weekly Manxmaid's 52 for 2018 - Week 52 Showcase added & COMPLETE

Week 21 - Hard


21 Hard by Andrea Thrussell, on Flickr

Maybe a slight shoehorn here, but I found this theme as difficult (hard) as Music. I had a few failed attempts at a literal take on the theme with images of volcanic rock, before deciding that the precision skills on show during the upcoming Red Arrows display would be a valid interpretation of the theme (hard work/hard to master).

Their show was last week for the TT Race crowds and the weather was perfect, giving a lovely contrasting backdrop to the red and white Hawk aircraft and their smoke trails. Hopefully you agree that this fits the theme!
 
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Dave70D said:
After going to airshows since a little boy, I think every move the Red Arrows make and do is very very hard. You have caught them beautifully here with the smoke trail and the nice blue sky sets them off very well and bang on the hard theme too imo.
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Thanks, Dave :) I hadn't seen the Red Arrows for a few years so I was looking forward to this. They were spectacular, as always, but it's noticeable that they display further out to sea these days and there are no low passes over the town - no doubt as a result of the tragic incidents at air shows in recent years.
 
Hi Andrea,

Music - Perhaps a little bit close at the top, but then again, with the tight crop into the guitar at the bottom, it doesn't really look out of place. However, it's your shot, so if you feel the need, the need to re-shoot :)

Hard - Just like Farnborough 1952, Shoreham 2015 introduced new rulings for airshows, though I believe primarily for civilian owned military jets. Things do seem to have changed though.
That is an excellent picture, the reds stand out well against the blue of the sky and there is sufficient differentiation between the white of the trails and the white of the clouds. Good use of the diagonals too :)
 
LC2 said:
Hi Andrea,

Music - Perhaps a little bit close at the top, but then again, with the tight crop into the guitar at the bottom, it doesn't really look out of place. However, it's your shot, so if you feel the need, the need to re-shoot :)

Hard - Just like Farnborough 1952, Shoreham 2015 introduced new rulings for airshows, though I believe primarily for civilian owned military jets. Things do seem to have changed though.
That is an excellent picture, the reds stand out well against the blue of the sky and there is sufficient differentiation between the white of the trails and the white of the clouds. Good use of the diagonals too :)
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Thanks, Tim, I do think it's a tiny bit tight at the top but having pressed on with the 'in the can' images I've already taken for the next two themes I'm not as bothered as I was last night :) You make a good point about it being tight at the bottom (ooh-err) too. I can live with it, and I enjoyed fiddling around with the layout and angles once I had started.

Yes, I guessed the rules probably change over the years. Certainly when I first saw them display here they were closer and there seemed to be more low passes, but that's not taking away from this year's show as they were superb, as always :thumbs: I liked the diagonal too, and decided against a crop so the smoke trails remained a big part of the overall image. Thanks again.
 
Week 22 - Creatures


22 Creatures by Andrea Thrussell, on Flickr

Not just one creature, but two! This is another image I had 'in the can' waiting to get something for 'Music'.

There is a very friendly Blackbird that spends a lot of time hopping around my Mum's front garden and I took my new (to me) Fuji 100-400 there to try to get a photo for this theme. It was the first time out with the lens and I couldn't believe my luck when, within a few seconds of my first shot, the Blackbird ducked its head into the grass and wrestled a worm out of the ground. I do feel sorry for the poor worm but love the way the bird has looked straight at me and looks so proud of itself.
 
Musical ... I do like the way you've focused on the strings over the hole, along with the surrounding detail ... shadows too.(y)
 
Andrea I love the Red Arrows shot. A perfect background and you've placed them beautifully in the frame. It gives a great sense of movement.
 
Creatures is brilliant :)
 
granddad john said:
Andrea I love the Red Arrows shot. A perfect background and you've placed them beautifully in the frame. It gives a great sense of movement.
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Thanks, John. I know the convention is to leave space for the subject to move into, but I positioned them like this because I thought the smoke trails were a big part of the image. As you said, it adds a sense of movement.

-Oy- said:
Creatures is brilliant :)
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Thanks, Dave - I like the way it's looking straight at me :)
 
Hi Andrea

Catching up on comments.

Juxaposition, what an unusual Image, well done on getting it. Colours are great and I like the airplane being clearer than the boat.
It is strange to be above an aircraft, while driving down to the south of France I heard an close aircraft, I did not see it when I looked up, but I did when I looked down into the valley. It was a large military transport plane, never forget it.

