Ambermile's 2010 Fifty Two - Produce - Week 12

thats a beautiful scene and fits the poem perfectly!... love the curved images too.. :)
 
Great landscape & love the rich warmth that contrasts with the snow.

Phil
 
Fantastic shot. These are the kind of shots I bought my dSLR for. Great light not only through the trees but also being reflected off of the water. A natural looking, beautiful shot. Well done.


One day, one day. :)
 
Praise indeed, thanks so much, I have alot to live up to this week it seems! Am struggling a little, trying not to look at all the other shots - but most ideas I get need big Hollywood-type productions! I find myself wondering if the obvious shots are so bad after all. I mean, doesn't say in the rules that we have to do different (unless you went to UEA). It does seem a bit like cheating to take the easier options of a pile of diced onions, but maybe a pile of onions *well-taken* is the answer...

Arthur
 
Hi Arthur :wave:

For Curves, it's definitely #1 for me, for all the reasons people have already mentioned :clap::clap:

As for Poem, what a great image/poem combination. I love the warmth you've managed to convey in what could be a cold and bleak setting. :clap::clap:
 
Ambermile said:
Praise indeed, thanks so much, I have alot to live up to this week it seems! Am struggling a little, trying not to look at all the other shots - but most ideas I get need big Hollywood-type productions! I find myself wondering if the obvious shots are so bad after all. I mean, doesn't say in the rules that we have to do different (unless you went to UEA). It does seem a bit like cheating to take the easier options of a pile of diced onions, but maybe a pile of onions *well-taken* is the answer...

Arthur
Click to expand...

Another way of looking at it is that people get paid to take pictures of burgers and pizzas for take away places\restaurants. No art shots, no creative lighting, no abstract angles, just regular burgers and pizzas. If people can actually be paid to do that then a well taken shot of onions can't be all bad. :lol:
 
:lol: this is true... luckily, on the way back from Norwich today we came across the remains of a tree that fell down over the road just before Christmas. Yesterday I had gone past and there were a couple of arborists(?) climbing over it - the first time in ages I actually had none of the cameras with me :( It was raining so I forgot about it... today though I had the D70 and that may well have got me out of this dilemma for this week's pic. I hope :D

Arthur
 
Damn... I rather like trees you see, and it seems that as the one tree fell, the arborists decided the one next to it was also unsafe... so they chopped it down too :( As it turned out, it was the right thing to do, but a sad day nonetheless. I'm first posting the choice for the theme, and the second pic is just for the record - and to answer why.

So, a sad picture, a sad poem too - even though poetry was last week I'm giving you another.



DSC_0025-800.jpg



Give me a land of boughs in leaf,
A land of trees that stand;
Where trees are fallen there is grief;
I love no leafless land.

A.E. Housman

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And on to that "Why?"


DSC_0023-crop2-800.jpg

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Sad story with a couple of great shots, love the details in the wood in the first.

I would update your thread title to show CHOPPED added.
 
Love the richness in these, Arthur. You've managed to make those trees look very alive despite their fate.
 
Jeez you guys're fast! I was doing the updates and you already posted!

Thanks for the comments, the pic was indeed chosen because it has such warm colours for the time of year, the green of the grass adds optimism I think, there is the beautiful patterning in the grain, and also the pile in the background adds a bit of oof interest.
 
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Hi Arthur,

I like both of these images but prefer the second even though you say it is only a record shot.

I find the grass in the first one a bit distracting.

Excellent matching poem as well.
 
You're just showing off, I mean, two seperate weeks, two different themes and you have to go and put them together !! Some wonderful imagery in the first shot, I simply love the patterns in the grain. The grass is a little offputting but I'm big enough to see past it. Really like this.
 
Amazing patterns in the grain that you have captured very well. :thumbs:
 
wow, the grain on the 1st is amazing, fab DOF too.. great second image too, that must have been some tree the stump is huge!
 
Thanks all for the comments, as ever they are very much appreciated. The grass question then... well, it adds a little optimism for me, shows that things are still growing even though others are falling.

Big tree? Yes, would need two people to get arms around it - both trees were enormous but sadly both on the inside of a 90 degree corner so a little dangerous. When the first one fell over it blocked the road for quite some time.

In both shots I tried to make sure the grain was captured, this is the tree's timeline so rather important but sadly for this tree it just adds more reasons to cut it down, the patterns are wonderful but they reflect the decay inside the tree.

<crowbar time>
I have struggled a little as no doubt others have with taking pictures of logs/trees/stumps that have been sawn rather than chopped - but to be honest, when it comes to trees I think sawn is not a word used that often. Chop some logs, chop down the tree, chippings even. Never saw down a tree, or saw some logs, or sawings! So in a sense, chopped becomes the vernacular for sawn when it comes to trees.
</crowbar time>

Arthur
 
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Hi Arthur,

Sorry that I missed your poetry week.
Lovely shot and lovely poem to go with it. It's got an almost painted feel to it.
The contrast of the warm sky and reflection in the river against the snow gives a wonderful atmosphere.
Minor niggle, but for the composition I would have quite liked a little less of the LHS and a little more of the RHS.

RobC said:
You're just showing off, I mean, two seperate weeks, two different themes and you have to go and put them together !!
Click to expand...

:razz: Yes you are . . . and there are plenty of curved lines there too! ;)

Such a shame to see those trees chopped down, but obviously necessary.
I'm with Andy on preferring the second shot though, even if it was just for the record. I find the more muted colours in keeping with the sadness of the situation and I feel that it just has more context.
The first image, although it's technically very good and captures the grain in the wood very well, is just a shot of two pieces of timber to me. . . it's not drawing me in the same way that the second shot does.
 
