Ian's 52: Week 21: Isolation (pg 12)

Harlequin565

Harlequin565

Suspended / Banned
Messages
8,684
Name
Ian
Edit My Images
No
Link to week 21 (page 12)

I've almost been losing sleep over whether I'll be able to manage this on a weekly basis. I had enough trouble with the Monthly competitions...!

But enough of that. I'm hoping this 52 will get me out with the camera a bit more, and more importantly, shooting with purpose.

I hope to comment on other people's 52's as well, although I'm not confident about passing critique on other people's work. If I don't like something, that doesn't neccessarily make it bad! Am hoping to learn how to critique with a bit more constructiveness (rather than just "good shot").

Lastly, I'm not setting myself any rules other than "try and follow the theme without using a crowbar". I'd like to shoot mono/duo-tone as I prefer that, and would also like to try and improve based on critique received.

Anyway. Curves... The Re-shoot!

4239683287_38b5919080_o.jpg


1 pair of pink Coral eggs (we keep chickens). They were the cleanest eggs I could find. They were set in blu-tack on the kitchen counter (black flecked formica) with a piece of black card for a background.
Originally shot for a bit of fun last year, I wasn't happy with it. It was shot in natural light and therefore with a wide aperture (f1.8 on the 50mm). Because of the wide aperture, the rear egg was out of focus, so with this reshoot, I closed the aperture to f10 in the hope of getting everything in the same depth of field.
Unfortunately, that required 1/8sec at ISO400 (blurred shot even with IS), so I rolled out the flash and stood it on the counter top held up by a couple of jam jars at around 45 degrees from the subject basically trying to add fill in light where the window was not enough.
First shot was whiteout city, so I lowered the flash to 1/8 power and dropped the ISO to 100. Shutter speed set to 1/250sec. I was fairly happy with the outcome in-camera, so the wife got the kitchen back and I went to do some PP.

First thoughts upon opening was that a crop was required to remove the blu-tack holding the eggs up :)
Closer inspection of the images revealed that these eggs are very different from my attempts last year. The Whitestar eggs from last year were pock-marked and very obviously textured, which I liked, but these Coral eggs are not so obviously textured.
So rather than keep the pinkess of the Coral eggs, I went for a B&W conversion.
PP in short (about 15 minutes spent):
Crop to remove blu-tack & make it look more like a bum :)
Small amount of diffusion
Added noise (I like noise in some images - an having to use the flash meant a high in-camera ISO)
Levels & curves adjustment to increase contrast
Silver toning

And that's that. I may come back and reshoot again with a pair of Whitestar eggs if I get a really tough subject later in the year.

Lessons learned:
- First proper use of off-camera flash and balancing exposure with flash power and ISO.
- I like the final result, although I'm wondering if the PP was a bit too much. Adding diffusion after going to all the trouble to get a sharp shot seems to defeat the object..:bonk:

Please feel free to comment and I'll do my best to take a look and comment on some more 52's.

Cheers!

Ian.
 
Last edited:
HA! very cheeky shot well executed. :thumbs:


Love the detailed walk through of your shot as well.
 
Last edited:
Hi Ian.
Well the 52 will certainly get you out with the camera, if that's what you're looking for!

A really clever interpretation of the theme for the first week, so I hope you stick with it. I'd like to see more from you.

Your efforts with the flash have really paid off, and personally I think you made a good choice with the smoother eggs. Nobody wants to see a pock-marked bum !!! :lol:
 
Great shot, great idea, great shape - wished mine looked like this LOL

God if this is the standard I have had it straight away!!!!
 
I like it too. Decent composition. I'd never have guessed they were eggs.
 
nice balance between subject and background :thumbs:
would like to see a touch more detail in the eggs - at least I think so
not a bad start to the year! :clap:
 
when I asked my hubby and my 5yr old boy what they though the pic was, my hubby said a bum and my lil lad said "don't be stupid dad it's 2 eggs".............I like the shot, it's fab!! :)
 
Crikey! Thanks for all the comments.

I'm hoping to try and document what I do with each shot for my own personal education, so I don't forget things.

Cheers all!

Ian.
 
Nell Gwynn... I like it, so much fun deciding what it *really* is means the "hook" for the pic is working perfectly - a great image well taken. All our eggs have straw and chicken poo on them...

Arthur
 
Ambermile said:
All our eggs have straw and chicken poo on them...

Arthur
Click to expand...

As do ours... I'm not even going close to the duck eggs. Quick rinse under the tap does the job though.

Thanks all for taking the time to visit and comment.

Ian.
 
Very good.

