weekly Michael23's 2012 52 COMPLETED! WooHoo! Slide show added

Thanks for all the comments, I was just seeing how versatile my 50-500mm is, it has a 2m close focus so decided to turn it to the daffodils.

Crop wise, I did take a bit off as it seemed unbalanced to me which was the main reason doing it this way.

Lighting, I really needed a reflector to direct the light inside, but at the time I didn't actually think about that, then it started to rain! The dull light did leave it a little flat, I boosted it in levels and didn't go any further to avoid blowing the whites.

Here are a couple of b+w versions, one is the ir effect preset in elements 10!


entrance b+w by scilly puffin, on Flickr


entrance ir effect by scilly puffin, on Flickr
 
I do prefer the colour one as it is mostly b+w and the yellow splash of colour makes it stand out
 
Hi Michael, I hope you are recovering well!

I prefer the colour one, the colour is so subtle and after winter we do wait for the first colours of spring! The tight crop didn't bother me until Andy mentioned the cut off petal and now my eye is drawn towards it!

It's been a difficult one to think "out of the box" this week but you have done well!!:)
 
Hiya Sarah, thanks for popping by and taking a look. I could have done a reshoot, but my garden has been battered by snow, wind and rain today! The crop would normally bother me, but on this one it hasn't done. As for recovering, I think I am getting there, slowly...:thumbs:
 
OMG I was looking at some lillies and thinking of exactly the same shot! weird lol. I prefer the 1st colour one to the B&W tho :)
 
It deserves to be shown in all its glory so colour for me too :thumbs:
 
sturisoma said:
OMG I was looking at some lillies and thinking of exactly the same shot! weird lol. I prefer the 1st colour one to the B&W tho :)
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Hiya Summer, great minds :D Thanks for popping by

Dark Knight said:
The colour version for me that's for sure... A nice all round photo with the main focus in the perfect spot, nice idea :)
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Hi Dk, pleased you like it

mtjhome said:
Colour one for me too - it is teriffic
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:thumbs:

gramps said:
It deserves to be shown in all its glory so colour for me too :thumbs:
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Thanks Gramps :thumbs:
 
Hi Micheal,

Love the colour version....it's a beautiful shot.

Carol
 
Hi Michael,

I hope your feeling a lot better now :D

'Entrance' - I think is a lovely image and my favourite of the '52s' thus far. I prefer the gentle hues of the colour version. The delicate 'paper-like' petals contrast wit the black background. It's a brilliant concept and bang on theme.

Nick :thumbs:
 
cazagee said:
Hi Micheal,

Love the colour version....it's a beautiful shot.

Carol
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Thanks very much Carol, :)

Blank_Canvas said:
Hi Michael,

I hope your feeling a lot better now :D

'Entrance' - I think is a lovely image and my favourite of the '52s' thus far. I prefer the gentle hues of the colour version. The delicate 'paper-like' petals contrast wit the black background. It's a brilliant concept and bang on theme.

Nick :thumbs:
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Hiya Nick, thanks very much for your comment, very much appreciated. :thumbs::thumbs:
 
michael23 said:
After such a rough and rubbish few days, getting over general anesthetic from a dental op, I decided to get a bit of air in the garden and played with my camera. I was looking at the daffodils and thought like an insect and out of the box! Been really hard work to get doors out of my head!

So, to be a little different, hope it works


Week 14,entrance to the pollen by scilly puffin, on Flickr
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It is different and its really hard to be that with this theme!

I think it's on theme and you did a great job with your focus and the colours are great, my only critique is that I think you've cropped in too tight as Id like to see the full petals on the outside.
 
Good job Michael, on theme, spot on focus, and it has to be the colour version really, that splotch of yellow sets it off.
 
Hi Micheal,

yup as everybody has said great shot, nice thinking outside the box...colour for me too..
 
Thanks John and Neil.

Now onto week 15 and soft. I have gone down the route of soft toys, seeing as we seem to have started to expand the already huge collection of around 300 teddies!! :cuckoo:

The light today has been awkward, inside the house was just not right at all and couldn't get any decent illumination, and outside was really harsh and very contrasty making exposures a nightmare, so your thoughts will be appreciated on these 2 pics.


