Photo critique

After the photographic expedition to the city with Leanne there was more! As part of the day I was asked to send 5 or 6 photos for a critique and I was sent back both altered photos and a few words. I wanted to put them side by side and compare them, so here they are:

1. The left hand side is sort of floating. Should I have zoomed in or out more?

2. Needs cropping....zoom in!

 

3.Did it need cropping?

 

4. Which way round?

5. Needed to get a little more abstract.

6.Triangle, what triangle? Oh THAT triangle, sometimes you really have to look where the lines are leading you!

I've paraphrased the comments, but it is interesting getting someone else critically looking at your work. There is a need to focus more intently on what is the purpose of the picture, either in the subject or the strict composition. I also need to learn to play with Photoshop a bit more to get the most out of my photos!

Thanks Leanne!

Historical dyeing at Harrietville

Always excited to do some dyeing as it's the one area I'm not really set up to do, seriously, at home. In particular, an indigo dyebath is a must. It's a magic process, as the yarn comes out green and as it oxidizes, it turns blue. And every shade of blue. If you ever get a chance have a look at one and always take at least one skein, as there is often enough to have extras. (Just remember to ask and don't just plonk in your skein as this can upset the dyebath, or more particular, the creator of the dyebath.....the dyebath does not like air!)

At Harrietville, for each of the three sessions that you can participate in there was a different dyebath. The first was Osage Orange, the second Aliziran which is a substitute for Madder and lastly the Indigo dyebath.

I dyed a skein of each of the colours.

I also dip dyed a third. This was some wool boucle from Glenora that I found in my stash. So about half was dyed Osage Orange, the other Aliziran and then we just dipped in the middle and you can just see the blue, but also the touch of green and purple as the colours mixed.  Love it. Thanks to Jan and Carmel for their work and patience.

The 50gm balls will make fingerless mittens and the boucle will make a scarf, if I find the right pattern.

And just to prove it's not just textiley things, here's the beautiful, just picked corn from a roadside trader we had last night. Beautiful!

All sorts of things happen at Harrietville!

On Friday night, after travelling to Harrietville, eating a meal at either the pub or motel, we meet in the dining room for an information session. Of course, there have been diversions to Euroa for breakfast and obtaining supplies from First Editions, lunch in Benalla, stop in Myrtleford and other pleasantries, but this marks the beginning of the official 'Harrietville weekend'.

There are sometimes surprises. A wonderful spinning machine, in the process of being built by the very capable Graham. It's based on machinery that he saw on his trip to England which uses rings to control the spinning, and, as you do, he decided to try and build one. It's not quite right yet, as it overspins and Graham says that his machine in not 'beautiful', but I would argue with that!

After all the information, we retire to do some spinning, knitting, then off to bed trying to decide what to do first!

Some of us have other plans, and, as we have done for a couple of years, we had a surprise planned for the morning. This time it was in the dining room.

They're teeny tiny hearts from the lovely Lucy in the Attic and we did lots!

There were some extra outside.

What was really nice was that there were very few left at the end of the weekend. People wore them as earings, hung them off buttonholes and took them for friends and more! We left the last with the cafe over the road, and managed to grab a souvenir for ourselves. Success! Thanks Catherine and Anne.