weekly *Sarah* 2012 52 week challenge. Yippee I made it!!

Oh yes wow indeed! Great DOF and focus, although what is the light patch in the middle of the eye, is that from the flash?

Bugs bug me! Those bee's mocked me at the NMA, I think I need to super glue some to a plant to allow me a chance to catch one in focus!
 
Great shot of the fly!

Can I just ask ... how near were you to it? I only have some of those macro rings so I'd need to be virtually in the flower to get a shot at all - and flies ...well, they tend to fly away!! I imagine that with a proper macro lens you don't have that problem!
 
Body - just WOW!!

Fantastic shot. Thanks for letting me borrow your kit but mine didn't turn out anywhere near as good as this. I love how you've captured the fly with the pollen attached.

superb well worth the frustration :clap:

Thank you Mike, Peter and Allan. Peter you can borrow the kit so long as its not for too long and you do't get better shots than me or I might sulk!!:lol::lol:

Allan, it is very frustrating!!:lol:
 
Oh yes wow indeed! Great DOF and focus, although what is the light patch in the middle of the eye, is that from the flash?

Bugs bug me! Those bee's mocked me at the NMA, I think I need to super glue some to a plant to allow me a chance to catch one in focus!

Thanks Marsha, the light patch is from the flash and is the bit I'm not happy with, I have some others on flickr and on the macro section but they didn't cover the body theme as well!:) I wish you could train bugs to sit still as well!!
Great shot of the fly!

Can I just ask ... how near were you to it? I only have some of those macro rings so I'd need to be virtually in the flower to get a shot at all - and flies ...well, they tend to fly away!! I imagine that with a proper macro lens you don't have that problem!

Thank you Bob, I think I was about 10cm away from it, extension tubes are great but like you say you have to be very close to the subject, I have been using an old 60mm macro which meant you had to get closer and also the lens barrel moved even further out when you focussed. The 105mm lets you get further away and is a lot quieter at focussing, though I tend to use manual focus! Is it extension tubes you have as it can depend on which lens you use with them as to how close you have to be!
 
Hi Sarah

Macro is incredibly adicitve & incredibly frustrating....I'm with Marsha on need ing superglue on plants to keep the darn bugs still :lol:

Lovley capture , great detail in the furry bits & pollen & lovely DOF :clap:
 
oh what a cool shot for body :clap: can't fault it :)
 
Liquid - Nice shot. I like the colour against the white background.

Reshoot - A very soft looking bear. I wonder who bought it :thinking: :lol: Again the colour of the subject suits the background colour. Good one.
 
Good work on both of these Sarah!
I like the lovely clean lighting on the glass and the vibrant colour of the liquid. The little bubble in the glass adds an extra twist and interest to the image. No crit to add, its technically very good and all round very pleasing image.
Whats not to like about your teddy bear shot, the low key lighting suits the subject perfectly. You've captured the detail in the bears fur whilst maintaining the overall darker subdued feel. Well done all round :thumbs: Iain
 
Hi, Sarah, Body, nice one. Good detail though out. Just the weird bit on the eye

Liquid, photographing liquid, especially inside glass, etc isn't easy because of the distortion. Overall, good job...symmetry wise, I'd like the lime central and there's a bit of something floating on the upper right of the liquid.

Soft is uber soft. Great detail in the fur. Yeah, like it.

Good show :clap:
 
love your liquid shot - colour is just perfect - but the hint of a reflection is making me want to see the whole reflection :lol: this pic is such a tease!

soft is soooo cute :clap: a little too dark on my monitor but it's a laptop :( I love the highlights on the bow :clap:
 
Hi Sarah

Catching up.

Mineral - just a comment on the Perrier which i like. Good colour and symmetry with nice clean glasses. Nice touch capturing the condensation on the bottom of bottle

Dark - Works well for the theme. Nice 'floor' and i like the focus and the delicacy of the white colour

Time - great title :thumbs:. The mono suits it and the pp is superb and apt.

Body - focus looks v good, and dof is enough to capture the body and the flower on which it is sitting. Nice touch with the pollen on the belly - it illustrates how pollination takes place.

Liquid - Good colour, capture of outline of the glass and the reflection of part of the glass, which I think is enough. Not sure about the top surface of the liquid as it seems slightly oof and a bit grey. But minor niggle.

Soft reshoot - thoroughly excellent. looks a high quality bear and you have reflected this in the shot. Great depth of colour and I really like the darkish treatment.

All really good stuff :clap:
 
Hi Sarah, liquid I like, Lighting looks really good, just wondering what it would be like if you were to be looking up slightly. thanks for posting the link too, I shall give that a read at some point.

Re-shoot, lovely bear! Colour and bg work well together, looks even better when viewed on a dark back ground.
 
Hi Sarah,

I agree with you that macro photography is addictive but that it can also be very frustrating... I never manage to get enough DoF when working outside in a non-studio environment. I don't shoot bugs very often for this reason. Photo stacking would be cool to try sometime, but I'm not sure how that would work with live bugs.