Oval, fits the theme well, I like the shadows created in the gritty covering.

Gate reshoot, I like your point of view, could be the gateway to hell or heavon.

Straight, quite clever, Straight lines curvy reflections on the tiles. Nice bold colour.

Unattractive, like the detail in the rusted metal. Waste of a new looking tyre.

Shadow, Good shadows from the clouds. good exposure.

Beautiful, nice sunset, I would be tempted to lose a bit of the beach in the foreground.

Low, Interesting low viewpoint, like the colours and waterdrops all in focus where needed.

Match, I prefer the colours of the 2nd Image, but the 1st is very subtle.

Musical, I think you summed up the Image well. It has a presence, but the top is not quite right.

Hard, Nicely composed Image, colours are good as is the focus and exposure. The clouds work well.

Creatures, well focused on the eyes. Dof is about right as well.
 
For me a little more DoF would improve your guitar shot but I'm sure that's down to personal preference.
The Red Arrow shot is great, excellent sky and love the cheeky blackbird, well caught
 
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Cirrocumulus floccus, puffs of red arrow smoke, incorrigible exhibitionists showing their colours like that. Nice one Andrea, and no it can't be easy. ;)

Fuji 400mm is 600mm equivalent I do believe, very nice! And you caught the bird that caught the worm ... very nicely. ;)
 
d00d said:
Musical ... I do like the way you've focused on the strings over the hole, along with the surrounding detail ... shadows too.(y)
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Thanks, David, I was experimenting with shallow depth of field and that seemed the right place to focus as that's where the music comes from :)
 
seaodyssey said:
Hi Andrea

Catching up on comments.

Juxaposition, what an unusual Image, well done on getting it. Colours are great and I like the airplane being clearer than the boat.
It is strange to be above an aircraft, while driving down to the south of France I heard an close aircraft, I did not see it when I looked up, but I did when I looked down into the valley. It was a large military transport plane, never forget it.

Oval, fits the theme well, I like the shadows created in the gritty covering.

Gate reshoot, I like your point of view, could be the gateway to hell or heavon.

Straight, quite clever, Straight lines curvy reflections on the tiles. Nice bold colour.

Unattractive, like the detail in the rusted metal. Waste of a new looking tyre.

Shadow, Good shadows from the clouds. good exposure.

Beautiful, nice sunset, I would be tempted to lose a bit of the beach in the foreground.

Low, Interesting low viewpoint, like the colours and waterdrops all in focus where needed.

Match, I prefer the colours of the 2nd Image, but the 1st is very subtle.

Musical, I think you summed up the Image well. It has a presence, but the top is not quite right.

Hard, Nicely composed Image, colours are good as is the focus and exposure. The clouds work well.

Creatures, well focused on the eyes. Dof is about right as well.
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Thank you very much for going back over all those images, Pete, it is really appreciated.

For Juxtaposition, I was surprised to hear the sound of the aircraft but not be able to see them until I realised they were below us - a very strange sight! They didn't approach from that direction very often, so it was a real stroke of luck to get this one just as the cruise ship was departing. Thank you for your thoughts on all the other images too :)
 
michael23 said:
Loving the blackbird and worm Andrea! Spot on, Very nicely done.

Hard, Liking the Red Arrows here, great sky and colour on the red's too.
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Thanks, Michael, the Blackbird is a cheeky little thing and wasn't at all bothered by me watching him, and him catching the worm while I was there was a real bonus. The weather for the Red Arrows display was perfect with great evening light, and nice to have that light cloud behind them too.

sirch said:
For me a little more DoF would improve your guitar shot but I'm sure that's down to personal preference.
The Red Arrow shot is great, excellent sky and love the cheeky blackbird, well caught
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Thanks for your comments, Chris. Yes, the shallow DOF was a conscious choice as I was experimenting with it. I was lucky with the weather conditions and the cheek of the blackbird in the other two :)
 
d00d said:
Cirrocumulus floccus, puffs of red arrow smoke, incorrigible exhibitionists showing their colours like that. Nice one Andrea, and no it can't be easy. ;)

Fuji 400mm is 600mm equivalent I do believe, very nice! And you caught the bird that caught the worm ... very nicely. ;)
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They certainly do put on a show and the weather and light were perfect. Thanks for naming the clouds; I knew there was a name for them and that is a fitting one. They do look a lot like wool.

