weekly Drodd's Photo52 for 2011 - Week 51, 52 and bonus: Light, Glass, Nature (post 1545)

[drodd]

Lovely shot, excellent interpretation on this weeks theme. Prefer this version that the 1st, like the DoF.

Looking forward to seeing your next shot

Thanks Matt, much appreciated

Cheers

Dawn

 

[SilentGoddess]

Hiya Dawn!

Great take on the theme! I prefer the second shot than the other two. The composition is very good as is the DOF and the lighting. I like the China set itself too, it is so colorful and sits very well on the black BG.
Again great job!

Rayna

 

[Madhouseof5]

Great shot for this weeks theme. Like the others, I prefer the second of the 2 images, love the DOF but also prefer the lighting in that one. Well done!

 

[drodd]

Hiya Dawn!

Great take on the theme! I prefer the second shot than the other two. The composition is very good as is the DOF and the lighting. I like the China set itself too, it is so colorful and sits very well on the black BG.
Again great job!

Rayna

Great shot for this weeks theme. Like the others, I prefer the second of the 2 images, love the DOF but also prefer the lighting in that one. Well done!

Thanks for the comments and the reasons for your liking the 2nd shot, it is encouraging and helps me know I am on the right track with an image.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Mr G]

Hi Dawn they are both good but being different I like No 1 the best with the wb as is it gives it a golden tinge well on my monitor it does ...was that a black cloth you used to sit the set on ?? what did you use for lighting did you have any ambient light

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn they are both good but being different I like No 1 the best with the wb as is it gives it a golden tinge well on my monitor it does ...was that a black cloth you used to sit the set on ?? what did you use for lighting did you have any ambient light

Hiya James,

Thank you for the comments and glad you like #1 for the golden tinge which was probably a result of the lighting I used on this one, i.e., a 40W candle bulb in a table lamp and also a 20W halogen table lamp.

The set was placed on a large piece of black card and the background is a set of black curtains.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Lissa]

Lovely shot I prefer the one myself.

 

[drodd]

Lovely shot I prefer the one myself.

Hiya Lissa,

Thanks for your feedback.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Steven001]

Some fantastic shot in here As for the previous topic, I think this one is the best also:

And I love this image even though I've spent 20 minutes looking through this thread looking for it :bang:

I would be interested to see what the original looked like!

Keep up the good work as usual

 

[drodd]

Hiya Steven,

Thanks for your kind words. Sorry you had to spend so much time looking for the New image and appreciate your time in doing so. I will see if I can find the original and PM it to you.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[billybob99]

Hi Dawn i missed this of the two i prefer the second to me it fits the theme of delicate better as its not quite as "loud" love the composition and the lighting good shot

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn i missed this of the two i prefer the second to me it fits the theme of delicate better as its not quite as "loud" love the composition and the lighting good shot

Hiya Andrew,

Thanks for your feedback and comments, much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[..MD..]

Delicate 2:

Dawn

I prefer this image out of the two . But I would have prefered it to have been on a table or something that would have grounded it alittle bit more , I kind of get the feel that the set is floating at the moment..

Just in my humble opinion


I look forward to your next image...


Regards Dave

 

[drodd]

I prefer this image out of the two . But I would have prefered it to have been on a table or something that would have grounded it alittle bit more , I kind of get the feel that the set is floating at the moment..

Just in my humble opinion


I look forward to your next image...


Regards Dave

Hiya Dave

Thanks for your comments and feedback. I appreciate what you say about it being on a table (actually it was, just with a black card over ) as I wanted to have an all black background, but I see what you mean about it looks like it is floating.

I am really battling with week 8 theme, I seem to have lost my mojo today, but hopefully it will be back soon.

I notice you have posted your week 8 which I will go and take a look at now.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[drodd]

Hi everyone,

Well when I saw what the theme was for week 8 I thought 'oh no this is chaos' as I had to really put my thinking cap on and had a difficult time trying to come up with something as I didn't feel very inspired.

Then finally I came up with 2 images for this week, one a photo of Blackpool Illuminations traffic and the second a bit of a play with a photo I took of fibre optic lights (the idea originally came from 'The Butterfly Effect Theory' but slowly evolved into what I have posted which I think is quite a chaotic abstract ..... my creative imagination can get a bit out of control at times :bonk.

