weekly aljazzeras 2013 52-week 52 WATER added COMPLETE

Brian_of_Bozeat said:
Hi Alan, wow memory lane! I fished under this bridge with my dad one night around 1977, caught a few eels and had the best pea and ham soup I have ever tasted from a flask. One of only 2 times I ever fished the Dee this far down. (I lived in Wrexham then) Thank you, You brought a tear to my eye.

A,hem!

I think you have done a Bloody Marvelous job on the exposure here, I love the detail and colours everywhere. Well done :clap:
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Thanks Brian glad you enjoyed the pic and the memory.

NickD said:
Love the sharpness of Movement, really well captured. Love the perspective of Below, and the sky is beautiful, really tops it off.
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Thanks

posiview said:
Below, yeah, cracking sky, well composed and lovely detail.

Cheers.
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Thanks

Dark Knight said:
That's excellent Allan - Lovely sky, nice and level and a great lead into the image - Love it :clap:
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Thank you

overbez said:
2 great recent posts Allan, marvellous capture of the leaping dog, no movement blur needed here for me, when the whole dogs super sharp like that.

below is a stunner too - great job on the processing to bring out the details under the bridge - nicely framed each side by the trees and the busyness of the opposite bank all contributing to a great shot. Perspective spot-on after your tweaking. :thumbs:
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Thanks

blondie606 said:
Hi ya Allan

cracking shot for Below...spot on exposure , plenty of detail & great sky....lovely lovely...top shot mister :thumbs:
one really small niggle....the boat just creeping in tothe shhot botom leftish side...maybe clone it out ? very minor though
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Its actually a post creeping into the pic but maybe I should have cloned it out

cowboy said:
Cracking shot, everything exposed correctly, nice colours, what more do you need :)
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Thanks

n1kcy said:
Below is a cracking picture, nicely composed and really vibrant colours.
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Thanks

superpippo said:
Hi Allan

Movement - spot on for me, very dynamic pose, good focus and really good colours. Bit fascinated by what he has in his mouth - looks like a bag of water.

below - big impact shot with good colours and exposure and an excellent sky. I suppose that the 3 storey building on the right is a bit skewy because of all the work that you have done on the perspective but really I only saw that as i cast around for any crit. Good job:thumbs:
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Thanks
The dog has a water bottle in her mouth, the building in below is distorted because of the lens the trees on the other side are leaning in too, maybe i should have played around with it, but i kind of like wide angle lens distortion .
 
Hi Allan,
Below, bang on theme. It has quite an impact when viewing it :thumbs:
Loads of detail, quite contrasty which I think is the reason it is so impactive, good work all round, no crit to add, it works for me.
 
Gone for small things this week, this is my preferred choice


Fly by allanhowe, on Flickr

or this one, these are stupidly small 5mm maybe


Ants by allanhowe, on Flickr

Had to put some honey down to make them stop. The BG is not the best but this was on the route they were using
 
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Hi ya matey


Size......when I saw the Fly I though yeah , great capture , plenty of detail...then I came here & saw the ants......FAB :clap::clap: only viewing on tiny screen of the netbook but it looks perfectly sharp with great color in the honey......:thumbs:

curiosity begs me to ask which lens you used for these ?
 
Hi Allan, I appear to have missed quite a few here!

Angles, love both of them, but drawn to the more colourful number two as number the one is a little dark in areas.

Rustic, not entirely sure it fits the theme, but nice detail in the brickwork and the desaturated look works for me.

Vertical. I'm never sure on these abstract shots, I think they're very clever but just too abstract for me! Lovely bright vivid colours though.
The bamboo shot has some lovely texture and subtle colours in it. The detail in the abbey windows is great as well.

Nesting time is just superb :clap: the branches frame it and the eye of the bird is lovely and sharp :clap:

Pattern, lovely lighting throughout the fruit. I'm undecided on the dark skin though.

