Ian's Oktoberfest Challenge

Harlequin565

Harlequin565

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Ian
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Here we go then.

- 50mm prime
- Absolutely no cropping of the final image
- 3 images a week
- Comment on/crit at least three other fellow Oktoberfesters.

Ian.
 
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Im subscribing to your thread, as i use the same body as you and quite fancy the 50mm 1.4 prime..

Have a good time!
 
Oh crud... Someone's watching the thread...

: panic :

So today I went out to shoot some images for my "Social Documentary" project at college and ended up close to one of the factories in our town. It was a day out for the 10-20 to be honest, but the prime came with me.

I also bust my "questioned when out photographing" cherry and was caught on video camera. Turned out - when we got chatting - that he was there recording the smoke belching from the chimneys. I tried explaining that I was there to try and record (badly) the juxtaposition between folks holidaying along the canal, the lovely green fields and the abortion of nature that is the chemical works. He thought I was taking pictures of him. Oh well.

Anyway, the Lion Salt Works in Northwich would probably be an excellent photo opportunity if it wasn't all gated off, closed and guarded by deity knows what.

So, after taking my wide shots, I screwed on the 50 and had a look around. This is going to be hard work! On a crop frame, the 50 is more like 75mm so is quite "Long" in that sense.


Lion Salt Works by Harlequin565, on Flickr

- I'd crop out the broken bits of corrugated steel if I could, also would probably clone out the trees to the left.
- I was trying to get the lines and pattern in the shot more than anything else. To me - it's just a bit boring.

The second shot was of the Salt Works itself through the iron gate - the only access available - and straight into the morning sun.


Lion Salt Works II by Harlequin565, on Flickr

Not as bad as the other shot, and I'd probably go for a widescreen crop to remove the dead foreground.

Also suffered from flaring through the trees. Not a lot I could do about that apart from shoot from another angle - which would have been impossible.

Maybe I should stick to cats & chickens :)

Ian.
 
My kind of place!!!

That old carriage looks great, lots of images in that one subject matter!
 
Nicely done...
 
Right - the first two were rubbish. And as Yv said in her thread, "things can only get better".

This feller is an ornament my wife is very fond of. My daughter thinks it's creepy.


The Man In The Moon by Harlequin565, on Flickr

Shot at ISO 1000 and wide open at f1.4. No cropping, and the only pp was a touch of sharpening, noise reduction and White Balance.

Ian.
 
wow...i like it, see what your daughter means about creepy lol.good PoV and Dof excellent
 
Like the Ornament mate. He has a very sinister smile...
 
Hi Ian,

It is great to see you in this challenge.

I think you have made it very hard for yourself without any cropping. I agree that the first 2 would have been better with a bit of cropping and cloning out the wires. I love the texture on the first shot.

I love today's shot but I have to agree with your daughter. He is creepy.

Jenny
 
Lovely low key treatment......great dof.....
 
Beautiful sky tonight.


Red Sky (50mm) by Harlequin565, on Flickr

The wideangle looks better, but I did try and use the pole as a frame/for context. Not sure whether it worked. Taken at f8, ISO 800. Would have gone f11 if I could but I was already on shaky ground with the shutter speed.

Ian.
 
That sky looks incredible... I like the pole....Man made v nature... :-)
 
I love the colours in the last one
 
Wow that sky is just ...... Mad
 
Love that last shot...great colors :thumbs:
 
Ian, i think like Paulie's brolly..you've made use of some interesting yet simple lines... and the sky draws you past them...and those clouds :thumbs:
 
SamuelSlade007 said:
Ian, i think like Paulie's brolly..you've made use of some interesting yet simple lines... and the sky draws you past them...and those clouds :thumbs:
Click to expand...

i was thinking the same thing.. sky providing a great backdrop :thumbs:

of course Ian, neither of us were suggesting you had taken inspiration from Paulie's brolly :lol:
 
Cracking sky shot!
 
Thanks for all the replies/comments folks.

So week 2, and this weekend I was out shooting for my Social Documentary project for my A2. I must admit I'd hopelessly underestimated the volume of work required this year. The AS last year was relatively easy.

Aaaanyway...

These images are from Overleigh Cemetery in Chester. The short version is that this is a juxtaposition of the amount of money and care people invest in their loved ones who have departed against the lack of care/upkeep of older parts of the cemetery.

Anyone in the NW (near Chester) looking for somewhere very peaceful to have a wander round would do well to visit. The years of neglect (in the older sections) have left certain graves well off the beaten track in the undergrowth.

There's more on my Flickr, but these two were shot with the 50. Uncropped.


Little Wing by Harlequin565, on Flickr


Poor Rebecca by Harlequin565, on Flickr

The latter one is more about the inscription than anything else and the way (my) perception changes once you've read it. I've added the inscription in the comments on Flickr if anyone's interested.

Ian
 
I posted some statues a while ago.... Someone commented that all i had done was capture someone else's art....

It kinda stuck with me and I find it hard to be positive unless the photographer did something creative with it....
 
Little wing is Lovely, looks great in mono and DoF is super. Only thing is do is crop out or clone out the part of a cross in bottom left, adds nothing to image and is distracting to the overall image.
 
mipevo6 said:
I posted some statues a while ago.... Someone commented that all i had done was capture someone else's art....

It kinda stuck with me and I find it hard to be positive unless the photographer did something creative with it....
Click to expand...

Each to their own - however this rule could be applied to almost everything man made. Seems a little narrow minded on the part of whoever said that. However such is our right to disagree!

ShrubMonkey said:
Little wing is Lovely, looks great in mono and DoF is super. Only thing is do is crop out or clone out the part of a cross in bottom left, adds nothing to image and is distracting to the overall image.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with this, and had my "no crop rule" never materialised I would have chopped it off. Cloning it out feels as though it's not in the spirit of the challenge, but I do see what you mean.

Cheers all!

-Ian.
 
Nice lighting, I find the bright part in the bottom left of the top image distracting and would probably clone it out.
 
mipevo6 said:
I posted some statues a while ago.... Someone commented that all i had done was capture someone else's art....
Click to expand...

I don't really see the difference between taking pictures of statues and pictures of people or animals. :thinking: The important thing is how you interpret your subject.

I prefer the first statue image but agree with the comment about the cross on the left.

I feel the second may have been more effective if you had got in closer to the first headstone so that it was possible to read at least some of the inscription. At a slightly different angle, maybe you could have had the second headstone out of focus in the background.

Very moving inscription. People don't realise how lucky they are these days to have children with the expectation that they have a good chance of survival.

I missed last week's photo. I love the red sky and it would have been a lot less effective without the telegraph pole and wires!

Jenny
 
I like Little Wing a lot. well processed and composed.
 
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