daddy day cares Photo52 for 2010 part 1 weeks 1 to 26

Thanks for the comments folks.

I have taken 3 shots this week. I want to see which one you prefer.

I also wanted to try my new macro lens out :)

Shot 1:

week9play1webversion.jpg


Shot 2:

week9play2webversion.jpg


Shot 3:

week9play3webversion.jpg


Personally I am leaning towards either shot 2 or shot 3.
 
Shot 3 for me Andy - I like the colours, they look very natural and it's crisp and sharp - great :)
Not too sure about 1 and 2 but if I had to choose I think it would be 1 - the houses look just a little sharper on one.
 
Thanks folks.

I bought the Sigma 17-70mm1:2.8-4.5 DC Macro HSM from the classified section on here. Turned out to be about a mile and a half from where I live :lol:

My first thought for this weeks theme was to take an urban portrait of my Son playing guitar somewhere derelict and rundown. Probably converted to black and white.

Problem is that I'm working over the weekend and he's at school in the week :bang:

No big problem though as I got to play with my new lens :thumbs:

I think you're right about the dust though :thumbsdown:
 
The colours and lighting in three make it my choice. The first two, whilst composed well, are a little too bright and the light/reflections detract from the overall image.
 
daddy day care said:
My first thought for this weeks theme was to take an urban portrait of my Son playing guitar somewhere derelict and rundown. Probably converted to black and white.

Problem is that I'm working over the weekend and he's at school in the week :bang:

No big problem though as I got to play with my new lens :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Not a problem for me either, because I love shot no.3 :thumbs:
It's well composed, has good strong colours and some very sharp details.
You need to be careful with the lighting in this kind of shot though. As it is the shadows and the bit of flare are just the right side of the line, but I think just a little bit further and they could have dominated the image.

It's a tough call between the monopoly images. I prefer the DoF in No.1, but the colours and vibrancy in No.2.
I quite like both, but neither come close to shot 3.

FWIW I think you're definitely moving in the right direction with your 52. If you look back to your very first image I'm sure that you'll see a huge improvement. Just stick with it :)

p.s. I'm very jealous of your new lens. Currently all I have is the kit lens and I keep meaning to get myself a dedicated macro lens or even just a Raynox.
 
Thank-you Sarah, your comments mean a lot to me.

I think i am heading in the right direction. I used to struggle just to come up with ideas let alone execute them. Now I can get the ideas and have a reasonable attempt at achieving my vision. Lighting is where i am hitting a wall at the minute. It has improved since I got the lead to take my flash off camera but I still have a huge amount to learn yet.

Next purchase will be a decent tripod and then some strobist stuff to get my lighting sorted :)

The lighting on the guitar image was more luck than judgement I have to admit. I positioned my son on a chair next to the patio doors and had my SB600 at a very shallow angle across the guitar on the opposite side. The idea being that the huge light from the patio doors would kill any shadows from the flash and even it out. As it turned out the lighting was quite dark and moody. A bit of tweaking in PS and the result is shown above. I am really pleased with it but will revisit it and clone out the dust at some point soon.

I love this lens and will look forward to getting to know it better. This weeks first thought will involve using it again :thumbs: I'm pretty happy that I have already come up with an idea for "chemistry" but lighting will be a challenge again :bang:
 
:wave:

Can't quite decide which I prefere but I it's between 1 and 3....I actually think 1 might just have it I love the colours and the dof, but then I always love a good musical shot so........meh.....both winners in my book :)
 
3 for me - great details in the hand & I like the composition.

Phil
 
For my tuppenceworth, I like #1. I like the subdued colours, and the bright lighting. DoF is also spot on and it's bang on theme.

#3 doesn't do much for me I'm afraid. Maybe trying the shot from a different angle would improve it as it seems a bit 2D... Anyway, I'm in a minority on this, so I'll hush up and go away quietly :)

Ian.
 
Andy, looks like a good lens. The last one is my fave of them, it's on theme and works well, but the monopoly images are very good too.
 
Thanks guys.

I did prefer the monopoly shots myself to begin with but the guitar one has grown on me.

It is the lighting I struggle with the most. trying to control the reflections and highlights is getting the better of me at the moment.
 
Time for week 10 then:

week10chemistrywebversion.jpg


This is part of the chemistry that I use to test the water in my marine tank :eek:

Taken with my new shiney D90 :love: :nikon:
 
Plenty of Chemistry kit in the picture :thumbs: well done I am finding this weeks theme hard work might have looked more balanced with the container with the red lid at the centre being flanked by the black lids, cant believe I just typed that :lol: great picture.
 
:bang: I never even noticed the lids :(

I was so busy making sure the edges of the tile didn't show and the periodic table was in the background I missed that.
 
Needs some more colour in the foreground I think, the blandness of the plastic is overwhelming it slightly. I would have shot a lot lower too to get more of the periodic table in view rather than the tile.
 
:D I very nearly used exactly the same props for mine this week (well almost, mine's freshwater rather than marine)

This has worked well - very nicely composed and well lit.
I agree that it could do with a bit more colour though - maybe if you moved the test cards out from under the bottles - or made up one of the test solutions.
 
Thanks for the comments folks.

I think I should have put more coloured liquid into the tubes. They were the correct quantities to conduct each test but not really photogenic.

I may revisit this shot at some point and use some food colouring instead of tank water.

Andy
 
Oh I have done more or less the same think ish... I like yours as it has more going on also the clarity of the writing is great imo
 
Lots of chemistry things in there :D
I really struggled this week, had loads of bonkers ideas but none I was going to be able to carry off. One teeny thing, I keep getting drawn to the red bottle top, just wondering if it might have been better in the middle of the group to focus they eye more on the entire image - or am I spouting rubbish ?
 
