Slimberts 52, Week 26, "Beginnings" (Page 15)

Harlequin...

Click here for a quick Latin lesson......... :lol:

however I would have thought Requiecsat In Pace..... might give the game away, esp where gravestones mentioned.......:shrug::lol:
 
Last edited:
namllihs said:
I like the idea, composition and the mono conversion, I just feel it would look better with a bit more texture to the stones surface.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve! :) I had trouble with this particular photo, in fact Lynton set me a challenge to get the text to stand out from the stone as it was very very faint....If I'm honest, I was concentrating more on that than the stone itself, so thanks for pointing that out to me!

jeangenie said:
Hi Damien - just catching up!

Stare: It fits the theme very well and I like the mono treatment. As for pp skills - I know the feeling! :lol: Howevr, your clouds are nowhere near the disaster I imagined from what you'd said. The only bit I thought didn't work quite so well were the two little white fluffy clouds sitting on the shoulders of the statue. But honestly, I think the shot works either way.

Peace: There's obviously a lot more to this than meets the eye, so I'll just agree, it does meet the theme well, and other than a slight straighten (or sharper angle) I don't think there's anything else you need to do with it.

Jean
Click to expand...

Thanks as always Jean! :thumbs: It's lovely that you keep coming back to comment on my images....very much appreciated! :D

Lynton said:
Hi Mate,
Click to expand...

I like the edit, but would have preferred a sky background....I really need to force myself to learn all this stuff....I've only just discovered what and where the clone tool is!! :shake:

Harlequin565 said:
Hi Damien,

With regard to Stare, you have a lovely shot there. The fudged in backgrounds look OK, but I think I prefer the original. I had a similar shot taken a couple of years ago, only with a flat blue sky (no clouds). When I converted to black & white, I then went with a "Negative" style, effectively turning the sky black and inverting the black/white tones in the statue. The final effect was very well received at college. Might be worth a punt?

As to "Peace". I like the textures and the composition, but my Latin (if that's what it is) is not very good, so the words don't mean anything to me... That detracts a little from the overall impression. Any chance of a clue?

Ian.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ian! :thumbs: I'm going to leave the image as it is, I don't think it's good enough to warrant any more effort being wasted on it....it was purely a turd polishing exercise to get me through the week!

As for "Peace", again it was purely a "just get through the week" shot, however Jean was right when she said there's more to it than meets the eye :'( ....oh, and it is Latin, and the name of the photo (it's typed just above the image) should give you a clue as to what it means!

DC2Z said:
Interesting take on the theme. I would have liked it more if it had a little more detail in the shot.
As for your Stare shot I prefer your 2nd shot with the detail in the sky, and the detail in the statue is brilliant
Click to expand...

Thank you Darren! :thumbs: How's the D90 going?

The detail in the statue shot, is the joy of owning Canon L lenses!! :D

Lynton said:
Harlequin...

Click here for a quick Latin lesson......... :lol:

however I would have thought Requiecsat In Pace..... might give the game away, esp where gravestones mentioned.......:lol:
Click to expand...

Been at the wine again Lynton??!!.......Leave Harlequin alone....!! :bat:
 
So I spend ages, (well 5 mins) giving the angel a decentish :lol: background, and only after the goods have been delivered (free, I hasten to add, free!!!) do the specs come out......... you should get a job at Aviva as a project manager....... :naughty:

"ah yes, very nice, oops sorry we forgot to give you those additional requirements, is it too late now????" - probably my reply secured the seal on the "redundancy"..... :lol::lol::lol::lol:

However,

If the sky is dark, it is fair game to participate in consumption of beverages which have a % rating on them, though best to build up from 4% to 40% as time proceeds towards midnight.......

Yes the corkscrew has been on operational duty tonight (think it is in need of medals and gongs for services to me!) , and it was a real cork with real foil around the top , not a screw top or plastic cork stuff, pah....:nono:

Sorry to Ian, ;) but someone sent me a link using that website on here a few weeks ago (think it was when I went to London, and couldn't find much useful info on taking photos of Canary Wharf etc...........) and I found it amusing.....:thumbs:
 
Last edited:
I feel bad for saying this after you put all that effort into it, but I think I prefer the original image for stare - in spite of the white sky.
The clouds are nowhere near as bad as I thought they'd be after reading your description, but they don't quite work with the image . . . I'm finding it hard to put my finger on why (sorry)

On the positive side you've got some great textures in the stonework and I like the angle of this. If you can get motivated to try it, I reckon Ian's negative treatment would turn this into a winner.
Although I don't blame you if you don't - I have a 2 edit limit with any one shot before I get bored with it and can't be bothered to try again :lol:

There's something there in Lynton's natural tree background too. A totally different feel to what Ian's suggesting, but it works.

