Patrick's 52 for 2011 - Week 31 "Wind"

Hiya Patrick,

First of all well done on your thought process for this theme of clutter. I love the way you have put a lot of thought into the image and quoted the text of Og Mandino (a great philosopher and writer). I have read a couple of his works, my fav being The Greatest Salesman in the World (which I read when I was in high school and still have a very old copy of same which I read from time to time).

I always look forward to seeing your latest contribution to your project, and this morning I viewed the image a few times before I had left for work. I didn't leave comments then because I wanted to reflect on the whole expose and photo throughtout the day, which has had quite an impact on my thought process.

Adie's comments echo much of what I thought when I viewed the image, so I won't repeat what has already been said. But to add that the image looks a little OOF to me (not sure if that is just my eyes, or the fact that I am looking at the image on my netbook).

I think the image could benefit from a bit of 'punch' on the colour, if you know what I mean. Although I did a copy to my desktop (hope you don't mind) to just try a b&w conversion with a bit of pop in saturation of the original, with no cropping, to see how that looks and it works well. Just an idea.

How true your words ....'There can be a lot of clutter in our lives: physical, intellectual, emotional. Clutter can stop us doing big things, interesting and important things. We only get one life, so put the clutter to one side and do and be what you want.' and I thank you for that reminder.

You mention that you have a busy week ahead of you, I hope it isn't too hectic for you to still enjoy a moment of 'me' time.

Take care and I look forward to your next week's contribution.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
I've been wanting to try one of these black background still life pics and this theme is a perfect opportunity.

All flowers are delicate, and cut flowers especially because they fade and die so quickly. I'm ambivalent about cut flowers, I like them but I sort of think flowers should be out in the garden. As George Bernard Shaw said:
"I like flowers. I also like children, but I do not chop off their heads and keep them in bowls of water around the house." :)

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I like the composition and colour mix, but I'm not completely happy with the lighting. I would have preferred less highlights on the tulips. I also like how amazingly easy it is to get a black background without any PP.
 
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Hi Patrick,

Well done on a lovely capture for this week. Tulips are indeed such delicate flowers in many ways. You have the background spot on (what did you use?).

Your composition is great and the vase that you have the tulips in looks quite delicate too with all the fine hairline cracks.

Although the image looks slightly soft (I don't mean out of focus), it does add to the overall image. I tried a bit of sharpen and also managed to remove the highlights on the few flowers by cloning. Maybe you would like to give that a try if you want. I haven't posted an edit because I think you photo is lovely.

I had to chuckle at the little caption you added :D

You have done really well :thumbs:

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Great shot, and fantastic composition. My only niggle is the patch of shadow in the top left of shot on the flower stalks. Maybe the use of a small reflector to bounce some light onto the stalks would have lifted it slightly.
The highlights on the petals can easily be PS out if you find them too distracting.
Other than that I love the use of dead space on the right, and the crisp black bg.

Well done.


Adie
 
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drodd said:
Hi Patrick,

Well done on a lovely capture for this week. Tulips are indeed such delicate flowers in many ways. You have the background spot on (what did you use?).

Your composition is great and the vase that you have the tulips in looks quite delicate too with all the fine hairline cracks.

Although the image looks slightly soft (I don't mean out of focus), it does add to the overall image. I tried a bit of sharpen and also managed to remove the highlights on the few flowers by cloning. Maybe you would like to give that a try if you want. I haven't posted an edit because I think you photo is lovely.

I had to chuckle at the little caption you added :D

You have done really well :thumbs:

Cheers

Dawn :)
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Hi Dawn, glad you like it. The background is a dark blue duvet cover. Lighting was a single desk lamp with a home made snoot (cardboard cellotaped in place) to keep the light off the background. I put a reflector (big piece of white card) opposite to throw some light back.
It was shot in RAW so maybe not enough sharpening, but I wanted a slightly soft image. I was hoping to get less light on the RHS of the vase to get more of the glaze craquelure

I'd be interested to see your edit if that's poss. My PP is pretty basic, so when I try cloning it usually looks a mess.
Cheers, Patrick
 
Webby962 said:
Great shot, and fantastic composition. My only niggle is the patch of shadow in the top left of shot on the flower stalks. Maybe the use of a small reflector to bounce some light onto the stalks would have lifted it slightly.
The highlights on the petals can easily be PS out if you find them too distracting.
Other than that I love the use of dead space on the right, and the crisp black bg.

Well done.

