John's Photo 52 - Week 27 Added (10th July) - Highlight

jgs001

jgs001

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I'm really not 100% about this, but after trying various things all week, seeing some of my ideas implemented in better ways by others. I settled on trying something that I hopes a bit different, I just don't seem to be able to quite get the processing quite right on the image, and I've been trying for ages now.

reflection2-1.jpg


I single candle, reflected. I took 2 shots, one lit, one unlit, and used layers to combine them so you get the effect of one lit and one not. Not 100% reflection I admit, but close.

Having seen others posts, there lessons, I have to agree..

1) Focus is really hard

2) Balancing mirrors to try a multiple reflection image is hard

3) Keeping anything else out of the reflection is nigh on impossible, if I got me out of the frame, there was always something, be it a tripod leg, the camera or something innocuous

4) It doesn't matter how much you clean a mirror, when it's used in a photo it looks dusty :bang:

Anyway, I hope you like it.
 
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Thanks Jean. It was lit with a normal lamp to the right of the camera, and of course, the candle in the second shot that was overlaid. I wanted to try and keep the image as simple as possible.

Yep, only another 51.... good luck for this coming week
 
I like it too :clap:, much better than my attempt at candles :thumbs: And I learned all the same things!

Good luck with the next 51
 
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Clever idea, and I like your thinking however, from what I can see there's no clear indication that this is a reflection and if there was something to demonstrate that this is a reflection the photo would be stunning (words or a complex pattern on the candle holder, or candle perhaps??)

I am thinking I must try some photos using multiple mirrors to find out just how hard it is
 
Thank you both. Simon, you're right. Hmmm. I may take do that one again and provide something that will prove it.
 
Very effective. you've put a nice twist on the theme with the second candle out. :clap:
 
Thanks. It's actually the same candle in a mirror. I took two shots of the same scene, one lit, one unlit then merged the two so that only the one candle was lit up. It may have shown better if I'd included some of the mirror frame in the shot...
 
Nice effort, and it's nice to see someone trying something out of the ordinary.
 
Clever twist John - keep it out of the box :) I like!
 
Thanks guys. Not sure the next one is going to be out of the box....
 
Ok, I'm not going to get anything else, I've used up my creativeness quota this week on proverbs :D. Anyway, I went for a wander around at the weekend looking for "history". Whilst this shot is far more traditional and well inside the box and away from the edges, it shows some of the History of the oldest church in my town. The old buildings with the new bits stuck on and a mix of ages of the gravestones around it. The kit lens barrel distortion gave me some problems and I've done my best to minimise the effects.

IMG_0805.jpg


hope you like it.
 
Really like your take on History. Seeing both the old and new, and such a crisp capture too. I also like the way the tree draws the eye up into the LH corner and helps to frame the church. Well done. :thumbs:
 
Thanks very much :thumbs:
 
:clap: Tell you what John, I get the impression you are really pushing yourself outside your comfort zone atm and its working. 2 very good shots here representing the 2 themes so far and a couple of stonkers in the proverbs, excellent stuff :thumbs:
 
Good take on history John - some modern history as well with what looks like an addition to the church at the far end :)
 
Thanks for the great comments :thumbs:

Yv, that's why I signed up for the 52 and went for the proverbs, try and work on different things with some driver behind it other than just well what might be good or something that I fancied trying.
 
Thanks very much Marc. The 52 certainly does seem to have taken off doesn't it.
 
love the reflections idea, and I feel your pain on dusty mirrors :(

Love the second, there's something about graveyards that means they usually look brilliant in photographs, and yours is no exception.

Good luck for next week!
 
Thank you very much :thumbs: Jean, glad you picked that up, that's what I was hoping to show...
 
I think you've got a really good image there, and captures the theme brilliantly. The tree branches to to the top left of the image really frames the image nicely and provides that all important balance to the composition. A slight improvement you could make IMO is to correct the converging verticals in PP; at the moment it feels as if the church as had too much communion wine.
 
Yes another great shot from you..:clap:

and this one wouldn't look half as good in B&W like most graveyards..

there's lots to see in the photo when you keep looking :clap:
 
thank you.
Simon, I had a play around with the lens correction tools, and this was about the best I could get it without ruining something else. I'll have another play around with it but I have to say, the kit lens is going to be replaced soon I think. It's really rather irritating..
 
Ok, I'm not going to get time to attempt anything else with this, and if I'm honest, I'm not 100% happy with what I have, however...

Here's me attempting to learn the Violin

IMG_1209.jpg


Things I learned this week.

1) Taking a photo of yourself is actually very hard. I used my timer remote and the self timer to trigger the camera which gave me time to get into position about 20 seconds. Getting that position right is really tough, the number of times I cut off some part of the image that I wanted to keep was high, like the top of my head, the end of the violin or bow....

2) how do you focus on you when you can't even line up the camera properly ? I couldn't manage this and I don't think I got the DOF quite deep enough to capture what I wanted.