Lynton said:
if anyone knows how to do something to lessen the sharpness of Angel to Background, please say so.
Click to expand...

I think the problem here is that the background is a lot lighter and more vibrant than the foreground. I reckon darkening and desatuarating the trees would make them sit more naturally with the foreground and blend more naturally against the hard edges of the statue :shrug:

Peace : I actually really like this.
You've definitely made the lettering stand out and the fact that you've left the writing at a slight angle adds to the feeling of age.
Maybe a bit of desaturated colour left in there to bring out the mossy bits on the stone could give it a lift.
 
clud17 said:
I like the different options you are posting, not sure which is to my liking but would like to see Ian's suggestion of a negative form of sky.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris! :thumbs: I've given up on another edit, I'm going to leave it alone now....however if anyone else fancies a fiddle, be my guest! :D

SarahLee said:
I feel bad for saying this after you put all that effort into it, but I think I prefer the original image for stare - in spite of the white sky.
The clouds are nowhere near as bad as I thought they'd be after reading your description, but they don't quite work with the image . . . I'm finding it hard to put my finger on why (sorry)

On the positive side you've got some great textures in the stonework and I like the angle of this. If you can get motivated to try it, I reckon Ian's negative treatment would turn this into a winner.
Although I don't blame you if you don't - I have a 2 edit limit with any one shot before I get bored with it and can't be bothered to try again :lol:

There's something there in Lynton's natural tree background too. A totally different feel to what Ian's suggesting, but it works.

I think the problem here is that the background is a lot lighter and more vibrant than the foreground. I reckon darkening and desatuarating the trees would make them sit more naturally with the foreground and blend more naturally against the hard edges of the statue :shrug:

Peace : I actually really like this.
You've definitely made the lettering stand out and the fact that you've left the writing at a slight angle adds to the feeling of age.
Maybe a bit of desaturated colour left in there to bring out the mossy bits on the stone could give it a lift.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sarah! :thumbs: As I've said, I'm leaving "Stare" alone, I've played with it enough and I have kind of a similar ethos to you that I don't keep going back to something....I have a go, if it don't work I'll give it another go, and if it still don't work? In the bin it goes....
 
With regards to "Peace", I may aswell explain a little bit now the dust has settled....

That was taken in a graveyard near Norwich City Centre that Lynton had previously visited (for his 52), I didn't take many snaps at all, maybe 30 or 40 in total, but Lynton noticed the Latin words and I figured it would fit the theme if I couldn't find anything else....

Anyway, unbeknown to us (we were scouting other location in North Norfolk by then), roughly 1 hour after I'd taken it, my wifes cousin was in a very serious motorbike accident. He was rushed to Norfolk and Norwich General Hospital where he was plugged in to a huge number of life support machines as his body basically couldn't do anything by itself....after a ton of overnight tests and assessments, it was deemed that he'd never recover. The list of problems was huge, swelling on the brain, snapped spine, colapsed lungs....the list was genuinely huge and very grim.

The next morning after lots of advice from the doctors at the hospital, his Wife, along with his Dad, decided that all the life support machines should be turned off, and by 3:00pm that afternoon, he was gone :'(

Him being 29 years old, and leaving 3 young daughters behind, absolutely crushed my family. A really genuinely lovely guy, an awesome father to his kids, who no one had a bad word to say about, suddenly gone forever....

Hence me putting the rest in peace photo on here, whilst it's riddled with faults, I don't really care! :shake:

We've had one tiny silver lining, a phone call from the hospital this morning told us that as he'd signed up to be an organ donor upon his death, his organs had saved 5 adult lives and his eyes would be used to make a born blind baby see. Good on ya' Mark! :)

For anyone that wants to sign up to be an organ donor, here's your linky: http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/how_to_become_a_donor
 
Last edited:
We've had one tiny silver lining, a phone call from the hospital this morning told us that as he'd signed up to be an organ donor upon his death, his organs had saved 5 adult lives and his eyes would be used to make a born blind baby see. Good on ya' Mark! :lol:
Click to expand...

this is going to come across wrong however I say it, and I knew about the accident bit on Friday, (but not the organ donor bit until now!) Tori's (and your) loss will always be in your minds, but for Mark to save 5 other lives and help a little kid see, in a kind of way, some good has come of things............

:thumbs: to Mark for being an organ donor! :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
Last edited:
I like the stark simplicity of your peace shot, mate.
 
Lynton said:
:thumbs: to Mark for being an organ donor! :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
Click to expand...

