong – Looking for another hat!

Covent Garden, London

Night Market, George Town Penang, Malaysia
Anthony skipping right to the head of the queue and requesting a special order from the chef!

I realise I have the same title as Sarah, but I had already finished this post and thought it was quite original. Great minds as they say.

~ Shadows in the Playground ~

Squares is back for November! This challenge is hosted by Becky from The Life of B and should be tagged NovemberSquares. Read the link to find out more.

For the first day I’ve gone with shadows. Photos I took when I took my grandchildren to the park a few weeks ago. For a better effect I changed the filter to black and white.

A photo of 7 year old Lachie on a net swing

5 year old Rosie on a swing

I also took this the same day at a mini golf course. The dappled shadows of the trees caught my eye. Look closely at the bottom left and you can see me as well!

“That girl whom I never saw save dappled with the shadows of their leaves, was to me herself a plant of local growth, only taller than the rest, and one whose structure would enable me to approach more closely than in them to the intimate savour of the land from which she had sprung.”

Marcel Proust

⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ️

Capturing Night Photography in Monochrome

This week Elke from Pictures Imperfect has chosen the theme of night. My night photos always seem to have shafts of light in the wrong places. What I see in my view is not what ends up in my gallery. I used Canva for editing and framing my photos.

“Black and white is not sad. It’s poetic.” – Robert Frank

From my garden the other night. I seem to spend a lot of time on my patio at the moment! It’s a great place to sit in the mornings drinking my coffee and in the evenings for happy hour. I like the play on the shadows here.

“All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” – Leo Tolstoy

Just a touch of a blue hue – no prizes for where this is.

A typical shot in Bangkok, could be a nice building but who can tell with all the wires.

“Black and white can transform a scene into something magical.”
Rob Sheppard

Darling Harbour, Sydney. Black and white photography work well with reflections on the water.

~ Have a seat for Monochrome Madness ~

Brian @ Bushboy’s World is the host for this week’s Monochrome Madness. His theme is chairs in case you haven’t guessed. I’ve picked a few from my archives but I do have a special chair to share too.

The chair above was my husband’s grandmother’s. It is an antique (Victorian?) nursing chair. It has been reupholstered in yellow silk. It is a beautiful piece of furniture, but doesn’t look at all comfortable to nurse a feeding baby.

In front of our room in Khao Lak, Thailand

Melbourne Museum of Art

It would be quite alarming having this hanging over you while studying.

Bali, Indonesia

“It’s not what’s on the table that matters, it’s who is in the chairs”

The Pickle Factory, Wisconsin – 2015

“Old empty chairs are not empty in reality; memories always sit there”

Have a seat while perusing this post – and enjoy your weekend!

~ Stairs and Steps for Monochrome Madness ~

Aletta from Now At Home is the host for this week’s Monochrome Madness. The theme is Stairs and Steps.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Escher Painting, Melbourne — Painting of Street in Scanno, Abruzzi
by M.C. Escher

“All rising to great places is by a winding stair”
Gautama Buddha

**The stairs at the Ruins of Ephesus, Turkey**

Getting Creative for Monochrome Madness – Flowers

I saw Leanne’s fantastic gallery of flowers in black and white and it inspired me to experiment with different editing tools.

I watched a technique on Snapseed to create a black background. Several attempts and a great deal of time later, I achieved something! I also had a look around my garden which has many white flowers blooming at the moment. I altered a few settings on my S24 to see what other images I could achieve.

This is a hobby that would take up hours of your time. It was fun to do, quite challenging but I did learn quite a few tips from various websites.

Thanks Leanne for your inspiration – Monochrome Madness

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦

Black and White Bird Photography Gallery: Australian Feathered Wonders

The theme for Monochrome Madness this week is birds, hosted by Elke @ Eklastic. We have so many birds here in Australia and all so colourful and it would be a shame to take away that colour. So I’ve opted for black or white, or both with just a touch of colour.

Cygnets at Lake Claremont, WA — **Newly born cygnets following their mothe**r

~ Monochrome Madness, Trees ~

Monochrome madness this week is hosted by Sarah from Travel with Me and the topic is trees. Looking through my archives I see I have many photos of trees, we are surrounded by enormous trees where we live.

To be without trees would, in the most literal way, to be without our roots.”
Richard Mabey

I did take a few new photos at the weekend especially for this challenge. I’m not sure they would look better in green though!

Weeping willows overlooking the small lake

Taken at one of our favourite places to visit on a Sunday, Chapel Farm in the Swan Valley.

The trees above are our neighbours and provide wonderful shade during the summer. The only problem with these are the red berries that fall and become squished onto the tiles! After taking this photo yesterday I saw this cheeky fellow peeking through. It looks AI generated but I assure you it’s not.