Learning in the u3a movement

This photo was taken at the time it seems to have been taken, i.e. 4.29, (for no particular reason). However: I've flipped the image left to right, which is why the numbers look back to front, so they are not really as they seem. The numbers are actually the right way round then, but the clock is a novelty, in that it runs backwards, so the numbers go anti-clockwise round the clock face.

I made this optical illusion by lining up tiny LED fairy lights four to five feet behind the tap. I used a wide aperture putting the lights out of focus (Bokeh). This also makes them appear larger. A challenge was lining up the lights to get that pouring out of the tap effect!

Not quite what it seems - noughts and crosses in the sky....but actually a 'Go Ape' course shot from below.

This photograph of a Curlew standing on one leg with an almost perfect reflection is not quite what it seems because the picture has been turned upside down putting the reflection at the top which is evident from the water ripples around the bird's bill.

You do need a bit of imagination! I crumpled my old Tilley Hat on the top, then side lighting using a small hand held LED light to create the shadows. The effect looks like a Cobra, maybe?

This wonderful statue of a grazing horse is well known to regulars along the Basingstoke Canal near Fleet. I have passed it countless times on my lockdown walks and every time I see it I can't believe it isn't going to walk away.

I enjoyed photographing my snake as he posed in different locations outdoors, including the local countryside hedgerows, before deciding that he looked most interesting in this glass tank at home interacting with the aqueous environment. Squirts of ink coloured the water in the tank and the patterns were photographed with backlighting. Images of my snake curled in the tank were made separately to keep him dry and then water and snake were combined in Photoshop to complete the illusion.

Thank you u3a for giving me an excuse to spend most of an hour moving bits of vegetable around on a chopping board. I wanted to come up with a picture that would make people think twice about what they were looking at. I’ve long fantasised about opening an Indian restaurant and calling it “La Bella Vista”.....just to see customers doing a double-take.

Walking down a country path, we saw this shape in the distance ahead of us. We were convinced it was an animal and discussed what it was and where it could be from. We approached with curiosity and caution – is it a Worcestershire wallaby? Alas not so exotic, just a fallen branch – but convincing though!

Having a bit of fun with this topic by creating a Zipper but......... Not quite what it seems!

At first glance it appears that the V&A Museum is leaving Dundee, sailing across the Tay Road Bridge. Look again and the V&A is still there, the masts and rigging belong to Captain Scott’s ship the RRS Discovery that is berthed behind.

No, this isn’t a bare tree battered and bent my autumn and winter winds, this is a magnificent Hawthorn Tree sculpture in bronze taken this year a few days before second lockdown in New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Perfectly reflecting how so much of our lives have been changed this year!

This Bus appears to be speeding along but was not what it seemed as it only going at a speed suitable for a residential area. By adding a Zoom burst from Photoshop it gives the effect of going at a very much faster speed than it was.

This is in fact a photo of a dandelion seedhead. I cropped it to just have the centre and then distorted it in photoshop using wave and twist. Finally, I changed the colour.