weekly Ian's 52 for 2015: Week 16 - Experiment

I agree tis all about personal taste, but also about giving our own take on things and (hopefully helpful) advice.
 
Nice Crowd shot Ian ... That camera/lens combo does excellent DoF. Assuming you weren't standing right behind them, I love the way you've caught everything inc. the selfie stick ... with a fabulously OOF BG.
 
:agree: its all been said super capture well taken.
 
HI Ian

Congrats on the new job mister ( any places going spare for me to enrole ;) )

Relax......that's a super portrait of a lovely looking kitty , no crit from me as I think it's just perfect as it is :clap: Quite a sad story as well, I hate it when animals are frightened of humans and other animals :(

Mouth....super portrait again, has a very soft misty feeling (y)

Crowd......yup , I agree, face's not needed, lovely use of DOF & well framed to include the selfie stick (y) I'm thinking " In a crowd of their own "
 
I really like the contact sheet system and selection process you are using to get to the final image. All very inspirational stuff, too. I especially like the 'start to finish' of FRAGILE - a few eggs on a kitchen worktop to the final 'suggestive/cheeky' shot. Brilliant.
 
Thanks all for taking the time to comment.

blondie606 said:
Congrats on the new job mister ( any places going spare for me to enrole ;) )
Click to expand...

It's for beginners... I don't think you qualify for that!
 
Vertical - There was two ways to play this - either symmetrically or to one side as you’ve done and I feel this really works as a composition. It certainly matches the theme. Without seeing the original, converting the scene potentially has removed a load of tonal distractions

Mouth - I agree this is maybe more eyes than mouth but this is a heck of a portrait. I really like this straight down the lens style and you’ve really pulled this off especially given this was shot in natural light. The post processing has really helped with the overall feel as well. Nice one

Crowd - I too aren’t worried about not seeing their faces. I works well as it is. The DoF has taken away the background distractions but left enough so you get the context of the environment.
 
Week 12: (Here Comes A) Close Up

Since Friday I've had this damn song going round in my head. Friday. I'm getting sick of it now and it's coming off the iTunes rock playlist!


Contact Sheet: Close Up by Harlequin565, on Flickr

I've had better weeks. I've got no macro lens for the Fuji and nothing that really focusses close to get that macro feel, so I was left with getting inventive. I think my selfie lying on the floor shows the enthusiasm I had. Cats. No. Chickens. No. Closed shops (Close up your business)... Just lots of no. Glitterati song that you can't even find a YouTube video for because it's so obscure? Constant.

As an aside, it was released in 2004, and I can't believe that was ten years ago!!! I am so old.

Week 12. Close up. The best of a bad bunch. If you dare go to iTunes and pick it up, you'll have it going round in your head all week.


Week 12 - Close Up by Harlequin565, on Flickr

Technical stuffs... Had to HDR it because the dynamic range from the super bright retina iPhone screen and the super dark sound hole on the guitar were too much for one exposure. Nothing fancy, just a tonal range blend with some contrast added PP.
 
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Good work again Ian (y)
Your continued use of the storyboard is very effective. It lets us the viewers 'see' your thought processes for the weeks theme.
I do like your chosen image, close up in a couple of ways but enjoy the colour tones of wood on the guitar and the splash of red of the plectrum more.
It is a great B&W conversion, contrasty with a good range of tones but the colour version would get my vote :D
 
Your choice this week works rather well (y)

(And no I'm not gonna go listen to the "tune" :D )
 
I agree...great choice for the week.
 
Hi Ian, close up - I agree, you've chosen the best shot. I won't look for the song - last time I did that I had something really weird in my head that stayed all week!
 
Hi Ian

Liking your story board .... liking your submission, good B&W conversion I guess but not sure if it beats one of your colour versions.
 
Good choice for this week's theme Ian and the HDR is just right for me (I'm not a lover of OTT HDR :() and I too would like to see a colour version. Picky lot aren't we :D
 
I'm going to be picky as well :p I have to say that although the name of the song is linked to the theme, I find the addition of the phone an element too far and I'd much prefer just the guitar in the picture. The picks are fine in there though.
 
Hi Ian

Really like your crowd shot, great timing!
I too am not keen on the phone, although all of it would be more pleasing to my ocd-ness, sorry!
:)
 
Hi Ian

Great post as always, a vast variety of ideas this week, the subject matter you have chosen works well, but I am torn between the Colour and B&W versions, nicely set up and good to see you removed the main reflection of yourself, theme wise it fits nicely and as always beautifully lit - Like It :thumbs:
 
(Unlucky) Week 13: Machine

Thanks all for the comments. I've managed a big fat zero comments this week and not really paid attention to much of anything. I discovered this week that my Photoshop course starting after the Easter holiday needs the handouts sent to college for printing by today. That's meant a mad rush this week of writing, writing and more writing. I sent the stuff over last night and managed to get out today with one of my new toys!

