Briony's 52 2010 Week 34 SURFACES added 24/08

Yes it was in the middle of Oxford and another friend of mine was questioned last summer also, so I think I will stay away in future :(
 
That's a shame, and also absurd. A few years ago we went down for my daughter's graduation and of course there were loads of tourists with cameras. Maybe you should write to the local rag - last weeks demo in London should have helped to raise awareness of the problem.

I was luckier - two bobbies saw me togging in the street yesterday but ignored me, much to my relief.
 
like the one on the snow. Perhaps a little dark mmm .. I think I actually mean I would like the phone box to stand out a little more !

I try not to look at anyone's photo until I have mine and if the theme is set on Sunday it can be the following Saturday before I can get out to take a picture and then comment.. so please don't think I have been ignoring you !
 
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I prefer #1 :thumbs:
it looks a tad dark to me
but not easy to get the snow pure white without blowing the highlights!

don't be :( if people don't comment
I make it a rule never to look at anyone else's until I've posted my own
can't be influenced then
 
I like number two I am afraid, I have had way too much snow (and it's bloody back again now). I like the peacefull prosaicness of it - and I wish I had seen the car come through that made those marks on the road, do they not do corners in Oxfordshire?

Arthur
 
Sorry for your loss Briony. Just saw your comments in the other thread and have only now (after posting my own) started trawling through everyone else's offerings for this week so please don't get disheartened by lack of replies earlier in the week, they'll come :)

I too am a fan of your phone box picture. It just needs a little play with processing to make that red punch through a bit more. Keep shooting and keep enjoying doing it.
 
Oh what a horrible week Briony, It must be really hard for you and then the policeman making it worse seems to have given you major doubts about carrying on like this.

But don't stop taking photographs just because some jobsworth stuck his nose in, after all, someone on here (can't remember who) asked a copper if he could take his picture and he said yes ;)

As for people not commenting, my experience fron last year is most people don't post until the last minute (and you'll end up like that believe me :D) and, as has been said above, won't look at anyone else's submission until they are done too.

Try giving #1 a contrast boost and see what the effect is.

#2 try cropping out the bin on the bottom left and giving it a bit of a contrast boost too as it looks a little flat.

But they are not carp pictures, they are all part of the learning process that this challenge offers. After all, if we were all great photographers who think we've mastered everything we wouldn't be on here in the first place.

You should see my first few shots for last year's 52, there is no way I'd do them the same now, but thanks to all the help and support I got through the people here I've learned loads. Have a :hug:
 
Briony said:
Had a bit of a ****** week really lost a good friend of mine at 42 with a heart attack :'( then another good friend moved to Scotland :'( then the episode with the policeman made me run for home.

I will try and get a "shot" of street but it may be late:shake: maybe try and go somewhere at night so no one will see me, bit paranoid about taking shots of people now.:suspect:
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:hug: Sorry you had such a rubbish week Briony and really sorry for the loss of your friend.

As others have said, please don't let one bad experience with a policeman put you off photography - and don't be disheartened if you have to wait a while for comments.
The 52 is a really great learning experience and you will get lots of helpful C&C. You just need to be a bit patient. A lot of people won't look until their shot is in.

OK embarrassing confession time. You know those really cheesy B&W / selective colour shots with the the red telephone box?
I actually kind of like them. In fact I thought about doing it for this week but decided that it was a bit too much of a cliche.

Well the telephone box in the snow gives you the perfect opportunity to do that shot without resorting to the selective colouring, so really well spotted :thumbs:
I think it could do with a bit of a contrast boost and a bit of lightening and I'd also think about cropping some off the bottom and RHS (the bit of house isn't adding much for me)
It's a shame you didn't have a play around with some different angles and compositions because I think that there's a brilliant shot lurking in there just waiting to get out.

Try Jill's suggestions on shot 2 too - I think you'll be surprised what a difference a tweak in contrast will make.

Keep with it Briony and I'm looking forward to your week 5.
 
Gotta agree with Jill about the process on here... you should see some of the stinkers I came up with. Stick with it, it's worth it.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad week last week, but don't lose heart just because we don't get on and comment. I won't even look in another persons thread until I've got my shot done, and in fact I'm not looking in some threads as I run through now, as they've already posted week 5... grrr...

Anyway... the shots...

I really like the first one. I think it's an excellent image. The bird looking at the phonebox... I'd be tempted to just crop out the house on the right to focus on the phonebox more. Excellently composed. I don't think the second one has quite the same impact, for me, it doesn't have a focal point in the way the phone box is for the first... sorry.
 
Trying a bit of a diffferent take on the subject, taken while training the point to pointers and getting in some practice.

MountHillRacing078.jpg
 
Hi Briony, I like your take on this theme. However, I would prefer a different crop on this so that the horse and rider are not in the centre. Maybe it would be better to have them riding into the photo? So maybe crop on the right and a bit off the bottom?

Jenny
 
Nice take on the theme, speed and action well captured. I would probably prefer a slightly tighter crop to see that beautiful horse better.
 
I think I prefer the post #93 version as per Jennyb's suggestion.

taken while training the point to pointers
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I have no idea what this means :)

Ian.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I think I prefer the post #93 version as per Jennyb's suggestion.



