John's Photo 52 PtII - Week 52 (28th Dec) - Texture

Wow I hadn't realised how far behind I'd fallen with your thread, very sorry.:shake:

Bubbles, the shot you've chosen works well for me, well composed and taken

Low Down, an amusing shot and more than just a fill imho

Doom & Gloom, again a well thought out and executed (scuse the pun) shot.

Communication, for me nearly there but not quite, this was a much tougher theme than I gave it credit for.

Sorry to hear you are struggling with your photography, it's still looking pretty good to me. Stick with it the inspiration and time for it will return.

Mark:thumbs:
 
John, I pop into this thread from time to time and enjoy the shots and interpretation you use. I am sad to hear that you are even having a small thought about selling your photography and astronomy stuff - You are an inspiration in so many areas, Don't give up and stick with it :thumbs:
 
Great take on theme but lacking a little in composition. Well Done :clap:
 
Thanks all... I'm not going to give up and sell up... as you say Jean, I'd regret it...

Sarah and Conor, it's not the 52's, that's about the only reason I'm using the camera at the moment...

Thanks for the catch up Mark, apart from a little more space on the left, and perhaps a little more DOF, what else would you suggest for Communication.

Thanks Jon, same question for you...

Thanks for the comments Sara...

I should probably clarify a bit...

[Rant]My Astro gear has not been used thanks to this awful run of weather we've been having for more than 3 weeks, and I thought the summer was bad, this should be the best time of the year... long dark nights... It's driving me nuts... In the case of my photography... the family are demanding I take "snapshots" and not take the shots how I think they need to be to look right, then demanding that the snapshot I'd taken isn't what they want anyway and want that creative long exposure with a burst of 2nd curtain flash :bang: (I can't find a tearing your hair out smiley)... oh and any time spent processing the RAW's is wrong too... they are wanted as they come out the camera.. :bang::bang::bang:, none of them want to have photo's taken of themselves, even for the family album [/Rant]

On the plus side, I've been asked to go shoot the local AmDram companies next production (it's in March...phew so I've got some time) so I'd better go get reading that thread on shooting theatre.... This has made things feel better, of course, I'm not sure a 450d is going to be up to the job, based on some of the things I read saying ISO starts at 1600... but we shall see.
 
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Wow John I've neglected your thread - so sorry!!!! I seem to be playing catch up all the time!

Passion: I love these flowers - and you've done it justice and the addition of the bee just makes it :)

Water: Beautiful Macro - it almost, on first glance , look like an insect head - well captured and great dof in use there

Out of context: The second church attempt wins for me and it fits the theme nicely - I'm always fascinated by old architecture in the midst of new stuff and this one captures it nicely...I like to think that the new stuff is out of context rather than the church :)

Bubbles. - hard one this and a good attempt :) I like the idea of using fizzy water - pre made bubbles :)

Lowdown: I refute your 'snap' comment - if you had to get that low down to frame and shoot a shot its not a 'snap' :) I like it lots! The detail and simplicity of the shot manke it and for the theme its spot on

Doom and Gloom: Poor monkeh (no wonder mines gone missing :() Well constructed and funny shot (although the knife makes me wince - I wonder why ;))

Communication: Simple sharp well lit and on theme :) Nice one!

And do not - do not - do not consider getting rid of any gear!!!!!!

Stick with it John - your shots are a joy :)

And once again my sincere apologies to you for the neglect of this thread!!!

No idea why I kept missing it :(
 
Thanks very much John

I just need to find some time to make some me time in... that's so hard... much harder than some of these 52 themes at the moment... ;) I'm not going to get rid of any of it.

Just to clarify... in Doom and Gloom... it's not a knife... it's way bigger than that... (but I understand the wince...) I cut myself on this in training once... didn't hurt but didn't half bleed, and it wouldn't hold an edge even if you tried...
 
Yes you should give up...:lol:

only joking...:D

you have had some excellent weeks on these 52s, and like all of us at sometime struggle with the theme...but we can all see the finish line now mate, so you hang in there...:bat:

and this weeks shot is a very good one from you, so well done buddy...:thumbs:
 
Gee thanks Marcus :lol:

I'm not giving up... so there... bad luck ;)...

Thanks Marcus
 
Thanks Jeff.. After I posted it up, it occurred to me it might be a little tight, particularly on the left. As for giving up, it wasn't just the 52's...
 
Cheers Ruth, not exactly new, I'll grant you, well used in fact... but... it was the concept I was after... A new phone isn't on the cards at the moment...
 
I've been thinking for quite a while about this one, and decided that rather than just a self portrait, I ought to show a couple of other things about myself in the image. My first few attempts didn't come out how I wanted, a bit of movement in my hands, with me captured sharply with 2nd curtain flash... must be doing something wrong, or I don't have enough control on my flash...

