My 52 Photos for 2009 - Week 17 DARK
- Thread starter -Rob-
- Start date
The last couple of weeks haven't been too good so I haven't been out with the camera too much, infact I've only touched it once all this week so the only picture I have that fits the theme is one I took of my girlfriend while we were at the skiing place near the Trafford Centre yesterday. Obviously I like this picture because of who's in it but as it was taken indoors with poor light at ISO800 it's not the best quality image. It was really a grab shot as I had to catch her by surprise to get a smile but what a lovely smile. 
- Messages
- 3,268
- Name
- Simon
- Edit My Images
- Yes
She clearly means alot to you rob, I think the only downside is that the expression is very "caught in the headlights" and is a faction of a second after she's realised you've got the camera pointed at her. I know as I have hundreds of my GF like this as she hates having her photo taken 
Well I'm having to play catch up this week having not been around to post the previous 2 weeks themes.
Week 12 - Poverty
I really struggled for an idea for this one. I wanted to find a homeless person and offer them something to take some photos of them but I've not been in to town for weeks so I didn't manage that one. So I came up with the idea of showing an empty food cupboard which is meant to represent the cupboard of someone too poor to provide for their family.
Week 13 - Up
This was a slightly easier one as I took a trip to the White Scar Caves in North Yorkshire last week. In the largest cavern within the cave there is what appears to be the face of a witch as you look up to the roof of the cave. You don't get much time to take pictures in the cave as the tours are guided so with the use of flash and a bit of post processing I managed to get this image.
Week 14 - Letter
For this one I went through the alphabet and tried to think of an idea for each letter. By the time I got to the letter T I had my idea. This was taken using natural light on my dining room table this afternoon. Possibly the earliest I've ever managed to post one of my weekly themes although it doesn't quite make up for being late with the above 2 photos.
Comments on all 3 images welcomed.
Week 12 - Poverty
I really struggled for an idea for this one. I wanted to find a homeless person and offer them something to take some photos of them but I've not been in to town for weeks so I didn't manage that one. So I came up with the idea of showing an empty food cupboard which is meant to represent the cupboard of someone too poor to provide for their family.
Week 13 - Up
This was a slightly easier one as I took a trip to the White Scar Caves in North Yorkshire last week. In the largest cavern within the cave there is what appears to be the face of a witch as you look up to the roof of the cave. You don't get much time to take pictures in the cave as the tours are guided so with the use of flash and a bit of post processing I managed to get this image.
Week 14 - Letter
For this one I went through the alphabet and tried to think of an idea for each letter. By the time I got to the letter T I had my idea. This was taken using natural light on my dining room table this afternoon. Possibly the earliest I've ever managed to post one of my weekly themes although it doesn't quite make up for being late with the above 2 photos.
Comments on all 3 images welcomed.
- Messages
- 3,268
- Name
- Simon
- Edit My Images
- Yes
3 interesting images there rob.
Poverty - The image looks a little soft to me but it is a great idea and you've done well to get the white balance right
Up - Great positioning of the face in frame and you've done well to capture the image in a short time frame. However, I think the photo shows stalactites which grow downwards. Still a nice shot.
Letter - a fab shot I love the DoF, if you look at this another way you also have the letter Q in it too
Poverty - The image looks a little soft to me but it is a great idea and you've done well to get the white balance right
Up - Great positioning of the face in frame and you've done well to capture the image in a short time frame. However, I think the photo shows stalactites which grow downwards. Still a nice shot.
Letter - a fab shot
I love the DoF, if you look at this another way you also have the letter Q in it tooThanks for the comments Simon. You're right about the poverty picture, it is a bit soft, in fact it's a lot soft but I don't think a photo of the inside of a cupboard was ever going to be a great one however sharp it was.
They are stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. I was looking UP at the roof of the cave. I got another picture of a stalagmite growing UP that was called the judges head but the shot was taken at ISO 1600 and was really noisy so I decided not to use it.
They are stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. I was looking UP at the roof of the cave. I got another picture of a stalagmite growing UP that was called the judges head but the shot was taken at ISO 1600 and was really noisy so I decided not to use it.
adrury
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 455
- Name
- Angela
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Well done for catching up Rob, I know the feeling well.
Poverty,
Great idea, nicely taken. I'm not too sure about the angle of the cupboard, but as with my portrait shots on here, I can never get the whole picture into view to see what's going on.
Up,
Love the clarity and colours of this shot, not one thing I don't like about it, fab
Letter,
I really like this one too! Good DoF, clarity, cropping, colours, all good. The texture of the teabag on the water is nice against the smooth shiny spoon handle too. Great!!
Poverty,
Great idea, nicely taken. I'm not too sure about the angle of the cupboard, but as with my portrait shots on here, I can never get the whole picture into view to see what's going on.
