Shaq's 2010 52 : Week Seven - People (Week Six also added)

Welcome to TP shaq. Dive in and will pop back to see how you are getting on later in the week :)
 
Welcome, I also will be popping back later in the week to see how you are doing.:)
 
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Well here we go week one of the 52. This flower bed just caught my eye as I was walking through Worcester on my way ironically to take what I was going to use as this weeks photo, this one came out on top!

Things I have learnt from this week are as follows:
  • Lighting can really make or break your photo
  • I have a lot to learn photography wise
  • It is harder than you think to find curved things, especially when it snows!
  • It will be a long year ;-)
Any comments welcomed!

Thanks
C
 
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I have to say Shaq I really like the shot but for a curved theme the focus maybe should have been on the arches, that said the snow is curved too so maybe I'm talking bull. Still like it though :thumbs:
 
I quite like the fact that as you scroll down, you see the arches and decide '....ooooh, arches...curves...very nice.....' then..hang on:suspect:, there is more:thinking:...there is some curvy snow!!!!

I really like it:thumbs:
 
Hi Chris, I like it, the curve of the arches, sort of mirror the curves of the snow. Very nice.
 
The Curves of the railway bridge work well with the peaks & troughs of the snow - you may want to resize it before the pixel police get you - 800px max on the longest side.
 
Hi Chris,

I like it very much. Well Done.
Curved arches, curved snow :thumbs:
I keep swinging between liking the focal point being on the snow (unusual and surprising) and wanting it on the arches (more predictable).

Maybe a touch more DOF, so that the arches weren't quite so oof? :thinking:
:shrug: I don't know, it really does work very well just as it is. But if you had a play with different settings, it would be interesting to see it compared with some of the alternatives that you chose not to use.

Only niggle, there's a blob of light right in the middle of the tree under the RHS arch that could do with cloning out.
 
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Davie said:
I have to say Shaq I really like the shot but for a curved theme the focus maybe should have been on the arches, that said the snow is curved too so maybe I'm talking bull. Still like it though :thumbs:
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I did try the reverse, focus on the arches and not the snow but the snow just kinda looked a fuzzy mess and not so obvious what was going on.

dade_f said:
its good - kind of a double whammy - the arches and snow

A long year? No my friend, an interesting journey ;)
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Yes very true!!

Dogfish_magnet said:
The Curves of the railway bridge work well with the peaks & troughs of the snow - you may want to resize it before the pixel police get you - 800px max on the longest side.
Click to expand...
Resized be it crudely for now!

SarahLee said:
Hi Chris,

I like it very much. Well Done.
Curved arches, curved snow :thumbs:
I keep swinging between liking the focal point being on the snow (unusual and surprising) and wanting it on the arches (more predictable).

Maybe a touch more DOF, so that the arches weren't quite so oof? :thinking:
:shrug: I don't know, it really does work very well just as it is. But if you had a play with different settings, it would be interesting to see it compared with some of the alternatives that you chose not to use.

Only niggle, there's a blob of light right in the middle of the tree under the RHS arch that could do with cloning out.
Click to expand...
I will see if I can find some of the alternatives and post them up for comparision. Will also get my Photoshop brush out and get rid of that light blob!!

Thanks everyone else for the kind comments!

C
 
Well it's time for week two and I'll let the picture and poem do the talking to begin with...

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Frozen Moment by Dean Thorpe

Frozen moment, captured in time
A silly face, and too much wine
A little cat, sat in the sun
A playful child, having some fun
The rise of sun, the morning glow
A winters day, with cold white snow
These are the things, I like to see
My camera, always with me

This week was a tough one as you can write what I know about poetry on the back of a postage stamp! So having racked my brains for something to do with poems, poetry etc I settled on a little "Google inspiration" and came across the poem above that I thought was very apt for two main reasons - the weather putting another spin on 'frozen moment' and the last line of the poem, which seems to be becoming more and more true. The above photo was taken at one of those times when my camera "was always with me" and I chose to go for a black and white image as it added more feeling to the shot, which in colour was really only black, white and a blue sky. The image didn't come out quite as well as I wanted but hey I was back inside in the warm by the time I had realised that!

Anyway things learnt in Week Two:
  • Shooting into light/the sun is tricky, sometimes it works others it don't
  • Play, play and play some more, with all the camera modes/settings sometimes they produce amazing results (good and bad) but regardless of the result you will learn something
  • I could do with a full size tripod - which is now on order
  • A week soon flies by and before you know it your writing this post again!

Let's see what week 3 holds in store. Comments welcome as always
 
CHOPPED!!

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Take two!! After being disappointed with the first attempt due to lack of focus, so here is take two. This has been my first attempt at playing with lighting and be it a crude LED torch in this instance it can really change the mood and feeling in a shot. I did experiment a bit with shadows as well from the knife on the back wall but felt the image above was the better image in the end.

Comments welcome as always

Thanks
C
 
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Love your curved image, I wouldn't change it at all, great shot. The poetry image fits the poem perfectly and its a nice photo. This weeks image I love the concept, but I think you nailed your own critique. It doesn't look sharp and it detracts from the shot. Any chance of reshooting it and focusing on focus (so to speak)? The image itself is good enough to deserve another go I think, the lighting is great.
 
Glad you liked week one and two!

