Onlyme's Photo52 - Week 8 'Chaos' added

[onlyme]

Hi everyone!

I've thought about joining for a while, but just didn't get around to it and I got to the point where I thought it's now or never, so here we go...

This is a great opportunity to learn lots, and for me it's all about finding the good shots. I tend to take the 'obvious' ones, but with this project I'd like to push my self a little bit further and think a bit harder before I press the trigger.

Well, I'll give it a go!

Sanna

 

[onlyme]

I've decided to try and catch up with you all, so here's my photo for week 1 - 'Accommodation'.

Right then, here's my shot for week 4. I've taken it as an open theme, rather than a themed 'Open'. I had a little fun with one of my son's cars (well, a money box!) this afternoon!

 

[drodd]

Hiya Sanna,

Firstly, welcome to the Photo52 and good on you for deciding to join in.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this theme OPEN, especially as moneyboxes can be opened to get the loot out

My son collects moneyboxes (something I started for him from the day he was born .... he now has about 30 in his collection - btw he only turned 6 yesterday so who know how many he will have when he is older ..... as long as they are full of dosh I don't mind ... he is quite thrifty with his money )

This looks like quite a gem, did you paint it?

Are you going to do a catch-up of the previous weeks or are you going to start from here. Either way I look forward to seeing your images.

Good luck.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[onlyme]

Hi Dawn!

Thank you for the welcome, I'm really looking forward to this challenge!

A collection of money boxes... Is that something you've captured on camera at all? I'm sure they'd make a great photo!

No, didn't paint this one, but I quite like the hand-painted look, and the colours.

I thought at first I'd just start from here, but thinking about the previous themes I keep coming up with ideas. They'd be out of order now though, so might be best to just start from here me thinks!

Sanna

 

[drodd]

<snip> A collection of money boxes... Is that something you've captured on camera at all? I'm sure they'd make a great photo!<snip>

Hiya Sanna,

No, actually I haven't yet captured them all on camera, but thanks for the idea .... I think I would need quite a large space to get them all in one shot

There is one in particular that Reuben painted himself, and is quite colourful, and in the true sense of the word a 'piggybank'.

I think I will do a pic as one of my photos for my 365 project.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Marts]

Hi Sanna,
Thats a great shot of iconic vehicle. Nice use of DOF. Great start to the challenge.

Welcome to tp. not been here long myself but really enjoying the challenges and advice.

Good luck with the rest of the challenge.

Martin

 

[onlyme]

Sounds interesting Dawn, looking forward to seeing to seeing your piggy bank photo!

Thank you muchly for the kind comments Martin! This is a great way to learn, develop and get the mind going.

 

[vdubster]

Hi,

Love the subject of your week 4 shot

On the subject of the other weeks, maybe just shot them when you can? would be a shame to get you the end and only have a few missing?

Anyway look forward to more.

James

 

[onlyme]

Hiya! Thank you, I do too!

Yeah, that's what I'm intending to do. Not going to rush it, I'll do it when there's spare time. Although, my mind's buzzing trying to come up with new ideas hehe.

Thanks for looking!

 

[onlyme]

Week 5 - 'Hard'. OK, perhaps not the most original idea, but the balancing of these hard objects was very hard!

 

[drodd]

Hiya Sanna,

Well done on doing a quick catchup.

I like your take on the theme 5, in many ways, from the hardness of the stones, to the balancing and composition.

The image seems a tad dark and could probably benefit from a bit of lighten.

Shadows have become an issue I am conscious of now. What lighting did you use for this image? I think if you had your light source lower down and reflecting slightly upwards would perhaps eliminate the upper stones casting a shadow down, darkening the lower rocks.

I have bought myself a couple of extra halogen lights (you can pick them up for about £6 at a DIY store), and you can put different WATT bulbs in them to create the right lighting.

BTW just noticed I hadn't seen your Week 1: Another great take on the theme. Again a bit dark. Are you adjusting the white balance settings accoringly, or using the Auto WB? I like the way you have used the steps as a lead-in line. The vertical lines of the houses/appartments look slightly off alighment though. A bit of a tricky image to get all in balance though because of the architecture. Especially noticable by the slant of the window on the right. Also prob benefit from a bit of a sharpen.

Well done though, it looks like you are on a roll now.

Cheers

Dawn

 

[Ub3rTiger]

I like your hard shot Sanna - and is that the retro car pic I see from OcUK?

Nice shot, I might see if I can catch up on the Photo52 too seeing as it doesn't look like it's too late.

