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

Oh, and just an extra story to shoehorn in to my 52....

The above photo (week 12) has not been cropped in anyway at all, and here is how dirty the sensor was when I took it:

IMG_3048.jpg


:eek:

That's a lot of dust bunnies to "heal" in PP!!!!! :lol: Took me ages, and I still don't think I got them all! :shake:
 
I like nightime photography so you've got me onside already.
Taking the weather conditions into account it's damn well executed and it's on theme, I just wish there'd been something 'going on'.
 
RobC said:
I like nightime photography so you've got me onside already.
Taking the weather conditions into account it's damn well executed and it's on theme, I just wish there'd been something 'going on'.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob! :thumbs: The first time I spotted this place, it was fully functioning, and there were huge plumes of steam/smoke coming out of the chimneys. This time it was like dishwater....:shake: No sky, no smoke, and there were some horrible railings (some building work going on I think) just to my left which meant I couldn't get the composition I wanted....:bang: Just glad I got something to be honest!!
 
Slimbert said:
Thanks Rob! :thumbs: The first time I spotted this place, it was fully functioning, and there were huge plumes of steam/smoke coming out of the chimneys. This time it was like dishwater....:shake: No sky, no smoke, and there were some horrible railings (some building work going on I think) just to my left which meant I couldn't get the composition I wanted....:bang: Just glad I got something to be honest!!
Click to expand...

I know how that feels, the times I've spotted somthing or somewhere, gone back later only to be rained on, moved off the hard shoulder (why do I see so many cool things on motorways?) etc .....

It's still a goood picture despite your trials and tribulations.
 
Damien, she's a lovely looking dog, but as you say, the shot settings really haven't helped the picture much it's all a bit soft, but that's ok.. as you say it's a personal thing... The second one is a much better shot for Candid... on theme, sharp and well taken.

Of the Produce images, it didn't really shout produce as such, but having read the description, it fits the theme nicely. I agree with the comments about the first, a bit too much dead space. The edits are better... of the two I prefer the more contrasty first one.

As for you sensor :lol:...
 
RobC said:
Like #2, love the colour of the sky.
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The sky is more like what I was hoping for, but without serious PP work, it ain't going to happen!! :shake:

jgs001 said:
Damien, she's a lovely looking dog, but as you say, the shot settings really haven't helped the picture much it's all a bit soft, but that's ok.. as you say it's a personal thing... The second one is a much better shot for Candid... on theme, sharp and well taken.

Of the Produce images, it didn't really shout produce as such, but having read the description, it fits the theme nicely. I agree with the comments about the first, a bit too much dead space. The edits are better... of the two I prefer the more contrasty first one.
Click to expand...

Thanks John! :thumbs: Week 12 is definitely the one I've been most unhappy with posting so far....just didn't go the way I wanted it to....:shake: Hopefully week 13 will turn things around a little bit! :thumbs:

Candid was tricky, simply because I didn't have any time to set aside for photography :( Still.....I'm back up to date now, and armed with my new (to me!) lenses, I'm raring to go!!! :D

jgs001 said:
As for you sensor :lol:...
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The less said about that the better...!! :suspect:
 
Hi Damien - a bit of a catch up from me!

Candid: Labradoodles in general are sooooo cute, and Purdy's up there with the best of them. I sympathise with trying to snap dogs who can hear a camera breathe at 100 yards! :lol: So, although you're not overly happy with the photographic qualities of this, I'd say keep it and crop it - really hard, so there's as little of the dog bed is showing as possible. I think (and it's only my opinion!) taking it out of context would add impact. Awww - she's gorgeous! :)

The best man looks worried, very worried! He's got no idea you've just taken his photo, which in my view, makes it a perfect candid. :thumbs: One neat little touch is the oof post in the foreground is 'pointing' at his speech! :D The downside of candids is that you grab them where you can, and this looks a bit cramped. I'm a little niggled by the posts, and the horizontal lines in the background - either upright or a 'mad' candid angle would set it off perfectly for me! I'd also crop a tad off the bottom to get rid of the green patch on the bottom left, and between his legs. But having said all that, I really do like it - the processing works really well and imho, it's a true candid! :clap:


