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

Derek, I don't know about Sarah's not speaking loudly too us, some weeks last year I could only hear the whistling of the wind, forget any sign of the theme ;)

it fits the theme perfectly and is well lit and composed.
 
I thought that this was going to be a relatively easy week, especially as I came up with an idea for my image early on. Then I realised I was on the wrong shift at work to get the picture I was thinking of. Doh!

THe shot I have ended up with was along the thought train of capturing commuters returning home, and feeling a little blurry after a long day in the office.

07_People.jpg
 
I see people! :thumbs:

Not the most inspiring shot, and seems to be lacking something in the composition for me, but having started at the bottom of the list and worked my way up to your '52' it's nice to find one that's still going the distance. Keep it up! :)
 
I agree with you Lee. It's not the shot I wanted to take, but things conspired against me this week to prevent me from doing anything better. :(
 
It's defo got People in Derek. I'm not sure the blurred motion works for the theme... but... sometimes pressures mean you get what you get. I can't think of a way of improving it either which doesn't help I know.
 
hi there- sorry not stumbled upon this 52 yet - so going to offer some quick comments about all in one go so far.

Curved - Nice pic - like the colours and angle / composition. Was honestly expecting to see more guitars. Maybe I just havent found them yet.

Poetry - Great poem, great poet, great idea. What surprises me is that that grave has been allowed to get into such a codition. Overgrown etc. Normally war graves are kept spotless. Love war poets from WW1, can really get a feel for the conditions.

Chopped - Think a lot struggled that week not wanting to go for the obvious. As you say, not your best but nice colours and in focus which is usually a bonus! Mine was a similar theme just a different "Chopper"

Street - I must admit, i thought at first, dull any old street shot. Didn't even notice no people in it! 10/10 for powers of observation hey? Clever idea to use the multi exposure technique to remove people. Think its the first time seen it done that way. :clap:

Speed - Nice unsual watch. Looks like it's had a hard life!

Present - One of my favorite weeks so far. Interesting to see so many different intepretations of a word.

People - Again, not sure about this one. Can see that you got what you wanted by what you said you wanted to capture, and whats in the pic - but just feels a bit lacking something - dunno what though.


What I am enjoying about this, is photographing things that I have not attempted before, and having to be creative. Keep it up. I'm determined to make it through the 52 - but am expecting some tough times ahead.
 
I like this one - nice arrangment of shapes and colours, and the moving people illustrate your concept nicely. :thumbs: I would just be tempted to clone out the single stray light in the middle, about 1/3 way down from the top, which I find an unnecessary distraction.
 
Thanks for the kind comments and suggestions guys.

Obviously some weeks are going to be better than others, so onwards and upwards for this week.
 
Had a great idea for this week - I was going to take a shot of the internal workings of an old pocket watch I have that belonged to my great, great, great, grandfather. Unfortunately when I took it from the safe and opened the back, you couldn't actually see anything - there was another cover with just a small hole for the key to wind it up. Oh dear.

So on with the thinking cap again, and my thoughts turned to some of the old cameras I have lying around. It occurred to me how we now have these wonderful AF lenses that communicate all sorts of information to the body, via electronic connections, and how different these lenses are to those used on my old film cameras that relied on mechanical connections to convey maximum aperture and to stop the lens down when the shutter is pressed.

And this is the image that resulted from that thought process.

08_Mechanical.jpg
 
firstly, I'd like to say I missed your curved shot in week one. I bloody love it. Smooth, curved, great light. Yummy.

I'd prefer to see your mechanical shot with a little more room. The composition looks a little awkward to me. Lovely old camera though. :)
 
Agree with above, needs some space. Although I can understand you're trying to give attention to the lens connection rather than the camera. In which case make it even tighter :)
 
Yes I think it needs more space. Great older camera though. There are a few shots of old cameras this week but yours stands out - I love the Canon font
 
Thanks for the comments guys. The original image includes pretty much all of the camera, with just a little of the prism housing being cut off. I felt that this didn't really convey the mechanical aspect I was trying to achieve to meet this week's theme.

Taking Darren's comments on board, I have tried an even tighter crop, and wonder if this works any better.

08_Mechanical2.jpg
 
That's a better crop in my eyes :thumbs:
 
:thumbs: Second crop for me too.
The first one wasn't quite working as either a shot of the camera or of the more detailed mechanics of it . . . so it was an inspired suggestion from Darren.

And after seeing the cropped edit I'm almost glad that your watch idea didn't work out because I do really like this a lot!
 
It's nice to see other people's thought processes are like mine!

I wanted to do watch workings like you did, then thought of my old film SLR the same as you... then went back to the watch idea!
 
Nice shot Derek, I'm stuck between the two crops tbh, think I would personally like to see something in between.

Suits the theme and well executed.
 
I agree with Darren, the tighter crop works better for me Derek. nicely done.
 
Thanks for the kind comments guys. Amazing what a difference a small change in cropping can do, and all down to a gentle suggestion from another member. That's what I love about this forum.
 
Apologies for the late submission of my photo for the Play theme, but I was involved in a car accident last Saturday, and to be honest my priorities have been elsewhere for the last few days.

Anyway, here it is. The poker game is rather obvious, but I was also trying to convey, in a slightly subtler way, another sort of play going on. Wasn't sure how much to add by way of clues to the undertone within the image, but went for the less is more approach.

09_Play.jpg


I will try and catch up with the Chemistry theme tomorrow.
 