Yup! An absolutely awesome bloke, and it's helped everyone a little knowing some good has come of it, Mark would be very very happy! :thumbs:

The23rdman said:
I like the stark simplicity of your peace shot, mate.
Click to expand...

Cheers Dean! :thumbs: Not my best work, but it'll do! Thanks for commenting!! :)
 
I think Stare works well from the statue point of view, but not with the white sky... the edit is much better, but the clouds are too sharp, agree a bit of a blur would work well...

Lynton, that's nearly worked. I have, somewhere a bookmark to a tutorial on sorting the boundary out... http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/masking-and-montage/photoshop-masks.html, the key bit is in step 4, blurring and maxing the layer mask.
 
Interesting subject for 'Shoot', nicely framed. The B&W version wins it for me from the 3 options.

Hmmmm Single......anyway if it's obvious or not :D it is a very lovely shot. Again it suits the B&W and the framing and dof is just right.


The Stare shot looks a lot better with the PP'd sky whether you have confidence in your skills or not.

Simple shot for peace, fits the theme.
 
Oops I missed Peace...an interesting idea, and it has worked...good textures.

Also really sorry to hear of the loss, that's very sad...
 
Right, week 18 "Indulgence"....

Bit of filler for this one, and a crowbar for the theme but it'll help me get up to date, and it's not the worst photo I've ever taken IMHO....;)

Here's a pic taken at Baconsthorpe Castle near Holt in North Norfolk. It's of the outer gatehouse which is where the "indulgence" part comes in to the history of the place, the story of which can be found here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.17706

40mm, f8, 1/8000, ISO200

IMG_4145a.jpg

As always, people of all abilities are welcome to comment on my images....say whatever you think!! :thumbs:
 
Week 19, "Ingredients".....

Not ingredients as such, but still part of my kids tea on Monday night! ;) After a few weeks of rather "serious" images I thought I'd try to throw a little humour in to my 52.....tried to get a cartoony look, but not sure if I managed it or not :shrug:

One thing I did learn this week, is that my 17-50mm Tamron, is bloody sharp!! :eek: This is a RAW file with hardly any sharpening done, when I pixel peep'd the full size file I was very impressed!! :D

Anyway, here it is:

17mm, f6.3, 1/125, ISO400
IMG_4267a.jpg

Comments are more than welcopme from anyone, all abilities and experience, just say what you think!! :thumbs:
 
A nice, fun, well composed shot.

I like it.

I also don't feel qualified to comment as I was not inspired by the theme this week, so anyone who was gets a :thumbs: from me.

Ian.
 
Indulgence: Works! I love Baconsthorpe castle. Will be using it as a strobist site sometime in the future. Get rid of that power line though. :)

Ingredients: Love it. Fun with a capital F. :)
 
Harlequin565 said:
A nice, fun, well composed shot.

I like it.

I also don't feel qualified to comment as I was not inspired by the theme this week, so anyone who was gets a :thumbs: from me.

Ian.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ian! :D Fits the theme (just!) and gets me up to date....that'll do for me! :thumbs:

The23rdman said:
Indulgence: Works! I love Baconsthorpe castle. Will be using it as a strobist site sometime in the future. Get rid of that power line though. :)

Ingredients: Love it. Fun with a capital F. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you Dean! :thumbs: It's not the greatest shot of Baconsthorpe but to be honest it was only a grab shot.....Me and Lynton are going back at some point for some nighttime shots.....I might even suggest to him we go this week sometime?! :thinking:

And yeah, I spotted the wires straight away, but to be honest....I couldn't be bothered!! :lol:
 
Week 20 and "Stop".....

Tricky theme, and the only time I've been out with my camera this week was yesterday on the TP Banham Zoo meet, so I've had to crowbar one of those in.....

It was a great day, I took some nice photos, and the company was lovely! :clap:

My scalp is a bit red, but that's my fault for leaving the factor 16 in the car for most of the day!! :bonk:

Anyway, here's my week 20 shot:

"Stop and stare!"

200mm, f4, 1/640, ISO200

IMG_4756-3a.jpg

Say whatever you like about my images.....just keep it honest!! :thumbs:

And for anyone that's interested, the rest of my Banham Zoo images are here: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=230506
 
Last edited:
Stunning image and so much detail. The angle works well> I think it fit the theme pretty well.
Looks like your had a brilliant day
 
DC2Z said:
Stunning image and so much detail. The angle works well> I think it fit the theme pretty well.
Looks like your had a brilliant day
Click to expand...

It was a great day Darren, really enjoyed myself! :) Thanks for the comments on the shot, really appreciate it! :thumbs:
 
Hi Damien, I seem to have missed the last few weeks of your thread. I tend to comment at random.

