Scarecrow's 52 for 2010...Week 13 - Quad - page #5

Thank you for the nice comments Tracer. The swirly patterns on the knife are a result of the forging process, where a piece or pieces of steel is/are folded and beaten several times to give a strong but flexible blade. I believe the result is known as Damascus steel - one other application that I know of is in the making of some shotgun barrels.

Nick, the knife is a Tanaka Santoku, I bought from a company called Kin Knives at the Ideal Home exhibition a couple of years ago. If you Google Kin Knives, they have a superb range of extremely sharp knives, mostly sourced from Japan.
 
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Catching up on week 2 - it's a very sobering treatment for a poem I now remember from school. Took me two looks to notice the ghostly clouds but I think you've done it great justice.

Week 3 - certainly an interesting blade, never seen anything like that and you've caught the detail well.
 
For something that seemed like a simple theme, it was definitely a difficult week for a lot of us - so you're not alone.

Nice shot of the apple. Maybe not the most original idea but it's still executed perfectly :thumbs:

And that knife! I absolutely love it :love: The swirls on the blade are fabulous and I've just spent the last 10 minutes browsing the Kinknives website. I would have been quite happy with just a close up shot of that knife against a clean black background. Lovely piece of craftsmanship.
 
SarahLee said:
And that knife! I absolutely love it :love: The swirls on the blade are fabulous and I've just spent the last 10 minutes browsing the Kinknives website. I would have been quite happy with just a close up shot of that knife against a clean black background. Lovely piece of craftsmanship.
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Perhaps when I get a spare 5 minutes I might indulge you, just as an exercise to try and find the perfect lighting for such a scenario. :thumbs:
 
It works, it's clearly chopped. I love the pattern on the blade ...
 
Had an idea for this week's theme, but I wasn't able to use the street I originally had in mind due to work commitments.

I've still managed to do what I was hoping to achieve, it's just that this particular street isn't quite so picturesque.

At first glance, this doesn't appear to be anything special, and it's not really - except it was taken on a Friday lunchtime and there are no people! :thinking:

If it's not obvious, I've done a reverse multiplicity shot. Instead of taking lots of photos of the same person, and putting them all in one frame, I took lots of photos of the street, and then took all the people out.

04_Street.jpg
 
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Karlos said:
what a great idea, I never thought of doing that

suggestion: maybe clone the lights out in the purple peach to make it look like its not open?
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If you look through the windows of the Purple Peach you will see that there are actually people in there. Because they didn't move throughout my sequence of photos, it wasn't possible to remove them.

I wanted to convey that this was a normal lunchtime scene, with the exception of there being no people present. Making the cafe appear as if it was closed would be counter to this intention.

If I had turned 90 degrees to the right, quite a few market stalls were laid out, which would have made an interesting image with a lack of people. Unfortunately there were also a lot of cars parked along the street opposite the stalls which rather ruined the aesthetics of any photographs taken in that direction.
 
The chopped shot is nice work, the swirly pattern in the blade is properly surreal.

The idea for the street shot is fantastic, but I think you almost did it too well. On first glance it looks like a dull wet street on a boring day and I nearly dismissed it, then did a double take when you said how you did it. Not sure how to change that, sunny day maybe?
 
I like your street shot and you have done it very clever. However it is a bit too empty for me and would like a suitable pedestrian - I think it would make it look even more deserted, if you see what I mean.
 
I completely agree with you Squawk; my original intention was to photograph a bright sunny street for maximum effect - the grey skies and wet roads make it look as if everyone has ducked inside to miss a shower - but unfortunately time and weather conspired against me.

Tracer I know what you are saying, and I have to say that I did consider something like that at one point, but in the end I decided to go the whole hog.
 
Really like this, the lack of people really draws you to focus on all the shops on the street and notice things you wouldn't really look at if the street was busy.
 
W3 Love the detailing on the knife, simple shots work the best when you are a little stuck for time or ideas.

W4 Would never had guessed it was lunch time, makes it a very spooky shot.

:thumbs:
 
Weird - I like it. Keep thinking about a seaside town in the rain though!

Arthur
 
Very cleverly done Derek - like to see it in B&W
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I did think of posting up a B&W, but opted for the colour version instead. If you really would like to see the B&W version, you can see it here


Really like this, the lack of people really draws you to focus on all the shops on the street and notice things you wouldn't really look at if the street was busy.
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You're right. The effect is even more pronounced on the full size image, where a lot of the smaller details are much easier to see.


W3 Love the detailing on the knife, simple shots work the best when you are a little stuck for time or ideas.

W4 Would never had guessed it was lunch time, makes it a very spooky shot
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Thank you. I would like to re-take a similar shot but on a sunny day, and on a street that looks as if it should be busy, which will hopefully make the effect spookier.


Weird - I like it. Keep thinking about a seaside town in the rain though!
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I think a lot of UK towns give that feeling when it's a bit grey and gloomy. :D
 
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Love the idea. Had read about this technique for getting pictures of landmarks without all the tourists in the shot. Fantastic use of it. Although I must disagree with you saying that it's not so picturesque. Unless it just looks better because it's empty.
 
