~ 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!

~ Scavenger Hunt, a deep dive into the Archives ~

This week for the Lens-Artist Challenge, Anne @ Slow Shutter Speed has asked us to go on a scavenger hunt for photos dealing with the topics she has suggested. Check out her website for all the details.

Our aim was to find between five and ten, no more than ten. With such diversity, it was a hard choice.

AND

This was lots of fun, I like a challenge that enables me to use photo editing tools. For this post I used SnapSeed. It’s a great free app that I have on my phone.

~ Shots of Street Lamps in Monochrome ~

This week’s theme for Monochrome Madness is Street Lamps. Chosen by Brian @ BushBoy’s World.

I looked through my archives and found a few, they make lovely shots, especially when transformed into monotone. The old wrought iron and lacework make the best photos. Obviously, lighting has changed over the years to be more practical. Still, a street looks so much more interesting when there are old-fashioned lamp posts.

***The Cherry Tree, Stambridge, Essex***

I couldn’t resist leaving a touch of the yellow lichen on the roof.

Taken on a walk around London, I happened to glance down an alley way and saw this pub. Apparently the tallest pub in London and there has been an inn on this site since 1142. It is now a Grade II listed building. Charles Dickens mentioned it several times in The Pickwick Papers.

The above needs no introduction. Being named after one of Charles II’s mistresses. Possibly, the most famous one of all.

~ Monochrome Madness – Old and New Buildings Around the World ~

There is no theme this week for Monochrome Madness. However, I have taken inspiration from Leanne’s post. Her post focuses on buildings or architecture.

Tirana, Albania and London

Hong Kong

Hydrabad, India

Girokastra, Albania

Stratford Upon Avon, England

I’ve enjoyed editing these photos with different tones of black and white. It’s been fun working with all the different tools that come with Canva.

~ Three for one – Monochrome Madness ~

This week the theme is about cropping one photo three ways. I was surprised by how different the original could look. It took me a while to get this they way I wanted, hence just the one photo! Thanks Leanne for an interesting challenge.

The original photo which I’ve converted to a monochrome filter.

A mural by Australian street artist – Matt Adnate. Maybe the tallest mural in the Southern Hemisphere.

A young Noongar man holding a bunch of eucalyptus leaves.

A Middle Eastern Woman

A young Burmese Girl

My favourite is the Middle Eastern Woman. By cropping this image it enhances the smaller details, such as her scarf.

Ocean Views in Black and White

Monochrome Madness this week is hosted by Sarah @ Travel with Me. The theme is the sea. I’ve been experimenting again with Canva, and made a couple of collages. It’s taken far longer that it should have again, I need to spend more time playing around with it.

I’ve recently been going to Cottesloe Beach for a quick swim in the morning. Always within the shark net! Below are some I took the other day. There are constant shark warnings, they don’t seem to bother so many people. I’m not so blase.

Thanks Sarah for an enjoyable challenge. I love all the wordpress challenges, they are good for looking back through your photos. They bring back long forgotten memories and also help clean up photo albums.

~ To Edit or not to Edit, that is the question ~

This week for Sunday Stills, Terri has asked whether we edit our photos or not. I like to edit most of my photos as the software these days is fantastic. An ordinary photo can be transformed into something worth showing.

These are just a few I’ve had a play around with.

The original is on the left and the right is edited. I used two different editors. BeFunky which is a free one for a painted effect, but was then left with a watermark. So I exported to Google Photos and used magic blur. Somewhat time consuming but good to know!

Two white cockatoos chatting to each other down by the river. As you can see my original image definitely needed editing. Using my iMac software for this.

I don’t think a camera phone is the best to take a semi-full moon photo. This was taken the other night. I think it shows better in black and white. Google Photo Editor.

I had the most fun with the above photo as it was the first time I have used an AI type software, from Canva. I’m still trying to get to grips with this website, so spent a long time – too long on this! The first photo is the the original but I thought it looked a bit boring, so I’ve added a few attributes!

Thanks to Terri for all the information she has shared about editing on her post, I’ve certainly learnt much more about different kinds of software.