 

[LauraJ23]

A nice photo there, I agree that it needs a little extra lighting. Great balancing btw!

 

[TinaC]

Agree with the others on the lighting. To me this looks Icelandic as when there last year we came across heaps of stones balanced in this way on the various coasts!

Well done

 

[onlyme]

Hiya Sanna,

Well done on doing a quick catchup.

I like your take on the theme 5, in many ways, from the hardness of the stones, to the balancing and composition.

The image seems a tad dark and could probably benefit from a bit of lighten.

Shadows have become an issue I am conscious of now. What lighting did you use for this image? I think if you had your light source lower down and reflecting slightly upwards would perhaps eliminate the upper stones casting a shadow down, darkening the lower rocks.

I have bought myself a couple of extra halogen lights (you can pick them up for about £6 at a DIY store), and you can put different WATT bulbs in them to create the right lighting.

BTW just noticed I hadn't seen your Week 1: Another great take on the theme. Again a bit dark. Are you adjusting the white balance settings accoringly, or using the Auto WB? I like the way you have used the steps as a lead-in line. The vertical lines of the houses/appartments look slightly off alighment though. A bit of a tricky image to get all in balance though because of the architecture. Especially noticable by the slant of the window on the right. Also prob benefit from a bit of a sharpen.

Thanks Dawn, I really appreciate the input. On Week 1, I wasn't even sure about uploading it, and I wasn't 100% with it. Nothing in that picture (houses or steps) were level, so it was indeed a bit tricky, if not impossible to get it right. Light was poor aswell, as it was an overcast day, and not much contrast at all in the sky, so felt a conversion was best. I was playing about with WB, highlights/shadows etc, but just struggled to get it right.

About the stones: I can see what you're saying about the lighting. It was a desktop light from above, and looking at it now, the shadows alone take quite alot away from the stones, including light. Definitely something I can learn from and improve for next time. I haven't done much set-up/arranged photography or still life, so HUGE learning curve in terms of lighting, backgrounds and what not. Lots of fun, but also lots to learn, so you're comments and advice are very welcome indeed!

Thanks again,

Sanna

 

[onlyme]

I like your hard shot Sanna - and is that the retro car pic I see from OcUK?

Nice shot, I might see if I can catch up on the Photo52 too seeing as it doesn't look like it's too late.

Thanks! You might have seen it somewhere else...

You should join, it's great fun, and brilliant to get the C&C aswell, as I want to progress and learn from this!

 

[onlyme]

A nice photo there, I agree that it needs a little extra lighting. Great balancing btw!

Thank you! Will keep lighting in mind next time!

Agree with the others on the lighting. To me this looks Icelandic as when there last year we came across heaps of stones balanced in this way on the various coasts!

Well done

Thanks Tina! Well, I'm Nordic, just not Icelandic... Honestly? I'd love to see that, and lots more of Iceland too. Did you post photos on here?

This was actually really fun to shoot, especially when I realised I'd actually be able to do the balancing. I almost gave up. Well, not quite true - I'm too stubborn!
Lighting was definitely the tricky part...

/Sanna

 

[posiview]

Week 5 - 'Hard'. OK, perhaps not the most original idea, but the balancing of these hard objects was very hard!

Cracking shot, one of those that as soon as I saw it I liked it.

Almost looks like it's levitating.

Great shadow under the bottom stone and great composition.

It seems to lack something, I don't know what? Maybe some contract, needs some boost; difficult to out my finger on it.

Great idea and well executed.

Cheers.

BTW, I really like the dof on the toy car...

 

[sparrow]

Hi Sanna
Great start to your 52 week challenge - I particularly like your 'hard' shot - lovely detail.

 

[Namistai]

Nice shots!

I like the first one. Nothing that I would change really, probably just a little sharpening (I'll show you if you like ).

The second one I've just seen for the second time, and the theme idea just clicked on me - I'm a bit slow at the moment! I think you could increase the impact on the link to the theme by somehow increasing the prevalence of the coin slot. I'd also 'stop down' to about f/2.8, maybe even towards f/4. This will give you a little more depth of field, increased sharpness and increased contrast -just a function of the 50mm lens. You'll play into the strengths of the lens and should see quite improved image quality.

Third shot is a great idea for both linking to the theme and for subject I think you should have another play with the lighting, and maybe try some plastic/glass/mirror to get a reflection - some water too maybe?

 

[onlyme]

Cracking shot, one of those that as soon as I saw it I liked it.

