weekly Elaine's 52 for 2016 - Urban added

I took the shots for Fauna and Static at the beginning of last week, but then I got distracted somehow and it was only when I came here to add Game that I realised I hadn't posted them! So bit of a catch up.

Week 31 Fauna

These two very young mallards were starting to lose their duckling fluff and looking a bit bald and scruffy, but I still thought they were quite cute in a weird kind of way.

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Week 32 Static

Whenever the sun shines, I know I can always rely on at least one of my turtle friends to be basking, stock still, on their favourite log

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Week 33 Game

I saw these hanging in the kitchen of Bramall Hall when I took my grandson to have a look round the other day (they're stuffed, not fresh!) So when Game appeared, I thought they would fit the theme and popped back round there this morning. Not the sort of birds I usually like to photograph, but someone obviously thought it was a good idea to shoot them.

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Nice catch up Elaine and 3 nicely shoe horned animal images too :thumbs:
( I seem to be a bad influence :D )
 
Good little catch up, Elaine.
Stuffed they may be, but the Game birds look gruesome.
 
You shot the game birds? :eek:

Nice catch-up, great series. Maybe the highlights on the turtle's shell are a bit overblown, but apart from that (y)
 
XenosElaine said:
.......looking a bit bald and scruffy, but I still thought they were quite cute in a weird kind of way.
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Aw these words really do resonate with me Elaine hahaha. Lovely catch-up, I particularly like Fauna (helped to some extent by the fact that they are stuffed) as the lighting is kinder allowing detail to come through.
 
Week 34 - Serene

Decided to use my Taoist god statuette for this one, but I couldn't find anything around the flat to use as a suitable bg, so I went for a wander in the park and this is two shots combined into one.

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Fits the brief, serene Taoist in serene lake setting.

So you cut out the statue and pasted in into the lake picture? Very well done indeed.
 
Dark Knight said:
Nicely done Elaine, I thought for a moment that you had taken the statue with you, now that would have been mad dedication, works well :)
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Thanks DK. He's only about 6" tall, so he would have been lost if I'd tried to do it in situ!

brrnd said:
Fits the brief, serene Taoist in serene lake setting.

So you cut out the statue and pasted in into the lake picture? Very well done indeed.
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Thanks brrnd. I always have terrible problems using the lasso tool to cut things out unless they have dead straight edges - if I try and do it too quickly the edges are really messy and if I do it too slowly, PS decides I've finished and just selects the bit I've done so far! So I find it much easier to open both images side by side in PS and then clone one into the other. I seem to get much cleaner edges that way.
 
Hi Elaine,
Fauna / Static / Game - Of the 3, Static is the one I prefer, I think for the quality of the bokeh. His shell could be a bit over exposed though (something tha static suffes from a bit too).

Serene - A most imperious looking chap, and the combined image is believable with the mottled light in the foreground :)
 
Dark Knight said:
Nicely done Elaine, I thought for a moment that you had taken the statue with you, now that would have been mad dedication, works well :)
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Just what I thought too :-)

Bank on theme Elaine. :-)
 
I just realised I missed your beautiful butterfly shot - the dof works really well on that one. Your lizard is great with excellent focus on the eye and very good detail, too. I tried to get a lizard shot in Bulgaria and failed completely! I think I would have tried to get a little lower if possible. The gorgeous greens in your last shot are making me feel very serene indeed :)
 
Very well done Elaine - know exactly what you mean about he lasso tool; a combination of layering and masking is much easier. Good thinking - well done
 
Week 35 - Black & White. Couple of different shots for this one. I took the easy option and chose subjects that are already black and white without needing any conversion or desaturation! Thinking I'll probably have to go back to the Hall again to find something ancient for this week!

#1 Canada Goose
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#2 A bit of Bramhall Hall
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A catch up on comments from me, I really like your game, I had thought along the same lines but I have been working in London and just never got to see a butcher's, and serene, cleverly done, and the composition of your second black and white.
 
The eye has it too for me with the Canada Goose but the building also has a charm for me.
 
The goose for me too, great details.
 
Sorry behind with comments again

Lone - I too like the the colour version better.
Fauna - lovely shot I like the sun light catching the feathers my (favourite of these shots)
Static - nice detail on his underside of the turtle
Game - a bit gruesome but bang on theme
Serene - a lovely serene image good work with the combining.
Black and White - I like the goose lovely detail in the feathers but I like the Tudor House too read detail in the windows too
 
Week 36 - Ancient

Not sure exactly how old something has to be to be called ancient, but I hope these qualify because apart from OH, Bramall Hall and Park are just about the oldest things around these parts. Some of the rooms in the Hall date back to the Middle Ages and still have some of their old wall murals visible. The first one is in the old chapel (naturally!) and I think the middle panel has a bit of a Turin shroud look about it. The third shot is the oldest pathway in the park and I suspect that it only goes back to the Victorian era, but the cobbles and mossy walls make it look quite ancient.

#1
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#2
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#3
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Especially like the first two Elaine.
Right on theme.
 
I think they qualify very nicely Elaine. The central panel of #1 looks Turin shroud-like to me. Spot on theme.
 
Nice detail in the goose feathers Elaine - the really close crop was a good idea. The whiteness of the sky spoils the Bramhall shot a little for me - it looks like getting the exposure right for building and sky would have been tricky. I really like the first shot for ancient - you got the symmetry spot on, but I do like the composition of your path, too.
 
Nice murals Elaine. Well spotted and captured.
They are Certainly ancient enough for the theme :)
 
Week 37 - Urban

We went to Salford Quays on Saturday for a matinee performance of the Shawshank Redemption at the Lowry Theatre, so I took my camera along to get some shots of the urban architecture beforehand. The light was dreadful and the timing happened to coincide with the kick off of the United v City Derby, so the area was almost eerily quiet because most of Manchester and Salford were either at the match or watching it in the pubs, but such is life!

We're off to Greece on Wednesday, so I'm hoping for some nice sun and sea themes while I'm there - or at least some that I can shoe-horn sun and sea into!

#1 I know from past visits that this particular view can be pretty spectacular on a sunny day or when lit up at night, but the cloud cover gave a nasty blueish-grey tone to everything, so I decided on this b/w conversion with the use of spot colour on the marker buoys.
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#2 I left this one in its natural colours because I rather like the bronze glass building. The bridge is one of those that tend to sway and bounce around slightly when people walk over it, so I had problems lining everything up, but I did my best.
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Hi Elaine. Nice reflections in #1 and good for Urban but I prefer #2 - it's more dramatic and those figures give a sense of scale.
 
I love the colour of the red buoy.
 
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I love#1 but not keen on the selective colour. Work like to see much closer to the building as no real interest in the RHS, pity about the awful weather.

Cheers.
 
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