Yes, the 100-400 is new to me and 150-600 equivalent on FF so it's also the longest lens I've used. This was the first time out with it and it will take some getting used to, but I used it again yesterday with the grip on the body and it handled beautifully. Hopefully I'll have some fun with it :)

rpn said:
Love the Creatures shot, good timing and spot on focus.
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Thanks, Stan, he was a cheeky little thing and I hope I'll be able to use him for more practice :D
 
Week 23 - Synthetic


23 Synthetic by Andrea Thrussell, on Flickr

Up to date now apart from the current week's theme, and as soon as I saw this theme I knew I would be heading to the harbour to look for some nice bright polypropylene rope.

Also known as poly rope or poly hemp, it is widely used in boat yards as it floats and is does not rot or swell. It comes in other colours but the orange always catches my eye and I found this nice big knot wound around a bollard. I tried a few different angles as I wanted to leave a hint of the boats in the background while making sure that the bold colour and texture was the main subject.

I'm not sure whether I like the line of orange leading to the boats at the top, but this is closest to what I had in my mind's eye and I hope it shouts 'synthetic' to you.
 
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Red arrows pic is very good, I like the placement in the frame and a great sky too
nice sharp blackbird and two for the price of one the yellow of the beak and the rings around its eyes really stand out
I'm sort of with you about the orange line in synthetic but you have succeeded with bold colour and texture
 
Synthetic -- Nice and sharp in all the right places with nice oof in the back (better if the oof orange line wasn't there though).
 
Allan.H said:
Red arrows pic is very good, I like the placement in the frame and a great sky too
nice sharp blackbird and two for the price of one the yellow of the beak and the rings around its eyes really stand out
I'm sort of with you about the orange line in synthetic but you have succeeded with bold colour and texture
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Thanks for your comments, Allan. I could have taken the line of orange rope out in the last one, but it links the foreground and background so decided to leave it as I saw it. I'm still not sure :)

ShinySideUp said:
Synthetic -- Nice and sharp in all the right places with nice oof in the back (better if the oof orange line wasn't there though).
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Thanks Martin - that was my dilemma :) I did ponder removing it but thought it linked the rope to the boats in the background. It is niggling me a bit and moreso now you and Allan have mentioned it.
 
Shouts 'synthetic' loud & clear. Really like it, good detail & texture, hint of BG boats. (y)
 
Hi Andrea,

Creature - Looks like he's thinking 'lunch'. Pops nicely.

Synthetic - You certainly got what you aimed for, bright synthetic and a hint of the boats.
I think I'm with Allan and martin regarding the rope out to the boats though. With it being so oof throughout it's length, it feels a bit incongruous.
 
Really is sharp and clear and obviously synthetic, I'm sure you don't need someone else to mention the OOF rope :)
 
Hi Andrea

Synthectic. Good on theme shot, nice bold colour and plenty of detail. Hint of boats is a good idea, but maybe a bitm more?
As too the oof orange line at the top, could you have taken it at a diffenet angle, ie more round from the right, I think the line would be less obvious not being straight up.

Pete
 
d00d said:
Shouts 'synthetic' loud & clear. Really like it, good detail & texture, hint of BG boats. (y)
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Thanks, David (y)

LC2 said:
Hi Andrea,

Creature - Looks like he's thinking 'lunch'. Pops nicely.

Synthetic - You certainly got what you aimed for, bright synthetic and a hint of the boats.
I think I'm with Allan and martin regarding the rope out to the boats though. With it being so oof throughout it's length, it feels a bit incongruous.
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Thanks, Tim, I was pleased with the cheeky Blackbird. As for the orange rope leading out to the boats, it looks as though my initial doubts have been confirmed :LOL: I am full of a cold at the moment but will have a go at cloning it out and post it. I know what you mean about it all being out of focus but other images show it's because the rope dropped down below the harbour wall for quite a distance before coming back into view, so anything IN focus is out of sight.

sirch said:
Really is sharp and clear and obviously synthetic, I'm sure you don't need someone else to mention the OOF rope :)
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Thanks, Chris, I give in! My initial doubts have been confirmed so I will have a go at removing it and will post it up for comparison :)

seaodyssey said:
Hi Andrea

Synthectic. Good on theme shot, nice bold colour and plenty of detail. Hint of boats is a good idea, but maybe a bitm more?
As too the oof orange line at the top, could you have taken it at a diffenet angle, ie more round from the right, I think the line would be less obvious not being straight up.