Week 15, Soft by scilly puffin, on Flickr


Week 15, Soft 2 by scilly puffin, on Flickr

And this one which I snapped whilst in a Mama's And Pappa's Shop using instagram app on my Galaxy S2.


IMG_20120410_161317 by scilly puffin, on Flickr
 
Mm not too fussy on 1&2 to be honest

No1 the crop is a bit tight and the angle of the shot appears level on the left toy but looking down on the right, I think a strait on shot with a bit more of the reflection showing at the bottom would be good.

No3 is the best, taken on your phone so I know you can’t do too much with it but I think there is a shot of teddy and parsnip crying out somewhere in there without the clutter background bang on theme thou.
 
Number 2, by quite a large margin. I love the composition, the colours, and the DoF. The only thing I'd change is the third creature (what are they?), which doesn't need to be there in the background.

Love the reflected clouds in the eyes.

Some might not like the close crop, but as I've said before, I'm a sucker for close cropped shots; I like it a lot :)
 
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I like 2 and 3 but i think 3 works as a composition, but not sure it says soft.
 
zeb said:
Mm not too fussy on 1&2 to be honest

No1 the crop is a bit tight and the angle of the shot appears level on the left toy but looking down on the right, I think a strait on shot with a bit more of the reflection showing at the bottom would be good.

No3 is the best, taken on your phone so I know you can’t do too much with it but I think there is a shot of teddy and parsnip crying out somewhere in there without the clutter background bang on theme thou.
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Thanks Trevor, found photographing these quite tricky, I tried to get the reflection in, but exposure was a big problem, couldn't get a compromise, either the toys were way over exposed with a perfect reflection or this.

Number 3, perhaps I should go back and buy it :lol: Myself, I am going towards number 2 and 3.

Southdowns said:
Number 2, by quite a large margin. I love the composition, the colours, and the DoF. The only thing I'd change is the third creature (what are they?), which doesn't need to be there in the background.

Love the reflected clouds in the eyes.

Some might not like the close crop, but as I've said before, I'm a sucker for close cropped shots; I like it a lot :)
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Hi Mark, here we have Spike The Hedgehog, Zig Zag The Zebra and Woody The Rabbit. I see what you mean about removing the 3rd one, will see if I can get anything better.

alsjazzera said:
I like 2 and 3 but i think 3 works as a composition, but not sure it says soft.
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Thanks Allan, number 3 would be better if it was a close up of the dog, it's probably the busy bg that is taking the soft feel away.
 
That's a zebra???!!! I'd love to see what they think a giraffe looks like!
 
Hi Michael I prefer number two as I like the close cropped shot and the clouds reflecting in the eyes. I agree that the third charachter in the background needs to go, maybe even a slight crop would solve that.

I love M & P's cuddly toys, they are the softest, cuddliest toys going so most definitely on theme! I agree it's a little cluttered, but it's not like you can ask them to rearrange their display!!!
 
Southdowns said:
That's a zebra???!!! I'd love to see what they think a giraffe looks like!
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:lol: I know what you mean, I am going to have a look to see if they do a giraffe now!

The goblin said:
Hi Michael I prefer number two as I like the close cropped shot and the clouds reflecting in the eyes. I agree that the third charachter in the background needs to go, maybe even a slight crop would solve that.

I love M & P's cuddly toys, they are the softest, cuddliest toys going so most definitely on theme! I agree it's a little cluttered, but it's not like you can ask them to rearrange their display!!!
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Thanks very much for your comments Marsha, please see below for a reshoot and a different style.


Week 15, Soft Triptych by scilly puffin, on Flickr

And here I have an alternative, noticed it this morning so decided to have a play in elements 10


soft alternative by scilly puffin, on Flickr
 
I like your triptych! It works very well, and is very nicely lit :)

The deodorant one doesn't do much for me I'm afraid, as it looks like a marketing shot. It's nicely taken and all that, but just not "pleasing" to me.

