Squawk's 52 2010 - Week 15: single (I'm back)

Jade said:
looks like were constantly on same wave length done same too pics ish ... but yours are better

very nice !!
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Thankyou, just don't undersell yourself. A good idea is the hardest thing in my experience, once you get that the rest can be learned.

Alladin121 said:
I love the poem capture, i think thats a lovely image and i love the vignette that youve PP in!! awesome work :D
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Thankyou, looks like the right decision to allow pp this week :D

uniquegardens said:
week 1 - a very good interpretation of the theme, simple but very effective.

week 2 - Poetry has been well thought out and excuted well too, very nice indeed. :thumbs::thumbs:
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Thanks, after a couple of months with my dslr I'm starting to find that I prefer shooting simple images, might have to force myself to do something on a grander scale in one of the coming weeks.
 
Really like the poem shot and the way the light & shadows are cast across the paper, nice composition as well. :thumbs:
 
nicely executed
I'd agree that the nib could do with being just a touch lighter
bang on theme as well!
 
:clap: Two really good shots this week.

If I had to choose a favourite on the strength of the image I think I prefer the watch one, but the first shot is more on theme for me so I'm glad that it's the one that you chose.

Agree with the comments above about the nib, but it still works very well. I also love the idea of diffusing the light through a glass of spirit :thumbs:
It's given a wonderful quality to the light, although personally I'd like to see the shadow of the pen lessened a little more.
 
Both are very good but the first is my favourite - lovely set-up and colours. Dodging the pen nib is all it needs to make it really first-rate. Well done! :clap::clap:
 
CURVES:
The curves shot is very nice, I like your use of lighting in all the shots, and I really like the darker one with the candle light

POETRY:
For me definitely prefer the pen/paper shot. It has a very strong sense that you are in the midddle of writing the poem and have just put the pen down while you think of the next line.

Again very nice lighting with the shadow of the pen. Would be great if you could get the gold nib to show, but I suspect that would have to be a photoshop excercise as I don't know how you could light the nib without losing the shadow or affecting the feel of the shot.
 
I love your poetry shot, mate. Captured the mood perfectly.
 
Thanks to all for the kind comments and suggestions for last weeks images and how to improve them. Now to week 3.

Chopped.

Loads of things sprang to mind for this week, the problem was making them interesting. I tried and failed on several counts. there are only so many angles you can take a photo of a tree stump or log...

Without further ado I present the candidates as of right now.

Candidate 1

pea_chopper.jpg


Here we have a pea chopped in two sat next to the nastiest biggest blade I could find. I was hoping for a bit of comedy value while sticking to the theme, for anyone interested in a series of images I also have it with garden shears, loppers and a seriously evil looking bread knife. This particular blade is actually a garden hoe.

bw_stump.jpg


The stump of a tree from my golf course. This wasn't chopped so much as completely fried when lighting hit it a couple of years ago. What remained got chopped down for safety reasons.

branch_chopped.jpg

Dead branch removal, again at the golf course. I tried a shot of the tree from distance but it was arguably the most boring photo ever taken. This is at least a bit abstract.

log.jpg

The subject in this shot has made another appearance in the 52, the23rdman got a nice image of it last week at the sculpture park. I like the shot, but might take a bit of crowbaring this one in.

The other main candidate considered and rejected was the bunny split in two, again from the sculpture park. For "chopped" it worked great, but I'm buggered if I can get a nice image without a load of processing (or even with it).

And yay, now I can go look what everyone else has come up with :D
 
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Loving the chopped pea shot :thumbs: and I got the comedy feel straight away :lol:
 
there are only so many angles you can take a photo of a tree stump or log...
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Yup. I went for something similar. Comedy shot that failed, followed by tree stump that failed.

That pea shot is really excellent. Great interpretation of the theme, and executed well and with a sense of humour. And it's based on a really simple idea. That's the winner for me and it goes to show that even a difficult theme can be done very well with a bit of thought.

Ian.
 
Going with the crowd here, definitely the first both for originality and the most interesting of the bunch. Shame about the light bit of wood on the left - I find I'm drawn to it and so it's distracting me from the pea. Can you get any closer?
 
Dave450 said:
Loving the chopped pea shot :thumbs: and I got the comedy feel straight away :lol:
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Yay, sense of humour alive and kicking for Squawk this week. Thanks

jollyjack said:
The green pea in #1 great, just jumps out at you, the other images are good aswell but the green pea for me
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Good good, it would seem most are in agreement on this one.

Harlequin565 said:
Yup. I went for something similar. Comedy shot that failed, followed by tree stump that failed.

That pea shot is really excellent. Great interpretation of the theme, and executed well and with a sense of humour. And it's based on a really simple idea. That's the winner for me and it goes to show that even a difficult theme can be done very well with a bit of thought.