Up,
Love the clarity and colours of this shot, not one thing I don't like about it, fab
Letter,
I really like this one too! Good DoF, clarity, cropping, colours, all good. The texture of the teabag on the water is nice against the smooth shiny spoon handle too. Great!!
jeangenie
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 3,953
- Name
- Jean
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Well done for catching up so effectively, Rob
Poverty: I think your cupboard is a bit posh for 'poverty'. Seriously, I love the idea, and yes, it is a bit soft but you didn't have much to focus on.
Up: You did well to get such a post-worthy shot in such difficult conditions. Well done, you. The colours look great and I like all the different formations and textures.
Letter: Good interpretation of the theme - glad to see you remembered the biccies.
I love the reflections in the surface of the tea, and as Angela said, the glimpse of the teabag adds to the interest - nice texture.
I hope you put your feet up and enjoyed drinking it afterwards.
Jean
Poverty: I think your cupboard is a bit posh for 'poverty'.
Seriously, I love the idea, and yes, it is a bit soft but you didn't have much to focus on. Up: You did well to get such a post-worthy shot in such difficult conditions. Well done, you.
The colours look great and I like all the different formations and textures. Letter: Good interpretation of the theme - glad to see you remembered the biccies.
I love the reflections in the surface of the tea, and as Angela said, the glimpse of the teabag adds to the interest - nice texture.
I hope you put your feet up and enjoyed drinking it afterwards.
Jean
- Messages
- 12,829
- Name
- John
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Major catch up here:
Relationships: Lovely portrait, relaxed and happy smile too
Poverty: A tad soft but great idea and I like the selective colouring! Nice one!
Up: Wow - thats amazing - scary or what!!! Good detailed image!
Letter: Imaginative and well shot Good dof working on this one
Good viewing all of 'em
Relationships: Lovely portrait, relaxed and happy smile too
Poverty: A tad soft but great idea and I like the selective colouring! Nice one!
Up: Wow - thats amazing - scary or what!!! Good detailed image!
Letter: Imaginative and well shot
Good dof working on this one Good viewing all of 'em
Thanks Dark Star and Toothie. After a 3 week catch up I'm still struggling to come up with an idea for DUO for this week. I'm impressed with the idea I came up with for T, I just hope it hasn't drained me of inspiration. :bang:
A slightly late submission for this week's photo. Although I took the photo on time, during a photoshoot on Saturday, a trip to Wembley on Sunday meant I've had no time on the computer until now. Anyway, the shoot I did on Sunday was with 2 cars, 2 motorbikes and 2 models. The shot I have chosen shows the 2 girls on a chopper. I was planning on doing a duo tone treatment to the image to give it another dup dimension but it just didn't look right so I'm sticking with the original. Keep an eye out in the portraits section over the next few days for more examples from this shoot once I get time to process some more.
Comments welcome!!
Comments welcome!!
If the girls had leathers on and this was taken trackside then we might be talkin!Thanks for the comment even if it's not your thing. We did try some shots with a leather jacket and we tried some outside but we were only in a carpark, not at a trackside so it just looked all wrong.
After not too many comments on last week's picture I wanted to come up with something this week that would receive loads of good comments. Having yet another tough theme hasn't helped. There is one thing in my life that I really long for so finding some inspiration wasn't too difficult, converting that inspiration in to a good photo did prove difficult. What I long for is more time with my daughter. For the last 6 months she's lived 150 miles away with my ex so I only ever get to see her every other weekend when I make the long round trip to go and collect her. The long drive is becoming very familiar now as I read the same signs along the same roads every time. A lot of those signs point to Hadrians Wall off the A69 from Carlisle to Newcastle. For a long time I've been longing to turn off the main road and take a walk along the wall to take in the scenery. Until this weekend I'd always resisted as my longing to see my daughter was stronger. So to the photo..... This was taken on Sunday as I was taking my daughter back up to Newcastle. We had a bit of time to spare and finally took that detour to see Hadrians Wall. This is the view looking down the long long wall as it heads in to Northumberland where my daughter now lives and it's a reminder to me of the part of the country where the one person I spend my life longing for now spends most of her time.
Sorry for the long story but without the words it's just a wall in a field!!
Sorry for the long story but without the words it's just a wall in a field!!
Hyster
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 944
- Name
- Gary
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Its a nice pic Rob, feel for you with your daughter, I'm lucky enough to have mine close but still feel I could make more time for her.
Might be worth trying uping the saturation or even trying b&w, lots of drama in that sky.
Looking forward to seeing what you have for us this week.
Might be worth trying uping the saturation or even trying b&w, lots of drama in that sky.