Produce: I'm a sucker for a building all lit up at night, and I've already admired Lynton's! I like yours, too. But the extra proceesing you've done on the two edits makes a huge difference - very, very neat. :thumbs: I can't choose between the 2 edits, though. I've been backwards and forwards to them several times and, it's too hard to choose, so I won't! :lol:

Oh - that sensor! :eek::eek::eek: :)

Jean#
 
Slimbert said:
First off, I know this is the same as Lyntons week 12, but great minds think alike and all that....plus I haven't been well this week, so I'll have to make do!!
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:lol: :lol: :lol: I thought I'd already commented on this building once this week!

A lot of positives with it and definitely a location worth revisiting. The reflections in the water and the warm lights against the cold sky are great.
It's just a shame that the building work stopped you getting a wider shot - it would have been nice to have a bit more space either side.

Of the 3 the second edit works best for me. You seem to have brought back a bit more impact and detail in the sky.
And :thumbs: on cloning those dust bunnies out. What the hell have you been doing with that sensor ?????

Hope you're feeling better soon.
 
SarahLee said:
:lol: :lol: :lol: I thought I'd already commented on this building once this week!

A lot of positives with it and definitely a location worth revisiting. The reflections in the water and the warm lights against the cold sky are great.
It's just a shame that the building work stopped you getting a wider shot - it would have been nice to have a bit more space either side.

Of the 3 the second edit works best for me. You seem to have brought back a bit more impact and detail in the sky.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sarah! :D The original raw file wasn't up to much at all....so I'm quite happy that I pulled something out of it!!

SarahLee said:
And :thumbs: on cloning those dust bunnies out. What the hell have you been doing with that sensor ?????
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Tell me about it....!! :gag: I had noticed a few spots on some photos I'd taken recently, but nothing shows dust bunnies like a white wall shot at f22!! ;)

SarahLee said:
Hope you're feeling better soon.
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Thanks! My voice is slowly returning, I'll be shouting again in no time! The party that my kids and the dog have been having is about to come to an end!! ;)
 
Sadly my idea for "Quad" never happened....but hopefully I'll get it at some point in the future and I'll post it up as soon as I do!

So, "Reshoot" it is then....

Finally had a bit of time to get out with the camera over the last week. Not too far though, just to the local park with the kids. So here's a reshoot of "Play" (Week 9) which will have to do until I get my "Quad" shot! :thumbs:

Personally, I think this is a better "Play" shot than my week 9 effort, but please feel free to tell me I'm wrong....!! :D

1. 70mm, f4, ISO400, 1/250

IMG_3089z1.jpg


As usual, feel free to say exactly what you think about my photos....don't be scarred to comment whatever your level of experience or ability!! :thumbs:
 
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Just for the hell of it, I thought I'd post a second "Reshoot"/"Play" shot....

2. 35mm, f2.8, ISO400, 1/1600

IMG_3127a.jpg


Honest opinions very welcome from everybody!!!! :thumbs:
 
It's terrible when life gets in the way of taking photos, so I'm glad you had a chance to get out with the camera this week! :D

I somehow missed you week 9 Play shot, so I've been back and had a look - and there was lots that I liked in it - the composition, the colours and your daughter's obvious concentration on High School Musical. The first reshoot fits the theme beautifully and we can all remember being at the top of the slide anticipating the journey down! Big thumbs up for the memory. :)

The see-saw shot is my favourite, though. The eye contact between the two girls is what makes it, but the fence also add to the shot with the idea of balance and symmetry. The mono treatment works well, too. Love it. :clap::clap:

Jean
 
First up, welcome back to the forum Damien:)

I like both your reshoot images, the first one I like your subject, Lexi on the slide, I like the colours and composition. The only niggle would be to give it a slight clockwise rotation to straighten the verticals, other than that :thumbs:

I prefer your second image though, the expression on your nippers faces shows they are enjoying themselves at play. My only observation here would be to ask if you have the colour version? I feel it would fit the theme with more colour about it. All above IMHO of course.