You do realise that you have to continue with the bum theme for the rest of the challenge now though don't you ? :lol:
 
Have to admit I wasnt too sure what I was looking at, I suppose the colour version would look even more ... how did someone put it "bummy" !!

Fits the theme very well.
 
great subject for the theme, I like this. Simple, to the point, fits the brief. Marvelous :D
 
Have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed by responses.

Thanks!

-Ian.
 
how did I miss this?.. first thought.. wow, thats a pert bottom there.. untill I read your explanation :)

great interpretation of the theme, nicely shot.. look forward to seeing more!
 
I had to do a double take on this one, Really like it and I'm sure with the right cropping it could look a lot more NSFW :lol:
 
Nicely done Ian, a good start to the 52 and definitely cheeky :naughty:
 
Like a lot of others, when I first scrolled down to the image I thought it was a bum too. Says a lot about the minds of certain individuals.

I think it's a well thought out shot. Well lit and good contrast against the background. The b&w conversion works well. The only negative is it looks a little soft to me, but that could be me being deceived by the smoothness and lack of texture of these eggs.

Good luck with the next 51.
 
How did you get a picture of my wife's backside, she won't even let me take that.

Nice image, bang on theme and handled really well!
 
I love it - such a clean image and great composition, spot on for the theme too. A great start :thumbs:
 
Week 2: Poetry

'Tis a grove-circled dwelling set close to a hill
Where the branches are telling strange legends of ill
Over timbers so old that they breathe of the dead
Crawl the vines, green and cold, by strange nourishment fed
-H.P. Lovecraft

4246289092_a37f639907_o.jpg

3 exposure HDR blended in Photomatix, then converted to black & white in PS.


Bit of a rush to get this one in and not the shot I wanted to capture the words, but hey ho. Will go through some other 52's tonight to leave comments. It's been a busy week!

Ian.
 
WOW!! Love this Ian. Shot and poem work perfectly together! Ethereal and serene.

Got try some of this HDR malarky sometime.......from what I have read it's like marmite and I think I like it!

Cheers, Rob
 
OK. Week 3. "Chopped".

Had a bit of a gruesome idea last night, and had a play around whilst I was cooking. It didn't really work out, but it was fun to see the look on #2 daughter's face when she saw it on the computer.

4285219199_1220652087_o.jpg


I really wanted to have a go at some proper composite type shots, so shot 1 was with the arm, shot 2 with the cleaver. All done on a tripod and triggered remotely.
Shuffled into PS, and both images opened one on top of the other. Then I masked out the cleaver around the arm.

This is why I failed terribly at Art even before O'level.

I didn't bother adding blood and such - mainly because it would have taken me too long, but also because I didn't want it looking too real. I'm not sure it's worth all the effort to be honest. Not my cup of tea.

Anyway in the end, I went for a wander down to Delamere today to see if there were any chopped trees. I found one. And this is my entry for week 3.

4285477617_a4a2531e10_o.jpg

1/50sec @ f7.1, ISO800

No cropping here, took the time to set up the shot I wanted.

PP:
B&W Conversion w/red filter.
Selectively masked the foreground and Glow'd and Blurred the background.
Noise added
Selective sharpening to the trunk
Dodged the stump to bring out the detail that was in the shadow.

Looking at the shot again, I think all I'd change is maybe closing the aperture a bit more (f8 or maybe f10) and upping the ISO, as noise seems to add to B&W conversions rather than take it away.

Ian.
 
Thats a good choice, I really like the detail in the tree (cant comment on the technicalities im to much of a novice) But I'm wondering what it would look like in colour :)
 
I do like your week 2 image - absolute corker you've got there, and the ethereal processing really makes it work with the poem. :clap:

Week 3, I was thinking about something along the lines of both of your images - so now I've got to change track :lol:
The one you've chosen - it's a good picture, but it doesn't really do much for me personally - I don't know why, there's nothing particularly 'wrong' with it IMHO but it's just not holding my interest. (Sorry :() - I believe if you had stuck with your original idea it would have produced a more interesting picture for me - and I like what you did with that one :)

Look forward to seeing your week 4 :D
 
Last edited:
The one you've chosen - it's a good picture, but it doesn't really do much for me personally - I don't know why, there's nothing particularly 'wrong' with it IMHO but it's just not holding my interest. (Sorry ) - I believe if you had stuck with your original idea it would have produced a more interesting picture for me - and I like what you did with that one
Click to expand...

You know what Nick - I completely agree. It's not a bad shot now that I look at it again, but it's not a good one either.

Thanks to everyone else for their comments.

Ian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top