Movement, what a great shot of Holly, she's lovely and sharp while there's a splash of blur on the grass :clap:

Below, the exposure is superb and a perfect shot for the theme :clap: The trees and reflections bottom left are a little wonky looking from the skew treatment though.

Size, don't like the fly shot purely because it's an ugly bug! But the ants in the honey are amazing. The background doesn't bother me at all.

Phew I'm all caught up, for now!
 
Pattern: Great detail!

Movement: Lovely shot, works for me. Nice and sharp too.

Below: Fantastic shot, so much detail!

Size: Great dof and detail in the fly but theres something about the ant shot that grabs me.
 
Size #1 for me. Good detail and colour in the eye. The bits on the edges draw my eye away and look like a crop chose sort these out.

Ants, well spotted and they are having a good quaff :D

Cheers.
 
blondie606 said:
Hi ya matey


Size......when I saw the Fly I though yeah , great capture , plenty of detail...then I came here & saw the ants......FAB :clap::clap: only viewing on tiny screen of the netbook but it looks perfectly sharp with great color in the honey......:thumbs:

curiosity begs me to ask which lens you used for these ?
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Hi Lynne
Thanks I enjoyed taking the ant pics but the sun was so strong they were reflecting it in a strange way you wouldn't think possible on something so small.
I used a Tokina 100mm macro, there is no image stabilisation on it so its hard work sometimes, the ants were taken using a tripod as they were fairly still with the honey, the fly was hand held.

The goblin said:
Hi Allan, I appear to have missed quite a few here!

Angles, love both of them, but drawn to the more colourful number two as number the one is a little dark in areas.

Rustic, not entirely sure it fits the theme, but nice detail in the brickwork and the desaturated look works for me.

Vertical. I'm never sure on these abstract shots, I think they're very clever but just too abstract for me! Lovely bright vivid colours though.
The bamboo shot has some lovely texture and subtle colours in it. The detail in the abbey windows is great as well.

Nesting time is just superb :clap: the branches frame it and the eye of the bird is lovely and sharp :clap:

Pattern, lovely lighting throughout the fruit. I'm undecided on the dark skin though.

Movement, what a great shot of Holly, she's lovely and sharp while there's a splash of blur on the grass :clap:

Below, the exposure is superb and a perfect shot for the theme :clap: The trees and reflections bottom left are a little wonky looking from the skew treatment though.

Size, don't like the fly shot purely because it's an ugly bug! But the ants in the honey are amazing. The background doesn't bother me at all.

Phew I'm all caught up, for now!
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Thanks for calling in Marsha I was beginning to think I had upset you in some way

puckers said:
Pattern: Great detail!

Movement: Lovely shot, works for me. Nice and sharp too.

Below: Fantastic shot, so much detail!

Size: Great dof and detail in the fly but theres something about the ant shot that grabs me.
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Thanks Lisa

posiview said:
Size #1 for me. Good detail and colour in the eye. The bits on the edges draw my eye away and look like a crop chose sort these out.

Ants, well spotted and they are having a good quaff :D

Cheers.
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Thanks Andy you are the first vote for the fly, I tried a few crops for it settling on this one, pesky little buggers never stay still long enough to clear the area.
 
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Another vote for #2 Allan, the ants :thumbs:
You've captured loads of detail in there and even thrown in an SP for good measure ;)
#1 is well done also, again lots of fine detail in there it's just the subject which is a bit off putting for me :gag: nothing whatsoever to do with your photography IYSWIM ;)
 
blakester said:
Another vote for #2 Allan, the ants :thumbs:
You've captured loads of detail in there and even thrown in an SP for good measure ;)
#1 is well done also, again lots of fine detail in there it's just the subject which is a bit off putting for me :gag: nothing whatsoever to do with your photography IYSWIM ;)
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I do know what you mean, flies not the most popular things and ugly too :gag:

The goblin said:
Oh no, I just have b****r all time this year. Then I get so behind I think I'll get back to them, then forget :bonk:
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Thats ok I am guilty of that too
 
Below, only minor crit is some of the clouds are a little blown but other than that the wide angle works really well.
 