Anyway... I ended up with just going for flash. I tilted my Jessops flash up, and then taped my AP reflector to it with a bit of masking tape to prevent too much light loss. I'm not sure I got what I was after, but the shadows could have been so much harder... More space to work in would have helped, then I could have got further away from the wall.. camera further from me etc etc...

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Only 6 more weeks to go
 
Well, couldn't be any more bang on theme :thumbs:. Really good shot too, I like the fact you pulled more than just a self portrait into this, and added in other bits like music, and the fact you are potentially a queen fan (like myself!). :clap:
 
Cheers Conor... I wanted to try and convey a sense of my musical tastes and I think that sums it up quite nicely. I also love the tone that my flute has, just wish I had more opportunity to play it.
 
Nice one John and nice to see you :)

Flash work I always find really hard and, apart from the shadow which you mention, you have got a really nice even light here!

Good self portrait :clap:

So now tell us...which Queen song are you playing there :)?
 
Probably the most on-theme shot that I've seen so far. Not just you, but the things you like doing too - two for the price of one!

This whole flash thing is still a mystery to me, so I'm always impressed with the shots where you put this amount of effort into the lighting.
The shadows actually look pretty good to me :thumbs:

And I can't fault any pic with Queen in it :thumbs: :clap: :clap:
 
jgs001 said:
I should probably clarify a bit...

[Rant]My Astro gear has not been used thanks to this awful run of weather we've been having for more than 3 weeks, and I thought the summer was bad, this should be the best time of the year... long dark nights... It's driving me nuts... In the case of my photography... the family are demanding I take "snapshots" and not take the shots how I think they need to be to look right, then demanding that the snapshot I'd taken isn't what they want anyway and want that creative long exposure with a burst of 2nd curtain flash :bang: (I can't find a tearing your hair out smiley)... oh and any time spent processing the RAW's is wrong too... they are wanted as they come out the camera.. :bang::bang::bang:, none of them want to have photo's taken of themselves, even for the family album [/Rant]

On the plus side, I've been asked to go shoot the local AmDram companies next production (it's in March...phew so I've got some time) so I'd better go get reading that thread on shooting theatre.... This has made things feel better, of course, I'm not sure a 450d is going to be up to the job, based on some of the things I read saying ISO starts at 1600... but we shall see.
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Just catching up on your thread, John. Aren't families all the same - they just don't understand the creative urge! In our family, we all end up taking photos of each other taking photos because nobody wants to put their camera down! So nobody gets anything decent. :lol:

The AmDram shoot will be great - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've not done enough theatre work to be of help, except to say that the final dress rehearsal is a good opportunity to get good coverage of the whole production. Sorry, that's a bit obvious! :bonk:

Week 46 Self: This is one time when I wish still photos had sound tracks! I'd love to hear what you're playing. If it's Queen, it can't be bad. :thumbs:

Well done on a good composition. The lighting looks pretty good to me, and I actually like the shadow of the flute on the wall. I agree with Sarah - two for the price of one - you and your music. :clap::clap::clap:

Jean
 
I like this, as has been mentioned the only thing to mention is the shadow, just need to move yourself further away from the wall, its very nicely lit, good detail and sharpness to the shot as well.
 
A lovely self portrait showing you pursuing a great hobby. You've managed the lighting pretty well and the pose is great, showing the concentration needed to play an instrument. I really like it :thumbs:
 
Dark Star said:
Nice one John and nice to see you

Flash work I always find really hard and, apart from the shadow which you mention, you have got a really nice even light here!

Good self portrait

So now tell us...which Queen song are you playing there ?
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Cheers John. I agree about flash work, especially when you have no control (except exposure comp) on the flash itself...

It was "Who Wants to Live Forever"... I have no clue how Freddie ever sang that... it's hard enough to get to the top notes on the flute (well it is for me anyway...;))

SarahLee said:
Probably the most on-theme shot that I've seen so far. Not just you, but the things you like doing too - two for the price of one!

This whole flash thing is still a mystery to me, so I'm always impressed with the shots where you put this amount of effort into the lighting.
The shadows actually look pretty good to me

And I can't fault any pic with Queen in it
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Thanks Sarah.. I'm still trying to suss it out. It's going to be a whole new learning experience when I get a flash with controls on it...

kennysarmy said:
nice sharp - well lit - good pose...

just one niggle being the book cut off....

good work though...
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Cheers Jeff... I know what you mean about the book.

jeangenie said:
Just catching up on your thread, John. Aren't families all the same - they just don't understand the creative urge! In our family, we all end up taking photos of each other taking photos because nobody wants to put their camera down! So nobody gets anything decent.

The AmDram shoot will be great - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've not done enough theatre work to be of help, except to say that the final dress rehearsal is a good opportunity to get good coverage of the whole production. Sorry, that's a bit obvious!