As a side note; you've got your exif info on Flickr turned off and you don't generally share the technical details, so it's very hard to give you any technical advice.

Liquid - Lovely colours and certainly on theme. I'm still undecided about the cut in half reflection.

Soft - I like that you've used a black background. I do think the image is a little dark, though.
 
Liquid - Nice shot. I like the colour against the white background.

Reshoot - A very soft looking bear. I wonder who bought it :thinking: :lol: Again the colour of the subject suits the background colour. Good one.

Good work on both of these Sarah!
I like the lovely clean lighting on the glass and the vibrant colour of the liquid. The little bubble in the glass adds an extra twist and interest to the image. No crit to add, its technically very good and all round very pleasing image.
Whats not to like about your teddy bear shot, the low key lighting suits the subject perfectly. You've captured the detail in the bears fur whilst maintaining the overall darker subdued feel. Well done all round :thumbs: Iain

Thank you Peter and Iain!:)
 
Hi, Sarah, Body, nice one. Good detail though out. Just the weird bit on the eye

Liquid, photographing liquid, especially inside glass, etc isn't easy because of the distortion. Overall, good job...symmetry wise, I'd like the lime central and there's a bit of something floating on the upper right of the liquid.

Soft is uber soft. Great detail in the fur. Yeah, like it.

Good show :clap:

Thanks Andy!:) Not sure how I would of got the lime more central, I had enough trouble getting it to stay verticle as it kept wanting to float on the top.:lol: The only way I could it that way was to hold it verticle let go and snap using remote as quick as possible. The something floating was a bunch of bubbles - with my main target was to get the glass lit correctly so they don't really bother too much!!:)

love your liquid shot - colour is just perfect - but the hint of a reflection is making me want to see the whole reflection :lol: this pic is such a tease!

soft is soooo cute :clap: a little too dark on my monitor but it's a laptop :( I love the highlights on the bow :clap:

Hi Summer, thank you!:)

I was worried about the soft being a little dark but quite liked the lighting - one softbox and reflector, for once it was a simple set up for me that worked almost straight away!!:):)
 
Hi Sarah

Catching up.

Mineral - just a comment on the Perrier which i like. Good colour and symmetry with nice clean glasses. Nice touch capturing the condensation on the bottom of bottle

Dark - Works well for the theme. Nice 'floor' and i like the focus and the delicacy of the white colour

Time - great title :thumbs:. The mono suits it and the pp is superb and apt.

Body - focus looks v good, and dof is enough to capture the body and the flower on which it is sitting. Nice touch with the pollen on the belly - it illustrates how pollination takes place.

Liquid - Good colour, capture of outline of the glass and the reflection of part of the glass, which I think is enough. Not sure about the top surface of the liquid as it seems slightly oof and a bit grey. But minor niggle.

Soft reshoot - thoroughly excellent. looks a high quality bear and you have reflected this in the shot. Great depth of colour and I really like the darkish treatment.

All really good stuff :clap:

Thanks Alan, I think the grey on top was caused by me holding a bit of black card above the glass to try and refine the top, its prob motion blur on the top as the lime bounced back up!!:lol:
 
Hi Sarah, liquid I like, Lighting looks really good, just wondering what it would be like if you were to be looking up slightly. thanks for posting the link too, I shall give that a read at some point.

Re-shoot, lovely bear! Colour and bg work well together, looks even better when viewed on a dark back ground.

Hi Sarah,

I agree with you that macro photography is addictive but that it can also be very frustrating... I never manage to get enough DoF when working outside in a non-studio environment. I don't shoot bugs very often for this reason. Photo stacking would be cool to try sometime, but I'm not sure how that would work with live bugs.

As a side note; you've got your exif info on Flickr turned off and you don't generally share the technical details, so it's very hard to give you any technical advice.

Liquid - Lovely colours and certainly on theme. I'm still undecided about the cut in half reflection.

Soft - I like that you've used a black background. I do think the image is a little dark, though.

Hi Sarah, liquid is very nice, nice detail in the lime. I'm not sure on the reflection, more or less:thinking:

Soft reshoot is perfect for me:clap: I love the low light without the loss of detail in the bears fur:thumbs:

Thank you for all your comments!!:):)
 
Liquid is lovely, great idea and very well lit. Is the liquid that colour naturally? I ask as the overall look is a little green for me, I think it would've been a "cleaner" image in water. But then I suppose the focus wouldn't be on the liquid, so...!

Soft is lovely, definitely very soft. Lovely pose and lighting too, though I feel it is just a tiny but too dark.
 
I went out to take a photo of a different building in Leeds this afternoon but the bottom half of it was in shadow so I went over to Bridgewater Place, Leeds and took this one instead!
Taken with a Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm, handheld 160sec at f16.
The only pp was to remove a couple of dust bunnies and a tiny crop!

Looking up Bridgewater Place, Leeds.