Almost looks like it's levitating.

Great shadow under the bottom stone and great composition.

It seems to lack something, I don't know what? Maybe some contract, needs some boost; difficult to out my finger on it.

Great idea and well executed.

Cheers.

BTW, I really like the dof on the toy car...

Thank you for the lovely comments. I might see what I can do about the contrast. I think too, if I could just get the lighting right, that would really help. I too like the shadow from the bottom stone, but the shadows form the others are too strong and takes too much away. I'm determined to get this shot right, so shall be trying again this weekend and see what I come up with!

I was toying with the concept of hard and soft in the image, and initially had a feather on the very top stone, but it didn't work.

Hi Sanna
Great start to your 52 week challenge - I particularly like your 'hard' shot - lovely detail.

Thanks Joan!

Nice shots!

I like the first one. Nothing that I would change really, probably just a little sharpening (I'll show you if you like ).

The second one I've just seen for the second time, and the theme idea just clicked on me - I'm a bit slow at the moment! I think you could increase the impact on the link to the theme by somehow increasing the prevalence of the coin slot. I'd also 'stop down' to about f/2.8, maybe even towards f/4. This will give you a little more depth of field, increased sharpness and increased contrast -just a function of the 50mm lens. You'll play into the strengths of the lens and should see quite improved image quality.

Third shot is a great idea for both linking to the theme and for subject I think you should have another play with the lighting, and maybe try some plastic/glass/mirror to get a reflection - some water too maybe?

Thank you! It would be fab if you could show (Lightroom, right? ) I will definitely have another go over the next few days. That's if I can get the stones balancing again...I do love your ideas of adding reflections - definitely worth considering! It might compromise the composition, as the I had the stones quite far back in the light tent, and there's not much of the 'floor' showing. But if we make the alterations we were talking about, it could work!

 

[PatrickO]

Hi Sanna I like the stones shot a lot. The composition is wonderful. The space above the stones works very well. I also love the background which goes from dark to light, top to bottom.

Yes it is rather dark, but I think that works - there is plenty of detail in the stones. The directional light and strong shadows add drama and atmosphere.

There's very little I would change except maybe to increase the contrast slightly in PP. Overall a simple image which works very well

Cheers, Patrick

PS just showed this pic to my other half and she loved it!

 

[onlyme]

Thanks ever so much Patrick, and your other half! I'm quite pleased with it myself. I did want to keep it dark, but I can see that the shadows are letting it down slightly. Off to work on my idea for Week 6 now!

 

[jamin100]

I really like this, how many times did it take you to stack the rocks?

Contrast is good, I like it

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums

 

[onlyme]

Thank you! Once, believe it or not. Not sure I could do it again though...!

 

[onlyme]

Right, Week 6 - 'Clutter'!

 

[TinaC]

Agree with the others on the lighting. To me this looks Icelandic as when there last year we came across heaps of stones balanced in this way on the various coasts!

Well done

Thank you! Will keep lighting in mind next time!



Thanks Tina! Well, I'm Nordic, just not Icelandic... Honestly? I'd love to see that, and lots more of Iceland too. Did you post photos on here?

This was actually really fun to shoot, especially when I realised I'd actually be able to do the balancing. I almost gave up. Well, not quite true - I'm too stubborn!
Lighting was definitely the tricky part...

/Sanna

Have a look on my Flikr as I posted some of my Icelandic shots there. Saving up to go again

As to clutter, like the use of DOF in this and the colours

 

[PatrickO]

Hi Sanna, that was speedy work! I've hardly begun to think about it.
You have a good imagination, this one has got me stumped.

Very appealing image. I very much like the limited DOF and all the great colours. Very well lit and the black background works well (could probably have work on a white BG as well).

The composition is good, but I'd say there's a bit to much empty space in the middle of the pic.

Really enjoying your 52.

 

[onlyme]

Thank you Tina! Just had a look...Amazing shots Tina! What an experience it must have been! It does look to be something else; mystical, and magically beautiful!

 

[drodd]

Hiya Sanna,

Well done on posting your week 6 so quickly and a lovely shot too.

Like the DOF with the 3 gem clips in focus, well done. Lovely use of colour and background.

Well done

Cheers

Dawn

 

[LauraJ23]

Great colours and the focus point on the 3 clips is great. Well done

 

[blondie606]

Hi ya

Just having a quick catch up ,sorry I missed your week 5 - what a great photo .Apart from it being Hard to balance the stones they suit the theme well & you've done a great job with the shot

Liking your week 6 as weLl ,nice sharp focus & great DOF ,really good

 

[captures.in.time]

Hi there!