So after a lot of thought I found a photo I took last year at the Blackpool Illuminations (which can be chaos in itself with all the people milling about in the streets, bedazzled by the lights, and not forgetting the chaotic traffic one has to contend with). Fortunately we had parked up early before the lights switch on. I was amazed at how soon the traffic started to build up, so we decided to walk for a while to see if it would calm down ..... fat chance . When we returned to the car, the traffic was worse, but as it was cold and we were tired from the walk we decided to join the chaos. It took us nearly 3 hours to get from one collection point to the other, but it was well worth it. The traffic was at a snails pace so I managed to take some photos as we were driving. Not the best images as I couldn't set up the tripod in the car and at times had to stick my hand out of the car window to get some shots .

I know this is not in keeping with taking a photo in the week, but wanted to use this one, which is not the best and having to contend with all the lights and movement of driving, not to mention I couldn't adjust any lighting etc.

Traffic chaos at Blackpool Illuminations:

Not the best image, considering, but I am sort of happy with how it came out. I've posted another one to my flickr page (although I have added a bit of creative splash to it which can be seen here: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5465986454_2ba1314ced_z.jpg

Then .... with such a theme I couldn't resist doing an abstract so here is

Abstract Chaos:

Thanks to all for the feedback and comments on the previous weeks which are all helping my learning experience.

Once again any c&c will be most welcome (I am already prepared for mixed opinions for this week .... but hey that is all part of the fun )

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Cris_L]

I love the blackpool shot Dawn, i think the image has really captured the "oh why did we bother" feeling many of us get when going to the illuminations!

The abstract I'm not qualified to comment on. I really don't know much about abstract. It certainaly is Chaos and the colours are fab...I just don't know what it is or how on earth you would of made it. i do like it though!

 

[drodd]

Hiya Cris,

Thanks for the comments and I appreciate abstract can be very much a personal preference.

I'm glad you picked up on the feeling from the Blackpool image, after such a long time in the car and not able to have a pit stop along the way, we were all busting by the end

As for the abstract image .... well that was created from a photo I took of a fibre optic light rotating, which looked more like an aerial city scape and is far different from the final image because of the various processes I have applied, but I just love taking an image and making it into something different. It's amazing how one can process an image into something else. I showed this to a colleague at work today (who has an Art Degree) and he said it resembled a Van Gogh masterpiece

Again, thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[fido18]

Hi Dawn,
Another good take on the theme. I love your Blackpool photo, it sure shows the chaos that was going on that night. Not too sure on the abstract, i like the middle of it but not too fussed on the outside border effect that has been created. I'm sure there will be mixed opinions though.
best wishes
Ceri

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn,
Another good take on the theme. I love your Blackpool photo, it sure shows the chaos that was going on that night. Not too sure on the abstract, i like the middle of it but not too fussed on the outside border effect that has been created. I'm sure there will be mixed opinions though.
best wishes
Ceri

Hiya Ceri,

Thanks for the feedback and comments about both images.

Appreciate your thoughts about the abstract, it started off just being the centre bit, but then I decided to try something different with borders to try to create a feeling of depth not sure if it has worked though. But this is how I learn what works and doesn't work.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[riu]

Hi Dawn , another great take on the theme, Blackpool is a place of chaos thats for sure, and the picture fits Blackpool really well, the illuminations and the chaos caused by the traffic work really well together. Also like the pic from the link.

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn , another great take on the theme, Blackpool is a place of chaos thats for sure, and the picture fits Blackpool really well, the illuminations and the chaos caused by the traffic work really well together. Also like the pic from the link.

Hiya Steve,

Thanks for the comments about the Blackpool pic and link too. I don't know if I will be doing the Blackpool Illuminations for another few years, unless I stay over somewhere for the night..... there is no way I am going to put up with that chaos again

Cheers

Dawn

 

[blondie606]

Evening Dawn
Not sure about the blackpool picture ,dunno why just doesn't "sit" right with me ,the one on flickr appeals more but still couldn't say why :shrug: Sorry.


