Ranarama's 52

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ranarama

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Week 1 below in this post
Week 2: Poetry - post 14
Week 3: Chopped - post 27
Week 4: Street - post 43
Week 5: Speed - post 53
Week 6, 7 & 8: post 63
Week 9: Play - post 70
Week 10: Chemistry - post 81
Week 11: Candid - post 84
Week 12: Produce - post 86
Week 13: Quad - post 87
Week 14-18: Shoot, Single, Stare, Peace & Indulgence - post 93
Week 19-21: post 96
Week 22: Quality post 100
Week 23: Post post 105
Weeks 24 & 25: Metal & Grunge post 110
Weeks 26 & 27: Beginnings & Art post 116
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I wasn't going to do the 52 this year. I've been making all sorts of excuses about not having enough time, certainly not enough for a 365, but I've also been disappointed to some extent with myself for not doing more personal photography. I shot quite a lot of weddings last year on top of my normal job and I just didn't get out with the camera enough taking shots for me. So, I don't know if I'm going to see this out but at least it's got me thinking about photography outside of weddings again.

I'm not having any set rules as such, other than I'm going to try to take one shot for each theme. Some might be late, and some might be crap, but I don't want to shy away from a theme just because it's difficult.

So here we go - week one and Curves. I think I've stayed 'safe' with this to some extent. I've done shots like this before - but I have a cold and it's freezing outside, so a strobist shot at home in the warm it is...

My 'entry', if you can call it that, is the B&W version but I'm posting up the colour version too as I'd be interested in hearing opinions.

01%20curves.jpg



And the colour version


01%20curvescolour.jpg
 
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I think both are great. The lighting is very well done and your subject is clean & simple.

Personal preference is the top one, but I like B&W shots.

Breaking my own rule here by simply saying "great shot".

Ian.
 
Not sure which I prefer. Always like B&W but there's something about the colour version that's taken my liking, I just don't know what.

Hope the cold gets better.:)
 
Always like B&W but there's something about the colour version that's taken my liking, I just don't know what.
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I agree - I like the idea of cropping the vase but seeing the whole vase in the colour one just seems right somehow. Nice shot :)
 
Hi Neil.

Really tough call between those two, there's a lot to like in both versions.
Nice clean background and beautiful lighting whichever way you process it.

I think I'm drawn more to the B&W one though. I like the slightly quirky crop and the contrast in the lighting on the vase seems to have more impact in mono.
 
Hmmmmm, choices :thinking:. Both very strong shots, still :thinking:.

I like the crop but the second shot just pips it. :thumbs:
 
im not sure why, but i much prefer the colour version!! i think the blue to white fade is amazing!!
 
colour version for me i think. both grest shots:)
 
B&W for me. I also really like the crop in the first, look forward to seeing more :thumbs:
 
Great curves, 2 sets of curves in one photo, your spoiling us :)
 
Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm still not sure which one I like best but I think the slightly more abstract crop in the B&W version says curves (or is it supposed to be curved?:thinking:) more so I'm sticking with that as my selection.

Appreciate the feedback though and may well use the colour shot for a club competition. If anyone's interested in the setup...The background is white and lit with a 1/2 CTB (blue) gelled flash behind and below the vase pointing up. The vase is flash lit with a 1/2 CTO (orange) gelled flash through a white umbrella to the right. I had to use a bit of card between the flash and the background as a gobo to stop some of the light spilling onto the background as the orange was showing up a bit. I used a reflector to the left of the vase to bounce the light back onto the unlit side but it only really adds the highlight on the left in the colour version.

Processing was fairly light - colour balance was set to flash when I took it but is probably nearer 'tungsten' after processing as I wanted to bring the blue in the background out more and bring the vase back to a more realistic colour. Saturation is slightly increased and I had to dodge the curly stick a bit as it is much less relective than the vase and therefore was a little dull.
 
Lines Written beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow

Spot of my youth! whose hoary branches sigh,
Swept by the breeze that fans thy cloudless sky;
Where now alone I muse, who oft have trod,
With those I loved, thy soft and verdant sod;
With those who, scatter'd far, perchance deplore,
Like me, the happy scenes they knew before:
Oh! as I trace again thy winding hill,
Mine eyes admire, my heart adores thee still,
Thou drooping Elm! beneath whose boughs I lay,
And frequent mus'd the twilight hours away;
Where, as they once were wont, my limbs recline,
But, ah! without the thoughts which then were mine:
How do thy branches, moaning to the blast,
Invite the bosom to recall the past,
And seem to whisper, as they gently swell,
"Take, while thou canst, a lingering, last farewell!"

