BLENDING IN (EP16)

This week’s challenge continues to focus on light and darkness. However, our focus won’t be contrasts, but gradients – more nuanced transitions from light do darkness. The challenge this week is to make your subject blend into its surroundings, making it almost disappear, or vice versa, making it appear out of it.
I have made several attempts in different light conditions. It seems easier at night, when you can use the dim and warm light of a streetlamp or the light coming out of a window as a source to illuminate your subject without exposing it to harsh light that creates strong contrasts. If you want to try it during the day, choose a clouded day (fog would be even better).
To make the whole exercise a bit easier, choose a lower exposure at night and a higher exposure at daylight. Over and underexposure help to blend tonalities.
Obviously, this is easier in black and white as your only concern will be the intensity of light.
Today’s blip shows my wife while in a conversation with our daughter about some serious pre-adolescent matter.
The extra is an older photograph I took in our former town Teixeira de Freitas. Here, horse and driver almost disappear into the wall behind them. (Here's another, less successful attempt of blending in.)
One of the things I most appreciate about photography in general and more specific exercises like this is that they help to train my eye. Photographing with a specific theme or technique in mind helps to discard the millions of possible images I could take on any specific day and focus my attention on the few I’m really interested in.
 
(Thank you for all your generous and compassionate comments on yesterday’s blip. What really irritates me about myself is when I repeatedly run into a situation in which my heart knows how to behave but my mind insists on doing it his or her way [what’s the gender of “mind” in English? In Portuguese it’s female, in German it’s male].)
 
This week's challenge: BLENDING IN
Tag: EP16
Go for: Artistic impression.

You can publish your contribution(s) on any day(s) until Saturday, March 3rd. Don't forget to tag it with EP16.
 
The next challenge will be published on March 3rd (suggestions for techniques/themes are always welcome). Hearts for this challenge will be awarded on Monday, March 5th.
 
IF YOU WANT TO EXPLORE A SPECIFIC TECHNIQUE OR THEME, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS!