My Black and White Photography

© Copyright Maureen Tortolano 2009

Have decided to show you some of my black and white Photography,most of the human hand or hands, I think black and white look amazing and show more detail as your eye is not distracted by colour. There is a lot more detail you notice when in black and white,some photos can become very atmospheric.

Here are some with Selective Colouring.

  

 

 

Here are some just Blank and White.

Black and white works well when taking the majority of photos less is more as they say,less colour is more detail.Obviously it would’t work very well with a firework shot as you want to see the colour or taking a snap of flowers again you want colour,but a back lane or hands anything you want to add atmosphere and detail to would work. This Photo works well with Colour.

This Photo is called

"Clearer Vision of Art"

If you wish to use any of my Photography please get in touch,email link on profile page.

© Copyright Maureen Tortolano 2009

 

BUBBLES

Thought I’d add some bubble pics, I was messing around with a bubble blower, anyway here are the results of many many pictures later,and still I didn’t get what I was really looking for,but hey can’t get it right every time lol.

© Copyright Maureen Tortolano 2009

© Copyright Maureen Tortolano 2009

UK Government Right! or Wrong! ??????

The UK Government is planing to make a huge! database for storage of every single persons Telephone conversations, Web browsing habits and emails. This Huge database will hold Millions if not Trillions of the general public's PRIVATE! Phone calls.

As for the Email and Web Browsing, I have no problem with that but Private Conversations I do!

Am I the only one who thinks we are supposed to be living in a free Country, free to Express and Free to say what we want as long as it is not racist in any way?

Don't get me wrong I am all for catching the terrorists,Pedophiles,murders and such like and this does sound like a fantastic way of achieving this, but at the expense of our so called freedom.

How on earth will they fund this large database? who will end up paying for the fact that the criminal is getting away with murder again? us the Tax payer that's who.

I for one do think it is a brilliant idea but the phone calls I have a problem with,that's like putting a camera in every ones home "Smile while talking,Smile while getting a shower" Big Brother is watching you.

And what happens when all this "PRIVATE" Data is stored in one place, will the so called criminals not try to gain access to this information for reasons I don't even care to understand. What will happen then??After all the Government has not been to careful with our Data lately have they? Finding it sprawled all over the streets for the local Gangster to sell on to some NON law abiding thug.

And what will then happen to the police force, will some lose their jobs because they are no longer needed "only to arrest the bad guys they have managed to catch through this database" will we no longer need so many police? as ALL! criminals should be under lock and key, And all!! prisons will be overrun to the extent that we will need to build even more "one on every street corner maybe"

The huge amount of storage required would be off the scale in my opinion anyway.

Maybe it's back to the old pen and paper,we may even keep the local post office from closing.

Is The Economy in Crisis!

Not my usual Blog entry but important all the same, are we in the UK nearing a recession? Are our pounds buying less and less? I for one as a full time Student and single parent off three,am feeling the crunch,from Oil prices spiralling out of control and on an equal lever food prices all so.Will it get any better and how long will it take? some say one year others believe two years. Winter is here. The little squirrels look to their hoard of nuts to see them through the cold times. But what’s this? The sorry squirrels of North America hunt around…where are the nuts? Uh oh…they forgot to put any away!

Families have been warned that the prices of basic foods will rise steeply again because of acute shortages in commodity markets.Experts said yesterday that prices of rice, wheat and vegetable oil would rise further. They also forecast that high prices and shortages — which have caused riots in developing countries such as Bangladesh and Haiti — were here to stay, and that the days of cheap produce would not return. Food-price inflation has already pushed up a typical family’s weekly shopping bill by 15 per cent in a year. Rises in Oil,Food,Gas,Electricity are here to stay for the foreseeable future at least. How will a typical Family cope will we survive this global yes global crisis.

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, said: “Rising food bills will hit families already struggling to keep their heads above water following big rises to many utility bills.
“The Government must show more urgency in ensuring the current world talks on agricultural trade no longer drift hopelessly because of a lack of political will.”
The United Nations Food Agency said that rising food prices threatened to plunge 100 million people across the world into hunger.
Josette Sheeran, head of the UN’s World Food Programme, said before yesterday’s meeting: “This is the new face of hunger — the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago but now are.”

