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

This was a real toughie. I spent half the week trying to find the box, when I eventually found something resembling one it turned out to be empty...

I thought about Owls... nothing doing round here that I've seen. I did think of taking a drive out to a pub and shooting it's sign, but that just seemed a bit of a cop out. Then it occurred to me, as I couldn't get a shot of something showing Wisdom, then I'd go for Perceived Wisdom, it's probably the same thing anyway, and let me be honest hear, that's also a lot easier a concept to portray :D.

Anyway, I thought some more, and decided I'd go with a proverb. These little pearls of wisdom often have great meanings. So to find something I'd not done before... I did a couple for the challenges for the weeks ahead. My first thought was to go for "Don't keep all you're eggs in one basket", we have chicken eggs and Cadbury Mini Chocolate eggs, but could I find a basket of any size... I turned the house upside down looking.

So I've opted for the proverb "A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine"

I spent some time shooting this, finally to find one I was reasonably happy with, only to think to myself a day later, I'd missed a trick :bang: so here's the first rendition. I used a sheet of A4 paper, and the Jessops 300AFD with under cupboard lighting on this one.

IMG_2993.jpg


The trick being to point the needle at the 9... So here's the final result. To light this, I held a white chopping board a foot or two above the Jessops flash to get the bounce back I was after. I shot some 40 shots of this trying to get the lighting right, it's still not there, but I'm happy with the result.

IMG_30281.jpg


It was only when I downloaded them to review and process I realised that my first thoughts about missing the 9 trick were wrong, but I'm happier with the second.

Lessons Learned

1) Getting the lighting right is a major challenge in and of itself, made all the harder with all the reflective surfaces.

2) An idea will come eventually if you just give it long enough.

3) Even that idea can be hard to actually shoot as you visualised.

4) It's amazing how many things can be found to assist that don't always in getting the shot, that have to be put away afterwards
 
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I like very much.....

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with lighting, shoot, check, tweak, shoot, check.......

Good stuff well done.
 
Nice one John and I like the 2nd one more than the first the lighting is much more even to my eyes! Nice watch!!! :)

40 shots!!! :) Your perseverance is a credit to you :)

Certainly a 'Pearl of Wisdom' :) as you quite rightly say :)
 
I think this is an excellent image. well done for sticking with it. I like the interpretation too.

Jon
 
Great idea, well executed :thumbs: When i saw the first one the first thing i thought was the watch isn't set to 9 o'clock, so great idea on the second one.
 
maddog.mark said:
I like very much.....

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with lighting, shoot, check, tweak, shoot, check.......

Good stuff well done.
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Thanks very much Mark.

Dark Star said:
Nice one John and I like the 2nd one more than the first the lighting is much more even to my eyes! Nice watch!!! :)

40 shots!!! :) Your perseverance is a credit to you :)

Certainly a 'Pearl of Wisdom' :) as you quite rightly say :)
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Cheers John. It was a 21st birthday pressie ;). Actually it was 55, but it's what it took for me to work out what I needed to get it how I wanted.

corky said:
I think this is an excellent image. well done for sticking with it. I like the interpretation too.

Jon
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Thanks very much Jon

Toothie said:
Great idea, well executed :thumbs: When i saw the first one the first thing i thought was the watch isn't set to 9 o'clock, so great idea on the second one.
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Thanks very much Ruth, it was the lack of the 9 indication that made me go back and try again.
 
jgs001 said:
I turned the house upside down looking.



I held a white chopping board a foot or two above the Jessops flash to get the bounce back I was after.
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Two class acts, Jon. #2 is my favourite - I love how the shadow of the needle is positioned, and the lighting is excellent. :clap::clap:

I see you belong to my High-tech Props School of Photography, with your trusty chopping board. Do you find you run out of hands to hold everything? I do. :lol:

I'm sure the chicken and eggs would have been great, too, but you can safely put the house back together again, now. The glamorous side of photography - clearing up after a shoot. :D

Your Lessons Learned are exactly the ones I seem to come up against nearly every week - and am still trying to learn. Glad I'm not alone on these. :D
 
Thanks Jean. It took some effort, with hand holding the camera to get the needle positioned just right. I do indeed, it's the make the most of what's around you, it works well too. As for the number of hands you bet. The 450d and flash gets quite heavy for one hand :D.

I had everything put back the same evening, it took a while, as I left things where they were till I'd finished. And I moved around the kitchen a few times trying to find the best background lighting I could.
 
Excellent shot, John! :clap: great interpretation of the theme, too! it's so true.