When Fate shall chill, at length, this fever'd breast,
And calm its cares and passions into rest,
Oft have I thought, 'twould soothe my dying hour,--
If aught may soothe, when Life resigns her power,--
To know some humbler grave, some narrow cell,
Would hide my bosom where it lov'd to dwell;
With this fond dream, methinks 'twere sweet to die--
And here it linger'd, here my heart might lie;
Here might I sleep where all my hopes arose,
Scene of my youth, and couch of my repose;
For ever stretch'd beneath this mantling shade,
Press'd by the turf where once my childhood play'd;
Wrapt by the soil that veils the spot I lov'd,
Mix'd with the earth o'er which my footsteps mov'd;
Blest by the tongues that charm'd my youthful ear,
Mourn'd by the few my soul acknowledged here;
Deplor'd by those in early days allied,
And unremember'd by the world beside.

September 2, 1807.

02%20Poetry.jpg


Well it's not quite what I wanted as it's hardly a 'cloudless sky' but the location is right. This is 'Byron's Seat' in St Mary's Church in Harrow where he spent a lot of time when he was at Harrow School and wanted to be buried (as it turned out he was buried in Nottinghamshire).

It's fair to say I struggled for inspiration with this theme having spent much of my life regarding poetry as something to be endured rather than enjoyed. I think this may be one theme I come back to later in the year to try to capture something a bit more interesting.
 
MagicMynx said:
beautiful images, really like the curved one. The poetry image has been matched well. Well done.
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Thanks MagicMynx. Thought the poetry one was a bit of a cop-out but it'll have to do as I don't think I'm getting anything better at this stage. Poetry is not my thing at all.
 
It may be a cop-out but it's still a good shot. I'm a sucker for black and white though.

I don't enjoy poetry either so found this week hard going.
 
Hi Neil,

week 1 - I really like the B&W version the lighting is very good, and composition works for me. The colour version is equally good nice colours however, I wonder what the colour version would look like with composition of the B&W one; just a thought.

weel 2 - Thats a nice poem you've done it justice IMO, the only qualm I have is, I would have liked to seen more of the church, the small branches in front of it, not the ones from the sides. Nice work though :thumbs::thumbs:
 
Week 1, bw for me - it's a bit more mysterious. Colour pic has it all out in the open, nothing hidden if you get the point?

Week two, nice shot but can't help thinking if you want that perspective you should get as low as possible? Unless of course by doing so you lose the church!

Arthur
 
Neil, I can't decide which one of the Curved shots I prefer. I like the unusual crop and details in the B&W, but the colour is good and strong in the second... I wonder if the same crop of the colour would work as well...

Poem, good find on the Poem, and the image suits it well. I like it
 
Thanks for the comments all, I seem to have really split opinions with curves.

For Poetry - Ambermile, I think you're right about getting lower and thinking about it, it would have got the focus on the interesting lines of the cage over the grave and, more to the point, the poem (quoted above) inscribed on the stone at the front.

Uniquegarden - I think the tree is important in this shot, more so than the church as it's about the poem not the building. The elm (if that's what it still is) is refered to in the poem and I think needs to be there.

Cheers all again for the feedback.
 
Hi Neil,

I prefer the second picture from 'Curved' week - I really like the blue background and coppery tones of the vase. The composition of the b&w shot works well too though :thumbs:

I like the low angle you've gone for in Week 2 and the image fits the poem well. I think the b&w conversion is very effective :)
 
Good interpretation for poetry Neil. I don't think it's a cop out at all.

I like the angle, I like the scene and it looks like a beautiful location, but for me there's just a little bit too much going on in the shot - all of it trying to be the main focal point.
I think I'd like a narrower DOF in this to tell my eyes where they should be looking. My personal preference would be to have sharper focus on the plaque in front so that at a larger size I could make out some of the words, but I think any of the elements would make a strong focal point.
 
SpidersEye said:
Hi Neil,

I prefer the second picture from 'Curved' week - I really like the blue background and coppery tones of the vase. The composition of the b&w shot works well too though :thumbs:

I like the low angle you've gone for in Week 2 and the image fits the poem well. I think the b&w conversion is very effective :)
Click to expand...

Thanks - I'm not changing the entry but I'll definitely have a use for the colour version.

mowse73 said:
I realy liked the first image for your curved theme. The church image is well composed too:thumbs:
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Cheers

SarahLee said:
Good interpretation for poetry Neil. I don't think it's a cop out at all.