Me and my Children

This is to Celebrate my three Children's up and coming Birthdays. (All the pictures were taken by myself and my Children) Barry who will soon be 21, Natasha who will soon be 20 and Sarah who will soon be 14. Happy Birthdays Guys I Love you all. Sorry if the pics embarrass you,no I'm not really Ha. I am so so proud of you all.xxx Love mum xxx

The Mature Student!

Well Guys I've started College at last (Professional Qualifications in Computing) been there about two weeks now, my first day was a bit stressful as it was like starting school all over again and it's been a long time since I've been there i can tell you, I was more than nervous to say the least, The first day I was going to the different lessons but not really taking anything in as my nerves where so bad,the second day was a lot better.

I thought the majority of other students would have been marginally younger,but this wasn't the case the ages ranged from about 20 a couple of people at 30,there are five other students on my course all men which i thought would bother me but far from it,they seem to be a nice bunch of guys,there are some women part timers who attend the Cisco classes on a Wednesday and another that attends the MSDTS on a Friday,so it's not like i am totally the only female.

I find the lessons very interesting and they cover different things Cisco Networking Academy, ECDL which I've done at DTI but can do the higher level now, Microsoft Desktop Support Technician, Certified Internet Webmaster and BTEC HNC in Computing. At the moment my brain is trying to get around HTML and Binary code but am getting there, more so with the Binary.

I am enjoying the College but finding it a challenge keeping the house running and keeping up with College stuff but I'm sure it will turn out fine.Being a mature Student has it's moments like the first day!but all in it to has it's benefits"life skills"being the top one,being around the same age as the Tutors means unlike school your not as afraid off them as you were all those years ago ha.The College life is very relaxed the tutors are very flexible to the students needs, all round very helpful.

Huge 50ft Spider Attacks Liverpool !!!!

While on a visit to Liverpool I spotted a Giant Spider climbing the buildings off the City of Liverpool,but this was no ordinary spider this was a 50ft contraption that only the arts of Liverpool could come up with, is it a head turner? yes more people were looking and taking pictures of this 2008 art than were shopping in St John's Market, including myself. Commuters arriving at Liverpool's Lime Street station were greeted by a 50ft (15m) high mechanical spider clinging to a nearby redundant office block.
The 37-tonne beast heralds the start of a five-day piece of street theatre as part of the Capital of Culture year.
It has been built by French company La Machine, which in 2006 brought the streets of London to a standstill with the Sultan's Elephant. The spider is believed to be "waking up" on Friday.It will descend from its current position on the side of Concourse House on Thursday to be moved to the city's new arena, before coming to life on Friday.
The creature will then begin exploring the city later that evening.
'Looks interesting'
It will form part of a huge piece of street theatre throughout the city at various landmarks, culminating in what organisers are calling a "spectacular finish" on Sunday.
Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Liverpool to get a glimpse of the mechanical beast.
Although an impressive sight, one man told the BBC that it left him somewhat nervous.
"I don't like spiders. It looks interesting, but I really don't like spiders," he said.

It is an unfolding story that takes place in all the public spaces in the city using the great buildings as its stage
Helen Marriage, Artichoke
Stopping to look at the creature, Jean Evans, of Birkenhead, in Wirral, said: "It's something really different, it's something unique and I think it's going to put Liverpool more on the map."
Another onlooker Dorothy Wilson, 82, said: "I wouldn't like to meet it in the dark.
"They say it's going to walk the streets but I hope I'm not down here when it does."
Billed as one of the highlights of the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations, La Machine has been commissioned by arts company Artichoke.
Helen Marriage, the producer of the show, said: "It is the kind of show you can dip in and out of. She's here until Sunday.
"It has 50 axes of movement so all of it moves as you would expect an insect to move.
"It is an unfolding story that takes place in all the public spaces in the city using the great buildings as its stage."
The spider is made out of steel and poplar wood and will be operated by 12 people strapped to its frame, Ms Marriage said.
The creature was built in Nantes before being shipped to Merseyside to be assembled in a secret location.
In May 2006, the company's Sultan's Elephant drew an estimated one million people to the streets of London.