Week 46 Self: This is one time when I wish still photos had sound tracks! I'd love to hear what you're playing. If it's Queen, it can't be bad.

Well done on a good composition. The lighting looks pretty good to me, and I actually like the shadow of the flute on the wall. I agree with Sarah - two for the price of one - you and your music.

Jean
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Thanks Jean. Oh... that would be nice... at least I wouldn't get the rubbish I get now, with hands put up in front of faces etc... :bang: I've read through the theatre thread. I'm not sure how much of a good job I'll do on the theatre stuff, a whole new area for me, but whatever I get will be 100% more than they normally get...

Thanks Jean... I'll see what I can do about recording it for you.. although I'm rather out of practise so it may not be as good as it should be...

antc said:
I like this, as has been mentioned the only thing to mention is the shadow, just need to move yourself further away from the wall, its very nicely lit, good detail and sharpness to the shot as well.
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Thanks Ant. This is gonna sound like an excuse (and it probably is ;)). I'm limited in what walls I can use, really, this one... I had me on one side of the room, and the camera on the other... The Nifty Fifty has too narrow a FOV. Whilst I could (if I moved a heavy wooden table, not that I have anywhere I could actually move it too ;)) move away from the wall, I'd be getting into the short end of the kit lens, and then you'd see all the other stuff that's around there (kids instruments etc)...

Tracer said:
A lovely self portrait showing you pursuing a great hobby. You've managed the lighting pretty well and the pose is great, showing the concentration needed to play an instrument. I really like it
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Thanks Tracer. I had to shoot several to try and get my eyes to show. Looking at the music and focusing on it, looks like my eyes are shut ;)
 
Great self portrait... works so well with the whole set up...

I think the lighting is spot on, excellent stuff and Queen is the icing on the cake...:clap::clap::clap:
 
Thanks very much Marcus :thumbs:
 
Apologies I'm so behind...

Low Down - the focus is bang on but I do agree that a pair of legs would have added more interest.

Doom & Gloom - Great to see a shot that made me chuckle for this theme! Top marks for creativity :thumbs:

Communication - Well it couldn't be more on theme if it tried and I like the lighting. It's not your most inspired idea but pleeeease don't sell your kit. Give it to me instead! Only joking - I get what you are saying about the family being a bit demanding. Maybe you should take yourself off for a day out taking shots of something you want to... and processing them how you want to when you get home. Wack a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and really immerse yourself in something you find fun and rewarding for a change.

Self - Love the idea of showing a bit more of you than just a run of the mill portrait (that could sound wrong couldn't it... I mean your interests rather than more of you in the flesh IYSWIM!). Flash is a complete mystery to me at the moment - but I can see that you have controlled the shadow somewhat and otherwise the light looks even to me :thumbs:
 
ok i have to admit that my first thought was you can play queen on the flute?

great shot though :thumbs:
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Apologies I'm so behind...

Low Down - the focus is bang on but I do agree that a pair of legs would have added more interest.

Doom & Gloom - Great to see a shot that made me chuckle for this theme! Top marks for creativity :thumbs:

Communication - Well it couldn't be more on theme if it tried and I like the lighting. It's not your most inspired idea but pleeeease don't sell your kit. Give it to me instead! Only joking - I get what you are saying about the family being a bit demanding. Maybe you should take yourself off for a day out taking shots of something you want to... and processing them how you want to when you get home. Wack a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and really immerse yourself in something you find fun and rewarding for a change.

Self - Love the idea of showing a bit more of you than just a run of the mill portrait (that could sound wrong couldn't it... I mean your interests rather than more of you in the flesh IYSWIM!). Flash is a complete mystery to me at the moment - but I can see that you have controlled the shadow somewhat and otherwise the light looks even to me :thumbs:
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Thanks Fi. I think you may be right on the day out, just finding the time, I need to book something up. I'm not selling or donating ;) just a week of frustration following several other weeks (sorry about that). As for Self, I do see what you mean ;)...

Hisquar09 said:
Ill send one in Does it matter if I enter a paramore wallpaper I made a while ago or does it have to be one made specifically for this contest?
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These challenges are entirely up to you, it's not a contest as such. We are all doing them to try and improve out photography. Start a thread in the 52's section and it's up to you what you shoot and post each week. Simontalm posts a theme, and you're more than welcome to shoot for that if you want (although I don't know if his themes are going to continue into the new year).

Toothie said:
ok i have to admit that my first thought was you can play queen on the flute?

great shot though :thumbs:
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Thanks Ruth. Yep, you sure can, my flute (4 octave range, although I can't play that many, only about 2.5) has a range to match Freddie... I certainly don't with my voice... And some of the Queen melodies are such a good match for the haunting tones of the flute. I've even played Born to Run on it... (I can't do classical stuff though ;)).
 