Ian.
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Thanks for the feedback, I'm very new to photography and finding that sticking with the "less is more" idea seems to pay off more than it falls flat.

ranarama said:
Going with the crowd here, definitely the first both for originality and the most interesting of the bunch. Shame about the light bit of wood on the left - I find I'm drawn to it and so it's distracting me from the pea. Can you get any closer?
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Hmm, interesting. I sorta put that there intentionally for a bit of added interest, the chopping board I'm shooting on is split into quadrants, 2 light and 2 dark. It hadn't occured to me that it might steal you're eye away from the pea and blade. If I get the chance I'll have a go at shooting it again and see what I come up with. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll struggle to get any closer, I only have the kit 18-55 lens and I'm shooting from about 8 inches away, but should be easy to move the bits around.
 
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MagicMynx said:
hehe the pea pade me giggle!
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Thats what I like to hear :D

Ricky T said:
"Chopped" wow.
its great.
Did you use a Macro lens ?

I love it.
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Thankyou.
I just have the kit lens that came with the camera, the canon 18-55. It's the only lens I have and it seems pretty versatile, though this is about as close as you can get.
 
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i'm in the pea camp too.. great shot.. made me smile!

the tree stumps all good in their own right but am going with the pea.. ;)
 
I think the pea is sweeping in the board at the minute. Love the comedy value of it. I can imagine you hunting around trying to find various things to play the part of the blade. You're clearly not a gardener ***, that hoe is far too clean. :lol:
 
L'Cham said:
I think the pea is sweeping in the board at the minute. Love the comedy value of it. I can imagine you hunting around trying to find various things to play the part of the blade.
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Your mental picture is probably just about spot on, I tried all sorts, the big rusty garden shear thingies were probably the most outrageous but not quite believable, bit too rusty.

L'Cham said:
You're clearly not a gardener ***, that hoe is far too clean. :lol:
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And neither are you, since I have been informed it isn't actually a hoe :bonk: An edging spade apparently, no idea what the difference is :thinking::D
 
Hi James :wave:

Only just found this thread so apologies for the delay in posting.

Week 1, definitely #1 for me, I prefer the composition and colours of this one :thumbs:

Week 2, another great idea, simple but effective :clap::clap:

Week 3, I like the humour of your preferred shot, it's like using a hammer to crack a nut :D

Keep them coming and I'll try to keep following :thumbs:

Jill
 
Agreed the light bits top right and bottom left dark the eye away from the main subject. Re-shoot this with the pea and chopper on the dark bit of floor, try and get the floor grain at a 45 degree angle. The green and brown are nie contrasting colors. The other shots do not do a lot for me though.

Allan
 
Bruja said:
Hi James :wave:

Only just found this thread so apologies for the delay in posting.

Week 1, definitely #1 for me, I prefer the composition and colours of this one :thumbs:

Week 2, another great idea, simple but effective :clap::clap:

Week 3, I like the humour of your preferred shot, it's like using a hammer to crack a nut :D

Keep them coming and I'll try to keep following :thumbs:

Jill
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Thanks.

With 150 52's on the go don't worry about it, I keep finding new ones every day. I don't think its feasible to comment on them all every week so maybe pick 10 or so each week and comment on the last few images.
 
Bit of a variation on the main images and not within the remit of my 52 (limited PS ideally), but I had a play with selective colour to add something a bit different

pea_chopped_selective_colour.jpg


Digitall, thanks, I think I will have a go at reshooting as you and others have suggested, maybe even before the end of the week.
 
Squawk said:
Your mental picture is probably just about spot on, I tried all sorts, the big rusty garden shear thingies were probably the most outrageous but not quite believable, bit too rusty.



And neither are you, since I have been informed it isn't actually a hoe :bonk: An edging spade apparently, no idea what the difference is :thinking::D
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Ahh, you're right. Hoes are flat edged with a hole in the middle, instead of curved. :thumbs:
 
L'Cham said:
Ahh, you're right. Hoes are flat edged with a hole in the middle, instead of curved. :thumbs:
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See, learn something every day. Nearest thing I get to green fingers was holding the frozen peas for this shot.
 
I like the pea shot, mate. Not sure it needs the selective colour though as both the pea and the blade are central to the story of the shot. Selectively colouring the pea gives it too much of the limelight....maybe you should have cut as lime too...
 
The23rdman said:
I like the pea shot, mate. Not sure it needs the selective colour though as both the pea and the blade are central to the story of the shot. Selectively colouring the pea gives it too much of the limelight....maybe you should have cut as lime too...
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I think you're right about the selective colour, will stick with the original as a keeper. A lime, ooh, interesting.
 
Hi James, the selective colour isn't doing anything for me, I far prefer the original so I'm glad that you're sticking with it.

Of the 4 that you originally posted, I really like No.3 for it's abstract quality but that pea is edging (spade) ahead. :coat:
I like it as it is, but there is definitely more potential in the shot. I'd love to see a reshoot with some of the suggestions above.
 