Bridgewater Place, Leeds by *sarah*., on Flickr
 
Liquid is lovely, great idea and very well lit. Is the liquid that colour naturally? I ask as the overall look is a little green for me, I think it would've been a "cleaner" image in water. But then I suppose the focus wouldn't be on the liquid, so...!

Soft is lovely, definitely very soft. Lovely pose and lighting too, though I feel it is just a tiny but too dark.

Hi Vicky, thank you for your comments!:) The liquid was limeade so natural but not natural if you get what I mean!!:lol::lol: Next time I have a play I'll have a go using water, it would make the lime stand out!

Soft- I'm still undecided about the darkness - I keep going back to look at it!!:)
 
Up, indeed it is a cracking building. Now the tree, I know it's there, but it spoils what is a decent photograph. I did a crop and although there isn't much room above after the crop, I prefer the tree out.

Cheers and :clap: for a quick post.
 
got to agree lose the tree clone it out maybe:thinking: I don't know if a crop would work so close to the top of the building. Nice perspective of the building though and the blue throughout reflecting in the windows :clap:
 
I'm another one that's anti-tree :( Sorry! Though I'm specifically anti-tree, not anti-crop. I like the crop, and I think without the tree the negative space at the top would be lovely, that sky is pretty epic.

I also like the way you've got reflections on the lowest visible floor and interior detail on the floor above. Really gives it some interest for those having a good look.
 
oh wow that's an amazing shot - straight up, white on blue and even a sun-spark :clap: I love shots like this - makes you go dizzy :lol:

if it had been my shot I might have cloned out the trees, but only because there's not enough of them to add anything to the shot. They do look part of it though, coming at an angle from the top corner. ha, see now I can't decide lol. Suppose I'd have to try it first. For a togger I have a hard time visualising stuff :p
 
Hi Sarah

Up - another good shot.
Good angle, excellent exposure and detail and good capture of the colours.

I think cropping the tree would make the building look squat and lose the 'up' quality that you have captured. The tree is that obvious that presumably you chose to include it in the composition and i don't think tht it detracts. The sun on the top of the leaves and the shadow on the bottom of them enhances the theme as this emphasises that we are looking 'up' into a tree.
 
Up, indeed it is a cracking building. Now the tree, I know it's there, but it spoils what is a decent photograph. I did a crop and although there isn't much room above after the crop, I prefer the tree out.

Cheers and :clap: for a quick post.

Hi Sarah, nice picture for up. I agree with Andy, I like the idea of a tight crop without the tree in in view.

got to agree lose the tree clone it out maybe:thinking: I don't know if a crop would work so close to the top of the building. Nice perspective of the building though and the blue throughout reflecting in the windows :clap:

Thank you Andy,Michael and Allan, I had tried cropping but losing the space at the top doesn't do it for me, I took some including the tree and some without. I wasn't too sure but liked that you were looking up through the tree to the building and also liked the colour of the leaves!:)

Watch this space!!:)
 
Hi Sarah, wow you found some nice weather as well :D Lovely blue sky contrasts nicely against the white building. I agree about the tree though, it needs removing!

I'm another one that's anti-tree :( Sorry! Though I'm specifically anti-tree, not anti-crop. I like the crop, and I think without the tree the negative space at the top would be lovely, that sky is pretty epic.

I also like the way you've got reflections on the lowest visible floor and interior detail on the floor above. Really gives it some interest for those having a good look.

Hi Marsha and Vicky, the sky was great and not something I've seen alot of recently!:) I agree about not cropping as the sky makes it. A few minutes later 2 planes flew over which left trails that looked like horns on it!!
 
oh wow that's an amazing shot - straight up, white on blue and even a sun-spark :clap: I love shots like this - makes you go dizzy :lol:

if it had been my shot I might have cloned out the trees, but only because there's not enough of them to add anything to the shot. They do look part of it though, coming at an angle from the top corner. ha, see now I can't decide lol. Suppose I'd have to try it first. For a togger I have a hard time visualising stuff :p

Hi Sarah

Up - another good shot.
Good angle, excellent exposure and detail and good capture of the colours.

I think cropping the tree would make the building look squat and lose the 'up' quality that you have captured. The tree is that obvious that presumably you chose to include it in the composition and i don't think tht it detracts. The sun on the top of the leaves and the shadow on the bottom of them enhances the theme as this emphasises that we are looking 'up' into a tree.

Thank you for your comments,:) I took some with and without the tree but after a family vote went for the tree one. I'll put the none tree one up in a minute.

It made me feel dizzy looking up to take the pics!!:lol: I liked the colour that the tree added and like you said Alan that you look up through the tree and on to the building!:)
 
It's very good too.

Really just depends on taste now. I would not choose one over the other as they both have merit and fulfill the theme.

Sometimes I find that I sit before the pc and one shot grabs me more than a similar other and somtimes it is hard to put into words why that is.
 
um, yep, definitely sans tree for me - the eye is drawn more to the height of the building and it just looks 'cleaner' to me :clap: thanks for putting the 2nd one up :)
 
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