Well done on both images.
Iain
 
Well your first play shot wasn't bad, but I do prefer both of these.

I love the colours in the slide shot, the angle is good fun and there's a great expression on her face.

The see-saw wins for me though.
I like the strong geometric shapes in the seesaw, the central composition works well and there's great eye contact between the two girls.
I would never have thought of using B&W on this type of image, but it seems to add to the impact.
 
HI, I think I prefer the see saw, the first one has a bit of a wierd expression that doesn't sit quite right with me. The see saw however is great, as mentioned, great lines and a real sense of play. The expressions are good too, well done :thumbs:
 
Going to have to disagree with Iain here and say that for me, 1 works, just as it is with the verticals not being vertical...

Can really notice the difference in "L" glass in the colours and sharpness........ What's great is Lexi's expression.... that's one kid on a mission there............:lol:

The see-saw works really well, partly as mentioned above the eye contact makes it...... though I can't help but think Poppy is there just for the ride, she's not going to be much use on a see-saw yet, other than a good counterweight!!

Would be good to see the colour version, but the B&W works really well........
 
jeangenie said:
It's terrible when life gets in the way of taking photos, so I'm glad you had a chance to get out with the camera this week! :D

I somehow missed you week 9 Play shot, so I've been back and had a look - and there was lots that I liked in it - the composition, the colours and your daughter's obvious concentration on High School Musical. The first reshoot fits the theme beautifully and we can all remember being at the top of the slide anticipating the journey down! Big thumbs up for the memory. :)

The see-saw shot is my favourite, though. The eye contact between the two girls is what makes it, but the fence also add to the shot with the idea of balance and symmetry. The mono treatment works well, too. Love it. :clap::clap:

Jean
Click to expand...

Thanks Jean! :thumbs: Glad you like it!! I'm getting back in the swing of things and work has properly calmed down now so I've no excuses for the weeks ahead!! :thumbs:
 
blakester said:
First up, welcome back to the forum Damien:)

I like both your reshoot images, the first one I like your subject, Lexi on the slide, I like the colours and composition. The only niggle would be to give it a slight clockwise rotation to straighten the verticals, other than that :thumbs:

I prefer your second image though, the expression on your nippers faces shows they are enjoying themselves at play. My only observation here would be to ask if you have the colour version? I feel it would fit the theme with more colour about it. All above IMHO of course.

Well done on both images.
Iain
Click to expand...

Truth is, I never really went away!! :D

I tried straightening the verticals on the first one, but it didn't look any better for it IMO, I think it adds a sense of fun having it slightly off....:shrug:

I never even bothered to try a colour version of the second photo, so I might have a go at that at some point and post it up....:thinking:

Thanks loads for commenting Iain! :thumbs:
 
Nice capture of the Best man going through his speech, you can just about see the panic on his face :D

Interesting night shot is there any reason you chose portrait over landscape for composition? The 2 edits are better but hard to choose between.

It's very hard not to take a good shot of children playing.

:thumbs:
 
SarahLee said:
Well your first play shot wasn't bad, but I do prefer both of these.

I love the colours in the slide shot, the angle is good fun and there's a great expression on her face.

The see-saw wins for me though.
I like the strong geometric shapes in the seesaw, the central composition works well and there's great eye contact between the two girls.
I would never have thought of using B&W on this type of image, but it seems to add to the impact.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sarah! :D No real reason for making the second black and white, other than the first being colour, I just thought I'd post one of each, but I am happy with how it's turned out....

