Sunday, June 22, 2025

Some black and white

I'm glad we didn't carry on with the plans for our community association events. There was lots of gusty wind and lashings of rain. It wouldn't have been any fun at all, and that's before trying to keep the camera gear dry.

There was a roll of black and white HP5+ film in the camera, so I'd decided to finish off the roll during the lunch break during the photo session. Horses make interesting subjects, but they kept moving, so I was pleased with only one of those photos. It was kind of fun developing the roll while listening to the rain.

That roll started with a downtown street photo walk. 

1.

2. Only part of a colourful mural that I quite like. I was curious to see how it would turn out. To get a good photo of this one you need a wider lens and a ladder.


3. Two buddies from the dark room class last fall. It was nice knowing some of the people in the street photo session.


4. A person used to have a job in this little building, taking money from people who wanted to park their car in the lot. As far as I know, in all of Calgary, that job does not exist any more. Granted, when the app works it's fast and painless, much better than waiting in line. Plus that job can't rate highly in the mental stimulation department, which might explain the magazine I once saw in such a building.

It's just another example of jobs going away, a computer doing them instead of a person. Then again, I infinitely prefer going to the checkout clerk at Co-op rather than the self checkout. The machine will only beep at you and play a recorded voice to nag you. The checkout person will usually chat while working on the groceries, and will bag them for you. 


5. Another mural in mostly black and white.


6. You know I love reflections.


7.

Of the Day
Driftwood (NZ)


Film. The only horse photo that I liked. There are some flower photos on that roll as well. Yes, flowers, in black and white. One of them might be image of the month.


Linda


Newfoundland


Polar bears


Eagles


Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did


90 days, or so ago


Flower 



Friday, June 20, 2025

Flowery Friday 7, a biggie, plus a digression

The weather forecast is full of wild weather along the Foothills for this weekend. Starting today, apparently. I was looking at the clouds coming in and the very beginning of some rain, so I nipped out to bring in the bath towel Linda had hung out in an act of optimism. Or maybe defiance. I don't know. Along the way I did a quick garden photo tour. I was thinking of doing those photos today, but they're still in the camera. 

Why? I have other photo editing priorities today. I did a 2 day photo session for a buddy, and took about 1400 images. Plus some that were deleted in camera for being obviously out of focus. Taking the photos is the easy part, though it was indoors in a somewhat low light situation. I needed to be mindful of my own posture and focus. Oh, and some black and white film photos of the horses to finish off a roll of HP5+.

The other easy part is what most people think of as editing, that is adjusting the sliders in Lightroom. I'm not trying to do anything artistic here, and it's almost right coming out of the camera, so there isn't much to be done there. At most drop the highlights or tweak the shadows a bit in the photos where a door to the outside was open. A bit of cropping needs to happen, but that's easy.

No, the hard part is selecting which photos to give the client. About half the photos made the first cut, being in focus, and having something at least moderately interesting going on in frame. There are lots that are quite similar, and I can't give the client 700 images. I need to boil it down to the winners that tell the story of the event. This image, or that similar image, which is better? Again and again.

On to what most of you came for, the flowers. We are getting into peak peony. The white and pink beside the house are putting on quite the show, and the famous white is getting there. The red is teasing us. The younger peonies are mostly in a build phase, and only one of them might produce a bud this year.

This is the last few days of May. I hadn't realized I was so prolific on May 29. You might want to get your favourite tipple and enjoy. Normally I number them, but not today. I can't count that high just now, and there is no handy autonumber feature. Where is AI when you need it? Oh, and I snuck in a photo of Celina.

We start with some individuals that struck my fancy.










Then we get into a round the house garden tour that some readers like.




















































Passing on the Of the Day images, figuring that you've seen enough for today.