3) Learning is very hard to portray in a single image

4) Taking this kind of shot, clearly demonstrated to me quite what a juggling act the settings are to get enough DOF and a high enough shutter speed to remove chances of stray movement and minimising noise. Yes other shots do (birds for instance), but it's not until you really have to think about what you are capable of in terms of staying still that it really gets bought home (for me anyway).

Hope you all like it.
 
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We had a violin for history and now one for learning :) Good shot that meets the theme John. And nice to put a face to the name!

Despite your points in 1) and 2) you're all in and well composed :D so well done for that!

The plain and uncluttered background also works a treat for this shot! :clap:

ps: are you really learning the violin :?
 
Thanks very much John. To get the composition, I ended up using liveview with it's 1/3's grid, finding a matching point on the book, following that up and over, to some reference point in the page and then lining my head up with that point on the book and the camera lens, whilst picking up the violin and getting it and the bow in place in the 20 seconds... Never would have managed that with the self timer...

Well.... It's my violin and book, and I have tried to start a few times but there's never the time anymore. The ideal is when there's noone about, but that's normally when the kids are in bed and making that sort of noise isn't going to be popular. I have the same problem playing my flute (I learnt that years ago).
 
really good shot. i suffered with the same problem not enough DoF. however i do understand now how hard it actually is taking a photo of yourself when you have nothing to focus on.
 
Thanks very much Paul. I focused on the book, then turned off AF and IS on the lens to capture this, I tried to extend the DOF as much as I could by stopping down. But that can bring in other issues about staying still.... Getting the settings right was quite some juggling act... oooh... another learning point...
 
I like the shot, as others have said you have a really good composition in this image and it works very will with the theme. I know that trying to get the focus right in a self portrait is very hard and you've done a good job. As you say you didn't quite nail if; the book looks sharp but there is a bit of softness in the face, this could be subject movement captured by the slow shutter speed of course. 1/6th of a second is slow, do you have any with you playing and showing movement of the bow (and perhaps fingers) and therefore utilising the slow shutter speed?

Did you think about trying this shot from behind (i.e. looking over your shoulder to the music) that way you could have minimised the hastle of getting you in focus and gone for an arty shallow DoF with you out of focus but the (presumably) simple violin music with pencil teachers marks in sharp focus - could be called a cheat I know but I prefer to call it lateral thinking :D

You say you composed and focused using Live View, I don't know much about the canon system but I beleive in certain canons (perhaps not the 450D) you can see live view through a tethered setup (i.e. plugging the camera in a computer) and I beleive that canon bundle tethering software with the camera, could this have been a solution?

The plain background also works well but for my tastes it could have been a bit more smoothly lit (the single light source to the bottom right) fades too much by the time it reaches you. Of course this is personal taste and others will like this effect.

Overall I think you have a really great image that sums up the theme brilliantly, and I wish you good luck with the Violin.
 
Thank you Ruth and Simon.

Simon, I wasn't sure whether that was DOF or my movement, you could be right and it's me not being exactly still. The thought of capturing the bow movement with a slow shutter speed didn't even occur to me, I was to fixated on trying to get all the elements to work.

I did try a few over the shoulder shots but I didn't think they worked at all well, although I didn't have the violin out at the time, the subject matter was different.

Now you mention the tethered shooting, I think you are right and the 450d does allow that, :bang: it didn't even occur to me :D and probably would have made this much simpler to setup.

As for the background, I do not have any suitable lighting capability. I have a couple of old flashes that I daren't connect to the camera as they are as likely to blow it up as work and the on board is too harsh. This was shot using only the natural light through the patio doors to the right, I'm trying to make the best out of what I have available.
 
jgs001 said:
As for the background, I do not have any suitable lighting capability. I have a couple of old flashes that I daren't connect to the camera as they are as likely to blow it up as work and the on board is too harsh. This was shot using only the natural light through the patio doors to the right, I'm trying to make the best out of what I have available.
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Fair enough, I wouldn't want to risk my camera either with old flashes :eek:. I'm glad you didn't use the onboard one either as I agree that would have spoilt it, OB flash is handy in the summer as fill in but as a light source :suspect:. I don't have all the kit I'd like myself so understand about making the best out of what is available. It probably wouldn't have made a difference with this shot but have you thought of using a big white sheet or towel just out of camera to use as a reflector. Kitchen foil wrapped over cardboard, or even plain white cardboard also work very well and can help bounce light about to make the most of a single light source. :)
 
Hmm, to be honest, I've not thought of doing that. I will have a think mind you, thanks for the pointers.
 
John, it's interesting (and comforting) to see you've had some of the same problems as me this week - although I wasn't attempting anything as difficult as a self protrait. Balancing light, dof, shutter speed, aperture and ISO with natural light, which by its nature, is changing all the time, is very, very hard.

So well done on this one. The thing that I love about it is that your eyes are firmly on the music and you really look as though you're concentrating on what's printed there. :)

Jean
 
thanks very much Jean. Yeah natural light is a tricky beast and not your friend :). I'm glad that worked and came across. It was hard to not look at the camera whilst waiting for the timer to finish.
 
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