But no, that is NOT a zebra ;)
 
Hi Michael :wave:

Like your different take on Entrance....you've got really good detail in the staemen & pollen , like the angle & that the petals look so fragile....good work mister :thumbs:

Soft....of the variations posted I'm going with Soft 2...so cute & look so very soft...just slight clip on the left but given you were in a store I think it's great :thumbs:

I also love the tryptych....strangest colors I've ever seen on a Zebra though :lol: For me , to make 100% perfect I'd clone out the slight reflection of the feet in the middle shot....just a thought...then there'd be symetry throughout :thumbs:
 
Michael i really like the colour one of your entrance, i think the exposure and colours are spot on, i agree with some of the others saying a wider crop would have been better, Soft i'm not sure, i think out of them all the tryptych works best
 
Southdowns said:
I like your triptych! It works very well, and is very nicely lit :)

The deodorant one doesn't do much for me I'm afraid, as it looks like a marketing shot. It's nicely taken and all that, but just not "pleasing" to me.

But no, that is NOT a zebra ;)
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Thanks Mark, pleased I went back to this today, the triptych has worked a treat, taking the pics separately has made a big improvement.

blondie606 said:
Hi Michael :wave:

Like your different take on Entrance....you've got really good detail in the staemen & pollen , like the angle & that the petals look so fragile....good work mister :thumbs:

Soft....of the variations posted I'm going with Soft 2...so cute & look so very soft...just slight clip on the left but given you were in a store I think it's great :thumbs:

I also love the tryptych....strangest colors I've ever seen on a Zebra though :lol: For me , to make 100% perfect I'd clone out the slight reflection of the feet in the middle shot....just a thought...then there'd be symetry throughout :thumbs:
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Hi Lynne :wave: Thanks very much for the comments, I have done a final edit of this weeks pic which is below, I have cloned the reflection out and it looks better :thumbs: I think I am going to go with the triptych to go in the flickr group, as hard work and experimenting has paid off :thumbs:

lizzy23 said:
Michael i really like the colour one of your entrance, i think the exposure and colours are spot on, i agree with some of the others saying a wider crop would have been better, Soft i'm not sure, i think out of them all the tryptych works best
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Thank you Liz for the comments, much appreciated :thumbs:

Final edit on this weeks theme


Soft (cloned) by scilly puffin, on Flickr
 
I have come in at the tail end of all your crops and edits Michael so a lot of points have been raised already.
Having seen all the versions, I think your final triptycht is the one which gets my vote. Jet black background, sharp on the subjects, simple composition but very strong just the same. I am sure it would make a great print for the little uns' bedroom. If I were doing that, I'd maybe convert the background to a lighter colour maybe even white but apart from that :thumbs: Iain
 
michael23 said:
Thanks John and Neil.

Now onto week 15 and soft. I have gone down the route of soft toys, seeing as we seem to have started to expand the already huge collection of around 300 teddies!! :cuckoo:

The light today has been awkward, inside the house was just not right at all and couldn't get any decent illumination, and outside was really harsh and very contrasty making exposures a nightmare, so your thoughts will be appreciated on these 2 pics.


Week 15, Soft by scilly puffin, on Flickr


Week 15, Soft 2 by scilly puffin, on Flickr

And this one which I snapped whilst in a Mama's And Pappa's Shop using instagram app on my Galaxy S2.


IMG_20120410_161317 by scilly puffin, on Flickr
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Hi, Michael, Soft....you big softy....:D

Of the 3, it's #2 for me. Nice and simple, and I like the composition. I actually feel in this one the front teddy would work better on its own. I do like the sky reflection in the eye. Just clipped the ear.

#3 has potential but it's a bit busy and the RH side is over exposed.

Cheers and catch you later...:thumbs::thumbs:
 
Thanks Paul, I have been using a new outdoor table we brought from Asda recently, the black tempered glass makes great reflections, the colours from the sky complemented it very well.

Looking forward to finding out the new theme!
 
Hi Michael

Entrance -

excellent . Good colours and focus and background. Clever idea for a theme that i have found hard to avoid the obvious. Much prefer the colour version.

Soft

#2 is very cute and spot on theme for me. I like the colours and the pov and dof.

The tryptych is good too but I think that I just prefr #2 as the animals seem to have some movement, possible because of the angles that you have achieved and the dof
 
Love the second one Michael, have to say, it's much more interesting than the first. And some lovely reflection in that large eye too... I'm guessing the sharp angles are from the background ?? The sky shows up lovely though.
 
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