I plumped for an X-T1 the other week, and instead of selling my perfectly good X-E1 for peanuts, I sent it off to get it IR converted. It arrived yesterday morning and so I went out on my bike to have a play.

This is a whole new learning curve!

The contact sheet is rubbish. I knew I wanted the "machine" I shot in Scenic, so both the reshoot and the Machine theme fit nicely.

Week 13 Contact by Harlequin565, on Flickr

The "normal" coloured shots were taken on the X-T1 with the 23mm, and the "Goldie" coloured shots were with the converted X-E1 and the 14mm. This is my chosen shot.

Week 13: Machinery by Harlequin565, on Flickr

So my first learning curve was all about dealing with the colour changes for IR. Grey skies stay grey and brown fields stay brown. The drama in IR comes from the reds, greens and blues. I have a green machine in the image and everything else is bland. That's what's made this a poor shot. The problem was that setting up my workflow for IR was a challenge in itself. Learning how to WB the IR images properly, and make Lightroom camera profiles was unexpected (yet interesting).

So whilst this wasn't a brilliant shot, I learned something. At the end of the day, that fact is probably more useful to me than turning out a good shot that didn't require any effort.

I've got next week off decorating so really hope to catch up with some comments.

Thanks for reading!


The Lane by Harlequin565, on Flickr
 
Great work again Ian close up works well as a mono but agree with peter i personally dont feel it needed the iphone.
A great set of machine pics again personal fav for me is the first one with the bike
 
Machine, as I grow older I'm finding these kind of machines more and more interesting.

I find the trees competing a little with the machine, but they are nice trees :)

Cheers.
 
Machine in bleak barren field I like ... but a touch more FG?! o_O

The Lane ... what amazing colour contrast.
 
I do like your chosen machine shot but I agree with David that a tiny bit more foreground would have worked :)
 
Machine, nice contact sheet, I like them all TBH :thumbs:
 
Week 14: Alphabet

Thanks again to all who commented. Quick shout out to @ChrisHeathcote's thread here for reasons as to why I'm up to my ears at the moment. Hopefully comments will be incoming later this week, but best laid plans etc etc...

So this is the third difficult week for me. Google came to my rescue though and proves yet again that research can be a real jump start to creativity. The contact sheet is quite dull, but does make interesting viewing. I'm sure in between paint drying times I could have got more, but managing time is challenging at the moment.


Week 14: Contact Sheet by Harlequin565, on Flickr

Going out looking for letters is actually quite good fun. "N" and "E" were the hardest - hence a mild cheat for that. Not technically challenging and to be honest it was less about the technicalities and more about seeing things. I do love the X-T1's electronic shutter. Shooting at f1.4 in full bright daylight without needing an ND filter is very nice.

It's a long image so best viewed if you click through to Flickr and press "L" for the large on-black view.


Week 14: Alphabet by Harlequin565, on Flickr

A huge thankyou to those who are commenting selflessly. I'm going to try and catch up this week.
 
Hi, well done for putting that together it must have taken some time and all great B+W conversions

great idea well executed :clap:
 
Machine is good.

But Alphabet is outstanding....Love it.
 
Alphabet: Took me a few moments to work out the word. Nice sequence.
 
ohhh so happy I worked it out yay - although it was easier in the B&W version which I actually prefer :) well done :clap:
 
Close up is a fine work-around, it's on theme. Nice shot too, well composed, nice conversion and good use of DOF, being still able to make out the Takamine sticker. Not going looking for the tune though, I can tell from the graphic I wouldn't be keen!

I like your final choice for machine, it's an interesting conversion in terms of tones, and it works. I do think that the bicycle against the gate really has something too though. The contact sheet is a great idea.

Kudos for getting Alphabet together in the time available. I've seen a few of those and always fancied a crack myself, and yours is a nice set, the B&W works really weel in giving a sense of uniformity despite the very different subject matter in each individual shot.
 
Alphabet - I love this! I've tried a few times to see letters in things while I'm out but never had any luck, so well done you for finding them all :clap::clap:
 
Hi Ian,

Great idea for alphabet. I can see a lot of time and thought went into making this weeks photograph. The black and white conversion was definitely the right way to go, it's easier to make out the letters your have photographed.
 
Alphabet ... nice work. Yes B&W give it uniformity, but I like some of the tones in the originals.
 
ALPHABET - this works very well, and has definitely inspired me to do something similar in the future. (Even if that means using the idea to spell out the letters should a problematic theme crop up)
 
H Ian

Alphabet.....super idea eenv if it did take me while to see the word:rolleyes: \& well done for having the patience to hunt down all those images !

Machine.....can see loads of potential there with a slightly more obliging sky....as it stands I think you picked the best of the bunch,

Close.....different & interesting take on the theme....I loe it as it is with the phone included simpy fr the contrast between modern tech & traditional instrument but can see,as per iain's commenst that the guitar would make a great stand alone image....plenty of detail , beautifully sharp :clap:
 
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