Friday, November 09, 2007

EPS - Rob excellent - Nottingham trip

Left over from Thursday when I decided at lunchtime to make welsh-rarebit and this is how they looked. This picture certainly would not be improved by converting it to monochrome. If anyone is interested:-
  • Grate the cheese (cheddar with a touch of blue stilton.
  • Melt it down in a saucepan in a little butter.
  • Add a tbsp+ milk.
  • Thicken slightly with cornflour-in-water, - till spreadable consistency.
  • Spread thickly on toast which you have toasted on one side only.
  • Grill under a fierce light until it looks like the picture.
Talking of monochrome, AnonymousRob's lecture on Thursday evening was first class and went down very well with the membership. There was a wide variety of his pictures, including pinhole work (example published in blog of 30th October). Also he showed us a panel of "available light" pictures of flamenco dancers which were great. The low light conditions and resultant slow shutter speeds captured the slight movement-blur just so. He finished with a panel of letter-box prints of some marvellous after dark, street scenes from Venice which will win awards anywhere. Brilliant Rob, congratulations - I won't go on, although I could easily, because our readers who are not as photo-addicted will skip. The title of his lecture was "Nearly in the Black" because of its monochrome theme. Although not a monochrome aficionado I found myself moving closer and closer. Perhaps I'm 'on the turn'.

Picture 2 is another hang-over from Walking on Wednesday and it is, apparently, the done-thing to display 'reflections pictures' upsidedown - so here goes.

This morning we nipped down Nottingham by tram, because we each had things we needed. Diaries, cards, and assorted bits-and-bobs (I wonder where that expression came from - the 'bits' is easy but the 'bobs' ?) We went on the tram - of course! When we arrived home I cooked our traditional Friday Fish, Chips and Peas. Naps this afto. and then Strictly come Dancing.

Today's quotation is courtesy my igoogle home page:-

"I've always found paranoia to be a perfectly defensible position"

Pat Conroy

Happy birthday Debra. I know you got your e-card because you've just e-mailed me. Hope you had a lovely day. Y's on Monday 12th of course, but we are semi-celebrating a day early, by going to TJ's for lunch on Saturday. That will be nice. Have a nice weekend everyone. Sleep tight..



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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is very similar to my cheese on toast. I sometimes spread a little marmite on the toast before putting the cheese mixture on? And for something more substantial a fried egg on top (or even underneath) is a good addition. Or a slice of ham, or, this is what R is partial to, a thin slice of corned beef......

Now I feel hungry, even though I only had chicken casserole a couple of hours ago.....

Anonymous said...

I have always liked Croque Monsieur since encountering it at le Mans (the year the Rover jet took part, 1965?). I have tried it many ways: open and closed; just ham and cheese; with pineapple.
I keep intending to try Welsh Rarebit with beer or cider and mustard.
Tonight I just had butter, apple chutney and grated strong mature cheddar on toast (having had roast beef at the Snooty Fox carvery for lunch, where, incidentally Sandra had a prawn baguette which she is convinced is the best in the world - it comes complete with a very good salad and a portion of chips for about £4 - steak and onions and other fillings are options).

Re monochrome, I seem to remember a time when you were doing 'proper' photography and b&w was considered king. Am I nearly right?

Your vice versa picture suggests that you may, indeed, be 'on the turn'. Very effective it is too, but I would like to see it the right way up as well.

All right, I cannot resist the bait! Saturday is two days before Monday.

Anonymous said...

I may not be the only person to have said it but:
"I'm not paranoid; they really are out to get me."

Anonymous said...

Thank you, RG, for the glowing tribute re my talk at EPS. I don't think you're 'on the turn' but merely re-discovering your photographic passions. Digital has made it so easy to produce technically competent images in colour that, it seems to me, many people stop there and don't think about working on the picture to produce an even better result.

Bungus, naturally, is quite right. A certain LRPS distinction was achieved with a panel of darkroom-produced monochrome prints.

I really like the monochromatic feel of Picture 2; 18 out of 20. The reason it's the done thing to show reflections upside down is to help judges see the image. They would be too confused to understand one that was the right way round and would tell you it was upside down.

I must try your Welsh Rarebit recipe. I just usually toast the bread on one side then put a slice of cheese and some pickle on the untoasted side and slide it under the grill. I like to use Wensleydale.

We recently had a Gordon Ramsay tapas dish. Slices of Spanish Manchego cheese on olive bread topped with a Spanish quince jelly called Membrillo. Absolutely delicious. Don't toast anything, though.

Happy birthday to Y for Monday.

Rob