12 days of Christmas.....

[SJD2011]

I decided that I wanted to do a small personal challenge, and with the festive season upon us, I figured it was an ideal time to get some much needed practice in. I hope my challenge will force me to look at composition, and work with difficult light. I also wanted to use RAW rather than jpeg & look at enhancing the images more.

I have decided to take some images every day from the 12th - 24th December of things that say/ remind me of Christmas. I want to capture things that really capture Christmas for me.

So, day 1 - 12th December 2011

It wasnt until I got home I realised I had shot this in JPEG, not RAW, but by this time, the light had faded and the moment was gone. I tried to enhance the redness of the berries, but it just looked artificial. Still, I am quite pleased with the DOF.


Day 2. 13th December

Managed to quickly grab this from my local garden centre.....I didnt want to get told off by the staff, so its not the best. I like what it represents though, with the bells & ribbon. I know its a little blown to the left, which I am not best pleased about. I managed to enhance the shadows and colours a little, but other than that, there is no PP.

Day 3. 14th December

This is probably my favourite shot so far. I wanted to go for quite a simplistic look, letting the colours do the talking. I shot in RAW and adjusted the shadows/ highlights until I was happy. I love the vivid red contrasting with the dark green of the leaves. I wanted to go for a really high key shot, but couldnt get the settings right, so I am quite pleased with how this came out in the end.

Day 4 - 15th December

Where would we be without the humble Christmas Card?? I wanted to capture the cards waiting to go out, with received cards OOF in the background. I like how this came out, but know that there is room for improvement in terms of the lighting and general set up.

 

[MWHCVT]

A challenge is a great way to get you thinking about your camera I like this idea of this little mini challenge and look forward to seeing where this takes you the first one the colours don't look quite right to me the holly berries look more pink than red :shrug:

I really like the second the focus and DoF are really nice, it's a little bit of a shame that you just composed or cropped hopefully a little tightly and cut little bit's of the ribbon off :shrug:

The third is rather nice, colours look good but for me there is a little too much empty space :shrug:

The last for me I get what you were going for but there is not really anything of any meaning in focus the only but that are in focus are tiny part of the envelopes, I would have preferred to see a special Christmas stamp fully in focus or the actual cards in focus

Great luck with the challenge

Matt
MWHCVT

 

[SJD2011]

A challenge is a great way to get you thinking about your camera I like this idea of this little mini challenge and look forward to seeing where this takes you the first one the colours don't look quite right to me the holly berries look more pink than red :shrug:

I really like the second the focus and DoF are really nice, it's a little bit of a shame that you just composed or cropped hopefully a little tightly and cut little bit's of the ribbon off :shrug:

The third is rather nice, colours look good but for me there is a little too much empty space :shrug:

The last for me I get what you were going for but there is not really anything of any meaning in focus the only but that are in focus are tiny part of the envelopes, I would have preferred to see a special Christmas stamp fully in focus or the actual cards in focus

Great luck with the challenge

Matt
MWHCVT

Hi matt,

Thanks for the feedback. I could see the berries were pink not red and I was really miffed!

Yes, bit of a tight crop in the wreath but had to rush cos I didnt want to get busted! Lol

I wanted to get the contrast between the white, green and red but yes, a little too much space.

I never considered just the stamp, blast! Maybe another shot in my challenge???


Thanks again matt

 

[SJD2011]

Day 5 - 16th December

Although not religious, I do enjoy things like Christingle & midnight mass, and Christingle reminds me of christmas, so I thought I would try and capture it.

I tried to get the candles reflected in the mirror, but couldnt really get it to the standard I wanted. This image isnt what I really wanted to capture, but I think it looks ok. Its a little tight on the crop, and I should really of given my mirror a proper clean - I forget that my camera will pick up any mark!

I did a version in black & white, but it lost some of the texture.

Day 6th - 17th December

Mulled wine - the spices, the warmth, the smell - its like christmas in a glass!

I couldnt figure how to capture the steam rising - if anyone has any ideas please let me know! I like the DOF in this, but thats about all to be honest...

 

[SJD2011]

Day 7

Left it a bit late to go out and it had been raining. I wanted to capture a bit of sky but I was too late. There is a lot of noise on this one too, but I do like the way you can see the tree inside as well as the lights outside.

Day 8

Another of my favourite images - I like the light on the crystal & snowflake and the muted colours, although maybe a tighter crop to the right would improve the overall image?

Day 9

A little soft, and think the colours could do with a boost. I like the angle though. Its hard to capture baubles without getting your reflection in them!!

 

[SJD2011]

Day 10

Focus is more central rather than on the foreground chestnut, but I like the way the cracks in the chestnuts add a different view! Those chestnuts in the background were a nightmare to stack!

Day 11

Wanted a different take on crackers rather than the standard full view, so focussed in on the joint part & ribbon. I like the slight reflection of the Christmas lights on the cracker edge, but maybe should of used a different background?

Day 12 (technically my last day!!)

Really like the bokeh on this one. I blew it a little to the right, hence the slightly tight crop. Balancing the gift on my tripod stand was a new experience for me too!

Last one - Dec 24th

Just a quick one of the big man himself:

Probably should of boosted the colours a little more, and chosen a better background, but there you go. Still::

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Challenge done!!!

 

[ashleygiles88]

Love them!

Merry Christmas!!

 

[samdavis21]

getting excited.... Like the holly shot