Wee Sleekit Cow'rin Tim'rous Beastie.

Ms. Next-Door has given me the commission of producing a low-key portrait of Donal’, her black lab. With that in mind I purchased some black velvet from the American Rain Forest; the reviews said it was too thin to be of any use as a photographic back drop, so I went ahead. It arrived today so I thought that I’d better give it a try. The next step is to have a dry run: that is, the full set-up but without the dug.
 
A few years ago we visited Rabbie Burn’s Hoose where Mrs TD purchased this keepsake which I thought might be suitable for a low-key picture. The problem is that many small knick-knacks do not come out well in photographs; they lack detail, and well defined features, so they look blurred when shown larger than life. My cop-out was to posterise it, a technique that can sharpen even the most blurred image. Many years ago, I used to do this in the dark-room; it entailed dowelling sheets of film to ensure that they registered, and producing a seemingly endless series of negatives and positives at different exposures including recombining three or four of them to produce a negative that would fit an enlarger. It was fun; at least, it was the first time. I became friendly with a Polish gentleman who taught photography at Napier College; as a hobby, he did similar stuff in colour and claimed that he only needed on picture to keep him happy for the rest of his life. To prove the point, he gave a lecture illustrated with about thirty of the things. And, I don't actually remember being bored during his talk.
 
However, let me reassure you – there is only ever going to be one image from this original.