Both very sharp but I think I prefer the ants. Macro stuff gives me the creeps a bit as you see these creatures for what they really are, creepy but fascinating :)
 
Allan, I do like your movement shot. For me, the theme is only really important to drive a different creative process; in the end it's the shot that counts, and this one of the dog is lovely. Below... darn it, I promise I hadn't seen that when I took a similar view in Chester last Saturday, with the film togs meet. Definitely like it!

Size... well, I may be getting my critical sandwich the wrong way out here, as neither of these really worked for me, The front half of the fly is great, but the out of focus wing really distracted my eye. And the ants with honey are very nice in their way, but they are quite well camouflaged and as a result you have to peer at the shot to find the subject. Would it have worked better on a lighter background? But the texture contrast between the honey blob and the lichen-covered background is really good.
 
fly not doing much for me I'm afraid - detail's there but the blank bagground does'nt have any interest to it....

whereas the action shot of the ants is ace - great idea for keeping them still, fantastic detail, even can see the ring of the honey where they are eating / drinking it. Reckon you could maybe even get away with a slightly tighter crop on these. (only slightly though!!).

:clap:
 
Hi Allan

Size - both shots on theme and well taken for such detail. Head of fly is good but the focus of the shot as a whole seems to run in 3 parallel sections across the shot so not too keen .. The ants are excellent - i could see the detail immediately and was most taken with the contrast of the amber of the honey and the almost mono rest of the shot. i noted your comment to Lynne about fly being hand held and the ants being tripod and this has made an enormous difference. Makes me wonder what the fly would have looked like from a tripod, but as you say they rarely stay still to pose or to swat :D
 
Dark Knight said:
Hey Allan :)

Size - a couple of cracking shots, tough to choose from for me... I think the eyes of the fly swing it for me, although both are excellent :clap:
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Thanks

sworks said:
Both very sharp but I think I prefer the ants. Macro stuff gives me the creeps a bit as you see these creatures for what they really are, creepy but fascinating :)
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Thanks, They are a bit of a shock when you see them close up

ChrisR said:
Allan, I do like your movement shot. For me, the theme is only really important to drive a different creative process; in the end it's the shot that counts, and this one of the dog is lovely. Below... darn it, I promise I hadn't seen that when I took a similar view in Chester last Saturday, with the film togs meet. Definitely like it!

Size... well, I may be getting my critical sandwich the wrong way out here, as neither of these really worked for me, The front half of the fly is great, but the out of focus wing really distracted my eye. And the ants with honey are very nice in their way, but they are quite well camouflaged and as a result you have to peer at the shot to find the subject. Would it have worked better on a lighter background? But the texture contrast between the honey blob and the lichen-covered background is really good.
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Thanks I know what you mean about both insect shots i wanted a lighter BG but the ants wouldn't play ball

overbez said:
fly not doing much for me I'm afraid - detail's there but the blank bagground does'nt have any interest to it....

whereas the action shot of the ants is ace - great idea for keeping them still, fantastic detail, even can see the ring of the honey where they are eating / drinking it. Reckon you could maybe even get away with a slightly tighter crop on these. (only slightly though!!).

:clap:
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Thanks i have another tighter pic with more ants may post it later.
 
The detail, and dof on the fly shot are great, but the ants pic gets it for me. The colour of the honey, and the surface tension around the mandibles is lovely. Beautifully done!
 
Below is a lovely shot mate. A cracking sky and some really nice detail.
 
Flesh fly <yuk> : great photo of it though. :thumbs:

ANTS: man, that is something special. :notworthy: I :love: the way they are getting stuck in there. great idea. I agree with you about the BG being a bit of a distraction, I think you could do this again at another time with that in mind for an even better shot.
 
Hi...sorry its taken me a while to comment. Trying to catch up now :)

Pattern: Love the lighting & detail in this. Hope there was a G&T to go with the slice :)

Movement: Lovely sharp picture. Cant decide on whether there should be blur or not but the action of the dog implies movement.