Colour pea for me too. Poor thing never stood a chance :)
 
I really like the pea shot it works really well... A couple of the others work well too, in particular I like the last one.
 
Thanks for all the feedback for last week, the pea shot it is as a final choice. I haven't had a chance to reshoot it with the suggestions made yet so for now it's staying as it is.

Week 4 post coming up in about 5 mins (and good god do I suck at street).
 
Week 4: Street. :help:

This was great for me, it got me out doing something I wouldn't otherwise have done, and it has revealed a few weaknesses in myself.

First, the photos.

candiate 1:
52_street-4.jpg


Candidate 2:
52_street.jpg


Candidate 3:
52_street-2-2.jpg


Candidate 4:
52_street-3.jpg


Since most people seem to process street shots (the few I've seen), I've ended up designating this one an "adjustments" week. Not done a huge ammount, curves adjustment and what not plus the black and white and split toning efforts, all in lightroom.

So, loads to learn here.

Big thing was settings. I found that in the environment I was concentrating on getting the exposure correct and unfortunately ended up with a shutter speed too low for a load of images. The result was lots and lots of blur. Light didn't help, I always try to shoot at ISO 100 (400D so it's a bit noisy if you increase ISO), but I could have bumped it up to 400 and stilled the motion.

I can't hit focus. Never, nah ahhh, not once on anyones face. Don't get me wrong, it's not far off, but I'm the sort that gets in at 100% and looks for perfection, and it's just not there. Very possibly it's just me and technique so lots of practice required. If all else fails, blame the lens.

I also felt a bit self conscious about pointing the camera at people. Being a bit quicker on the draw might help, changing the focus points faster to feel more comfortable. Put somone on a third line and they won't even know the camera is pointing at them.

Anyhoo, 4 up for comment, lemme know. And any tips gratefully received.
 
I think it's a pretty good set. Seems to be a common trait with 52's that I've seen where people are putting themselves down. I think you did a grand job!

Big thing was settings. I found that in the environment I was concentrating on getting the exposure correct and unfortunately ended up with a shutter speed too low for a load of images. The result was lots and lots of blur. Light didn't help, I always try to shoot at ISO 100 (400D so it's a bit noisy if you increase ISO), but I could have bumped it up to 400 and stilled the motion.

I can't hit focus. Never, nah ahhh, not once on anyones face. Don't get me wrong, it's not far off, but I'm the sort that gets in at 100% and looks for perfection, and it's just not there. Very possibly it's just me and technique so lots of practice required. If all else fails, blame the lens.
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I used to have a 350D and happily shot at ISO400 without noticeable noise. Your mileage may vary of course... Can always tweak it back if required.

As to hitting focus - are you letting the camera choose its focus point? I've set mine up to use the central point. Focus, then frame rather than letting the camera find its own focus. Maybe worth trying that (unless you already do that in which case just ignore me).

You're right about the practice, but that's exactly what these 52's are all about. Seems to me you've learnt something as well as taking some shots that you should be chuffed with.

I like the processing on #3, but to be honest there's something of interest in all the shots. Nice set!

Ian.
 
Thanks for taking the time to be so constructive Ian. I agree with you about 52's, the idea is to learn and force yourself into different situations. My first three shots have all been pretty close up macro style, this is completely different.

Regarding focus I do use a single focus point, I think on these shots the issue is more the shutter speed, a combination of slow glass, bad light and shaking like a leaf (I'm not the best hand holder). Definitley something to bear in mind.

Thanks again.
 
That is a pretty good set - I particularly like 2 and 3.

I had the same problem with focusing and low shutter speeds, and lighting was difficult, either all in shade or low harsh sunlight. But it has been a very good learning experience, hasn't it!
 
#4 for me
I think it's better than #1 because the poeple are walking towards the camera not away from it
not too sure if the market stalls really hit the subject

so 4 it is! :thumbs:

oh and I like the b/w processing
 
For the images you're after here I wouldn't be afraid of a little bit of noise and bumping it to 400 isn't going to be noticeable I don't think. Good on you for getting out there (something I couldn't do) and pointing your camera at strangers in the street. #3 gets my vote. Liking the processing and "action" going on in the frame.
 
Hi James :thumbs:

Seeing York again brings back memories of the TP Convention last year when a group of us hit the streets. It feels less obtrusive I think if there is more than one of you and I usually go with MrB (and he carries my kit :D)

I'm glad it got you out of your comfort zone as it's what the challenge is all about. I think the focussing problem with street is you are trying to hit a moving target so even if you get the focus point on the face, compose and take the shot, by then the buggers have moved :lol:

So it's a question of try, try and try again. I dump most of my candid shots because of that and I've got a 70-200L which is pretty damn fast.

My favourite is #1 as the market stalls do nothing for me and #4 is a bit dark on my monitor.

Great attempt though, so just get out there and practice more :thumbs:

On a personal note, I used to get 'sent' to Wombwell as a child for my summer holidays :eek:
 
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