Summing up October

Joining Julie again for a numerical summary of the month and an insert for my Project Life album.

panda spotting take 2

On Saturday I went to the zoo with my sister for a second look at the pandas.  They arrived in Scotland almost a year ago and are still a big attraction so you have to book a slot to see them and get about 15 minutes.  Which means there is no guarantee on if you will see any of either of them.  When we went in May we were pleased to catch a glimpse of each sleeping form.

With cooler weather we were hopeful of seeing a bit more this time.  As we queued we were told the female was in her inner enclosure but the male was not.  Then as we went in we heard the male was now out eating. 

He was sitting in his feeding basket with his back resolutely towards the crowds. He sat like that for 5 mins, occasionally eating some bamboo – I have several nearly identical photos.  Then, when most people were over watching the female, he climbed down and over to his platform to snuffle up the remaining crumbs of his panda cake.  

Lovely to see him moving around.  I think he is a fabulous looking bear.

The female was laying still but posing beautifully so I have these two lovely portraits of her

and him

We did see many other animals in the zoo but these were the stars.

these ones I thought were good

for PhotArt Friday this week Bonnie suggested we all use her latest fabulous texture.  I enjoy this type of challenge as it removes a decision and I can play with various images and blending modes until I find some images I like.  I often think it is the deciding when an image is ‘good’ that is the key – the editing tools are just, well tools.

Anyway here are the images I decided to keep from my session of playing.  In all cases I flipped the texture upside down.

Here the blending mode is overlay – I think it has a 70s feel

Here the blending mode is darker and I love how it looks like a pink fog and frost on the wood at the front

And for this photo taken out of my window of the heavy rain on the road the blending mode is colour burn.  I love the rich colours.

stack them up

Mix a walk on the beach, a sunny day, a playful mood, some recent posts by Rinda on cairns, some spontaneity and this is what I got

Have you done anything spontaneous recently?