GaryPlumbridge's Photo52, part 17, Tropical added

That's some funky inventive lighting there Gary. I like the way the little pots are glowing. What settings did you use to take it, I haven't yet managed to take a photo in the dark that has come out anywhere near as nicely exposed as your shot!
Are you enjoying doing this 52 project?
 
Hi Gary, just stumbled on your thread and must say that I'm impressed, specifically your picture for the 'open' theme, I really like the idea and I like that it strongly conveys the theme.

I don't buy into this over cropping of images though. To me, the eye likes that 2/3 ratio rule and although narrowing down does naturally focus the eye, it doesn't sit right with me. If it's not your bag then I wouldn't feel the pressure to do so, it's your work after all.

David Ironside: Why not check out my Project 52 attempt?
 
Thanks for the comments!

@TopBanana:
Flickr makes quite a lot of metadata available. Just click on the camera name where flickr says: "This photo was taken on February 11, 2011 using a Panasonic DMC-GH2."

In this case though, the true settings are lost forever as I was using a non-digital lens so some details are forgotten (and I didn't write them down). The camera was on a tripod a couple of meters away, with a 5 second exposure at iso160. I guess from these settings that the lens must have been on about f2. (It's a 50mm F1.4 lens, and the glow sticks really weren't very bright at all -- I couldn't read the labels on the cups by eye with their light alone)

I wanted higher DOF than usual to enhance the clutter but couldn't help myself entirely :) (also, it felt nice to have the labels on the cups in sharp focus)

Once again I was fighting with the JPG as apple still haven't released a patch to support RAW from my camera :bang:

@David: Thanks very much. I'll check out your thread now.
 
Hi Gary

really like the lighting effect in your clutter shot ,great idea & shot :thumbs:

& just to be different I prefer the 2nd of your Hard shots (without the reflections ) . It amazes me that you managed to get so many of the beads(?) in focus & they each have little reflections in them :clap:
 
Thanks again for the very encouraging comments!

Here's week seven's entry, 'Delicate':

7 - Delicate by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

It's not exactly what I wanted but I don't have a bubble machine or a patient helper willing to blow bubbles constantly. (or a laser trigger... but I'm working on it :))

Does anybody else see a scary looking eye-like reflection in the bubble? (just above where it will be popped by the pencil)
 
Hi Gary, like your image for delicate, and bubbles are just that, composition looks good as does the lighting. I don't see a scary eye though. I think I will be attempting to bubble photography, it looks fun!
 
Nice one, Gary, plenty of thought went into this one...

I'd prefer to have seen a needle as opposed to the rather overused pencil..;)

The right hand reflection in the bubble looks very sharp but the rest doesn't.

Having the bubble pop, can't decide whether that would have been better or not??

Cheers and well done for thinking outside the box...

Andy.
 
That's a quality photo for your 'delicate' theme, I was planning on doing some bubble photography (there are some great examples in the macro section of this forum) but I never would have thought of something as elaborate as yours - although that's true for your photo every week!
How did you set up the lighting to give you such a uniform background but the subject still being well lit? And would I be correct in guessing by the minimal exif data that you were using one of your FD lenses?
 
Once again, thanks for the comments. They make a big difference. (especially when there's criticism too!)

@posiview:
Thanks for the writeup! I've thought about most of these things though,
1) most needles are far too small for this photo, and to get close enough for the needle to be properly visible the DOF would have been too small for much bubble to be in focus. I had a choice between a pristine pencil and a hard worn one, so I chose the pencil with more texture :). I'd definitely like to try again though and I'm pretty sure this will be my photo to re-shoot if a reshoot card ever comes out.
2) I'm not sure I understand about the sharpness. The bright light reflected in the bubble is sharp on the right hand side because it's from the outer surface of the bubble. The reflection on the left of the bubble is from the inside surface and has been blurred by the bubble itself. The contrast between bubble and background is quite low though and I agree it doesn't make the bubble look very sharp around the edges.
3) I have a picture from the instant that the bubble popped but it's very boring. This bubble mix doesn't burst in an exciting way. It just looks like half of the bubble has been photoshopped away. Here's what it looked like:

Halfway bubble by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

@TopBanana:
Thanks!
I plan to revisit this soon with more technology (being more suited to engineering than artistry (hopefully :)). I'll check out those bubble photos soon.
I found that the bubble was quite hard to see under normal lighting so added some christmas lights to paint dots on the bubble and a bright, sideways halogen (20w desklamp) that wasn't shining on the wall behind. Yep this was with my canon FD 50mm F1.4 again. It's lovely. The wall is uniform because the bright lens has such shallow DOF even at F4 (in this picture) that any details on the wall behind (about a metre away from the subject) are wiped out.

