Blakester's 52 for 2021 - Week 34 added - Glass(es) "Self Portrait"

Nostromo said:
Rough
Lots of rough textures there. Great selection of colours that go well together. Nicely arranged.
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Thanks Dominic.

Simonbrown16 said:
The sandpaper has been laid out really well, I thought it was an African flag at first. Really bright and colourful!
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Thanks Simon, yes, I can see what you are getting at with the African flag, I never noticed that but now you mention it.
 
Week 11 - Smooth
Following on from last week, I fancied another abstract. My thinking behind this is that there's a smooth curve in there.
Comments and critique welcome as always.

Week 11 - Smooth by Iain Blake, on Flickr
 
Very nice indeed. A lovely rich colour and the smooth curve fits the theme perfectly - also very well lit and composed.
 
FlyPhot said:
Very nice indeed. A lovely rich colour and the smooth curve fits the theme perfectly - also very well lit and composed.
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Thanks Jim, it was a bit Blue Peter sticking bits of craft foam together haha. The lighting is just natural light through the glass in my front door :)


Boots said:
Nicely conceived and very well composed.
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Thanks Paul, please see the comment above re composition :)
 
Really like it Iain. Lovely colour and the way the light causes different shades illustrates just how powerful light is when looking at colour. That's why I shoot B&W I think :)
 
Harlequin565 said:
Really like it Iain. Lovely colour and the way the light causes different shades illustrates just how powerful light is when looking at colour. That's why I shoot B&W I think :)
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Thanks Ian, a simple take on the theme but one which has given me some ideas for a project I want to get started.
 
Rough: Lovely colourful layout... gives me cold shivers as it's a "rough" reminds me of house renovations past. Never again!
Smooth: Fits the theme really well... and makes me think of chocolate... definitely an improvement of the rough for me :D
 
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HelenC said:
Rough: Lovely colourful layout... gives me cold shivers as it's a "rough" reminds me of house renovations past. Never again!
Smooth: Fits the theme really well... and makes me think of chocolate... definitely an improvement of the rough for me :D
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Thanks Helen, let's just say I'm not in any rush to use those props :ROFLMAO:

Hadron said:
Simple, to the point and very effective. I really like it :)
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Thank you
 
Tidy!

There's a smoothness in the graduation of tones too, and in the falloff of focus. Really simple, but really effective.
 
Rough
Nice abstract, I would like to see a red element to give the RGB complement, the unevenness of some of the cuts distracts a bit but that's being picky, my cutting would be far rougher!!

Smooth
A really nice curve with a good range of tones to match
 
Smooth
I like the light and dark and the curve is nice and smooth. It reminds me of a Cadbury chocolate advert.
 
StuartPearson said:
Rough
Nice abstract, I would like to see a red element to give the RGB complement, the unevenness of some of the cuts distracts a bit but that's being picky, my cutting would be far rougher!!

Smooth
A really nice curve with a good range of tones to match
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Thanks Stuart, good suggestion on the red. In my defence, the sandpaper wasn't cut, I just took it off the roll as it was. Granted, I could have tidied the edges but obviously didn't :)

Nostromo said:
Smooth
I like the light and dark and the curve is nice and smooth. It reminds me of a Cadbury chocolate advert.
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Thanks Dominic.
 
Onto week 12 - Alive.
Not really what I had in mind for this week's theme so I am going to mark this one for a reshoot at some point.

Week 12 - Alive by Iain Blake, on Flickr
 
Still a really nice clean monochrome image Iain. Tidy composition within the square framing. Very nice.
 
Nice B&W image, I like the way you've PPd it and the composition is very nice.
 
Alive
It looks good in black & white. I like that You've kept some details in the dark blurry background.
 
Alive
A nice pleasing image with a dreamy appeal, works well in mono, was there a reason to have the emptier area in the top left, as opposed to the top flower being centred?
 
Harlequin565 said:
Still a really nice clean monochrome image Iain. Tidy composition within the square framing. Very nice.
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Thanks Ian, I fancied doing some street portraiture but it will have to wait.

FlyPhot said:
Nice B&W image, I like the way you've PPd it and the composition is very nice.
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Thanks Jim, just wanted to keep it simple and I thought a B&W conversion would help.

Boots said:
I think it meets the theme, and is a good composition.
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Thanks Paul.

Nostromo said:
Alive
It looks good in black & white. I like that You've kept some details in the dark blurry background.
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Thanks Dominic, yes, I wanted to keep some detail in there to give a little depth.

StuartPearson said:
Alive
A nice pleasing image with a dreamy appeal, works well in mono, was there a reason to have the emptier area in the top left, as opposed to the top flower being centred?
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Thanks Stuart. My thinking behind the composition/crop was dictated a little by wanting the whole leaf showing in the bottom left hand corner. I didn't want to crop it which would have happened had I centralised the flowers.
 
Nah. Don't be afraid of a simple image. It has character. The use of DOF, the composition and the tones pull it off.
 
Very well executed. That's the second shot of daisies I've seen in mono and I am still surprised at how well it works.
 
NickD said:
Nah. Don't be afraid of a simple image. It has character. The use of DOF, the composition and the tones pull it off.
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Thanks Nick, it's a bit of a space saver as it keeps me up to date. I do like the simplicity of it but as I mentioned I would have liked to have shot some portraiture but maybe for a reshoot now.

HelenC said:
Very well executed. That's the second shot of daisies I've seen in mono and I am still surprised at how well it works.
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Thanks Helen, I wanted to simplify the image so went down the mono route.
 
Onto week 13 - Easter.
Wasn't really 'feeling' it to be honest and as a result, I defaulted to one of my favourite subjects, bending wire.
Comments and critique welcome as always but not expected. One of those weeks to move along, nothing to see.

Week 13 - Easter by Iain Blake, on Flickr
 
Easter - I think that's a clever and original take on the theme, I like the second one better, fwiw.

Smooth - nice abstract image, simple and effective and very visually appealing, to my eye.
 
I always like your wire bending pictures, and these do not disappoint. Personally I think the second is better and more clearly on theme.
 
Very creative Iain.
Second one for me too (y)
 
I think I prefer #2 tbh.
Both have a nice clean background and work for Easter, but I think I prefer the great DoF of the second shot.
Just personal taste though, I couldn't give a good reason why.
 
kh_42 said:
Easter - I think that's a clever and original take on the theme, I like the second one better, fwiw.

Smooth - nice abstract image, simple and effective and very visually appealing, to my eye.
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Thanks. I wasn't sure about the second one simply because I feel it needs a third element. I tried it with the flower in there but it was just too busy.

Boots said:
I always like your wire bending pictures, and these do not disappoint. Personally I think the second is better and more clearly on theme.
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Thanks Paul. I do enjoy creating these wire models, I am just not sure they stack up photographically.

Cobra said:
Very creative Iain.
Second one for me too (y)
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Thanks Chris.

susiejb said:
Well I think they’re great Iain, two eye catching shots that are perfect for the theme.
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Thank you Susie.

LC2 said:
I think I prefer #2 tbh.
Both have a nice clean background and work for Easter, but I think I prefer the great DoF of the second shot.
Just personal taste though, I couldn't give a good reason why.
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Thanks Tim, as mentioned above, I'm undecided on the second shot both compositionally and photographically.
 
It's not good when you don't feel it. Happens to me almost every week I think!

I do think the wire bunny & egg are awesome though and I love the minimalist "high key" sort of exposure. Keeps the image bright, uplifting and "Spring"'y.

Thumbs up from me!
 
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