Image 2 ...WOW...STUNNING Sort of reminds me of a cross section of a tree stump encased in amber resin , the colors & shapes are superb & the frame works really really well (running out of descriptive words here! )

Gotta ask though....how ? what processing ? If you don't mind sharing ?

Had a thought to do a kaleidoscope type picture but no idea where to even start:bang:

 

[LauraJ23]

Hi Dawn, cracking work for this week, your first photo certainly portrays chaos very well, I thought. But your 2nd shot has stolen the show! That's a brilliant and very imaginative abstract! The colours and patterns are excellent. I really like the framing of this one also. How was this one processed? Very well done!b

 

[drodd]

Evening Dawn
Not sure about the blackpool picture ,dunno why just doesn't "sit" right with me ,the one on flickr appeals more but still couldn't say why :shrug: Sorry.


Image 2 ...WOW...STUNNING Sort of reminds me of a cross section of a tree stump encased in amber resin , the colors & shapes are superb & the frame works really really well (running out of descriptive words here! )

Gotta ask though....how ? what processing ? If you don't mind sharing ?

Had a thought to do a kaleidoscope type picture but no idea where to even start:bang:

Hiya Lynne,

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. Even though you aren't too sure about the Blackpool image, I appreciate that. I too wasn't too sure about it at first .... in a way I like it but there is also something bugging me about it and can't think what. Perhaps that is why I thought about this one to add here so maybe someone can point out to me what it is that I don't like (if that makes sense ).

As for image 2 .... wow those are kind words and I am so glad you like it. How I achieved this was quite a long process, but basically I started out with a photo of the fibre optic lights taken from above (while it was rotating), then I used the heartnoculars effect(100% separation) in Picnik to create a sort of butterfly effect, decreased the fade to 0%, selected a black frame tint, did a crop, then applied an 'hypnotic' sandbox effect, adjusting settings till I was happy, then applied the Misc 'Gooify' effect to spread the image, also used a bit of cloning to get bit from here and there. Then added a few mirrored frames (that was the tricky bit) and finished it off with a black frame. I must admit it took some time, and I found I did a bit, left it, came back to it, played a bit more etc until I had the image that I liked. Sorry if this sounds so long winded, but the trick is to just be brave and try different things. If you would like to see the photos of the first two stages let me know and I will PM them to you.

If you need any help with ideas for how to do the kaleidoscope image, let me know and I might be able to assist.

Now that I have shared my trade secrets I better get back to some work.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn, cracking work for this week, your first photo certainly portrays chaos very well, I thought. But your 2nd shot has stolen the show! That's a brilliant and very imaginative abstract! The colours and patterns are excellent. I really like the framing of this one also. How was this one processed? Very well done!b

Hiya Michael,

Thanks for the compliments and comments.

I had a feeling I would have mixed responses to this, but love it when someone likes both

For an explanation of the 2nd image, please see my reply to Lynne where I have given brief details of how I achieved this image. If you want to know more just drop me a line and I will try to explain in more detail.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[LauraJ23]

Hi Dawn, thanks for sharing those techniques. I have never done an abstract style image, but will definitely be trying it at some point. The heartnoculars effect is one I have not come across, I think I will take a look at picnik to see what it's like. One can never have too many editing programmes, they all seem to do something different.

 

[posiview]

Some interesting takes on chaos already.

Both remind me of them optical illusions where you close one eye and another picture appears...

At a push I'd go for #1, really like the processing and especially that it isn't in focus (especially the front right car).

#2, great golden colours and nice ethereal feel to it.

Cheers.

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn, thanks for sharing those techniques. I have never done an abstract style image, but will definitely be trying it at some point. The heartnoculars effect is one I have not come across, I think I will take a look at picnik to see what it's like. One can never have too many editing programmes, they all seem to do something different.

Hiya Michael,

You are welcome and good luck with doing an abstract, I would love to see your image when you get round to doing one.

I find picnik great fun and easy to use, I am sure you will too.

Enjoy

Cheers

Dawn

 

[drodd]

Some interesting takes on chaos already.

Both remind me of them optical illusions where you close one eye and another picture appears...