Pete
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Thanks, Pete - I took several shots from different heights and angles but because I always wanted the main knot of rope front and centre I don't have any from the side. I do have some with more of the boats included, too, but rejected them as the rope became less significant in the frame when also including a distracting row of various boats. Decisions, decisions :) Thanks for your suggestions though and I'll have a tinker with the one I posted and remove the line of rope and see how that looks.
 
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rpn said:
Sharp focus, bright colour orange and the rusty steel add to a beautiful image. Agree about the middle orange line is a bit distracting.
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Thanks, Stan, I will have a go at removing the line of rope and will post it for comparison. I think it's a resounding thumbs down to that bit :)
 
Synthetic

I like that, a good bright orange rope and I like that you can see it going through the water to the boat.
 
Dave70D said:
Great sharp focus for synthetic Andrea, lovely and colourful shot and good that you did not clone out the bit going to the boats.
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Nostromo said:
Synthetic

I like that, a good bright orange rope and I like that you can see it going through the water to the boat.
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Thanks for the feedback, Dave and Dominic. You are a couple of almost lone voices in liking the rope in the water (I did too :) ) and you've reminded me that I was going to try cloning it out for comparison after the other comments.

I'm sorry to say I have got stuck on a relatively easy theme after some horrible ones earlier this year, and I have found my 'play' time very limited for a few weeks so the camera hasn't been picked up much, but I really do want to keep going with my 52. I have a couple of projects on the go this week so I will see if I can use those opportunities to get up to date again.
 
Hard, like the angle, like the sky and the best aerobatic display team in the world, wish I had taken that shot:clap:

Creatures, excellent, focus and dof spot on.

Synthetic. Another one who likes this shot, I think its a very good subject for the theme and like the boats and the orange leading to them.

I too got stuck on a couple of subjects, eventually I have just bypassed them for now and carried on regardless!
 
Bearair said:
Hard, like the angle, like the sky and the best aerobatic display team in the world, wish I had taken that shot:clap:

Creatures, excellent, focus and dof spot on.

Synthetic. Another one who likes this shot, I think its a very good subject for the theme and like the boats and the orange leading to them.

I too got stuck on a couple of subjects, eventually I have just bypassed them for now and carried on regardless!
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Thank you for the visit and kind comments, Roger. I really haven't done well with getting up-to-date, even though I have taken quite a few of the images for themes in good time, it's my PP backlog that has got in the way. Too many lovely evenings to get out and enjoy, instead of sitting on my computer!
 
Week 24 - Rural


24 Rural by Andrea Thrussell, on Flickr

I really shouldn't have struggled so much with this one; I'm surrounded by lovely villages, farms, countryside for miles, and I thought it would be easy.... So, I have a collection of 'nice' rural landscapes without an anchoring point, and when sitting down to choose one I have opted for this one. I kept coming back to it because I like the expressions, the body language, her thick woolly coat, and the backdrop of trees as far as the eye can see. They were grazing along a lane on the edge of a mountain plantation and could have gone the other way to avoid us and our dog, but instead she strode towards us and only broke into a trot at their closest point.

This the first in a mega-catch-up over the next few days. I took images for most of the themes as they came along but have got held up with PP or - in this case - dissatisfaction with the results. No need to comment as it will take a while to get them posted, fill the gaps, and look around everyone's threads again.
 
Week 25 - Bright


25 Bright by Andrea Thrussell, on Flickr

Initially I took a photo of a full moon for this theme but this was always a strong option, and it has become my first choice - mainly because of the contrasting colours but also because I'm a sucker for this sort of OOF background and I liked the results from a new (to me) lens wide open at f/2.8. The life belt also looks incongruous in such a grassy setting but it is beside a country reservoir, hence the backdrop.
 
Rural is a very well taken image Andrea, think you picked a right shot for the theme by having the sheep in view, you were close to blowing the coats but I really do like the shot for the theme.
Bright is another fine image from you, composition is very good with the oof BG really does enhance the life belt.
 
Rural. Always like a photo with sexy sheep! Nice shot, beautiful rural background I like it a lot, I can see what Dave means about the coat on the first sheep.

Bright, would of been a great shot for juxtaposition,I am glad you explained where it is where it is! works equally well for bright, I too like this sort of OOF.
 
Hi Andrea,

Rural - The wooly coat caught my attention too, I can see why you picked it. Good use of the dark green background to pick out the subject. Good bit of eye contact too :) (Did you shout 'mint sauce' at it to attract it's attention?).

Bright - Looks like that was a nice day (though, equally, it could have been a freezing winters day I guess). The life belt is well picked out by both the DoF and the contrasting colours. Nicely done.
 
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