Thanks for commenting Sarah! :thumbs:
 
MadFrankie said:
HI, I think I prefer the see saw, the first one has a bit of a wierd expression that doesn't sit quite right with me. The see saw however is great, as mentioned, great lines and a real sense of play. The expressions are good too, well done :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thanks for commenting Gary! :thumbs: It really is appreciated!!!
 
Lynton said:
Going to have to disagree with Iain here and say that for me, 1 works, just as it is with the verticals not being vertical...

Can really notice the difference in "L" glass in the colours and sharpness........ What's great is Lexi's expression.... that's one kid on a mission there............:lol:

The see-saw works really well, partly as mentioned above the eye contact makes it...... though I can't help but think Poppy is there just for the ride, she's not going to be much use on a see-saw yet, other than a good counterweight!!

Would be good to see the colour version, but the B&W works really well........
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Cheers Lynton! :thumbs: The L glass does make things easy, the colours and contrast need very little PP work, which suits me fine!! :D

Lexi is like a tornado when she gets to the park....the energy inside her just explodes and trying to get a photo of her can be a nightmare!! :bang: I did think that Poppy's feet dangling added a bit of humour to the second shot....sadly I think it's too subtle :(
 
foggy4ever said:
Nice capture of the Best man going through his speech, you can just about see the panic on his face :D
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After he'd gone through it, he asked me for a pen so he could change something....I said I didn't have one so I'm not sure if he got round to changing it or not in the end! :shrug: Was a good speech though....

foggy4ever said:
Interesting night shot is there any reason you chose portrait over landscape for composition? The 2 edits are better but hard to choose between.
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I used portrait as a couple of degrees to the left there was some horrible looking building works going on along the river bank which I didn't want in the shot and any further right and it was complete darkness....Plus I was trying to squeeze all the reflections across the water in the frame. Add the crap weather in to the mix and Myself and Lynton were up against it, so I was happy to come away with anything at all!!

foggy4ever said:
It's very hard not to take a good shot of children playing.

:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Very true! :D

Thanks for commenting!! :thumbs:
 
I'm going to get a 52 entry in on time!! :eek:

Went out toggin' earlier today with Lynton, and decided to use one of the pillboxes along the A47 for my "Shoot" photo....I figured it would fit theme quite well, and I'm 2nd shooter at another wedding this weekend so won't have time to get anything else! :shake:

Anyway, I decided I wanted a "bleak" look to these so didn't want a lot in the background, and with all the traffic flying past on the A47 I thought I'd stick a couple of ND8 filters on so I could do a fairly long exposure, thus not freezing any moving traffic in the frame....it seems to have worked!! :thumbs:

Sadly, there seems to be a little haloing around the top of the pillbox, but it'll have to do for now! ;)

Two different photos, one B+W, one desaturated quite a bit....

1.

IMG_3193a.jpg

2.

IMG_3196a.jpg

As always, please feel free to be honest about what you see. People of all abilities are welcome to comment on my images! :D
 
Got to be the 22 - however I reckon a later model of it - with the Natural Camoflage / Eco Grass Roof (Like the Adnams warehouse in Southwold!)

-- to all - if Slimbert has stood a little higher, you'd have seen an overgrown mess on the top of it - so well done on the composition in getting rid of that!

Overall I think the B&W works better and having stood there in a cowpat littered field with you, I am pleasantly surprised at the result (in that the result exceeded my expectations - noot that I have an unhealthy interest in WWII fortifications!) - as I couldn't get any inspiration out of that, didn't even take my camera out of it's bag - other than to attempt to photo a kestral that kept buggering off!

There was a distinctive smell of old tramp near it though!
 