Below: Wow....great picture, balanced, lead in line, colour etc.:clap:

Size:Cant decide between fly & ants but think I'm slightly more drawn to the ants. Like that they are doing something and love splash of colour provided by the honey.
 

flower 2 by allanhowe, on Flickr

Have got my crowbar at the ready
The process of a flower opening for the first one....


guitar by allanhowe, on Flickr

This one might need more of an explanation, Years ago when i was in my teens punk came along, one of the fanzines available was called Sniffin Glue if my memory is correct. The cover of one edition was the chord diagrams for three chords A, E, and D and the headline "now start a band" so this is the process of learning guitar and starting a band.
 
Hi, #1 is on theme, however, #2 just works for me. Well composed, but wonder what a horizontal would work like, great colours and the detail is great. slightly shallower DOF maybe.

Quick off the mark :clap:

Cheers.
 
I'm more in favour of the guitar chord triptych, the similarity between the three images making itfor me. with just the finger position changing between each...

flowers not working so much due to the different angle / position / flower used in each shot, but a good illustration of the process, and liking the colours.
 
Lovely 1# My favourite by far. Bright colours and sharp.

Well done on getting two entries in, on what I'm finding a difficult theme.
 
Hi Allan

Process - I think that idea for #1 is excellent. Good colours and especially like the way that you have assembled the shots - the feeling of one of those banks of TVs that one comes across. Unfortunately the different flowers and postions and backgrounds just detract a little

#2 is spot on for me. Well done to capture the same position of the body, folds in shirt etc. Like Andy I wonder whether it would benefit from being horizontal rather than vertical.
 
posiview said:
Hi, #1 is on theme, however, #2 just works for me. Well composed, but wonder what a horizontal would work like, great colours and the detail is great. slightly shallower DOF maybe.

Quick off the mark :clap:

Cheers.
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Dark Knight said:
Hi Allan :)

Process - I actually prefer the first set, some great colours and excellent to see all the stages of the flower :thumbs:
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overbez said:
I'm more in favour of the guitar chord triptych, the similarity between the three images making itfor me. with just the finger position changing between each...

flowers not working so much due to the different angle / position / flower used in each shot, but a good illustration of the process, and liking the colours.
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Allie said:
Lovely 1# My favourite by far. Bright colours and sharp.

Well done on getting two entries in, on what I'm finding a difficult theme.
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superpippo said:
Hi Allan

Process - I think that idea for #1 is excellent. Good colours and especially like the way that you have assembled the shots - the feeling of one of those banks of TVs that one comes across. Unfortunately the different flowers and postions and backgrounds just detract a little

#2 is spot on for me. Well done to capture the same position of the body, folds in shirt etc. Like Andy I wonder whether it would benefit from being horizontal rather than vertical.
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Thanks all, the guitar seems to be winning, I take on board about the different flower positions etc but it would have been a long wait for the bud to open though that was my original thought.
I am amazed the guitar pics look pretty similar as I found it really hard to take a pic of myself, that was more by luck than planning.
 
Hi ya :wave:

lovely colors in the flowers shots, strong & vibrant without being ott & good use of DOF :thumbs:

Love the clarity of the guitar shots as well , as others have said a job well done on keeping the same body /clothing positions as well but for it's the flowers....cos I like 'em :clap:
 
Ah, sniffin glue, I remember that very well, and the fanzine too so I'm already won over...

The opening flower is spot on theme but I think the guitar set is my favourite by far,great idea and really nicely shot, the only negative for me is the convoluted background.
 
wow, that any shot is fantastic. :clap::clap:
 
Flower shots for me.

My little boy is learning to play the guitar, i don't have a clue what's happening :thinking: music never was a strong point :lol:
 
Guitar shots for me. I just like the idea, and the uniformity between the images is really nice.:thumbs:
 
Very obvious this week its a rock incase you are in any doubt


rock by allanhowe, on Flickr

muted the BG down quite a bit in elements it was far to bright originally or at least I thought so.
 
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