Scarecrow said:
Apologies for the late submission of my photo for the Play theme, but I was involved in a car accident last Saturday, and to be honest my priorities have been elsewhere for the last few days.
Click to expand...

Never mind apologising for the lateness of your 52 . . . are you OK?
I completely understand why this hasn't been top of your priorities this week.

And despite all that you've still managed to pull off a good shot.
The composition is strong and it works for play on both levels. And IMO the lighting on the table is particularly good.
If I was going to be critical, I think the background could be a bit "blacker" and I'd quite like to see the underwear on the table looking a bit more "abandoned" . . . it's just a little bit too neat for me.

All in all though, there's far more that works than doesn't in this shot - and given the week you've had I think it's a brilliant take on the theme.
Obviously a lot of thought and effort have gone into the set up :thumbs:
 
Thank you Sarah - yes I am fine, which is more than can be said for the car :(

I struggled for ages with the underwear - if they were just thrown on the table it was sometimes difficult to make out what it was. I also agree about the background. If it hadn't been so rushed I might have taken a little more time to get it spot on. I'm sure I could probably address it in post if only to get rid of the obvious folds in the back cloth.
 
Glad your safe and well Derek. The shot works for me, it has a real card table feel to it (if you see what I babbling about:cuckoo:) And a little saucy......

Cheers, Rob
 
Phew, glad your ok Derek. The shot works well playful on several levels too ;)
 
Still playing catch up. Nearly a week late, here's my attempt for week 10 and chemistry.

Personally I have to say that I am a littel disappointed. The idea seemed fine, but the execution and final image seems to be lacking something, and I can't put my finger on what that missing something is.

10_Chemistry.jpg
 
As I have been playing catch up for the last couple of weeks due to unforseen circumstances, and knowing that I am not going to be in a position to take a new Candid shot in the time remaining for this week, I am going to play a small Joker and post a candid shot I took a couple of weeks ago.

The image does look posed, but it was a pure chance shot taken as we were all sat around the dining table between courses, and I was explaining to my friend that I would like to borrow her for a modelling session, as I had a wonderful new camera that was just made for taking portraits. In demonstrating said camera, I captured this image.

p.s. You can tell it's a genuine candid because the background is full of clutter. ;)

11_Candid.jpg
 
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Nice subject for speed, interesting looking watch. Lighting works well for a difficult surface.

Simple idea for present, nothing to get excited about but fits the theme nicely.

I like the people shot, just enough motion shame there wasn't any more passengers on the platform.

Out of the 2 mechanical shots the second tighter crop works better.

Love the play shot, well put together and looks like somebody had a very good time :naughty:

Not sure about the chemistry shot, it's a nice shot but looks a little flat maybe a slightly different angle could have helped :shrug:

'I was explaining to my friend that I would like to borrow her for a modelling session, as I had a wonderful new camera that was just made for taking portraits'

Now that's a classic line if I ever heard one :lol:. It fits the theme nicely as it was an of the cuff shot, it also helps that the subject is very nice.
 
:thumbs: well done on catching up!

It's a great idea for chemistry. I love that interpretation of the theme and there's a great mix of colours and textures in the set up. I agree with you that it's lacking "something" though . . . I'm just not sure what. I think maybe a lower angle, rather than looking straight down on the ingredients might have worked better :thinking:

Candid : I love this. I'm really not a huge fan of candid pictures, so the fact that this one almost has a "posed" feel to it really works for me.
Absolutely fantastic clarity in that shot, great skin tones and the eyes have worked brilliantly. (and coming from somebody who doesn't really like portraits at all, that's very high praise ;) )
 
Thank you Scott and Sarah - I too think that a lower angle for the chemistry shot might work better. I did think of something along those lines, incorporating a kitchen setting in with the main subject, but looking at how cluttered our kitchen is I thought it would be too distracting. :)

Having taken some proper portrait shots in the past, I have to say that the candid one above is actually one of my favourite people photographs. Strangely, the subject isn't as enthusuastic about it as I am. However, I have offered to try and better it if she would like to sit for me!

Can't say fairer than that. ;)
 
Chemistry, it's a great idea, and fits the theme, but I agree it's lacking in something... I'm wondering if it's that you can't see enough detail in the spices, perhaps, lose the onion, get in low and closer on maybe 2 or 3 of them :thinking:

Candid :lol: yeah right ;)... it's a great shot, and yes I do believe it was taken unposed. It fits the theme... as for the background being full of clutter proving it it was a candid, a fair number of my shots would tend to indicate otherwise, that's cos I don't even notice the crap in the background... :lol:

Nicely done Derek. :thumbs: good luck on the oppo for a more formal shoot to.
 
Thank you John. I'll let you know how the 'formal' shoot goes, if I can ever persuade her. As with so many women, despite carrying less fat than a chip, she feels that she needs to lose a few pounds so as to look her best in any photographs!
 
Just realised I haven't been taking any photographs! :shake:

Was not really inspired by the Produce theme, and I think it shows in my effort. I didn't want to go the obvious route of popping along to the local greengrocer, but I was stumped for an alternative. :thinking:

I'm afraid this is all I could come up with. :shrug:

12_Produce.jpg



Must catch up on the other threads, and see what I should have been doing for this week.
 
My word that's a lot of produced camera kit Derek... A nice collection. I think I can see why the whicker basket, but I'm not sure it works..
 
I agree with you John. I seem to have lost my Mojo over the last few weeks, and I still haven't shot my Quad yet.

Though I do at least have an idea of what I want to do for that one.
 
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