Looking forward to seeing what you have for us this week.
adrury
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 455
- Name
- Angela
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Right Rob, now this is my cup of tea and prefer it much more than last week!!
I love the story that goes with this picture and what it symbolises for you. The ground level works particularly well for me too. My only slight crit (and it is slight) Is that the sky seems to bright for the ground. i would have liked it more grey and heavy!
All said a great shot well executed and a lovely idea behind it. well done
I love the story that goes with this picture and what it symbolises for you. The ground level works particularly well for me too. My only slight crit (and it is slight) Is that the sky seems to bright for the ground. i would have liked it more grey and heavy!
All said a great shot well executed and a lovely idea behind it. well done
jeangenie
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 3,953
- Name
- Jean
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Rob - I'm sorry I missed your Duo - it wasn't intentional.
I've spent a while looking at this one, and putting aside the fact that it's probably going to appeal to the fellas more than the girls, I'm still not sure about it. I think the front tyre (of the bike!!!) dominates the shot and the rest of the bike and the glamorous models are sort of relegated to the background.
I generally like low angle shots for glamour but on this occasion a different angle might have been better.
So, yes, it's definitely a good Duo, but a bit too much rubber, imo
Week 16 Longing:
The story behind the picture makes it very poignant and special. Not seeing your daughter as often as you'd like must be very, very tough, and the bleakness of Hadrian's wall kind of reflects the longing to be with her.
A brave shot, this week, Rob.
btw - the sky is good and I love the feeling of the Wall stretching into infinity.
Jean
I've spent a while looking at this one, and putting aside the fact that it's probably going to appeal to the fellas more than the girls, I'm still not sure about it. I think the front tyre (of the bike!!!) dominates the shot and the rest of the bike and the glamorous models are sort of relegated to the background.
I generally like low angle shots for glamour but on this occasion a different angle might have been better.
So, yes, it's definitely a good Duo, but a bit too much rubber, imo
Week 16 Longing:
The story behind the picture makes it very poignant and special. Not seeing your daughter as often as you'd like must be very, very tough, and the bleakness of Hadrian's wall kind of reflects the longing to be with her.
A brave shot, this week, Rob.
btw - the sky is good and I love the feeling of the Wall stretching into infinity.
Jean
Thanks for the comments everyone and particularly Hyster who has just PM me an edit of my image with a few tweeks he did in Lightroom which made the sky look a lot better and the colour of the landscape much brighter. I've tweeked my version to hopefully look a bit better. What do you think, is it an improvement?
Last edited:
Hyster
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 944
- Name
- Gary
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Hi again Rob, I think its better, the foreground is a little dark possibly but its better, maybe a touch more drama to pull out of the sky.
Like I said in the PM, I'm not the best with editing images but some of the folk on here are ace at it.
Like I said in the PM, I'm not the best with editing images but some of the folk on here are ace at it.
jeangenie
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 3,953
- Name
- Jean
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Yep, Rob, I think the edit on the sky is excellent.
I agree with Hyster that the foreground is a little dark. If you have PS it can be fixed in Quick Mask mode, but I don't know it well enough to talk you through - I just go on trial and error - mostly error
Jean
I agree with Hyster that the foreground is a little dark. If you have PS it can be fixed in Quick Mask mode, but I don't know it well enough to talk you through - I just go on trial and error - mostly error
Jean
- Messages
- 12,646
- Name
- John
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Sorry Rob, missed last weeks. I don't do much photography of people, and steer clear of the portraits section largely for that reason, I find it really really hard to comment on the images. Having said that, it looks a well balanced image, but the front wheel is a bit intrusive. Possible shooting it from the position so that you looked along the front wheel might help :shrug: sorry...
I really like the words for longing, and I can tell from that and the picture how you feel. Good shot. Possibly a boost of vibrancy and definition of the first one would have worked very nicely (if I got them right, they are both localised and low level enhancements to colour and contrast).
I really like the words for longing, and I can tell from that and the picture how you feel. Good shot. Possibly a boost of vibrancy and definition of the first one would have worked very nicely (if I got them right, they are both localised and low level enhancements to colour and contrast).
- Messages
- 12,829
- Name
- John
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I missed duo as well - well thats a different take and I guess I like it 
(I don't much comment on glamour shots but in this case I'll gladly make an exception ) a good duo !
As for longing - this is a case of picture and words doing the job superbly! The words so well explain the longing you depict - the ideal image, in terms of processing, is somewhere between the two you've posted I think - but I like it Well done!
and I guess I like it (I don't much comment on glamour shots but in this case I'll gladly make an exception ) a good duo !As for longing - this is a case of picture and words doing the job superbly! The words so well explain the longing you depict - the ideal image, in terms of processing, is somewhere between the two you've posted I think - but I like it
Well done!
