Visiting Grandma Last Weekend

I have converted some of these images to black and white for the Black & White Photography assignment. I’m glad I shot them in color, and post production conversion to black & white instead of shooting them in monochrome, or black and white.  It has been a while since I did a panning shot, and Grandma’s area still looks like Winter.

This is the smallest brown chicken egg I have ever seen.  Grandma said that it’s the last egg from one of the original laying hens that Bo gave her.

It even has a mickey mouse print on it.

Freshly picked eggs

Grandma made some Lao medicine by pickled raw eggs with Apple Cider Vinegar. I can’t tell you what it tasted like since I didn’t try, I actually don’t dare try.

A week old chicken peeps.

Three day old chicken peeps.

Hanging out by the water cooler, I wonder if they gossiped.

A very small and short rooster.

Police Line-up, not sure which is the guilty one.

Grandma gave me a clipping from this big plant.

It has beautiful flowers.

Assignment 24: Black & White Photography

This is my contribution to Scott’s Assignment 24: Black & White Photography. I’ve decided to shoot in Raw and in color, then post production conversion to Black & White in Lightroom 4.  I thought it would be interesting to see vibrant subjects in Black & White so I went to visit a small backyard chicken farm.

It was a long drive, way out in the country.

It’s interesting to see how the conversion works, for the Black & White mix I decreased the Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Aqua, and increased Blue, Purple and Magenta slightly.  I also increased the temperature to brighten the image, and added vignetting to draw attention to the focal point of the image.

One week old chicken peeps.

Three day old chicken peeps.

And way past their bedtime.

This is my first time trying Black & White, and I really liked it.  The assignment is due on March 20, 2013, please check the assignment link above if you like to participate. And thank you Scott for giving me the opportunity to try Black & White Photography.

Chicken Update

Click here to watch this video on YouTube

The latest pair of chickens that Bo gave to his mom were a Feather footed hen and rooster known as Frizzle chicken.

They are still very young, the female looks like a chicken peep when she walks.

A Frizzle is a type of chicken with feathers that curl outwards, rather than laying flat as in most chickens.  As a result of its unusual look, Frizzles are primarily exhibition birds.  Source.

She looks so cute, and fun to watch.  As you can see it’s not hard to get her in a pan at all.

The rooster is not that big.

A male Guinea fowl

A rooster

The Australorp is a chicken breed of Australian origin, and this Red Star Australorp hen is still very young.  Grandma has about 70 laying hens and roosters that keep her busy all year round.

All photos and video were shot with a Canon T2i and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens.