John's 2010 52, Part 2, Week 52 @ the end - Together (Jan 1st)

I had even less time than normal over the last week... all my ideas were just not possible to even look at trying. In the end, I had a couple of minutes, a sleep cat and tried something... I tried to get that odd distortion effect of a wide angle (ish... 18mm) at minimum focus distance... Not sure it's come off quite how I wanted...

IMG_7408.jpg


I clipped her ear on the framing... the background of the carpet and stairs could have been better, but this was the best angle of a bad lot.
 
You have managed to convey distortion in the way you have made the cats head look bigger than her body. I think the background is fine as it doesnt distract in any way. Shame about the ear but at least you got a picture done in your busy life.Not many weeks left to do.
 
well done for getting one for this week. Nice looking cat.. just waiting to trip you up on the stairs! His head does look out of proportion to his body.
 
Catching up John:

Share: Yummy looking cake - shame I got here so late :D Prefer the edit. I like the light on the knife and the shot just looks a little crisper.

Faith: To me the first shot looks like a still from a old studio-shot hammer horror film. That's not a bad thing. It has the feeling that the statue will come to life at any moment.

The stained glass window is crying out for some proper treatment. Hope you get to go back with the DSLR.

Distortion: Certainly looks like the poor cat has a rather long nose. Shame about the ear as you say, but well done on getting the shot.
 
ladysue said:
You have managed to convey distortion in the way you have made the cats head look bigger than her body. I think the background is fine as it doesnt distract in any way. Shame about the ear but at least you got a picture done in your busy life.Not many weeks left to do.
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Thanks Sue, I wasn't sure it had come across as much as I'd hoped. Not long to go, I hope it gets a bit quieter around here though.

justlooking said:
well done for getting one for this week. Nice looking cat.. just waiting to trip you up on the stairs! His head does look out of proportion to his body.
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Thanks JL, she's taking to lying there as a trip hazard...

holryn said:
Catching up John:

Share: Yummy looking cake - shame I got here so late :D Prefer the edit. I like the light on the knife and the shot just looks a little crisper.

Faith: To me the first shot looks like a still from a old studio-shot hammer horror film. That's not a bad thing. It has the feeling that the statue will come to life at any moment.

The stained glass window is crying out for some proper treatment. Hope you get to go back with the DSLR.

Distortion: Certainly looks like the poor cat has a rather long nose. Shame about the ear as you say, but well done on getting the shot.
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Thanks Paul.
I think I need something a little in between on the cake... need to look into that I reckon...
It's a very odd looking statue, just wish I'd had more time than a couple of seconds, and a decent camera along that could handle the poor lighting. The windows are probably easier, as this was outside looking in...
 
I really like the cat shot - as other's have said the full ear would improve it, but it has a very 'immediate' feel by being so close-up.

Phil
 
Thanks Phil, I've been meaning to try something like this with the wide end of the 18-55 for a while now.. I think a bigger subject would make the effect even more pronounced...
 
Awww - gorgeous cat! Apart from the clipped ear you have captured excellent detail. Did s/he try to lick the lens? That would have given you even more distortion :D.
 
Catch-up time for me, John. :)

Wk 41 Distant: I always love your starry shots (and your sunny ones!) and this is no exception. As always, I'm in awe of your talent and knowledge - and I bet your 'Distant' shot was more distant than anybody else's. :clap:

Wk 42 Secret: #1 A simple idea, but I really like it. Yes, I agree it's better without the words. Have you opened it yet? :) #2 What lovely light - very atmospheric and bang on theme for my money. :thumbs:

Wk 42 Urban: #1 I can see what you were aiming for, but I think it would look more complete and 'urban' with more of the houses showing, say the upstairs windows. That would make the lamp post more 'connected' too. I think it would work well in b&w. #2 An interesting building, but I think it would be more 'urban' if there were other buildings included in the shot. Not sure. But a huge 'well done' on getting one shot posted, let alone two! :)

Wk 44 Train: Lovely idea for the theme, but like Sarah, I wouldn't have known it was a Megatron! You've still done well to keep on top of this when you're so busy. :)

Wk 45 Share: I haven't shot my Share yet - but it was going to be similar to this (sorry!). However, that cake looks far too scrummy to share. I'm drooling too much to be objective. :)

Wk 46 Faith: Both good shots for the theme - and I look forward to seeing these shots again when you go back with your DSLR. I do think you're being a bit hard on yourself - and your P&S! That stained glass window is glorious. :)

Wk47 Distortion: I think this works well as a distorted image. I never thought of using a wide angle lens for this theme! :bang: And your cat looks suitably disdainful, which is what cats do so well. :thumbs:

I sounds as though your life is really hectic, John, and I think it's brilliant that you are finding time to post every week. Not long to go now - so keep it up! :thumbs: :)

Jean
 
Tracer said:
Awww - gorgeous cat! Apart from the clipped ear you have captured excellent detail. Did s/he try to lick the lens? That would have given you even more distortion :
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Thanks Tracer, she didn't, but I don't think she was too impressed with me ;)

jeangenie said:
Catch-up time for me, John. :)

Wk 41 Distant: I always love your starry shots (and your sunny ones!) and this is no exception. As always, I'm in awe of your talent and knowledge - and I bet your 'Distant' shot was more distant than anybody else's.

Wk 42 Secret: #1 A simple idea, but I really like it. Yes, I agree it's better without the words. Have you opened it yet? :) #2 What lovely light - very atmospheric and bang on theme for my money. :thumbs:

Wk 42 Urban: #1 I can see what you were aiming for, but I think it would look more complete and 'urban' with more of the houses showing, say the upstairs windows. That would make the lamp post more 'connected' too. I think it would work well in b&w. #2 An interesting building, but I think it would be more 'urban' if there were other buildings included in the shot. Not sure. But a huge 'well done' on getting one shot posted, let alone two! :)

Wk 44 Train: Lovely idea for the theme, but like Sarah, I wouldn't have known it was a Megatron! You've still done well to keep on top of this when you're so busy. :)

Wk 45 Share: I haven't shot my Share yet - but it was going to be similar to this (sorry!). However, that cake looks far too scrummy to share. I'm drooling too much to be objective. :)

Wk 46 Faith: Both good shots for the theme - and I look forward to seeing these shots again when you go back with your DSLR. I do think you're being a bit hard on yourself - and your P&S! That stained glass window is glorious. :)

Wk47 Distortion: I think this works well as a distorted image. I never thought of using a wide angle lens for this theme! :bang: And your cat looks suitably disdainful, which is what cats do so well. :thumbs:

I sounds as though your life is really hectic, John, and I think it's brilliant that you are finding time to post every week. Not long to go now - so keep it up! :thumbs: :)

Jean
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Thanks very much for all the comments Jean, it's a but mad (a lot) at the mo.. hopefully get better soon.
 
What to do... been too busy and mad, and had not time to even think about the theme, let along shoot something. Then an idea popped into my head early this morning, so a few minutes, a quick grab shot and here we have it...


Where does the lead, lead to

IMG_7478.jpg


Time... oh for some time, still, I didn't want to fall too far behind and managed to get something up.
 
It fits the theme and I like the spiral pattern you have made. I'm not sure about the burnt out top right corner which I find draws my eye out of the picture. Also the background looks a bit muddy - maybe you could lift it in Levels?

However you obviously don't have much time at the moment - well done for getting something up in spite of your frantic life.
 
Thanks Tracer, you're right, hows this ? Any better ?

IMG_74781.jpg
 
Your edit gets my thumbs up John. A simple but effective photograph. Iain
 
Much better, John :thumbs:. Sorry if it meant spending more valuable time on it but definitely worth it, I think.
 
Thanks Iain.

No worries Tracer, I had the day off yesterday, and spent some time just for me... well worth it too... Been playing with the Nifty... tricky little devil but oh boy... makes you think. I took a few minutes to adjust this whilst finishing off the shots from the wander. Thanks.
 
Hi John, I'm sorry I am way behind again.

Share: I love this one. It actually had me drooling :thumbs: Great take on the theme and I really like the composition. I think I prefer the first because there is more definition against the background.

Faith: These were both good ideas and you should certainly revisit. The stained glass windows are gorgeous and with the right set up would make a beautiful photo.

Distortion: Another good idea and well executed. I would never have thought of the distortion caused by the wide angle. Lovely cat but pity about the ear.

Lead: Well, it's a lead and fits the theme perfectly! I much prefer the tweaked version.

Hope your life calms down a bit soon. I feel like a hamster on a wheel most of the time and I suspect you do too. Well the 52 is nearly over, so keep going!

Jenny
 
Thanks for the comments Jenny... Hamster wheel... check.. sounds familiar... Yes it's nearly over, but ...