- Messages
- 3,806
- Name
- Just call me Mad Madam Mim
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Time for a catch up from me.
Relationships - what a lovely smile and well capthured on the sly
Poverty - Shows the sparseness well and the white is well balanced, but maybe a bit of grime or a few crumbs just to dirty it up would reinforce the impression.
Up - I love this (and Bruja is Spanish for witch - but I hope I don't look like that 
)
Letter - that's done to a T, really like this.
Duo - not my thing (must be because I'm a girl :shrug so I'm saying nowt.
Longing - the honesty in your words puts the whole thing into context (and most, if not all, of my pictures need an explanation) I prefer the second edit but the atmosphere of the sky and the path seeming to lead into infinty are a great match for your words. Well done, and well done for catching up
Relationships - what a lovely smile and well capthured on the sly
Poverty - Shows the sparseness well and the white is well balanced, but maybe a bit of grime or a few crumbs just to dirty it up would reinforce the impression.
Up - I love this
(and Bruja is Spanish for witch - but I hope I don't look like that )Letter - that's done to a T
, really like this.Duo - not my thing (must be because I'm a girl :shrug
so I'm saying nowt.Longing - the honesty in your words puts the whole thing into context (and most, if not all, of my pictures need an explanation) I prefer the second edit but the atmosphere of the sky and the path seeming to lead into infinty are a great match for your words. Well done
, and well done for catching upI'm certainly not ace at the editing. I know a little about how to use photoshop but nothing about how to get the best out of a photo. I have an awful lot to learn.
I have no idea what a Quick Mask mode is. I'll have a look in my Photoshop for Dummies book and see if I can understand any of it. Thanks Jean.
Thanks
When I was taking the shot I was actually trying to make the bike more of a focal point than the 2 girls knowing that most people's eyes would be drawn to the girls anyway. I have other shots where the girls are far more prominant. Maybe for a DUO shot I should have used one of those.
Thanks Dark Star, I'm glad you like them. I bet you of all people are looking forward to this week's theme.
Thanks Bruja, I'm glad you liked them although being a girl is no excuse for not liking motorbikes and half naked young girls......or is it?
- Messages
- 7,312
- Name
- Jeff
- Edit My Images
- No
Long-(wall)-ing !
There are so many reasons to take a photo...
Hopefully in years to come you and your daughter can look back at this one, I'm sure she will appreciate the effort you are putting in to continue to see her...
personally prefer the first post of the shot
one thing to try and learn if you are going to PP images like this is to be able to darken the sky slightly (I use the curves in CS3) then apply a graduated mask so the effect transitions out as you don't need it for the foreground..(I know what I mean lol)
There are so many reasons to take a photo...
Hopefully in years to come you and your daughter can look back at this one, I'm sure she will appreciate the effort you are putting in to continue to see her...
personally prefer the first post of the shot
one thing to try and learn if you are going to PP images like this is to be able to darken the sky slightly (I use the curves in CS3) then apply a graduated mask so the effect transitions out as you don't need it for the foreground..(I know what I mean lol)
I understand what you mean about the graduated mask, I just don't know how to do it but I've laid my hands on a copy of CS3 for Dummies this week which I am going to work my way through so I'm sure it'll be in there somewhere.
Thanks for the comment Kenny.
- Messages
- 3,268
- Name
- Simon
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Longing - I like the story behind this and the wall disappearing in to the distance is fabulous, it really mirrors the story quite well.
I'm not sure the dead centre composition does the image justice though, I'm not quite sure who best to frame it either I think the vanishing point of the wall could be placed on the top right third intersection but then when I try this is still doesn't look quite right.
I've just reread your post and you said that you had your daughter with you, I'm just wondering if standing her on the wall some distance down it (so she's small in the frame) could have worked??
I'm not sure the dead centre composition does the image justice though, I'm not quite sure who best to frame it either I think the vanishing point of the wall could be placed on the top right third intersection but then when I try this is still doesn't look quite right.
I've just reread your post and you said that you had your daughter with you, I'm just wondering if standing her on the wall some distance down it (so she's small in the frame) could have worked??
Posting these images late is getting to be a habit I'm afraid. This week it was due to doing my shoot on a saturday then spending the rest of the weekend out in the middle of no where walking the fells so I only got on the comuter tonight to sort out the picture.
This photo was taken in the basement of Manchester Victoria Baths on Saturday where there was an art exhibition on. I have no idea what this particular piece of art was meant to represent but for me it represents Dark. It's a very simple image with little to comment on photographically but give it your best.
This photo was taken in the basement of Manchester Victoria Baths on Saturday where there was an art exhibition on. I have no idea what this particular piece of art was meant to represent but for me it represents Dark. It's a very simple image with little to comment on photographically but give it your best.