I've started work on building a configurable laser trigger so I can revisit bubble/insect/destruction photography without so much ball-ache in future. I didn't really want my hand in this photo but the bubbles only lasted ~~3 seconds and that wasn't enough time to blow, focus and click.
 
Week 8 has already been and gone... whoa.

So here's Chaos:

8 - Chaos by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

I agree with everybody else that this was a tough theme! I ended up with something chaotic rather than a vision of chaos itself. Hopefully next weeks photo will be a break from these close-ups and be completely different!

This photo is raindrops on the kitchen window.

In the lower left regions it looks so much like how I'd like deep-space to look.

BONUS MATERIAL :police::
100% crop of some of the raindrops (although displayed about 50% here):

8 - Chaos 100% Crop by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

C&C always desired, craved even! :love:
 
Hi, Gary, my first reaction was, 'hhhmmmm, not sure about this one!"

However, I stuck with it and it's grown on me. I got over my believe that is wasn't chaos; but it is, as you say, chaotic.

I found myself looking at every raindrop and saw a different distorted building in each raindrop.

Great dof as well.

Cheers.
 
That's really inventive Gary I like it. They're so reflective they look more like blobs of solder than raindrops. I think it suits the chaos them as there's no single point of interest in the shot - no one things that your eye is drawn to. In 'normal' photography that would probably be a negative point (not really having a specific subject) but it totally works well with this theme. And like with you 'hard' photo it's great fun to look around at all the little individual subjects and see something different in them all.

It's interesting how the last 4 weeks of your pictures all have quite similar colouring despite them being completely different subjects taken in completely different ways. Spooky! (unless it's just my work monitor making everything look the same, which isn't implausible!)
 
Thanks once again for the comments, I sincerely appreciate them. This week they were very flattering and encouraging.

I have a feeling I gravitate towards greens and blues both when choosing a subject and then in post processing, which might go some way to explaining the similar colouring.

It's been really tempting each week just to setup some objects and then take a picture. This week I wanted to do something different like a landscape or some photography of a building, so I did. :)

Presenting week 9: Finish:

9 - Finish by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

This week it's a photo of York University's Ron Cooke Hub, the recently finished centerpiece of the university's new `Heslington East' campus.

In addition to being newly completed the Hub sports an interesting copper finish that has already tarnished significantly but interesting polishing patterns remain.
 
You have finish under your belt (I wish I did). It looks good to me also. Copper on buildings is a glorious substance and it will get better as it greens. The reflection is a piece of luck as the sky looks pretty dull ;) Nice framing to try to avoid it :thumbs:
 
Hi Gary, the geometry of the building has come out really well in the photo and gives a lot of interest. It's worth noting to anyone else viewing it that it looks much better on flickr when it's large - the reduced size for posting here seems to have taken away some of the impact of the shapes and colours (or it could just be me again!).
To be a bit picky (or hopefully constructive): I think it would have had more impact if you'd been able to take the shot on a day without any wind (unlikely in York I know), but if the water was glassy then the reflection would have some serious wow-factor. Another alternative would be to shoot it at night when the light from the building reflecting in the ripples on the water would give a bit of a mirage kind of feeling.
 
Thanks TinaC & Tim, please don't worry about being picky or critical. I'd really like some more of it.

It would have been lovely with perfectly still water but a still day in York is indeed hard to come by, especially on Heslington East where the enormous open spaces make winds strong enough to throw me off my bike. The night time one is an interesting idea, I might have a go as a followup.
 
You haven't been left tied to a lamp post in a stag outfit somewhere in North Yorkshire from last weekend have you?!?!?! :lol::lol::lol:
 
Don't worry Tim, I'm still alive but unfortunately photo52 has lost out to other timesinks over the last fortnight. Having done a lot of photography for 'legitimate' reasons recently, I've found it hard to motivate myself to think about and setup for a photo52 entry.

Anywho. Fun's fun right?

Here's week 10: Trio.