A great idea, but I think it's lacking a bit of colour in the foreground. Also I think that lower down would be good.

Something that's puzzling me (it's probably just my eyes mind)... but Cesium and Barium on the left (I can make out the atmoic mass and number) look sharper than Osmium and Iridium (centre) :thinking:
 
Thanks folks.

John - you are right about the sharp focus on the left. Now I'm puzzled as I don't know how it's happened. They are behind the main sharp point of focus in the centre :shrug:

I may do a reshoot of this soon. I'll put more liquid in the test pots and get the red and black caps re-arranged.

Andy
 
To me candid is a subject going about their normal routine unaware of the camera.

Paloma Faith was doing just that signing autographs last night. Was I allowed to take a proper camera? NO!

So here is the garbage from my blackberry:

palomafaithcandid.jpg


I am going out tomorrow (weather permitting) and will get the proper entry for this week sorted then. Until then Paloma Faith is my candid shot for a day :D If I don't manage it then she can be a placeholder until I get a better shot sorted.

On the plus side she is mad as a box of frogs but has a brilliant powerful voice.

Andy
 
Who??.....oh dear I must be getting old.....she does look a little 'interesting of character'....I'm sure she's a really nice girl :) Nice capture of the moment though, my camera phone is p@@ too. I rode across a hillfort range in 10th c kit with a troop of welsh soldiers, amazing views but very frustrating as I only had my phone camera, didn't want to risk falling off onto my proper one:lol:
 
Play....Prefer the game shot to the guitar but would have prefered the houses to be sharp as well.

Chemistry....Nice idea but there seems to be too much to look at though as there isn't an obvious focus point.

Candid....Hopefully you can get some thing else but the weather is foul, it fits the theme anyway.

:thumbs:
 
Went to Blists Hill Victorian town today. I knew I would be able to get a candid shot there as the people in the shops are used to cameras firing away and carrying on as normal.

Two versions again to see which people prefer.

First is the normal colour shot:

210310blistshillpostmasterwebversio.jpg


Second is run through silver efex using tin type filter which I think suits the fact that he is a Victorian postmaster:

210310blistshillpostmastertintypewe.jpg


Andy
 
i prefer the second one although i wonder if it would look better in sepia ???
I know i wasnt there today !!!!
 
Thanks Bob.

I tried the sepia as I thought the same as you. It didn't look very good for some reason though :thinking:

Andy
 
Love the first, wonder what he is thinking, one not too keen on the second one yes he does look like something out of "Lark rise to Candleford" :lol:
 
Bit of a catch up from me, Andy.

Play: #1 and 2 have both got plusses, and on balance I think I prefer the stark sharpness of Hanley Park in #2. It's an excellent start with your macro - I still struggle with getting the focus just where I want it, even after a full year of trying! :D

#3 is excellent (I won't mention the dust specks!) :)

Chemistry: The lack of colour is what makes this shot for me. It looks chemically clinical, workmanlike and slightly industrial. It suits the theme beautifully. Maintaining a marine tank looks very complicated. :thumbs:

Candid: Well done for getting a candid shot against all the odds. Ignoring the quality which you'd got no control over, it's a good shot and bang on theme, and lots of character. :) (I haven't heard of her, either! :( )

Jean
 
Paloma Faith - <sigh> lovely and as you've already stated utterly potty!

Despite the quality it's a great shot with loads of character.

Have to say I'm not too keen on the other two, something a tad 'staged' about it - sorry.
 
The first Candid... Not sure on the person, but well done on getting something... as Rob says, it's showing here character.

Of the two postmaster... I like the processing in the second one. All on theme.
 
Thanks for looking everybody.

Seems like we have mixed views again :lol:

I'm glad Paloma faiths concert was better than my photo of her :lol:

I think I am leaning towards the second Postmaster shot personally. The first one seems too "pink" I did try playing with the colours but couldn't get it any better. To me, the processing suits the subject.

I guess it was staged in so much as the whole town is staged to look like a Victorian town.

Andy
 
Such a shame that you couldn't take a proper camera to the concert.
That has the makings of a really great shot. I know you can't do anything about the quality of a phone pic, but it does spoil it :shake:

So second shot it is for me this week.
I prefer the B&W version, however you seem to have lost some of the detail in the carved wood and the photo on the shelf in the background in the process of converting it.
It might be worth trying it again and having a bit more of a play with the sliders :shrug:

I like the composition, but I find the top of the scales cutting across his arm without the rest of it in shot to give some context a bit offputting.
Do you have any other versions with all of the scales in frame?
 
Thanks for the input Sarah.

I see what you mean about the wood and the photo. I may be able to do something with that. I will have a try when I get chance (i'm on nights until the weekend though :shake: )

I couldn't really use a different angle as there was a huge mirror to the left of the shelves at the back. this was showing all the people in the post office including my kids (always in the way :lol: )

Andy
 
Chemistry is nice. Particularly like the lines of Chemical symbols across the top of the image. Spot on theme too.

Not sure about any of the candids. I think I probably prefer the blackberry. Candid (for me) is all about expression and while the second ones are technically better, the guy just looks bored. In th first, whatsername is smiling and the bouncer chap looks like he's falling asleep. Just a shame about the quality of the shot though.

Ian.
 
Another from Blists Hill Victorian town.

Coal is "produced" and here is the wheel at the pithead:

4466889157_beb305455c.jpg


This is the first time I have used an image posted to flickr so I hope it works.

There is a black and white version of this shot on my flickr so feel free to comment. I have no friends or comments yet ;)

Andy
 
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