Lynton said:
There was a distinctive smell of old tramp near it though!
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I double dared you to go in and you bottled it!! :lol: Saying that, Yarmouth tramps are a very special (brew) breed indeed and I wouldn't want to unknowingly wake one up!! :shake:

I prefer the black and white one too, such a shame the sky was just sooooo bland!! :thumbsdown:

Just for the hell of it, I think I might post the original unprocessed shot to show the changes I made in PP.....don't think I've done that before in my 52 :thinking:
 
A great pair of shots Damien, I really like both of them, but for different reasons...

Shoot I can imagine people in there preparing to shoot... so it works for me. I think the slightly desat version is my preference here.
 
clud17 said:
I actually prefer the colour and think that a de saturated look works quite well, as above its a pity the sky didn't have a little contrast though.
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Thanks Chris! :thumbs: The sky was pants....:(....a dull smooth light grey for as far as the eye could see!! :thumbsdown: Had some lovely fluffy white ones today, but no chance to get out and make use of them :'(

jgs001 said:
A great pair of shots Damien, I really like both of them, but for different reasons...

Shoot I can imagine people in there preparing to shoot... so it works for me. I think the slightly desat version is my preference here.
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Thank you John! :D Much appreciated! :thumbs:
 
Damien,:thumbs: from me for being on theme and on time but apologies, honest opinion from me is that I dont think this is on a par with your other images. You have mentioned about the dull sky which didn't help but the images are quite flat, they need a little pp to make them pop.
Perhaps taking them from a lower perspective and filling the frame may have helped. The horizon cutting across the centre of the image IMHO doesn't help the composition. Again sorry if this seems harsh, I don't mean it to. All above is only my opinion, please feel free to ignore it. Iain
 
Nice interpretation for 'shoot', I've not got a clue yet what I'll do! I prefer the desaturated look, gives it a bit of an aged feeling! :thumbs:
 
blakester said:
Damien,:thumbs: from me for being on theme and on time but apologies, honest opinion from me is that I dont think this is on a par with your other images. You have mentioned about the dull sky which didn't help but the images are quite flat, they need a little pp to make them pop.
Perhaps taking them from a lower perspective and filling the frame may have helped. The horizon cutting across the centre of the image IMHO doesn't help the composition. Again sorry if this seems harsh, I don't mean it to. All above is only my opinion, please feel free to ignore it. Iain
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Thanks for being honest Iain! :thumbs: I was trying to get a "bleak" look, but I've missed the mark and I think it's come out pretty boring on the whole....What I should have tried (and you've just made me think it) is to compose the horizon across the top horizontal third rather than through the middle :bonk: It's something I usually think to look at, but this time it completely passed me by.....

Thanks for the comments Iain, very much appreciated!! :thumbs:
 
chris321 said:
Nice interpretation for 'shoot', I've not got a clue yet what I'll do! I prefer the desaturated look, gives it a bit of an aged feeling! :thumbs:
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Thanks Chris! :thumbs: I think "Shoot" can be wide open in that every photo is a "Shot", but it's quite tricky to get a literal meaning in to a photo....it will be interesting to see what others come up with!! ;)
 
I think the desaturated version works better than the B&W, and the slight vignette helps to draw attention to the box. I'm not bothered at all by the central placing of the horizon, I think because it somehow matches the bleak squareness of the box, and also perhaps because the telegraph wires on the right do in fact lift the horizon on that side.

I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognised it immediately as a pillbox but it certainly fits the theme.
 
Tracer said:
I think the desaturated version works better than the B&W, and the slight vignette helps to draw attention to the box. I'm not bothered at all by the central placing of the horizon, I think because it somehow matches the bleak squareness of the box, and also perhaps because the telegraph wires on the right do in fact lift the horizon on that side.

I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognised it immediately as a pillbox but it certainly fits the theme.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tracer! :thumbs: Much appreciated!! :D
 
Right, just because I'm bored today (after the excitment of the wedding yesterday!), I'm going to post up the original un-pp'd "Shoot" photo.....

This is exactly how it came out of the camera, apart from a resize!

IMG_3193-2.jpg
 
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