10 - Trio by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

Talking talking talking talking:
For week 10 of Photo52, on a theme of Trio I have picked one of my favourite trios: Red, Green and Blue.

This is an extreme closeup of the phosphors on one of our CRT televisions. I like the detail and imperfections in each of the phosphor cells.

The zoom effect on the right is just a defect of the poor closeup filter I'm using.

Bonus: Black and white version...

10 - Trio - Black and White by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

Oddly nice even though it becomes kinda meaningless.

Comments, Criticism and words appreciated. :love:
 
Hi Gary, another super macro shot! The colours are really nice and vivid, and the detail of the individual elements adds lots of interest. It fits the theme perfectly as well.

Personally I think that one of the main strengths of the photo is the uniformity of the phosphors being in very neat/straight ranks, so maybe a crop without the distraction of the crazy stuff on the right would give a 'cleaner' look?

You're right about the bonus B&W version still working, I guess hue and tone is as powerful as colour. Although I still prefer the colour version.
 
WOW - I can't believe I've only just found this thread, I've spent a good half hour going through it all and I love every single photo. Like some other people have mentioned its really quite inspiring in making me want to go and try something a bit creative than usual, as well as something in the macro department. Thanks for sharing!
 
Hi mate... Love the colour trio shot too!

Great take on the theme and great shot too. Id have liked it if it had all been tack sharp but like you said its a consequence of your equipment so out of your control.

It has a real 80's mood also.

Great work.
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments! They were undeservedly kind this week! :love:

@blondie606: A phosphor is the bit that glows in old TV screens. If you look really closely at a TV that's not an LCD or plasma, you'll just about be able to make out these phosphor pixels. Practically nobody has a CRT anymore though as they're just too big and make that annoying whining noise.

@PatrickO: I took this photo by attaching a super-cheap eBay macro filter to my 45-200mm lumix lens (at 200mm). The picture was then taken about 5cm from the front of the lens to the TV screen, on BBC news 24 as they always have a white bar visible :). The aperture was set as small as possible to get as much in focus as possible (f22 on this lens, f44 equiv. DOF on full frame).

@TopBanana & @markelliot: I agree it would be nice if everything were in sharp focus and Tim's suggestion of a centre crop turned out quite nicely, so here it is: (It gives a sort of illusion of sharpish focus... on a rainy day :D)

10 - Trio - Cropped by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

Week 12: Moderation coming up after the break... (I'm holding Knowledge until I find something good :))
 
Week 12: Moderation

12 - Moderation by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

M O D E R A T E W O R D S:
I'd like to think that I'm moderate in both my drinking and my photography. This photo is provided as incontrovertible evidence. ;)

Points awarded for counting the number of excesses in this photo.

As an extra excess, this photo catches another camera taking a photo, which is in fact my RESHOOT of the week 12 picture, Moderation: :D

12 - Moderation (RESHOOT) by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

Reshoot blurble:
The camera in the background of the Moderation photo was actually taking a photo.

As a reshoot of the moderation theme, taken simultaneously and in shot of the original photo, here's a very moderate serving of brandy photographed in a very moderate style.

I cheated. This photo wasn't taken simultaneously. Although the flash was nice and excessive for the first photo, it wasn't good here. (everything else is the same, though)
 
Hi, Gary, the b&w version of your trio is great. I really like the tones and it has a lot more depth than the colour.

Your first moderation shot seems to imply excess... :thinking:

Cheers.
 
Your second shot of the brandy looks like a classic stock photo - nicely done. I particularly like the patch on the table to the right of the glass that's brandy coloured where the light has shone through - the actual drink in the glass is quite dark but that little patch shows off the colour really well.

Your first shot certainly shows off your excess of lenses! You've taken it from an interesting viewpoint, and I like the beam of light in the right hand lens, but overall I don't think I understand what you were trying to capture/convey through the shot. It's an interesting 'behind the scenes shot of the second picture' but I'm sure if it stands up in its own right. Sorry if that sounds harsh!
 
Thanks for the comments, I agree that the brandy shot is fairly nice but I don't find it very exciting, the light falling though it certainly helps though.