Yes, I see what you mean, the second shot is a story while the first is a sentence I guess... :thinking:
 
Hi Arthur

Great set of pictures so far, Week 1-the curved theme with your view point of something being curved is thought provoking

Week 2 poetry- like the composition with the sun setting behind the trees.

Week 3 Chopped - the colours in the logs really stand out especially the outer bark, not sure if the grass in the foreground slightly takes your eyes away from the subject.

Good luck for week 4 street.

Shaun
 
Poem, excellent, lovely image and fits the poem..

Chopped, it's sad when that has to happen, but sometimes... ANyway, lovely detail and colours Arthur, and it fits the theme.
 
Thanks Terran :D
Shaun, I'll put you down for -1 on the grass then!
John, thanks for both but yes, sad but necessary :(

Now then... street eh?


Arthur
 
I think the first shot is stunning - so sharp, so detailed, so crisp and the dof ain't bad either.

I like the inclusion of the logs in the background because they give context to the shot.
 
Thanks Rob - last word on the grass goes to you :D


And so on to this week's toughie - never going to be easy in the middle of winter where there's not a whole lot going in out there apart from running around trying to get out of the rain... You get the feeling that just about everyone is struggling with the theme and it's not hard to see why I think - it's just not done to stick your camera in people's faces! Nonetheless, it is this week's theme and although I could have reasoned on a dance pic (my daughter takes "Street Dance" classes), or a village pic (almost every village in Norfolk has a main street called "The Street"), or any of several more sneaky/easy options ... but ultimately I decided to at least give the more usually-accepted interpretation of the word wrt photography a shot. As it were. I think that the receipt of the very nice Sigma 18-200 made a difference because for a 200mm lens it's tiny :D

Spent a damp and overcast couple of hours around Norwich trying to find something, but even the nototious PuppetMan was missing... that meant I was *really* going to struggle finding something. A few little cameo images were found but nothing to set the world on fire as such, and so this week may appear a little lacklustre - sorry, but I tried!

This image I actually quite like - I love the idea of looking over the shoulder, getting involved in the decision-making, seeing what the two girls are seeing and wondering about... the colour treatment was a bit of fun really, I wanted to draw a line between the girls and the hats
and keep them somehow seperate yet part of the same image - I think I am really trying to play on the two people doing something together rather than what they are actually doing - and maybe trying to get into that a little more by getting between them... Whatever, this is it:


800-DSC_0152.jpg

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... and here are the ones that never made it, but as links because I want the pic above to stand alone.

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr136/Ambermile/The 52 Shots/800-DSC_0094-bw-2.jpg
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr136/Ambermile/The 52 Shots/800-DSC_0109-bw.jpg
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr136/Ambermile/The 52 Shots/800-DSC_0140-bw.jpg
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr136/Ambermile/The 52 Shots/800-DSC_0172.jpg




Arthur

PS - as you may have seen in the Equipment section, my D70 died on this outing to Norwich so I am back to the D1x for the forseeable :(
 
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Not sure about the use of selective colours, I think it seperates them too much. It looks like they are looking at a B&W poster on a wall. I do like the thinking behind the shot though maybe all colour or B&W.

Just had a quick look at the one that didn't make it and prefer the first of the lone girl
:D
 
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Thanks Scott, I take your point but in all honesty this shot is the most... personal I guess - personal in that this was taken in the covered market in Norwich - the 18-200mm lens was on 18, I was about 4 feet away and had I zoomed out to 200 the lens would have tapped them on the shoulder! I wish I had clicked and held because when they heard the shutter they both turned round and burst out laughing at me pressed against the wall!

I have toned it down a little following your remark though :D

Arthur
 
I kinda feel like you mentioned. That I'm there in between them being part of some conversation\decision. I'm not sure about the colouring of the image except I know nothing of PP.

Was that with the Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS Lens? Was thinking of buying one myself as an all-rounder\holiday lens.
 
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Thanks Roopan :D

Steve, it's the Sigma DC yes, and it's a very nice lens to use - about 3 inches is all on 18mm, very discreet. I find wide open it can get a bit fluffy in extreme corners but nothing like enough to make it obvious. It has been on the D70 ever since it arrived. I have the Sigma 28-200 D Aspherical on the D1x and that lens is nearly twice the size! Oddly enough, I bought the lens from Roopan a while back... and the D70!

Arthur
 
That's a good enough recommendation for me, thanks.
 
Thanks people, it seems that actually toning down the colours has made it work a little better, they were a bit brighter when Scott made his comments and on reflection did overpower the scene somewhat.

Seems to me it is always a rainy day in Norwich just lately... I expect the next theme will be sunshine or something... :D

Arthur
 
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Rain, what's that :shrug:

At least in mostly sunny Spain I don't have that problem :lol:, although there are plenty of others to accommodate.

The selective colouring works for this as I think without it it would be just a jumble of an image.

As for the 'sticking the camera in people's faces', if you go out with that in mind it makes it much more difficult. I used to feel like that and I felt self conscious and embarassed as though I had no right to be doing that but now I just don't care. I think it's one of those styles you end up loving or avoid like the plague after that challenge. But that's what the challenge is all about for me, helping me try lots of differnt styles, and learning the benefits and limitations of the camera and a particluar lens.
 
Bruja said:
Rain, what's that :shrug:

At least in mostly sunny Spain I don't have that problem :lol:, although there are plenty of others to accommodate.

The selective colouring works for this as I think without it it would be just a jumble of an image.
Click to expand...


I think the term I am looking for is "rubbing it in" maybe...

Thanks, when I look at the original, it was really a bit flat, maybe because I was so close and had the lens wide open - it really did need something like this treatment to give it depth and unfotunately there was nowhere near as much colour interest in the hats themselves.

Arthur
 
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