Adie
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Hi Adie, thanks for your useful crit and kind words. I'm pleased you appreciate the open space on the the right. It's something I really like about the pic. When I mentioned it to my other half she said to stop being so arty-farty:lol:
 
Hi, Patrick,

Hard, nice idea which is sharp and ....hard. My one issue is there's no focus point. Maybe a bit tighter crop and one, really white pebble??

Cluttered, I almost said 'it's a bit busy'....:bonk:.... I was trying to visualise a better crop, but all I tried resulted in an uncluttered photograph.

Delicate, now that's a very nice photograph. Great composition and I really like the curves. I can't make up my mind whether the 'dead space' works or not. At a push, I feel there's not enough not too much, either way, it would only take the addition/subtraction of a bit of space. I would agree regarding the lighting, just a bit too much (harsh?) lighting on the lower three tulips, especially the bottom middle.

Cheers.
 
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PatrickO said:
Hi Dawn, glad you like it. The background is a dark blue duvet cover. Lighting was a single desk lamp with a home made snoot (cardboard cellotaped in place) to keep the light off the background. I put a reflector (big piece of white card) opposite to throw some light back.
It was shot in RAW so maybe not enough sharpening, but I wanted a slightly soft image. I was hoping to get less light on the RHS of the vase to get more of the glaze craquelure

I'd be interested to see your edit if that's poss. My PP is pretty basic, so when I try cloning it usually looks a mess.
Cheers, Patrick
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Hiya Patrick,

Thanks for the explanation of your setup and impovisation for lighting, which I think has proved very effective. I will have to add such technique to my list as it may come in handy soon.

I have sent you a PM with the edit attached. My PP is also basic and still haven't got my head around using Lightroom 3, so I generally process in Picnik now as I find it much easier to use. I also find that it is best to use a large zoom when cloning, that way I can see more pixels and try to get it as close as possible to the surrounding area.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
The lighting and colouring are superb. Massive congrats. Reading back to your first post you mentioned your fear in being compared to last years 52ers - you have nothing to worry about at all.

My Project 52
 
Firstly apologies for inflicting my ugly mug on you all again. I really tried hard to get someone else to pose for me, but noone would.

This is supposed to be a chaos of emotions.

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If my edit skill were better I've have cleaned up the background more. I tried giving it a white background but it looked like someone with poor PP skills had been messing around not quite knowing what they're doing;)

Crit very welcome
 
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Patrick I really really like this shot! or shots!

Love the faces and expressions... really minor point but in may of them your head is tilted to the right as the viewer looks at it... none to the left... I think the beatles effect of balancing it off with an equal no of left poses would really improve the shot... also mix the emotions up a little more... some similar together... but Brill idea!!!

And brave to use your own face... I always think I look stupid in shots!

M
 
great idea!!! love all the pics of your different expressions :)
 
Brilliant, imaginative idea...! :thumbs:
 
Beautiful tulip shot - colours, lighting and the way the tulips are hanging down combine to make a really great shot.
Your 'chaos' shot is also spot on - made me smile:) - all those expressions, so original :clap:
 
markelliot said:
Patrick I really really like this shot! or shots!

Love the faces and expressions... really minor point but in may of them your head is tilted to the right as the viewer looks at it... none to the left... I think the beatles effect of balancing it off with an equal no of left poses would really improve the shot... also mix the emotions up a little more... some similar together... but Brill idea!!!

And brave to use your own face... I always think I look stupid in shots!

M
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Hi Mark thanks for the feedback. I can see what you mean about the head tilting one side. I think I look pretty stupid too, but I've gotten used to it:lol:

HopefulM said:
great idea!!! love all the pics of your different expressions :)
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Thanks, Maria. And I just love your "chaos" pic with Scrumpy.

posiview said:
Chuffing hell, Patrick, that's a great chaos idea and well executed!

Cheers.
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Hi Andy, thanks for that. It took me several day and loads of of work:lol:

Sonriendo said:
Oh what a fabulous idea :clap:
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Hi Sarah, Thank you. Your butterfly pic is cool.:thumbs:

Patrick
 
blondie606 said:
Great idea Patrick & well shot , love the expressions:thumbs:
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Hi Lynne, thanks for commenting. I have loads more pics with other expressions that I didn't include :lol:. Just seen your "chaos" pic. Love it!

onlyme said:
Brilliant, imaginative idea...! :thumbs:
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Cheers Sanna. Glad you like it.

sparrow said:
Beautiful tulip shot - colours, lighting and the way the tulips are hanging down combine to make a really great shot.
Your 'chaos' shot is also spot on - made me smile:) - all those expressions, so original :clap:
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Hi Joan, I think the tulips is one of the best I've done. Glad the "chaos" pic raised a smile. My family are still weeing themselves over it:lol:

Cheers, Patrick
 
Hiya Patrick,

What a fantastic, unique and creative shot, brilliant!