If i had to choose between the two then i think i'd go for the second one. not sure why, just prefer the angle perhaps. the lighting is spot-on in both and the DOF works great! :thumbs:

Well done! very jealous. great shots! :razz:
 
I definitely prefer the second image, not only as it is cleaner, I found the hands set to 9 o'clock quite irritating (not sure why, I just did :thinking:) The composition of the second shot is also brilliant, I love the way the red (good contrasting colour choice) thread moves adds depth to the image but also creeps through the watch ring :clap:. The only thing I would say is that the time set for 6 o'clock does seem a little false (not sure why it should but it does somehow).

By the sounds of it you had to work hard for this image but I think you were rewarded for your effort :thumbs:
 
jammy_c said:
Excellent shot, John! :clap: great interpretation of the theme, too! it's so true.

If i had to choose between the two then i think i'd go for the second one. not sure why, just prefer the angle perhaps. the lighting is spot-on in both and the DOF works great! :thumbs:

Well done! very jealous. great shots! :razz:
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Thank you very much.

SimonTALM said:
I definitely prefer the second image, not only as it is cleaner, I found the hands set to 9 o'clock quite irritating (not sure why, I just did :thinking:) The composition of the second shot is also brilliant, I love the way the red (good contrasting colour choice) thread moves adds depth to the image but also creeps through the watch ring :clap:. The only thing I would say is that the time set for 6 o'clock does seem a little false (not sure why it should but it does somehow).

By the sounds of it you had to work hard for this image but I think you were rewarded for your effort :thumbs:
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Thank you Simon, I think the problem with the hands set at nine, the hour hand sort of clashes against the needle. I wasn't sure what time to set the watch too in the second one, a bit more random may have worked better, but I chose 6 so the needle would bisect the hands, so it was a rather contrived. I was determined to nail something good and proper, it's been one of those weeks, just a shame I now can't use it for the POTY this month :D
 
What a clever idea :clap: and I'm glad I'm not the only one whos thinks of a 'simple' idea only to find it causes all kinds of mayhem to put it into practice :D

I too prefer the second shot as the lighting is much more even and the watch really stands out too. Excellent composition too :clap::clap:
 
Thanks very much Jill. The implementation of these simple ideas is always tricky and mayhemorific :D. It took 30 minutes on the second night before my brain twigged that holding something white a foot or so above the flash might provide the effect I was after, and lo.. first shot did it :bang:
 
I like the second one best and was well worth the trouble you went through to get it...:clap:

It's the cotton through the needle that makes this shot for me...so sharp...you could say pin sharp...:lol:

and beautiful lighting you got in the end...:thumbs:
 
jeangenie said:
???? but I love it. What a terrific word to describe the total devastation I seem to cause everytime I do a shot in the house. :clap::clap:

Jean
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:D

Spartacus said:
I like the second one best and was well worth the trouble you went through to get it...:clap:

It's the cotton through the needle that makes this shot for me...so sharp...you could say pin sharp...:lol:

and beautiful lighting you got in the end...:thumbs:
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Thank you. As for pin sharp :D
 
Great shot - sounds like hard work getting the lighting right - but I think you managed :). I really like the fuzz on the thread - I want to see closer! The composition is great, but I want to get in closer still! Nice pearl of wisdom, although in your case, it sounds like capturing a stitch in time didnt save nine!
 
Thank you. Lighting is one, among many areas, I don't get yet, so it takes a lot of work to get it right, but that's what the 52 is all about. I can do closer, but you might have to wait till the reshoot card gets drawn again :D.
 
Another week of struggle to work this one out. First thought of people crossed out as I'm not comfortable with the genre. Then after a post in the general thread it occurred to me that there are all sorts of different type of relationship. After some hunting, I crossed off the second option 2, trying to shoot something that showed the golden ratio (relationship). So onto idea 3, to show the relationship between written music and playing music. After trying a number of different images, none of them showed what I wanted, back to the drawing board. In the end I was making a cuppa and grabbed a couple of choccy biccies when it came to me. The relationship between Tea and Choccy Biccies... One just has to be dunked in the other... so here it is

IMG_3458.jpg


Lessons learned

To be honest, these are much the same as before, so I'm obviously not learning very quickly.

1) Getting the lighting reasonable is hard (although it happened in fewer tries :D

2) Keep trying if the idea doesn't work, something new will come eventually
 
simple and effective... what more can we ask for. An excellent interpretation of the theme.:thumbs:
 
Well done, the image does not need to be explained. good DOF and colours
:clap:
 
Why didn't I think of that :D Splendid interpretation John!