@Tim: Don't worry about sounding harsh on the first photo. I think you've received it exactly as intended. (although that makes me sound very full of sh**) I was feeling a bit rebellious and decided to make the most contrived, excessive behind the scenes photo possible with no regard for taste or aesthetics. It's so excessive it contains its own reshoot. (the G1 was actually taking a photo during this exposure :D, but I forgot to put a memory card in it :@)

It's such a gawdy photo I strongly dislike the result too but it was fairly time consuming to setup. I wanted effectively full DOF, with both the huge lens in the foreground and the G1 in the background in focus, the 45-200 lens in the foreground was only about 4cm from the end of the lens. I also tried to get strong, unpleasant contrasts but without blowing either the top or the bottom and without causing too much lens flare. I couldn't completely get rid of it near the 50mm lens or the flash of the G1 though.
I'm not sure if I got the lens placement right. I could probably have made it busier looking with more crap lying around. It was quite fun playing with the remote flash to make the shadow from the G1 as unrealistic as possible.

So, that's the rationale behind the mess :)... (maybe this face is more appropriate: :shake:)
 
I actually like shot 1. It has so many levels that I can look at it again and again and keep finding something I missed the first time. It must have taken some thinking to set up such a convoluted and complex layout. An excess of preparation too perhaps?
 
Just jumping in here to have a look and you've some great shots.

Not sure about shot 1 for moderation; a Tesco value brandy bottle next to some expensive camera gear(!). Though I do like the the flash light shining through the lens on the right, now I suppose this is intentional?

Reshoot - much better for my liking, nice shadow on the surface. Nice to see you are controlling yourself with brandy having it in moderation (i.e. small shot ;) )
 
@Vimrix: Yes certainly too much preparation. I was hoping a deliberately messy photo would be quick thing. Wasn't. :)

@Feriso: Thanks! As it happens I can't stand the brandy. It gets used for cooking (like sauces and mulled wine). I coulnd't bring myself to drink that dreg for the photo and threw it away. :'(

*in a singing voice* WEEK THIRTEEEEEN: empty

13 - Empty by ConicalFlask, on Flickr

This week it's a view down down an empty champagne bottle. The camera lens was less than 1mm from the end of the bottle and if I nudged the table too hard I could hear them fighting :S

This weeks challenge was getting clear, even illumination without any highlights in the glass. I think I managed to get no highlights but it's still not perfectly even. Good thing there are 39 weeks left!
 
Love it!
A great unique view of something everyone has seen. I like the way it's got concentric rings from what is really a smooth piece of glass. The unevenness in lighting, that you seem to state as a negative, just adds to the interest in my opinion. How did you light it to get the surrounding area so black?

The B&W is top quality (I would have expected the colour version to have sort of cool eerie green glow, but it obviously wasn't as good as the B&W or you would have used it!).


I'm also very envious that you keep posting your week's photo on sunday when I'm just uploading the previous week's! I'd be impressed (and somewhat confused) if you manage to next week though!
 
Lovely abstract. I don't think the evenness (or otherwise) is important, I really had to look at it to see what you meant by that, before I saw it, and by then my eyes were hurting looking through the concentric circles ;) The lighting is excellent though. I am guessing there was a bit of time involved in getting it spot on, but you've got it nailed here though, nicely measured.

I do like abstract, well done.
 
Thanks very much Tim!
Sorry the blurb is a bit of an essay:

The evenness of the lighting was just a technical challenge :) It probably wouldn't have improved the picture but I wanted to try.

It was a clear glass bottle as it was pink fizz and it was laid on its side on the coffee table on a sheet of white paper. I used a large white piece of card in front of the bottle as a flash reflector and put the flash next to the bottle pointing at the card but baffled so that all the light was from the reflection and none directly from the flash to avoid highlights and glare.

There were a lot more concentric circles in the original photo but I adjusted the black point until only the current outermost ring was visible. Then played with the contrast, exposure and black point until there were no hot areas left and the histogram was about level.

It's always hard to know exactly what colour something is when shooting in RAW as it's so easy to reinterpret the image in PP. If I fix the white balance so the very centre bulge in the bottle is grey, then there is a slight greenish cast to the glass but the photo was practically black and white anyway. I'll have a go at recolouring for creepiness at some point :)

--

Thanks for the comments Vixmix, I too like abstracts. They're fun to take and there's no pressure to show a human in the correct way :)
The position of the bottle relative to the lens was the most time consuming, it had to be sub-mm accurate and the angles had to be perfect or the circles wouldn't line up. As it is, this was the best I could manage but I think the bottle was slightly curved anyway.
 
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