Yeah, if I get chance I think I am going to get another onion tomorrow and try and give it another go, kinda busy at the weekend and then it will be week four. Never thought week's were so short...!

C
 
I like the chopped shot, good use of frame space and the BW treatment gives the image a 'dark' feeling. This may look even better if it was cropped before the granite edge, I know you'd sacrifice a bit of the onion reflection but I think it would look more even against the straight lines of the tiles.
 
Week 1 Well thought out, great backgound.

Week 2 Shooting into the sun is challenging but you have done it well, nice poem too.

Week 3 I would just PP out the lower onion reflection as it's a little distracting. :thumbs:
 
Thanks for the comments everyone.

I will experiment a bit with a different crop, to remove the lower reflection and/or cropping closer to the granite edge and see how it comes out!

C
 
Hi Chris,

Sorry, missed your poetry week . . . so many on here that it's impossible to catch them all.

A poem I've never heard before and very apt for both the shot and the challenge. Lovely image to go with it too. I love the glimpse of sun coming through the tree.

Week 3: I didn't know that a knife and onion could be so dramatic!
Well done with the lighting. It really enhances the mood of the shot. I agree with the comments about the "double reflection". If you could have gotten the angle so that the whole reflection fell on the granite slab it would be spot on :thumbs:
 
Interesting shot for 'chopped'. Cool lighting and I really like the grainy effect of the shot. However, as others have said, I would have angled the shot slightly differently to remove the break in the reflection and I also keep wanting to see a reflection of the knife.......
 
Looks a little bit bright on the front of the onion, but otherwise liking the b&w treatment on this. Agree with the comments about the reflection and/or angle of the shot.
 
It works nicely, I'm amazed it balanced... Very good... the front of the onion looks a little bright, but otherwise I really like the lighting.
 
Week Four - Street

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Slightly off the wall this week, what street influnced your childhood?? Sesame Street of course - hence the macro photo of some Sesame seeds!!

Everything else I thought of/tried this week simply didn't work. So it was time to play with the Macro setting, tripod and the remote release. Who would have though that these little things would look so different close up!

Thanks
C
 
jgs001 said:
It works nicely, I'm amazed it balanced... Very good... the front of the onion looks a little bright, but otherwise I really like the lighting.
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Ha you'd be amazed how hard that was, it certainly didn't stay there for long as the knife handle as we all know is a lot heavier than the blade. But lucky it stayed there long enough for some shots - have got some also where it moved during the shot...lol

I think one of the biggest lesson's I learnt doing the Chopped shot was to look at photo's in their entirely and not just what I want to see/focus on. In other words to notice things like the double reflection, as I was more focused on the onion/knife (and it not falling out). We will see how I get on in future weeks!

C
 
4 great photos to start with! Especially like your poem shot. It's difficult shooting into the sun and you seem to have controlled it really well! Like the twist on street as well :thumbs:
 
I can well believe it Simon... must have been a challenge. As for the seeing everything, I'm guilty of that all the time.. Must try harder :lol:.

Street. I must admit I had no idea what you had done here till I read your words ;). It looks like the focus is on the second layer of the seeds, and I can't help but want to see the top layer in focus, that may just be my eyes. It's a very different take on the theme and it does fit :D
 
Really inventive take on street.
I had no idea what it was until I read the description - I would never have thought that they were tiny little sesame seeds. :thumbs:

Absolutely brilliant idea, lovely abstract composition, the focus looks ever so slightly off though. Not too much and certainly not enough to spoil it but not quite there either.
 
Well better late than never - here we go Week Five - SPEEEEEEED

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Well things have been a little manic recently hence the very late post, it would have been a posted on Tuesday but what looked good on the camera screen wasn't when it was on the laptop so I decided to go and shoot again :D This was my first (ok well second) attempt at night shooting/getting light trails and I think it has worked quite well, a little bit too much going on perhaps and the road signs/bollard could do with being not in shot but overall I'm happy and well nobody can argue it's not speed ;)

C+C welcome as always

C
 
I'm liking that Speed shot Shaq! Don't give up now, keep it going... there are so many 52's it's hard to keep up so dont get down hearted if you don't get many replies. :)
 
Finally here we are - after a few manic days/weeks I have finally got back on top of things. Here we have Week Six - Present

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Busy busy time recently but luckily it was my girlfriend's birthday - hence this present shot. Not exactly imaginative but hey can't be every week..haha

Sorry about the late posting :bonk:

C
 
And here is Week Seven - People

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Went to watch some volleyball of my old team before moving up to Birmingham and took this shot(s). Quite pleased with the way it came out as in a dark, dingey sportshall photo's are never an easy thing to get spot on. Not helped with "clutter" in the background but again can't always be too fussy in a busy sportshall.

The shot was taken on burst mode and once back home the fun began. The player was cut out and the opacity settings changed as well as a small lens blur added in the direction of movement on all but the last image. The ball was cut out separately and the motion blur applied in the direction of the ball rather than the player. They were then layered and placed on top of each other and job done.

If I could take the shot again I would try and ensure there was less clutter in the background or get a better DOF. I would also try and keep the ball in shot all the time but sadly Ren (the guy serving) threw the bleeding thing too high!!

Anyways back in control now and onto Week 8 we go

C
 
Chris, love the colours in present, I think it probably needs a little more DOF though.

People has worked very well. A clever take on it.
 
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