I agree that it's good to see more of you than just a self portrait, (something I failed to consider). I agree about losing the bottom of the book in the frame, but it's a minor niggle.
 
Cheers Mark
 
And for once I have been ;). I sort of knew roughly what I was going to do, but it came down to a choice of two things... the camera bag, ready and loaded, organised for an outing, or this. Given that taking a shot of the inside of the camera bag is tough, my bridge camera wasn't up to the job, and it's not exactly organised with the camera out... I went with this...

IMG_9642.jpg


I think I should have opened the lens up a little more to knock the rear books slightly oof too but.. hey... There's also more than one organised in here, and I don't mean the fact I got it done early :D....

It's not really up to scratch, but it's been another mad week and isn't going to change between now and Monday, and I didn't really need to borrow Conor's crowbar ;)
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:
I'm glad that you went with this instead of the camera bag. I like this a lot.

Bang on theme, great colours and set up really, really well. If it was me I would have just lined the books up in a straight line, but that curve works so much better.

I disagree with the rear books looking better a bit more oof too - looks great to me just the way it is :thumbs:

I want to give it a tiny rotation to the left though, just so that the books that are in focus are straight. I know that might knock the book on the far left out of alignment but as that's not the main focal point it wouldn't bother me quite as much.
 
I really like the curve and the way the numbers are lined up - very clever. If I was going to change anything about the DOF it would be to have #1 sharp and the focus tailing off for the later books. I do like it as it is though - lovely colours :thumbs:
 
I really like this. It's almost an optical illusion you've created there! I couldn't quite work out how you did this for a while! :lol:
 
Great colours, great idea and the perspective messes with my head :D

Very nice indeed! :clap:
 
Oooh - that's clever, John. It could so easily have been a boring straightforward photo of book spines - but it's not! I love the use of dof with the focus on book #8 - the colour of the number 8 leaps out of the page - and they're certainly Organised. In fact the #3 caught my eye first, then the #8 followed by the #12. Eyes neatly and effortlessly carried across the frame! :thumbs:

The titles are intriguing as well - and the series of unfortunate events seems to get bigger and bigger. And I've just spotted the alliteration in the titles, too. I've lost count of how many 'organised-s' there are!

That's a deceptively simple shot with lots to see in it. :clap::clap::clap:

Jean
 
SarahLee said:
:clap:
I'm glad that you went with this instead of the camera bag. I like this a lot.

Bang on theme, great colours and set up really, really well. If it was me I would have just lined the books up in a straight line, but that curve works so much better.

I disagree with the rear books looking better a bit more oof too - looks great to me just the way it is :thumbs:

I want to give it a tiny rotation to the left though, just so that the books that are in focus are straight. I know that might knock the book on the far left out of alignment but as that's not the main focal point it wouldn't bother me quite as much.
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Thanks Sarah. I took far more shots of the camera bag than I did of this, and you know, none of them were any good. The straight line did occur to me, but the curve was a deliberate attempt to try and cut out collateral stuff. It worked far better than I expected when I thought it through. I'll look at the angles... I know how it happened... It's how the books were leaning ;)

Daysleeper40 said:
I really like the curve and the way the numbers are lined up - very clever. If I was going to change anything about the DOF it would be to have #1 sharp and the focus tailing off for the later books. I do like it as it is though - lovely colours :thumbs:
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Thanks Fi

karmagarda said:
I really like this. It's almost an optical illusion you've created there! I couldn't quite work out how you did this for a while! :lol:
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Cheers Conor

Dark Star said:
Great colours, great idea and the perspective messes with my head :D

Very nice indeed! :clap:
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Cheers John

jeangenie said:
Oooh - that's clever, John. It could so easily have been a boring straightforward photo of book spines - but it's not! I love the use of dof with the focus on book #8 - the colour of the number 8 leaps out of the page - and they're certainly Organised. In fact the #3 caught my eye first, then the #8 followed by the #12. Eyes neatly and effortlessly carried across the frame! :thumbs:

The titles are intriguing as well - and the series of unfortunate events seems to get bigger and bigger. And I've just spotted the alliteration in the titles, too. I've lost count of how many 'organised-s' there are!

That's a deceptively simple shot with lots to see in it. :clap:

Jean
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Thanks Jean, it very nearly was... That had been my first thought on this. But as I said to Sarah, I aligned the books like this to make sure I could easily cut out the surroundings, I also liked the flowing curve it created. I had to hunt for number 5, and that was what took the most time with getting this shot (Finding the damn book ;))
 
What a cracking shot...John...:clap::clap::clap:

It could have been a very boring shot, but with good use of DOF work, it's a brilliant shot....:thumbs:

I love it...:love:
 
Thanks very much Marcus :thumbs:
 
I very much like the colours and the way the books seem to sweep round - very nice! :thumbs:
 
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