SpidersEye's 52 - Week 8 - Mechanical

SpidersEye

SpidersEye

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Kay
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Hi there,
You might remember I made an attempt at a 365 last year and just made it into 3 figures as I recall - anyway, after that fell by the wayside (mainly due to work commitments and suchlike) I've taken a long break from photography which I regret letting happen ... Anyway, I've decided to return this year and have a go at a 52 :)

My rules for this are fairly straightforward: to take a new picture each week, to try out as many different themes and techniques as I can think of, and mainly just have fun :D

Oh and to comment on as many of the other 52s as possible each week too :)

Week 1: Curved

I decided straight away to go for an abstract theme for this one using objects I had around the flat (and therefore hide from the cold):

Curved.jpg

I've used two springs that I took from broken alarm clocks, placed on a sheet of metalic paper to try and get some interesting reflections/shadow. All I've done with the image is alter the contrast and brightness slightly.

Thanks for looking, all comments very welcome :)

Kay.
 
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Some really nice work Kay!
Im a big fan of abstract photography and design, and think what you have come up with here is really quite interesting.
Definitely nailed the curves theme! And i really like the colours.
Great start to your 52 :thumbs:
 
Some nice curves in there but I think the background is a little too busy and might have looked better on a plainer surface. You have got some nice shadows and highlights in there though :thumbs:
 
dlh said:
Some nice curves in there but I think the background is a little too busy and might have looked better on a plainer surface. You have got some nice shadows and highlights in there though :thumbs:
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Looking again I will agree with that, especially in the top segments.
Looks like theres too much 'fleck'. Or whatever the shiney stuff is.
Apart from that, great shot :)
 
Great choice of subject, agree that the background is too busy and maybe yoy could try only 1 spring at a different angle :shrug:

:thumbs:
 
Thanks for the comments, it's much appreciated :)

Looking at it again I agree about the background being a bit 'noisy'. I was originally going to use coloured paper but didn't have anything that looked bright enough, as I wanted to the background to stand out a bit. I used 2 springs becasue I liked the reflections it created :)
 
Very nice, I think the use of two rather than one has given the image real depth. Good start.
 
Squawk said:
Very nice, I think the use of two rather than one has given the image real depth. Good start.
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Thankyou, I'm glad you like it :)

kimo said:
I like the idea but not the background maybe try a different colour.
kim
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Thanks, I should've searched rouond a bit more for something else to use for the background i think :)
 
Like the pic.

i also like to hide from the cold, and i am going to do more 'still life' in the kitchen and warmth.
I also am doing the 52 and dito your comments of trying everything and something new.
good luck to you too.
 
Ricky T said:
Like the pic.

i also like to hide from the cold, and i am going to do more 'still life' in the kitchen and warmth.
I also am doing the 52 and dito your comments of trying everything and something new.
good luck to you too.
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Thankyou. I think finding things to photograph in the house can be a challenge in itself! :)

Good luck with your project, I'll go and have a look just now :)
 
A very nice interpretation of the subject, and a good abstract. The only thing I would pick up on is the background - just a tad too shiny, but I can see what you were trying to do :)
 
Great interpretation of curved, and I love the background. :-)
 
I really like this! I thought it was a baking tray to start with (then I actually read your post :$)

I wondered what it would have been like with just the one spring, but I don't think it would have had the impact you've gone for. By crossing the two over each other it's added a bigger appeal to it and made curves more prominent.

Good start to the year :clap:
 
CarolF said:
I really like this! I thought it was a baking tray to start with (then I actually read your post :$)

I wondered what it would have been like with just the one spring, but I don't think it would have had the impact you've gone for. By crossing the two over each other it's added a bigger appeal to it and made curves more prominent.

Good start to the year :clap:
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Thanks Carol, glad you like it :)

I didn't try it with one spring, I liked the idea of using two to make it more abstract and for the reflections. Thankyou for commenting :)
 
Great idea and very nice arrangement. I too would prefer a plainer background but otherwise :clap:
 
Like the abstract shot, fit the theme very well, will try with different background.
 
Hi Kay, and welcome to the 52!:) I enjoyed following your 365 last year (some really amazing photos :)) and shall definitely be following your 52 with interest.

You've hit a high note straight off. I love this just as it is. The complexity of the 2 springs makes an interesting pattern and the metallic background harmonises well. And you managed to stay warm! :)

Jean
 
rosario144 said:
Like the abstract shot, fit the theme very well, will try with different background.
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Thankyou Rosario :)

jeangenie said:
Hi Kay, and welcome to the 52!:) I enjoyed following your 365 last year (some really amazing photos :)) and shall definitely be following your 52 with interest.

You've hit a high note straight off. I love this just as it is. The complexity of the 2 springs makes an interesting pattern and the metallic background harmonises well. And you managed to stay warm! :)

Jean
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Hi there Jean,

Thanks for commenting on my 365, I'm glad you were enjoying it. It's a real shame I never finished it, but hopefully I'll have better luck with this one :)

I'm glad you like the picture, including the background; after reading through all the comments I'm a bit unsure about it now so I'm glad it works for you :)
 
Kay, I really like that. I think it needs the second spring to interplay for the first one as it provides a lot of interset. The background works well to.
 
jgs001 said:
Kay, I really like that. I think it needs the second spring to interplay for the first one as it provides a lot of interset. The background works well to.
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Thankyou John, it's much appreciated :)

I'm off out in an hour or so to hopefully get my week 2 shot; it's a shame I didn't go yesterday as it was quite a bit brighter then ...
 