I like the castle shot especially the blue of the sky and the clouds. It does not shout indulgence at me, though. I agree with Dean, you should clone out the power line.

The ingredients pic is really good, but does not shout ingredients at me. Does that matter, though?

Finally Alexander the meercat - fantastic shot. It works really well that he is not looking at you. They are really photogenic little things aren't they?

Jenny
 
jennyb said:
Hi Damien, I seem to have missed the last few weeks of your thread. I tend to comment at random.

I like the castle shot especially the blue of the sky and the clouds. It does not shout indulgence at me, though. I agree with Dean, you should clone out the power line.

The ingredients pic is really good, but does not shout ingredients at me. Does that matter, though?

Finally Alexander the meercat - fantastic shot. It works really well that he is not looking at you. They are really photogenic little things aren't they?

Jenny
Click to expand...

Cheers Jenny, as always, your comments are really appreciated!! :thumbs:
 
clud17 said:
:lol::clap: Brilliant, this one brings a smile to my face straight away. who cares if it is a crowbar shot as its a dull theme this week. Technically its pretty good and has an amazing dof which emphasises the meerkat. simples!
Click to expand...

:lol: I posted a Meercat shot on my facebook page and the amount of CompareTheMarket.com jokes I had was scary......even my mum was in on it!! :lol:
 
Love it. It's got character, detail and a good composition.

Tiny niggle over the blown highlights just under its ear, but it looks like that was unavoidable.

I wish I did wildlife as well as this. What was the lens out of interest?

Ian.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Love it. It's got character, detail and a good composition.

Tiny niggle over the blown highlights just under its ear, but it looks like that was unavoidable.

I wish I did wildlife as well as this. What was the lens out of interest?

Ian.
Click to expand...

Thank you Ian! :thumbs:The light was very very harsh and most (if not all) of us struggled with it but all in all my keeper rate was higher than I expected it to be, which obviously I'm quite happy about! :D

The lens was a 70-200mm f2.8 L, which is what I used for the whole day. I did have my 17-50mm f2.8 in tappilappi's bag (I didn't carry a bag!) but I never used it....!! :thumbs:
 
Indulgence... it works well...I like the sky...

Ingredients... not exactly showing ingredients, but so what... it's a good fun shot...

Stop... a well taken, sharp and detailed image, they do stop and sit up don't they
 
jgs001 said:
Indulgence... it works well...I like the sky...

Ingredients... not exactly showing ingredients, but so what... it's a good fun shot...

Stop... a well taken, sharp and detailed image, they do stop and sit up don't they
Click to expand...

Thanks John! :) I'll admit, I have close to a hundred photos of the Meercats from Saturday :eek: I could watch them for hours.....great little creatures! :thumbs:
 
Really like that, especially how candid it is and I'm sure you'll have had to be pretty quick in snapping it.

The lighting and DoF nicely set it off.

Only just notice your a Leeds fan, get in!!! We're going up!!!
(I even managed to get Elland Road into my people shot)
 
Love the meerkat mate. Must find the rest of your zoo pics.....
 
dan_yorkshire said:
Really like that, especially how candid it is and I'm sure you'll have had to be pretty quick in snapping it.

The lighting and DoF nicely set it off.

Only just notice your a Leeds fan, get in!!! We're going up!!!
(I even managed to get Elland Road into my people shot)
Click to expand...

Cheers Dan! :thumbs: Been a Leeds fan since birth (lived in Bramley/Pudsey for the first 25 years of my life).....don't get to go to too many games these days (none actually!) but still a big supporter! :D
 
Indulgence...Great silhouette.

Ingredients...:lol: although I think you are ready for a new baking tin.

Stop...just a teeny weeny crow bar but a lovely shot. Factor 16 :p I use Factor 30 and it always stays with the camera gear and I wear a big silly hat too.
 
foggy4ever said:
Indulgence...Great silhouette.

Ingredients...:lol: although I think you are ready for a new baking tin.

Stop...just a teeny weeny crow bar but a lovely shot. Factor 16 :p I use Factor 30 and it always stays with the camera gear and I wear a big silly hat too.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scott! :thumbs: My head wasn't too bad really, bit sore the day after but I've definitely had worse before! :gag: Thanks for commenting! :D

jeangenie said:
'Stop and stare' fits the bill nicely - and it's an excellent shot, Damien. Good dof and you've caught a gret expression on the little critter's face. :thumbs:

Jean
Click to expand...

Thank you Jean! :) I had so many photos of the Meerkats it was scary....but I really like the pose on this one! :thumbs:
 
:lol: I can just imagine Damien telling a story like in the Meerkat Insurance advert.

Great meerkat photo mate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top