But dunking choccie biscuits!!! Hmmm not so sure :)

I like it :D!
 
Dark Star said:
Why didn't I think of that :D Splendid interpretation John!

But dunking choccie biscuits!!! Hmmm not so sure :)

I like it :D!
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Cheers John. It's even better if they are the caramel choccie biccies, but we don't have any :D.

jeangenie said:
:lol::lol:

One of my favourite relationships!

I like the composition and the angle. The understudy to the star act (the 2nd choccie biscuit) was a clever touch to complete the picture.

Nice one, John :clap::clap:

Jean
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Thanks very much Jean, I partake of this relationship at least once a day whilst I'm working :thumbs:.
 
Well nobody can say we all follow each in the same way...

You have taken a lovely shot this week...

and it fit the theme great....and now I want choccie biccies...:thumbs:
 
Nice idea, executed beautifully. Nice sharp image, well cropped, good colours! well done :clap::clap:

right where did I hide to choccy bics....:suspect:
 
Spartacus said:
Well nobody can say we all follow each in the same way...

You have taken a lovely shot this week...

and it fit the theme great....and now I want choccie biccies...:thumbs:
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Thanks Marcus

adrury said:
Nice idea, executed beautifully. Nice sharp image, well cropped, good colours! well done :clap::clap:

right where did I hide to choccy bics....:suspect:
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Thank you. I didn't crop it, but getting the framing right with one hand dunking a biccie and the other holding the camera with flash on top wasn't easy ;).


I wonder if I've caused an upswing in the sales of choccie biccies :D
 
When I saw this theme, my first thought, was, well that's me scuppered then, again! But an idea hit me almost straight away. I thought I ought to do some research into something else, and see if I couldn't come up with something different, but after reading all sorts of things about poverty, and what poverty really means, nothing came to me. So I went with my original idea, and did a few extra things in processing to try and highlight my idea more...

I wanted a really shallow DOF, but even the nifty wasn't able to get as shallow as I wanted, and I was ending up with too much space. So I used the Raynox on the nifty for the shot, and the 300AFD bounced off the ceiling to light it. The DOF Preview button was really helpful for gauging what was sharp and what OOF in this one.

"I dream of having two pennies to rub together"

IMG_3771.jpg


Lessons Learned

Inspiration can strike at any time, and sometimes you should just go with it.

I think I'm beginning to get an idea on lighting, although I'm sure something will throw that out completely.
 
You've used a whole range of techniques and kit I know absolutely nothing about, John. :notworthy:

The dof is excellent and the lighting looks fine to me. At first I thought a bit more contrast would be good - or a slightly lighter background - but after a second look - I don't know. :) The very precise DOF and the monotone conversion give it a slightly 'dream-like' quality which fits the element of 'dreaming' in the expression.


Good take on the theme. :clap:

Jean
 
Thanks very much Jean. It was shot on cardboard, which also seemed quite appropriate, so it's a naturally darker background, but wanted the texture. I did try with various different contrast settings, and colour balance in the mono conversion, and this was the best combination that fitted what I wanted to try and show.
 
Awesome idea :) Simple and effective. The contrast is just right and the detail is ace. Cant help thinking I want the whole of that front penny in focus but then again maybe not.
 
Thank you, I'd intended to get it all in sharp focus, but when I was processing it, I decided that the front and rear edges a little soft actually worked better on this occasion.
 
That's brilliant shot from you this week Sir...:clap:

You sounded a bit down on the 52s just lately...well as you have found out sometimes we all struggle with one theme or another...

but stick with it and it makes the good shots all the more rewarding...:clap:

and your effort has produced a superb shot for this week...:thumbs:
 
Only been able to look at the image on my iphone so far, but it looks very nice to me! :D
 
Spartacus said:
That's brilliant shot from you this week Sir...:clap:

You sounded a bit down on the 52s just lately...well as you have found out sometimes we all struggle with one theme or another...

but stick with it and it makes the good shots all the more rewarding...:clap:

and your effort has produced a superb shot for this week...:thumbs:
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Thanks very much. It's not the 52's that's been causing that, just a general sort of dullness about everything. You're right, and it's great when you get one that works, and is what you envisaged too :)

dizzy said:
Only been able to look at the image on my iphone so far, but it looks very nice to me! :D
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Thank you
 
great interpretation on the theme, and a nice clear shot. well done :clap: :clap:
 
This works for me, a really good piece of composition and the conversion fits the theme perfectly too.

Mark
 
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