Also on my Visit I went to Tate modern,the slavery and maritime museum all in one building, it was great,never quit understood some of the sculptures at the Tate,but then again it was modern art and me being old is probably why.

A Trip to Peel Castle where the Moddey Dhoo howls.

The Moddey Dhoo http://photostakenbymoe.slide.com/

On a very cold, wet and windy day I stupidly decided to take a bus to Peel to get some shots of the castle, well after returning wetter than an Otters pocket I went through the pictures and did get some pretty good shots despite the appalling weather.... In the days when Charles II was King in England, and Charles, Earl of Derby, was King in Mann, Peel Castle was always garrisoned by soldiers. The guard room was just inside the great entrance of the castle and a passage used to lead from it, through one of the old churches, to the Captain of the Guard's Room. At the end of the day one of the soldiers would lock the castle gates and carry the key through the dark passage to the Captain. The soldiers used to take turns to do this.

About this time a big black dog with rough curly hair was seen, sometimes in one room, next time in a different room. He did not belong to anyone there and apparently no one knew anything about him. But every night, when the candles were lighted in the guard room and the fire was burning bright, he would come down the dark passage and lay himself down by the hearth. He made no sound, but lay there until the break of day, when he would then get up and disappear into the passage.

The soldiers were at first terrified of him but after some time they were used to the sight of him and lost some of their fear, though they still looked upon him as something more than mortal. Whilst he was in the room the men were quiet and sober, and no bad words were spoken. When the hour came to carry the key to the Captain, two of them would always go together - no man would face the dark passage alone.

One night, however, one foolish fellow had drunk more than was good for him and he began to brag and boast that he was not afraid of the dog. It was not his turn to take the keys, but to show how brave he was, he said that he would take them alone. He dared the dog to follow him.

'Let him come,' he shouted, laughing; 'I'll see whether he be dog or devil!' His friends were terrified and tried to hold him back, but he snatched up the keys and went out into the passage. The Black Dog slowly got up from before the fire and followed him.

There was a deathly silence in the guard room; no sound was heard but the dashing of the waves on the steep rocks of the Castle Islet.

After a few minutes, there came from the dark passage the most unearthly screams and howls, but not a soldier dared to move to see what was going on. They looked at each other in horror.

Presently they heard steps and the rash fellow came back into the room. His face was ghastly pale and twisted with fear. He spoke not a word, then or afterwards. In three days he was dead and nobody ever knew what had happened to him that fearful night. The Black Dog has never been seen again. If you look closely at some of the indoor pictures you can see the Moddey Dhoo's footprints in the base of one of the rooms......

I'm not sure which I prefer photographing, the modern buildings with their clean lines and unusual shapes, or the old with their atmosphere and history, I think i prefer both as both subjects have their own unique properties. http://photostakenbymoe.slide.com/

Another trip to Manchester.

Not long back from another trip to Manchester, took lots of photo's had lots of partying and relaxing. went on a visit to Chester and also The Lowery in Salford Quays took some brilliant shots of the Lowery footbridge, Imperial War Museum and others.

I Really enjoyed taking these photographs my eye for a good picture is getting much better I think.

The Lowry houses the biggest public collection of works by L S Lowry. In 2000 it was transferred from its original home at Salford Art Gallery that had begun collecting his work in the 1930s. The collection now numbers around 350 paintings and drawings, ranging across Lowry's artistic career. Different works from the collection are shown, alongside pictures loaned from other public and private collections, in changing, themed exhibitions. The picture of the old man in black and white was an elderly gentlemen on a train destined for Chester, I Just couldn't resist taking a photo of his prominent facial features, it has the effect of a much older picture,as the picture of the back lane in Chester does. Tip for the day, when taking a photograph, view it as though you are seeing it for the first time, as though you are seeing for the very first time, and you should take one awesome photograph, and if you like it then it is awesome, good luck! .

On another subject, I have after a long thought decided to change my surname by deed poll to my grandfathers name (Tortolano),I can't wait to be Miss Tortolano, I love Italy and am going there next year with my friend Tina, what better way to do it but with my own family's Italian name, brilliant!!.

http://photostakenbymoe.slide.com/