autofantasia's photos with the keyword: North

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!

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.

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

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

For this week's Sunday Challenge which had the very interesting theme of repeating patterns or items . When it came to getting some suitable shots I decided to go to Sam Turner's in Northallerton and have a wander around their yard to look for likely subjects. Sammy's, as it's fondly referred to by locals, offers a wide range of clothing, footwear, garden products, equestrian and farm supplies to both farmers and the general public alike. And as I suspected there were lots of interesting things to photograph, so much so that I spent about an hour wandering around and best of all not once did someone come up and say "what are you doing" - lol! Anyway, the shot I've decided to go with shows sections of ready made rounded timber Palisade fencing, often referred to as picket fencing, which was piled up ready for sale. Also for another of the best groups on ipernity, Sight and Sound ... it just had to be Amii Stewart with "Knock On Wood" - enjoy: Official Video Live Midnight Special 1979 French TV And just in case anyone is wondering if the lady still has it, check out this live performance from just a couple of years ago: Live in Ragusa 2015

This was a 'nearly ran' for this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was, as some of you might remember, metal . This was one of the shots I took from outside the fence at Allerton Steel, of Northallerton, which led to me being asked by staff what exactly I was up to.

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was metal . This was taken in the yard of Allerton Steel of Northallerton, who are specialists in structural and mechanical fabrication and was a shot I didn't think I would get given that the yard has a high fence all around it. However, my efforts at getting some shots through the fence led to two men coming out to ask what I was doing ... oh how I wish I had a pound for every time I've been asked that! Anyway, once I explained they seemed convinced I was harmless and agreed to me getting inside the yard to take some more photos for the challenge. Also for Sight and Sound . And with today's news that Walter Becker, co-founder and guitarist for the US band Steely Dan, has died aged 67, how about said band with "Reelin' in the Years" from 1973 - enjoy: youtu.be/wntRrR1TnOE youtu.be/ea3Bofkmwlc

A late entry due to the Bank Holiday for this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was inversion . This is a shot I took of some golden Japanese forest grass we have growing in our back garden. I then created an inverted layer from it, which I set to Hue (Legacy) before merging the two together. Next I copied this new layer and set the top copy to Multiply with the opacity on the lower one set to 40%. Once again I merged the two before oil painting this new final version to smooth it out and give it a more artistic feel. Normally I'd have added a copy of the original image into the Notes, but I can't currently do this as my Club membership has expired. However, for those that don't know the plant it's an elegant deciduous grass with arching stems, bearing narrow variegated leaves that have creamy-white, green and yellow stripes. I also wanted to add this to Sight and Sound , but was struggling to come up with anything until I came across a bluegrass barn dance cover of a song called "Blurred Lines" performed by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. It seems the original song and video by Robin Thicke proved to be quite controversial depending on how you interpreted his lyrics, but hopefully this bluegrass cover version will prove less so: youtu.be/Nz-OMn1o22Y youtu.be/aJnUP8uguh8 Incidentally, if you've not come across Postmodern Jukebox before it's well worth checking them out on YouTube or by following the link below to their website. They claim to provide "gramophone music in a smartphone world" by reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz: postmodernjukebox.com

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the subject was polka dots . This particular challenge sounded pretty easy at least until I tried to find something that I could shoot which actually had polka dots on it. For a while it looked as if I might need to 'broaden' the definition to include something that say had spots on it like a set of dice or the spots on a ladybird poppy. However, at the last minute my wife dug this old blouse out from the back of the wardrobe and so I was able (for once) to stay within the terms of the actual brief. No doubt now that the challenge is over I'll find loads of suitable photo opportunities that feature polka dots ... such is the life of a "Sunday Challenger" ... groan! Also for Sight and Sound ... how about The Andrews Sisters (before my time - lol) with "Strip Polka" - enjoy: youtu.be/OyILRoOhvyQ youtu.be/U8ew-WY23mM BTW, my Club subscription expired today, which is why most of my images are no longer visible. I've already renewed once at Christophe's increased rates and had hoped by the time that 3 months was up the IMA would be in charge, but alas no. I'm very reluctant to do so again so will probably leave things as they are and keep my fingers crossed that the deal does eventually go through.

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the subject was walls . This is a section of the outside wall on St. Andrew's in Starbeck, Harrogate, which had been decorated with hundreds, if not thousands, of these little crocheted flowers as part of this year's Starbeck In Bloom competition. Although I went relatively close so as to also capture the lovely old stonework there were as I've said many, many more of these flowers attached to large areas of the church exterior. And there were similar displays and beautifully crafted flowers attached to several other buildings along the town's High Street as well as to fences and railings. Starbeck in Bloom was formed 19 years ago after a spate of vandalism had reduced morale within the community and a small group of people and businesses got together determined to make improvements in the town. They decided initially to brighten the shopping environment by putting some flowering tubs along the High Street and then they entered the Yorkshire in Bloom gardening competition competing in the Urban Category. Within a couple of years of entering this regional competition they were starting to win awards for their efforts and that success has continued to grow as has support for the initiative. So much so that this year, after many years of winning Gold awards in Yorkshire in Bloom , they were asked to represent Yorkshire by competing within Britain in Bloom , the much respected community gardening competition organised by the Royal Horticultural Society. In addition to the efforts to brighten up the main shopping areas there are a wide range of events held throughout the town and the flowers you see here were created as part of the Starbeck is Special community art project which involved making flowers out of trash to decorate the High Street. www.starbeckinbloom.co.uk www.rhs.org.uk/communities/campaigns/britain-in-bloom Also for Sight and Sound ... how about Peter Gabriel and "Wallflower" - enjoy: youtu.be/D04KqzH8480 youtu.be/wOHBjpjDsio

Just another escapee from the 'processing room' although not as outlandish as the last one. In fact, a simple exercise in mirroring, which at first glance I wouldn't have thought worthy of posting, but then I noticed it moving. Please, someone tell me it isn't my imagination ... view it large on black, look at it for a couple of minutes and then tell me you don't see it starting to move!

Just another bit of fun created by me in the 'processing room' and which forms part of my ongoing, and somewhat tongue in cheek, Artist At Work series of images. I can't remember what I did to create this one or even for that matter which of my photos I based it upon, but I like how it turned out! Please view on black for best effect.

For this week's Sunday Challenge , for which we were asked to take a photograph of a place you love . I was torn between RHS Harlow Carr and Fountains Abbey for this particular challenge, but in the end decided to take a shot of the latter if only because we had a trip to there already planned. This is the view as you walk down towards the ruins from the main Visitor Centre and I like it because I think it encapsulates what the place has to offer in addition to the abbey: peace, tranquillity, beautiful scenery, wildlife and a feeling of wellbeing. And in case anyone is wondering if the sheep and the solo bird were added or cloned in I can honestly say they were not, I was just lucky I guess when it came to getting my shot. Please view on black for best effect.

For this week's Sunday Challenge , for which we were asked to find an S-curve . We were told if we were really struggling we could simply photograph the letter S , but ideally we were to find something that resembled the S-curve . Sounded straightforward, but when it came to getting a suitable subject like many I found it to be a more difficult challenge than it first appeared. In the end I managed to come up with a couple, both taken this week at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire. This ornate bit of stonework was found on a wall within the grounds, whilst the one in the Notes is of a Willow tree that I noticed had a bizarre S-like twist to the trunk. Apologies for the late posting and being behind with comments, but the Bank Holiday weekend has been very busy ... so a big thank you to Chris for keeping the 'door' open so that I could still post an entry this week!