Really interesting technique and brilliantly executed :thumbs:
I would never have thought of using multiple exposures in this way.

Definitely a creepy, eerie feel to it and that lone pigeon just makes it.
I'd quite like to see this tried again on a bright sunny day, when it's more obvious that you'd expect the streets to be full . . . tables laid out in front of the cafe etc etc.
 
SarahLee said:
Really interesting technique and brilliantly executed :thumbs:
I would never have thought of using multiple exposures in this way.

Definitely a creepy, eerie feel to it and that lone pigeon just makes it.
I'd quite like to see this tried again on a bright sunny day, when it's more obvious that you'd expect the streets to be full . . . tables laid out in front of the cafe etc etc.
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Thank you Sarah. The empty sunny street is on my list of things to do this coming summer.
 
Very clever Derek, and as has been said, that lone bird left behind really helps the feeling of emptiness.
 
Last minute submission (again), but another subject for which I was struggling for inspiration.

Dismissed the panned speeding car/bike/whatever as I imagine there will be a few of these - haven't checked anyone elses Speed submissions yet, as I didn't want to be influenced.

In the end I tried to go back to basics - what is speed? From my simple brain I came up with the view that it is simply a measurement of both distance and time, and as far as I can recall most expressions of speed include time - feet per second, miles per hour, light year.

So my submission for Speed this week is a simple photograph of an instrument that can be used to measure speed, a stop watch.

05_Speed.jpg


p.s. I didn't realise how battered my poor watch was until I took this shot!
 
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I think the last minute ones are always the best, nice one and thanks for your compliments.
 
:thumbs: I see what you meant in my thread about having similar reasons behind your image . . . almost exactly the same words! :lol:

Really nicely controlled lighting, especially given how reflective the watch is and the long exposure time that you used. The couple of reflections that are in there aren't at all distracting - in fact they're quite intriguing.

I like the slightly battered feel of the watch. It makes it feel like it's been well used (which I'm sure it has been).
The image is absolutely pin sharp, my only suggestion would be to maybe try it with an even longer exposure to get that extra bit of movement in it.
 
Thank you Sarah. Said it was spooky about the explanations!

I would have liked a slightly longer exposure too, but 2 seconds was all I could get with the lowest ISO possible and an aperture of f/16, as I don't have any ND filters.
 
Poor watch - what on earth do you do to it?

Very nice lighting and excellent sharpness. :thumbs:
 
Very nicely shot Derek... as Sarah said a little more time to get some more blur on the hands, but not much you can do if you're already as low as you can get. It does look well used.
 
Well I have an image for this week, but it's not one I'm particualrly happy with. Given the number of ways you can interpret present, I was spectacularly lacking in inspiration.

Could have gone with present, as in the here and now (which was my final choice), present as in something given on birthdays and Christmas, present as in present and correct, and present as in presentation. So many choices, but I was struggling for an interpretation of any of them.

However, I am determined to carry on with the 52, even if there is the odd bleak week, so here is my offering for week 6.

06_Present.jpg
 
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Ohhh, I hadn't seen your 52 yet, so haven't commented on any of your photos! *slaps wrist* :lol:.

Curved - Really like this shot. Love the curved shadows as well

Poetry is brilliant. Love the shadows you overlaid on the top of the photo. Really nice touch :thumbs:. Think this was probably my favourite of all your photos and a great poem to go with.

Chopped - good shot too. Not sure I like the effect on the knife blade, but it does add interestingness all the same. Toughest week yet I reckon.

Street - Love the colours you managed to capture even though it looked like quite a grey day! Love how you've flipped the whole "multiple people" idea and gone with removing them all :lol:. Impressive PP work too.

Speed - wow that is some battered watch! Amazing the things that appear close up that you don't notice day to day! On theme too.

Present - Difficult theme again! You've managed a nice shot too out of it.
 
Present fits the theme really well, and you have a nice arrangement. I like the limited colour palette, which seems to give it a timeless quality.
 
Don't worry, we all have some themes that just don't speak to us very loudly so don't let it put you off the 52.

And for what it's worth it's still a good shot. Not the best of your 52, but it does what it needs to for the theme, the composition is good and I like the red tones running through it.
Nothing at all wrong with it that I can see, just lacking a bit of the inspiration and oomph of your other weeks.

Looking forward to seeing your week 7.
 
Thank you for the encouragement Sarah - ever considered a job in diplomacy or motivation?

Actually I had quite a good idea for this week's theme, and then I realised I am on the wrong shift at work to capture the image I was thinking of. Doh! Back on with the thinking cap.
 
Week 6's image certainly fits the theme and it's definitely not as bad as you seem to think. Composition is pretty good and lighting and colouring is spot on. I'd maybe lose the watch though, although saying that it probably does need a third item and I can't think what :)
 
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