I have no idea what this means :)

Ian.
Click to expand...

This is training horses to run in a point to point instead of under rules.

I.e amateur racing over fences.

Looking back I actually like the full version of this instead of the cropped version.
 
Briony, I think just taking that little bit off the RHS has really helped. A lovely action shot, and the horse looks like it's fairly flying too. I like it, and on theme.
 
I meant I liked the 2nd version of the slight crop :cuckoo: not the original version, sometimes I am a bit frightened to play around with cropping but can see the point now would have liked to got a bit closer but would have been run over :lol:

Thank you for your comments, all apreciated and taken on board and beginning to get a bit of confidence now.
 
Yeah... getting run over wouldn't be fun ;)... what editing package are you using on your shots ? Most of them have guides during cropping to help position things in the frame. Don't be afraid to crop in... you soon get used to the idea when shooting something small, a fair distance away with a lens that isn't long enough :D...
 
I am still having problems doing a 100% crop?

I am using photoshop 2.0 and also the Canon one that came with the camera.
 
This is very nice photo and another different interpretation of this weeks theme, well done :) the sun's ray's on the horses body creates a lovely sheen.
The crop on the second works better but the last one is slightly tight.
 
Hi briony. This is the first time i have read your thread there are so many and i have given up trying to look at everybodies all in one week.
1. i liked your curved shot although i have to agrre about the reflections.
2. A good shot of the elephant(I'm going to masai mara at christmas)
3. Good composition and you can make out the masai attire.
4. i prefered no1 although it looks a little under exposed.
p.s. don't give up the more you stuggle the more you learn(you should see my entry for chopped-its pants):thumbs:
 
I think you need to crop off the top instead of the bottom so you can see more of the corner and the context of the position of the horse/rider.
 
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lovely looking horse. I liked your 2nd edit where the horse still has a bit of space to "speed" into.
 
#2 for me the crop works really well.
It's a good take on the theme too, I like 'different' :D
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Well done Briony. You've captured the movement really well and horse and rider are both nicely defined. In fact there's some lovely sheen in that horse's coat.

The crop off the RHS (your first edit) is a big improvement to the composition. Just a few more things that I'd suggest. (The first two have already been mentioned above)

- Keep the RHS crop as is, but lose some from the top instead of from the bottom to give the horse more path to run into.
- The trees at the back are swallowing the horse up slightly. I'd look at desaturating them slightly and adding a bit of blur.
- As well as the crop I'd try a bit of anti-clockwise rotation. I'm sure the ground wasn't perfectly level, but having that green fence? horizontal in the shot (even if it wasn't horizontal in real life) will work better visually.
- Some tweaks in curves and a bit of sharpening for the web will really give a bit more boost to the horse and rider.

None of these are particularly difficult to do in PP, but could take this from a good shot to a great one.
 
Briony, I hope you don't mind, but you do have your edit box ticked.
This is a very quick go at the PP that I suggested.

I don't want to clog up your thread with edits - it isn't really the done thing in personal projects.
I'll take this down as soon as you've had a look, but I know that you're doing this to improve and really want C&C and some ideas on what to do with your shots.

As I said a very quick 10 minute job, you could do this far better with a bit more time (and you might not even like it) I just wanted to give you an idea of what you could achieve with just a couple of subtle changes.

Now removed . . .
 
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I actually do not like the edited version of this because I feel that the action of the horse has been lost due to the colour changes, and I feel the picture on the whole is too dark:shrug:

I am still learning all the time and as I have said editing is not my strong point but with practice I am sure it will come.

What I like about the image is that it shows the true beauty and strength of this powerful animmal and in general they both look as though they are having a nice time.
 
A good take on this weeks theme. Personally I prefer your edit #93
 
Briony said:
I actually do not like the edited version of this because I feel that the action of the horse has been lost due to the colour changes, and I feel the picture on the whole is too dark:shrug:

I am still learning all the time and as I have said editing is not my strong point but with practice I am sure it will come.

What I like about the image is that it shows the true beauty and strength of this powerful animmal and in general they both look as though they are having a nice time.
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Well good for you for sticking with what you like :thumbs:
There really is no right or wrong, just different opinions and the great thing about this type of forum is that you will get those opinions and absorb all these different views.
You don't have to agree with them all, but at least it will encourage you to think about your shots from different perspectives.

BTW : I've taken the edit down now that you've had a look. As I said it's your project and I don't want to clog your thread up.
 
Thank you as I said I have not had that much experience on editing and that is what I need to practice a bit more and am looking for a book that shows me the different effects, I do appreciate all the comments and help though and take everything on board.;)
 
I'm afraid this one doesn't mean a lot to me. Is the horse falling over? Well, I can probably guess it's running (or whatever they call it), but it's not really portraying a lot of speed IMHO.
 
I've got behind with your thread (and many, many others), so forgive me if I concentrate on week 5. :)

First of all, I think this is a terrific take on the theme of Speed. He (she?) is a magnificent looking horse and in great condition. (I'm more used to seeing New Forest ponies!) The rider is clearly concentrating on the path ahead, so giving them space to run into on the left is the crop that works best for me.

I can imagine that the ground was shaking with those thundering hooves - I bet you are used to leaping out of the way in double quick time. :eek:

Jean
 
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