weekly matwest904q's 52 in 2014 Thread

Matthew, technically looks good (y), but I'm another jumping on the 'even tighter crop' bandwagon :)
 
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Well done for getting a unique take on the theme, going to have to google bubble charts - they look interesting!

I'm happy with the first - it really doesn;t need the green pencil though for me, however proud you may be of your superstar award! :naughty:
 
My apologies for not replying sooner but I've been flat out busy with work. Thanks for all your comments. I was avoiding going for a closer crop for fear of losing the picture and ending up with just a picture of a graph.
 
Wow, I can't believe how fast these weeks are going. A teacher once said to me "Savour every second you have as a young man, because when you get older, time passes quicker". At the time I thought he was just another crackpot teacher nursing a hangover but I completely get him now. And more so as the years go on.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Week 5 Smoke/Smokey. Me and the kids had a lot of fun with this thanks to a mate of mine in the fire extinguisher world. Dry ice. It's the future!



This is the first edit. I've got a couple of ideas for later on.
http://500px.com/photo/59734270


TP 52 in '14 Challenge Week 5 Smoke/Smokey
by
Matthew West
 
Smoke/Smokey - Fantastic colours in the lenses and great composition. Really there is nothing to dislike here :-)
 
Like the take on the theme and like the colours, may be that I've had 1 to many glasses of wine but focus seems off
 
Interesting, different take Matthew (y) Colours are good, especially in the reflections :) I hope its not your Friday night attire :whistle::D
 
Mysterious, slightly sinister looking subject. Liking the strong colours too. Well done for a different take on the theme.
 
that is wierd looking - in a good way!

great colours - wonder if there was a way to bring out the smokiness a bit more??
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
I like this fitting for the theme, I feel if it was in black and white it would have almost an old war like feel to it.
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Thanks. I had a quick look at a mono conversion but it lost a lot of it's character and feel. I may have another look at it in the future.
Nathalie said:
Smoke - Really liking the colours and feel to this. No crit!
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Thank you. I had an idea in my head about the colours and fortunately it came out pretty close to what I had in mind.
DrRusty said:
Smoke/Smokey - Fantastic colours in the lenses and great composition. Really there is nothing to dislike here :)
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Thank you. I struggled a bit at first to get the lenses looking right and I couldn't for the life of me fill the whole lens with colour to start with. It was only my last few shots that I managed to get as near as damn it to full colour in the lens.
parhole4 said:
Like the take on the theme and like the colours, may be that I've had 1 to many glasses of wine but focus seems off
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Thank you. I was shooting wide open and I'd focused on the nose which subsequently got covered. Looking back, I would like to shoot it again at around f8 to try and get the whole mask sharp.
posiview said:
Like that take. Especially the colour.

The smoke rising from the bottom is great.

Cheers.
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Thank you. It took a few attempts to get the smoke to an acceptable and fairly even level without it looking hazy but I got there in the end. I've still got a fair few shots to process and play though so if I get time I may just post another one or two shots.
Dark Knight said:
Hi Matthew - Really like your idea, nice bold colours, misty smoke, nice one (y)
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Thank you. The idea came after I got an email from 500px saying they wanted to use one of my gas mask shots in a new marketing push (it's nothing special and sure a lot of 500px customers got a similar email) and as soon I saw the S10 in the photo I knew straight away it would be in my shot somehow. The next challenge was to keep the smoke low and that's where the dry ice came in. Me and the kids had a lot of fun making and playing with it and we'll be doing it again in the not too distant future.
Judi said:
Fits the theme well, lots of colour too (y)
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Thank you. I was happy with how the colours turned out.
Phil-D said:
Interesting, different take Matthew (y) Colours are good, especially in the reflections :) I hope its not your Friday night attire :whistle::D
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Thank you. Not my Friday attire but as it happens, I wore a similar one ( a Russian service one from a market in Doncaster) with some overalls at Halloween to scare all the kids down the street when they knocked on my door. I even bought an axe to go with it. I don't think they'll be back next time!





Halloween Costume
by
Matthew West
susiejb said:
Well it has to be the most eye catching one...what great colours, and I love the dry ice...a totally unique take on the theme...very nice indeed :)
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Thank you. Dry ice is the future!! Had a lot of fun with it, and it was so easy to make.
mercurius said:
Mysterious, slightly sinister looking subject. Liking the strong colours too. Well done for a different take on the theme.
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Thank you. I've never done smoke before and I very nearly started setting things alight. I think I got the email just in time!
 
Hi, nice use of something different for the theme colours are good and its a little scary, excellent
 
overbez said:
that is wierd looking - in a good way!

great colours - wonder if there was a way to bring out the smokiness a bit more??
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Thank you. I need to have a play with different settings in future and bring down the shutter speed more. I didn't have a lot of time to waste before I lost the fog.
Sonriendo said:
Excellent and original idea - no crit here (y)
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Thank you. This is my first 52 challenge so the enthusiasm is there in abundance at the moment to be as creative as I can. I'm really enjoying the whole experience.
 
I think this is an excellent shot, not just fitting for the theme, but excellent in general. I think it looks very Dr. Who ish.
 
beckyboy1 said:
Bubble like the tighter crop and maybe even tighter
Smoke like this nice comp (y)
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Thank you.
Delta Skies said:
I do like this one. The smoke is good around the mask. Almost a horror film look to it.
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Thank you.
mr.si said:
I think this is an excellent shot, not just fitting for the theme, but excellent in general. I think it looks very Dr. Who ish.
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And thank you.

I haven't had time yet but I've got a few shots to process with different colours. I'll get on to it as soon as I get chance.
 
Actually I prefer the 1st version. In the 2nd version the bright light on the left and the underexposed mask doesn't do much for it in my view.
 
& another big YES for the #1 image.....spooky , original & love the colors......(y)

As for time going faster as you get older......wasn't it christmas last week ??? Jeez , we're mid feb already :jawdrop:
 
mercurius said:
Actually I prefer the 1st version. In the 2nd version the bright light on the left and the underexposed mask doesn't do much for it in my view.
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Thank you. I agree, number 1 is my favourite. With number 2 I was trying to get an almost silhouette type look.

Sonriendo said:
I prefer the original - this looks a bit soft and doesn't have the same impact.
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Thank you. I've been doing a couple of tests with the lens that I used for these today and it seems the focus is off a bit. It would explain why a number of shots have come out a bit soft looking. Until I come up with a solution I think I'll be using the 50mm from now on. In fact I might incorporate that into the rest of the challenge.

blondie606 said:
& another big YES for the #1 image.....spooky , original & love the colors......(y)

As for time going faster as you get older......wasn't it christmas last week ??? Jeez , we're mid feb already :jawdrop:
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Thanks. I had a lot of fun with this topic and for once, I'm actually looking forward to Halloween to get the dry ice out again! Ha, I'm sure the government are taking 4 hours off us when we sleep!

Tango32 said:
first image is a real head turner weird smokey but interesting
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Thanks. I was quite lucky in the fact I still have my gas mask knocking about from when I was in the RN.
 
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