autofantasia's photos

Just a little bit of fun created by me in the 'processing room' over the festive period. Hope everyone is staying safe and looking forward to what will hopefully be a much brighter and happier New Year! Please view on black for best effect. Papaver somniferum, also often referred to as the ‘Opium Poppy’ is an upright annual boasting large, fully double flowers. Blooming for weeks in summer, the flowers sit on top of stout stems clad with silvery leaves. They are followed by decorative seed pods that can be used in dried flower arrangements, or left in the garden for the visual interest they bring. This particular plant self-seeded itself into our garden from who knows where, but it was a welcome visitor nonetheless, we just hope that its offspring might appear in the spring. SOOC original to be found in the Notes, for those who like to see where it all began, that's assuming I can remember how to do it!

Yet another example of me spending too much time in the 'processing room'. About 2 percent of people have green eyes. They are most common in Northern, Central, and Western Europe with about 16 percent of people with green eyes being of Celtic and Germanic ancestry. The iris contains a pigment called lipochrome and only a little melanin. Green eyes are associated with passion, good and bad. People with this colour of eyes are thought to be deviant, wild, and curious. Green eyes have also been at the centre of many superstitious beliefs worldwide relating to witches, magic, vampires, and evil spirits, the most dangerous of which live in caves! Please view on black for best effect. © 2021 Paul Davidson. All rights reserved.

Just another bit of fun created by me in the 'processing room' for my "Artist At Work" series of images. This one is based on a scan of the corrugated sheet of paper that separates the layers in a box of Thorntons chocolates, a copy of which you'll find in the notes if I can remember how to do it! Please view on black for best effect.

This is what I used to create Chocolate Caramel Twirl ...

Lost In Time ... Just another bit of fun created by me in the 'processing room', which I hope at least some of you will enjoy seeing. 'Lost in Time' as it happens was also the fifth episode of Series 4 of 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', but I bet you all knew that didn't you? Please view on black for best effect.

Just a little bit of fun created by me in the 'processing room' a while ago, but which I never got around to posting. Hope everyone is staying safe in these difficult and strange times. Please view on black for best effect.

For years the black dog has chased me in the darkness. I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. Then recently a light shone on me and I started to believe maybe, just maybe, things could get better. But today that light disappeared and the darkness is all around once again. My sense of hopelessness has returned and so has the black dog. What's more he seems bigger and stronger than before while I feel weaker than ever, so weak I don't feel I have it in me to keep fighting him. And it leaves me wondering is there really any point in continuing this fight. Maybe it's time to just let him win.

Wishing everyone out there a Happy Fence Friday … HFF and all that. Enjoy your weekend whatever you have planned!

I guess that's what happens when someone of my age spends too much time messing around in the 'processing room' on a cold December afternoon! For those that like to see these things I've added the original image upon which this has all been based in the Notes.

A little bit of artistic fun to brighten up these short winter days. Two images of mine combined and sent to the 'processing room' ... and no, not really shot in Amsterdam, but RHS Harlow Carr on the outskirts of Harrogate. Also for Sight and Sound ... the late, great Max Bygraves with the memorable "Tulips From Amsterdam" - enjoy: youtu.be/ors-eZeeJ0U youtu.be/qPsq6flck2A

Not sure if this is what's meant by gold leaf!

Kilmarnock supporters are "allowed to dream" after their side rose to the top of the Scottish Premiership, says manager Steve Clarke. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46462652 Oh, and before anyone says don't be so silly, I have one thing to say … Leicester!

Such crazy weather we get. Yesterday, the last of the autumn flowers, like this one here, were encrusted with frost and yet today it's grey and sodden. And no, this isn't SOOC, but I think it still works ... at least it does for me.

Always had a soft spot for the Morris Minor, especially the commercial variants. So much so that I actually bought one back in the Eighties with a view to restoring it, but sadly it wasn't to be. Anyway, I came across this rather tasty looking one at a local car show a couple of years ago and thought it worthy of some extra attention in the processing room. Closed van and open flat-bed versions of the Minor were built from 1953 until the end of production. They were designed for commercial use with small businesses, although many were also used by larger corporations. Van versions were particularly popular with the General Post Office, and in fact that's what this one was described as when it was advertised for sale recently, an old Post Office van. Interestingly, BMC's policy back in the day was to provide both Austin and Morris with complete commercial vehicle ranges. These featured Austin badging and the Austin 'crinkle-cut' radiator grille but were otherwise identical to the standard Minor commercials, and were sold as the Austin 6cwt and Austin 8cwt which might explain why what the records say is an Austin 8cwt van now purports to be a Moggie. Whatever, be it a Moggie or an Austin, it certainly appealed to me.

Well, not quite. This was actually shot close to Cod Beck Reservoir on the outskirts of Osmotherley, in North Yorkshire. Perhaps best viewed large on black. Also for Sight and Sound , a group I'm delighted to see is still going strong. youtu.be/u8MWb1FlODQ youtu.be/xUsQ9Qs2DQo youtu.be/qWXwqEGdWLc

Happy Halloween!

For this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of transition . This is a shot of some autumnally coloured peony leaves which I'd just added onto the top of our compost heap. In a few months they and everything else in that pile should have been transformed into lovely crumbly compost ready to use as a mulch around the garden. Also for Sight and Sound ... Pete Seeger (words by Lee Hays) with the short, but somewhat amusing "In Dead Earnest" - enjoy: youtu.be/0Op-OxfwsNg youtu.be/X6tJKfVyGbE

What I'd call a 'nearly ran' for this week's Sunday Challenge which had the very interesting theme of repeating patterns or items . Taken once again at Sam Turner's yard in Northallerton, but this time I have no idea what it was other than it was made from plastic and there were huge piles of it coiled up. The shot doesn't give an idea of scale, but I'd say each hose would have been about 6 inches in diameter. They just appealed to me and I thought they'd make for an interesting abstract. A big thank you to TimC and also Roger Dodger for confirming that this is indeed a land drainage pipe. Also for Sight and Sound from Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds ... "Brave New World" - enjoy: youtu.be/Q4Ar6evQQ_w youtu.be/j-_k5sO2jqM youtu.be/hzJ9193bVPc