Loved your shots up to your week 6 one... It's still a great image... Im just not sure it shouts the theme clutter... It's just not a cluttered shot in my eyes! For me clutter is not just a mess... It suggests more... collectables that only one person may love... keeping stuff for the sake of keeping it!

I really Love your week 5 shot... one of the best of all the Hard shots by far! Aggain slightly weak on the HARD shout... but not to weak! I love the ballanced stones which is something that takes me back to my time in South America where the locals do this as a sport in some areas... At the top of the Colca Canyon in Peru there is hundrids of them!
Perfect lighting and the B+ W conversion make the shot brill!

Mark

 

[Mr G]

Hiya Sanna,
Nice shot I too like the depth of field and the simple approach to coloured clutter well done

 

[Marts]

Hi Sanna,
You have created a nice spacial take on clutter. Wonderful shot. I like the shallow DOF. Great effect

Martin

 

[billybob99]

Nicely lit and composed in my opinion like it

 

[snorton]

Hi there, really like week 6, good colours and nice DOF

 

[onlyme]

Hi Sanna, that was speedy work! I've hardly begun to think about it.
You have a good imagination, this one has got me stumped.

Very appealing image. I very much like the limited DOF and all the great colours. Very well lit and the black background works well (could probably have work on a white BG as well).

The composition is good, but I'd say there's a bit to much empty space in the middle of the pic.

Really enjoying your 52.

Cheers for the comments Patrick! My initial idea was a photo of drawing pins but as I was going through the stationary box I found these, and much preferred the idea! I was playing with the crop for quite a while; there's definitely scope for another messing about too. I personally wasn't 100% with the black space at the top of the picture, but because of the shallow DOF, the clips at the very front looked awful and didn't add anything to the photo. Maybe a rearrangement, but on white background next time...

Hiya Sanna,

Well done on posting your week 6 so quickly and a lovely shot too.

Like the DOF with the 3 gem clips in focus, well done. Lovely use of colour and background.

Well done

Cheers

Dawn

Thanking you Dawn! I had absolutely no idea what to do, until this idea suddenly sprung into mind.

 

[onlyme]

Great colours and the focus point on the 3 clips is great. Well done

Thanks Micheal!

Hi ya

Just having a quick catch up ,sorry I missed your week 5 - what a great photo .Apart from it being Hard to balance the stones they suit the theme well & you've done a great job with the shot

Liking your week 6 as weLl ,nice sharp focus & great DOF ,really good

Hi Lynne! Thank you for the kind comments. I am very happy with the stones photo, aswell as managing to balance them...

Hi there!

Loved your shots up to your week 6 one... It's still a great image... Im just not sure it shouts the theme clutter... It's just not a cluttered shot in my eyes! For me clutter is not just a mess... It suggests more... collectables that only one person may love... keeping stuff for the sake of keeping it!

I really Love your week 5 shot... one of the best of all the Hard shots by far! Aggain slightly weak on the HARD shout... but not to weak! I love the ballanced stones which is something that takes me back to my time in South America where the locals do this as a sport in some areas... At the top of the Colca Canyon in Peru there is hundrids of them!
Perfect lighting and the B+ W conversion make the shot brill!

Mark

Thanks very much Mark for your C&C! Last week was a good week. The balancing of the stones was very therapeutic, in a zen kind of way. Nah, seriously, I am pleased with it. I did enjoy shooting that one so I will be getting them out again soon for some more shots!
Week 6: I know, it's a slightly different take on clutter, and maybe a little impersonal, but had the idea and felt like going for it! At first, I wanted to completely fill the frame, so might get around to doing another one, as the composition needs a bit of work.

Hiya Sanna,
Nice shot I too like the depth of field and the simple approach to coloured clutter well done

Thank you!

Hi Sanna,
You have created a nice spacial take on clutter. Wonderful shot. I like the shallow DOF. Great effect

Martin

Thanks Martin! Yeah, felt a little bit off theme perhaps, but I'm trying to push myself a little in coming up new and different ideas, and that's what the 52 is all about for me!

Nicely lit and composed in my opinion like it

Thank you!

Hi there, really like week 6, good colours and nice DOF

Thank you muchly!

 

[antihero]

Agree with Dawn on this one, dof is excellent and colours are nice and vibrant

your "hard" shot is pretty special too I might add