I like the angle, I like the scene and it looks like a beautiful location, but for me there's just a little bit too much going on in the shot - all of it trying to be the main focal point.
I think I'd like a narrower DOF in this to tell my eyes where they should be looking. My personal preference would be to have sharper focus on the plaque in front so that at a larger size I could make out some of the words, but I think any of the elements would make a strong focal point.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Sarah. I think you're right about getting closer into the plaque and if I reshot it I would definitely do that. I did wimp out a bit though as it started raining when I was there so headed home before I was really happy with what I got.
 
For a change this was pretty much the idea I had in my head for this week's photo from the start. Originally I wanted the axe in mid swing going right through the orange but even after one go it was clear that firstly I didn't have the reactions to catch it manually, secondly I didn't have the equipment to do it automatically, and thirdly it wasn't going to send up the spays of juice I'd hoped for. This was the compromise.

No particular theory behind it other than the thought of a fruit/vegetable meeting death as opposed to some form of animal which would have just made for a gruesome photo.

03%20Chopped.jpg
 
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Something a little eerie about that chopped image. I think it's the different lighting between the foreground. A great idea ***, wonder how tomatoes would have looked :thinking:
 
Like the lighting on the axe and on the orange giving it a great shadow not sure about the wisps of white on the photo overall a well planned and executed picture pardon the pun :lol:
 
Week 1 - I love the colour version. Nothing more for me to say on that :)

Week 2 - Good framing from the branches and you've got lots of foreground and background interest in it. It's definitely well captured but there's something that's not quite working for me and I can't work it out. Sorry :)

Week 3 - I like the contrast between the dark and the light. Very ominous figure and like that there's no face to it. Perhaps have liked just a little more of the fog effect but a cracker nonetheless :thumbs:
 
I really like today's chopped photo, interesting idea and as others have said, well executed!
 
L'Cham said:
Something a little eerie about that chopped image. I think it's the different lighting between the foreground. A great idea ***, wonder how tomatoes would have looked :thinking:
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Thanks - I did think about using blood oranges and then completely forgot to look for them when I went to the supermarket.


aztec said:
Like the lighting on the axe and on the orange giving it a great shadow not sure about the wisps of white on the photo overall a well planned and executed picture pardon the pun :lol:
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Thanks for the comment. The axe lighting took ages to get right - just a small movement and the reflection missed completely and it was just a black blob. The wisps were added in PP. I thought it looked a bit flat and less spooky without them.

dlh said:
Week 1 - I love the colour version. Nothing more for me to say on that :)

Week 2 - Good framing from the branches and you've got lots of foreground and background interest in it. It's definitely well captured but there's something that's not quite working for me and I can't work it out. Sorry :)

Week 3 - I like the contrast between the dark and the light. Very ominous figure and like that there's no face to it. Perhaps have liked just a little more of the fog effect but a cracker nonetheless :thumbs:
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Thanks for the feedback. TBH I was never all that happy with poetry but I'm happy I got a photo at all for that subject. This week's on my calibrated monitor the fog looked just right but on the rubbish monitor at work this morning it looked a bit feint. I tried boosting it but it didn't look right but might have another go from scratch.

wicker_man said:
I really like today's chopped photo, interesting idea and as others have said, well executed!
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Cheers! Can't believe I didn't think of the pun first :D.
 
Really REALLY loving week 3, great work! Love it! :thumbs:
 
Week 2 The angle and framing work well as a B&W, I'm struggling with commenting on the poems not really my thing.

Week 3 Very well put together, one of my favourite so far.
 
Dave450 said:
Really REALLY loving week 3, great work! Love it! :thumbs:
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Thank you!

foggy4ever said:
Week 2 The angle and framing work well as a B&W, I'm struggling with commenting on the poems not really my thing.

Week 3 Very well put together, one of my favourite so far.
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Poetry's not my thing either. Glad to get that one out the way really.

MagicMynx said:
That is one, twisted and fantabulous photo - one you should be prud of, well done - I love it!
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Thanks MagicMynx. I am pretty pleased with that one.
 
Week 1: The colour one is great, although I also like the B&W version. Hard to decide!
Week 2: Lovely atmosphere, and a nice poem.
Week 3: Fantastic imagination, and well pulled off

Well done so far :clap:
 
One and two are great, but three steals all the attention from them, its fantastic,:clap: i keep having to go back and look again:thumbs:
 
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