Oooooh that's certainly very curved Kay!

Great abstract image, and the 2 springs work well together. I love the way that the bottom spring is reflected in the coils of the one on top :thumbs:

I actually rather like the background too, it contrasts nicely with the springs. Although I do see where the others are coming from. Perhaps a plainer background would have drawn your eye more to the reflections :shrug:
 
Hi sarah, thankyou for commenting and I'm glad you like the picture :) I think it's the 'fleckiness' of the background that doesn't work for some; I was thinking metallic subject: metallic background, but maybe a bright, flatter background wouldve been more effective :)

I went out to take my picture for week 2 today but I'm not overly happy with the result (which is a shame as I walked 6 miles there and back to get it!). I'll make another attempt at it tomorrow hopefully :)
 
As I said in my previous post I'm not overly happy with my image this week. I'm not really the greatest fan fan of poetry so instead of going for an image relating to a specific poem, I decided to find something related more to poetry in general. My initial thought was to find a poem inscribed on something, then I did a bit of research into poets from Edinburgh and if there was anything related to them that I could photograph. While I was looking into this I discovered that Edinburgh has a poetry library, so walked the 3 miles from my house in the snow to get a picture. Unfortunately due to its location I found it difficult to get a good picture of the building with the sign clearly readable (it's on a narrow road with high buildings and walls on all sides) so went for a picture focusing more on the sign. This is the result:

DSC_0002ed.jpg


I've attempted to make the sign stand out a bit more than it did by sharpening/altering the contrast and I've corrected the perspective as there were alot of confusing angles before, but I'm not happy this week! I had hoped to go out and try another subject but due to the shorter hours of daylight just now it hasn't been possible so I stuck with this one.

Things I learnt this week:
* There's a Scottish poetry library (must go back when it's open) :)
* Photographing architecture can be frustrating!
* It's a good idea to come up with ideas early in the week, becaue if I hadn't made the effort to get the picture last weekend I might have struggled.

Hopefully I'll get along better with the theme for week 3 :)

Kay
 
Hi Kay, is this the first one for this week that speaks for itself without a poem attached?

Nice image that fits the theme well. I like the austere atmosphere and the grain in the wood. :-)
 
bigsteve said:
Hi Kay, is this the first one for this week that speaks for itself without a poem attached?

Nice image that fits the theme well. I like the austere atmosphere and the grain in the wood. :-)
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Thanks very much - I'm glad you like it :)
 
This is brilliant Kay.

Something less obvious than the usual take on this weeks theme :thumbs:

walking three miles in the snow to take the shot is true dedication :cuckoo: :lol:
 
Very good, I love all the different textures, wood, metal & glass and the angle it was taken from.

I think it was a good choice to go for your 3 mile walk for this shot too as it was definitely worth it!
 
daddy day care said:
This is brilliant Kay.

Something less obvious than the usual take on this weeks theme :thumbs:

walking three miles in the snow to take the shot is true dedication :cuckoo: :lol:
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Thank you :) It was certainly good exercise! I'm glad you like it.

ccsnet said:
I like that.... and now you know a little more about where you live too :)

Terran
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Definitely - I had no idea it was there! :lol:

Thanks for commenting :)

Rudders said:
Very good, I love all the different textures, wood, metal & glass and the angle it was taken from.

I think it was a good choice to go for your 3 mile walk for this shot too as it was definitely worth it!
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Thanks very much :)
 
Kay, I like it, and well worth the three mile walk. The bright spot by the P is making it hard to read Poetry for me, having said that it fits the theme exceptionally well. You know what I think would work... focus in close on just the word Poetry, especially with lighting like that, the shadows really add to the word.
 
Very nice :thumbs:. I like the composition with its contrasting lines - vertical and diagonal against the curves of the letters, and the limited colour palette sets it all off very well. It would be even better if you could just rescue the slight flare in the window - might be possible in PP?
 
jgs001 said:
Kay, I like it, and well worth the three mile walk. The bright spot by the P is making it hard to read Poetry for me, having said that it fits the theme exceptionally well. You know what I think would work... focus in close on just the word Poetry, especially with lighting like that, the shadows really add to the word.
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Thankyou :)

I see what you mean about the lighting on the letters. I would also have liked to get a bit further out from the building so all the lettering was a bit clearer, but unfortunately I was standing on a wall to take the picture and couldn't get any further away :)

Tracer said:
Very nice :thumbs:. I like the composition with its contrasting lines - vertical and diagonal against the curves of the letters, and the limited colour palette sets it all off very well. It would be even better if you could just rescue the slight flare in the window - might be possible in PP?
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I agree about the flare; I did try to lessen it a little but didn't succeed - maybe I'll try again in the week if I'm not thinking about what I'm going to do for week 3!

Thankyou for your comments :)
 
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