At a push I'd go for #1, really like the processing and especially that it isn't in focus (especially the front right car).

#2, great golden colours and nice ethereal feel to it.

Cheers.

Hiya Andy,

Thanks for your comments and feedback. I like your view on the 'optical illusion' idea and found myself looking at the images again, closing one eye to see if another picture appeared

I had already partly processed the first image last year, and just added a few tweeks for this post. But if I recall I mainly increased the shadow slider to darken out any stray light and applied a bit of saturation, clarity, perhaps a sharpen. Then I cloned out a few stray lights here and there, oh yes and a truck on the left.

Indeed the 2nd does have an ethereal feel to it.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Steven001]

Loving the picture at the illuminations! Looks like it should be hung in some sort of retro bar/restaurant.

Good work

 

[drodd]

Loving the picture at the illuminations! Looks like it should be hung in some sort of retro bar/restaurant.

Good work

Hiya Steven

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you like the picture. Retro bar/restaurant could be an idea, maybe there is one in Blackpool that would be interested .

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Just Dave]

Hi Dawn sorry I missed your latest 3 52s, I been a bit busy,

Love the Blackpool shot very colourful, like the abstract chaos

Like the Clutter shot with all your childhood memorabilia, nice montage

That looks a great tea service, I prefer #2 with the DOF

I'll try keep up in future and give better feedback

 

[JackieC]

Really like both shots, Drodd. I love the depth you have from the Blackpool Illuminations. I remember that travel chaos from YEARS ago when we went as a kid.
I like the abstract one too.

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn sorry I missed your latest 3 52s, I been a bit busy,

Love the Blackpool shot very colourful, like the abstract chaos

Like the Clutter shot with all your childhood memorabilia, nice montage

That looks a great tea service, I prefer #2 with the DOF

I'll try keep up in future and give better feedback

Hiya Dave,

Thanks for popping past and leaving feedback. It's amazing how busy life is getting now that we are into the new year, believe me I know the feeling so appreicate you taking time to pop past. You know that your comments are always appreciated

Cheers

Dawn

Really like both shots, Drodd. I love the depth you have from the Blackpool Illuminations. I remember that travel chaos from YEARS ago when we went as a kid.
I like the abstract one too.

Hiya Jackie,

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated. I too remember the chaos from years ago when my grandparents took me to see the lights, never thought I would one day be taking my own child to see them Next time I may just go a bit more prepared.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Sonriendo]

Hi Dawn

Just trying to catch up on my commenting, which has been very slack of late :nono:

I like the traffic chaos of Blackpool, but have to say I prefer the Butterfly Effect one on your Flick. It's very Art Nouveauxish and works well for me

 

[drodd]

Hi Dawn

Just trying to catch up on my commenting, which has been very slack of late :nono:

I like the traffic chaos of Blackpool, but have to say I prefer the Butterfly Effect one on your Flick. It's very Art Nouveauxish and works well for me

Hiya Sarah,

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[sparrow]

Great shots for 'chaos' Dawn. Difficult to choose a favourite but I think I like the abstract shot best

 

[drodd]

Great shots for 'chaos' Dawn. Difficult to choose a favourite but I think I like the abstract shot best

Hiya Joan,

Thanks, I like to add a splash of indecisiveness to my project So your comments are much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[chriseve1979]

I like both. The Blackpool photo brings back memories of my visit there in 1996 and vowed "never again"!!

I like the abstract one too. This looks very much like the sort of effects that used to be common on the old computer "Demo-scene" of the early 1990s. A definition of the "Chaos Theory". Out of the two I think this is my favourite.

 

[drodd]

I like both. The Blackpool photo brings back memories of my visit there in 1996 and vowed "never again"!!

I like the abstract one too. This looks very much like the sort of effects that used to be common on the old computer "Demo-scene" of the early 1990s. A definition of the "Chaos Theory". Out of the two I think this is my favourite.

Hiya Chris,

I imagine the first image conjures up memories for many (good and bad)

Glad you like the abstract one too, hadn't thougt of it the way you describe, but now that you mention it I can see where you are coming from.

Cheers

Dawm