Love all the expressions, that must have taken some time and thinking. I like how you finished it off with the yawning and sleeping shots.

Great thought about the 'chaos of emotions'. This would also be brill as a storyboard image, if you had to rearrange the images from start to finish to tell a tale.

Fantastic idea, although I am not as brave as your to take self portrait shots, so I would probably have to find me a model for such a pic. :lol:

Well done and I look forward to see what you come up with for the next theme.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Great idea and love all the different emotions your showing. All images look well exposed and are sharp, well done mate
 
drodd said:
Hiya Patrick,

What a fantastic, unique and creative shot, brilliant!

Love all the expressions, that must have taken some time and thinking. I like how you finished it off with the yawning and sleeping shots.

Great thought about the 'chaos of emotions'. This would also be brill as a storyboard image, if you had to rearrange the images from start to finish to tell a tale.

Fantastic idea, although I am not as brave as your to take self portrait shots, so I would probably have to find me a model for such a pic. :lol:

Well done and I look forward to see what you come up with for the next theme.

Cheers

Dawn :)
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Hi Dawn I always appreciate your detailed crit. I must admit I woud have preferred to get someone else to model. I even contacted a local drama centre. But in the end I was really keen to do this image so just bit the bullet. In the end I had a lot of fun doing it.
 
Patrick, great take on the theme and how it shows different expressions. All sharp and exposure looks good to me. Well done.
 
PatrickO said:
Hi Dawn I always appreciate your detailed crit. I must admit I woud have preferred to get someone else to model. I even contacted a local drama centre. But in the end I was really keen to do this image so just bit the bullet. In the end I had a lot of fun doing it.
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Hey Patrick,

Hats off to you for being so bold to do this .... :notworthy:

And ....... BTW I like your face .... it brightens up my day :D

I look forward to seeing more of your 'selfies' .... they certainly get my attention ;)

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hi Patrick,

Your chaos picture is brilliant! You're very good at conveying the different emotions, best chaos photo of the lot in my opinion!

Will :D.
 
Hiya Patrick!

I just love, love what you have done for your Chaos week. Definately made my day and made me smile :clap: I know you have commented on the background, but to be honest I am not even looking at it. You definitely represented a good pallet of human emotions and they are all very expressive. Hats off to you because I am not able to fake many emotions on command.

:thumbs: Great job!

Rayna
 
riu said:
Patrick, great take on the theme and how it shows different expressions. All sharp and exposure looks good to me. Well done.
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Cheers Steve. I was experimenting with my SB900 speedlight for this and it seemed to do the job.

Will James said:
Hi Patrick,

Your chaos picture is brilliant! You're very good at conveying the different emotions, best chaos photo of the lot in my opinion!

Will :D.
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Hi Will, thanks for that. Personally I think this week's winner is this great shot from Maria http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=3442632&postcount=72

SilentGoddess said:
Hiya Patrick!

I just love, love what you have done for your Chaos week. Definately made my day and made me smile :clap: I know you have commented on the background, but to be honest I am not even looking at it. You definitely represented a good pallet of human emotions and they are all very expressive. Hats off to you because I am not able to fake many emotions on command.

:thumbs: Great job!

Rayna
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Hi Rayna, glad it raised a smile. I had fun doing it. Patrick
 
Hiya Patrick,

I like your idea for this week's theme and it fits well.

I'm in two minds about the shadow, and it is difficult to say whether it works or not without seeing an image minus the shadow. Otherwise the composition is great.

The vignette in itself adds depth to the image. Did you apply the vignette before or after crop? Only reason I ask is because the lower corners look less than the top.

Overall a lovely photo.

Well done.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Silly question, but is this your 'finished' or another take on delicate ?

On my rubbish work's PC it looks very flat, and if that's what you intended - big thumbs up as it really adds to it.

I'm not keen on the vignette, it also take some impact from the dirt (bottom right).

Is the vase on a slant or is that how it's made (I noticed slant at the top of vase).

Overal, like it a lot.

Cheers.
 
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