Darkroom Experiments

The May blossom was at it's peak last week and I had wanted to try making Japanese style pictures for some time.  So this was an ideal opportunity for some darkroom experiments.

May (also called Black Thorn)

Two Photograms forming a diptych

Projected Image

Inverted (negative)

You can clearly see the fragile petals and stamens in the close up projections.
To see more photographs of the May blossom and the location visit Paper Tiger Moth

Harlequin Ladybirds

'The harlequin ladybird has landed.'  On Monday this week I was investigating the insects on the red currant bushes and what did I see?  Two very spotty ladybirds. I guessed that they were Harlequin Ladybirds.   The harlequin ladybird was first spotted (no pun here!), in Britain in 2004 and has spread very rapidly across the UK since. They have a nasty bite and eat almost everything including native British ladybirds and their food.  If you are interested check out the Harlequin Ladybird Survey website, and if you have seen any you can take part in the survey.

Papercuts

Today I have put some photographs of papercuts onto Paper Tiger Moth with instructions, but somehow it looks very dull, so I am going back to sort it all out.   As usual Pip the Cat helped out.

Here are some of the results. To see more look on the Paper Tiger Moth blog.

The garden is now looking very overgrown, green and in desparate need of some care.  Yesterday I took some 'before' photos and hopefully will be able to make some useful comparisons.

It is my ambition to make an 'Artist's Garden'.  I think I have a long way to go!

Resolution?

I think I have fixed the heading.  Have a look at Paper Tiger Moth if you can get there from this page.

Creating Logos and Headings

Finally, I have managed to create a sort of logo type heading for my Paper Tiger Moth page.  The idea was to have white on white with a minimum of shadow showing up the lettering.  I chose Josef Albers simple alphabet and transferred the lettering to white cartridge paper, which I then scored.   After cutting the lettering, I photographed the results and did not get what I expected!

It looks a bit blue, probably because the white balance setting on the camera was 'sunny' and the iso was 1000.  I changed these settings to iso 200, white balance automatic and tried Ansel Adams Zone System (take a meter reading and overexpose by 2 stops for highlights).

Actually, I think I prefer the blue heading!  Oh well!

my logo for paper tiger moth