Thanks Jean
 
Well... talk about designed for me... Now... what to do, the weather has been so bad, or my back has hurt on the 2 clear nights since the beginning of October I've not got the setup out. However, it was clear last night, and I went for it. This is actually the first part of a little project I plan on doing... when I work out how to put it together that is..

450d, nifty fifty @f/5, Astronomik CLS Light Pollution filter (in body) with a camping mat dew shield (needed it too), mounted piggy back, and just left to track, I couldn't be bothered setting up all the bits needed for guiding...

2 hours 5 minutes (25 x 5 minutes), ISO800, 10 darks

This is the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. The red patches are infrared emission nebula, and there are three open star clusters, M36, M37 and M38, running up from the bottom centre to about the middle.

auriga.jpg
 
Space is fascinating although I'm a little baffled by the technical details. The lead shot is a strong graphic composition once the background was sorted.

Phil
 
LEAD: the edit is def improvement, it looks cleaner and the black really works - i like that you made a simple item into an interesting one.

SPACE: the final frontier... again great work with this - i am not worty to critic this in the slightest, so i wont, but i will say great shot and nice work.
 
philthejuggler said:
Space is fascinating although I'm a little baffled by the technical details. The lead shot is a strong graphic composition once the background was sorted.

Phil
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Thanks very much Phil. Astrophotography is a very technical discipline and a lot of patience and effort is required to get it right. There's a fine balance between maximising exposure time per shot and not losing all the detail to sky glow. If setup right, I can actually expose a single image for the entire night (based on my tests) but then I'd lose it to a passing plane... One of the shots in the middle of the stack has a plane passing through it, but the statistical processing during stacking remove it as it only appears in that one frame and not the others.

I knew I was gonna end up with just a cable, and tried to get the cable into a Phi spiral.

jeangenie said:
I'm so glad you had a chance to do justice to this topic, John. Just imagine if the weather had been too cloudy to get the ultimate Space shot.

As always, I'm in awe of the technicalities involved, but the end result is well worth it. :thumbs:

Jean
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Thanks very much Jean. I managed two clear nights in the end, first in over 2 months... this hobby is very frustrating.

dade_f said:
LEAD: the edit is def improvement, it looks cleaner and the black really works - i like that you made a simple item into an interesting one.

SPACE: the final frontier... again great work with this - i am not worty to critic this in the slightest, so i wont, but i will say great shot and nice work.
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Thanks very much Dade.

swag72 said:
Liking that last shot John. Just trying to idenify Auriga - Is that Capella top left? I look forward to any developments.
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Thanks Sara, Capella is the bright star in the upper left. Constellations, that you can normally easily see, have a habit of vanishing into the huge number of stars out there in our own galaxy when you start going really deep like this.
 
Space: great shot, can stare at it for ages. I don't have a clue on the technical side of taking such a shot but it I like the result!
 
justlooking said:
Space: great shot, can stare at it for ages. I don't have a clue on the technical side of taking such a shot but it I like the result!
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Thanks JL, It's taken a lot of patience and practice to get to this stage, but it was worth it. Now if only I could afford a cooled CCD astrocam... *sigh*

jennyb said:
Hi John, this theme was made for you. Maybe you slipped Simon a fiver to make sure it came out of the hat :lol:

I can't pretend to understand any of this but it is a very clever shot :clap::clap::clap:

Jenny
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thanks Jenny.. damn.. don't tell everyone :lol:...
 
I was hoping for something like this from you, John, and you haven't disappointed me. Fantastic! I'm so pleased the weather was kind for you.
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:
I knew you'd come up with something brilliant for space and I'm not disappointed. This theme was absolutely made for you!
Absolutely stunning as always, although like Phil most of the technicalities have just flown straight over the top of my head :D

Lead : Second version with the pure white b/g is far better than the original. A very simple shot, but effective nonetheless.

Distortion : Not too sure about this one :thinking:
The distortion is definitely there. It's lovely and sharp on her eyes where it should be and while not ideal, the background certainly isn't distracting. There's just something that isn't quite working for me and I can't put my finger on what it is.
 
Tracer said:
I was hoping for something like this from you, John, and you haven't disappointed me. Fantastic! I'm so pleased the weather was kind for you.
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Thanks Tracer, glad you like ;)

SarahLee said:
:clap: :clap: :clap:
I knew you'd come up with something brilliant for space and I'm not disappointed. This theme was absolutely made for you!
Absolutely stunning as always, although like Phil most of the technicalities have just flown straight over the top of my head :D

Lead : Second version with the pure white b/g is far better than the original. A very simple shot, but effective nonetheless.

Distortion : Not too sure about this one :thinking:
The distortion is definitely there. It's lovely and sharp on her eyes where it should be and while not ideal, the background certainly isn't distracting. There's just something that isn't quite working for me and I can't put my finger on what it is.
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Thanks Sarah ;) it's the technical nature of Astro that appeals (as well as the results)... The creative side isn't as important at capture time ;)...

Glad the effect of lead came across... I really need to do something with my Mac monitor... Even with shades it's way to bright and it's only when I look at the posts on my lappy do I really see how everyone else sees them...

I don't think distortion shows enough of something... I know what you mean and agree with you... I think if she'd been standing up and stretching up to look or something like that it would have worked better. But she's a cat, and she only does things when she wants... :D
 
And it's close to the end too ;)...

Anyway... I knew what I was gonna go for almost straight away...

In the Blink of the Eye

IMG_7634.jpg


Shot with the 55-250, Raynox on one end, at 250mm, minimum focus distance, ebay tubes on the other... Lens stopped to f/32, so I had to use a bright torch to light up the needle to check focus, which I have to say was a real *****.... shot with natural light.

that is Red cotton, through the eye of a needle, which was about 0.5mm across. I really struggled to actually thread the damn thing, even with my glasses on.
 
Lol, the story that accompanies this shot is great, I can imagine you setting it up ;)
Wonderful close up image, really like the stray strands of cotton. If i was to say anything maybe the chance to whiten the background a tad or maybe push it to a hi-key given the red strand would 'pop'?!

eitherway great stuff ;)
 
I love it, John :clap::clap::clap:

I used to laugh at my Mum when she could not see to thread a needle. Now, it's my turn. I find it almost impossible.

I have never thought of using my Raynox on a longer lens. I always use it on my 60mm macro lens. I must give it a go on my 70-300mm.

You really have done well with this one. Bang on theme and I love the compostion and colours and you have an amazing amount of DOF.

Jenny
 
Wow! Love the detail on the needle shot - it is one of those rare macro images that actually has an interesting composition and colour balance as well as being full of interesting detail.

Phil
 
dade_f said:
Lol, the story that accompanies this shot is great, I can imagine you setting it up ;)
Wonderful close up image, really like the stray strands of cotton. If i was to say anything maybe the chance to whiten the background a tad or maybe push it to a hi-key given the red strand would 'pop'?!

eitherway great stuff ;)
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Cheers Dade, I've tried pushing it like that, but I always get a problem with the reds, not matter what I do with it... I may just have to reshoot it ;). I was amazed at the number of stray strands given how smooth the thread looks.

jennyb said:
I love it, John :clap::clap::clap:

I used to laugh at my Mum when she could not see to thread a needle. Now, it's my turn. I find it almost impossible.

I have never thought of using my Raynox on a longer lens. I always use it on my 60mm macro lens. I must give it a go on my 70-300mm.

You really have done well with this one. Bang on theme and I love the compostion and colours and you have an amazing amount of DOF.

Jenny
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Thanks Jenny, I used to be the same, never had a problem threading needles. Now... I struggle to see the end of the cotton...

I don't have a macro lens, but the telephoto with raynox make a reasonable substitute ;)

philthejuggler said:
Wow! Love the detail on the needle shot - it is one of those rare macro images that actually has an interesting composition and colour balance as well as being full of interesting detail.

Phil
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Thanks very much Phil, it's true what they say about using a tripod, you take longer and think more about the end result. I also used liveview to help sort the comp and focus (which was by far and away the hardest part of this image).
 
Is there a conspiracy afoot John?? You get Distant as a theme then Space. Obviously geared towards you :nono: hahaha

Lead: The edit is good. Much prefer the white background.

Space: Another superb shot. I dont pretend tyo understand how you've done this, but I'd love to be able to see scenes like this. Sadly I live too close to London to get enough darkness.

Close: Great macro, The cotton almost looks like nylon rope this close. Agree with Dade, would like to see a whiter background.
 
:D... Not that I know of Paul... but I'm not gonna argue ;)...

Thanks very much for the comments... I'll see what I can do with the background... I can probably lighten it further...
 
Close - I like bright colour of the thread against the plain background and also all those little bits sticking out .. I had no idea thread was so rough
 
A great macro photograph John, pin sharp (pun intended ;)). The bold colour of the thread and composition make for a strong image. Bang on theme too, all round :thumbs: from me. Iain
 
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