PhiltheJuggler's 52! - The '52 - Part 1 - weeks 1-27

Wow!!!!
There have been some fantastic shots this week - and this is one of them.
I prefer the original version, but the edit works too. It's a very close decision.

Brilliant concept and beautifully executed.
I was wondering when I first saw it why none of the gravestones had inscriptions on them - then I realised it was the angle of the shot and that you were looking at them from behind.
A really nice touch that adds an extra bit of mystery to it.

Your best week so far Phil - absolutely superb! :clap:
 
SarahLee said:
Wow!!!!
There have been some fantastic shots this week - and this is one of them.
I prefer the original version, but the edit works too. It's a very close decision.

Brilliant concept and beautifully executed.
I was wondering when I first saw it why none of the gravestones had inscriptions on them - then I realised it was the angle of the shot and that you were looking at them from behind.
A really nice touch that adds an extra bit of mystery to it.

Your best week so far Phil - absolutely superb! :clap:
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Wow - what praise - I'm going to need the door to the computer room widening before I get my head through it!

Many thanks

Phil
 
First shot's a winner Phil. Great colours just where they're needed and good use of desaturation. Very striking (y)
 
Some cracking shots in there. I prefer the original street shot, it's wicked. Speed is very clever too! I like that a lot. Although I'm not a fan of selective colouring, that's quite a nice photo.

Looking forward to the rest of your 52 :)
 
Phil... speed is excellent, well thought out, and implemented. Present, I really like it, I think I prefer the edit with the grass desaturated too, but that's a personal thing. It's a lovely image and works well for the theme.
 
Week 7 - People

Hands are a defining characteristic of a person. Here are a collection of people.

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I love portraiture and the obvious picture to match the theme would be a group of people & I'm more than happy to walk up to a crowd and get them to pose! The problem is that would have been in my comfort-zone & I want this 52 to take me out of it.

How could I get across the impression of different people without doing a group portrait? I decided I'd ask some work colleagues to pose their hands against a dark background. 30D, 1/250, f/11, 580EXII in ETTL on a tripod. I had to set everything carefully to get the relative hand sizes consistent.

I then had a play in Elements and decided this semi-symmetrical composition was the most pleasing - hope you like it & thanks for looking,

Phil
 
jennyb said:
That's a very clever take on the theme. I like this one a lot, Phil. Your photos are so varied, I find them really interesting.

Jenny
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Thanks so much - I really appreciate the compliment, especially from you.

Phil
 
Thats an excellent idea, well thought of.

Works very well for me...at first glance i thought it was something to do with a well established business, Lighting works well....and the background is perfect in black giving the hands a chance to stand out.

Great use of ages, and lovely composition :p
 
Fantastic context and interpretation Phil! I really like the fact that youhave chosen just one part to represent the people and do exactly what a portrait photograph does - provide a visual representation of the person.

Do you have any more info as to why each person chose each gesture to represent themselves? Or was it a private and true choice?

Really love your 52 so far Phil - you certainlythink outside the box an avoid the obvious.

Nice work that man (y)
 
OptimusBri said:
I agree that it's an interesting take on the theme. Great composition and idea :)
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:D

clud17 said:
Nice job Phill, a different idea, well lit and just the right amount of hands to keep the shot interesting
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Thanks, I tried different numbers & 6 felt right.

Stephen Ramsay said:
Thats an excellent idea, well thought of.

Works very well for me...at first glance i thought it was something to do with a well established business, Lighting works well....and the background is perfect in black giving the hands a chance to stand out.

Great use of ages, and lovely composition :p
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Many thanks - I was going to go with white originally, but glad I chose black in the end.

smoothedit said:
Fantastic context and interpretation Phil! I really like the fact that youhave chosen just one part to represent the people and do exactly what a portrait photograph does - provide a visual representation of the person.

Do you have any more info as to why each person chose each gesture to represent themselves? Or was it a private and true choice?

Really love your 52 so far Phil - you certainlythink outside the box an avoid the obvious.

Nice work that man (y)
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Many thanks for the great compliments! I am trying hard to do something a little different each week whilst staying with the themes.

With the hands, I let them try their own poses and suggested some poses myself. Mostly their own poses looked better and these make up the majority of the six.

Phil
 
Phil, I'm really liking your picture for this week.
The lighting's bob-on and my eyes keep going round and round! :)
 
Glad I keep coming back to this thread Phil. You're doing some great work.

Technically, I think it is well done. There's something niggling me about the composition, but I have no idea what it is. Your lighting is spot on, and the thought behind the dark background works very well.

Artictically, I thikn it's a really interesting shot that keeps me looking at it and asking all sorts of questions about the people who's hands you've shot.

It makes me think, therefore I like it.

Ian.
 
bigsteve said:
Phil, I'm really liking your picture for this week.
The lighting's bob-on and my eyes keep going round and round! :)
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Many thanks!

Harlequin565 said:
Glad I keep coming back to this thread Phil. You're doing some great work.

Technically, I think it is well done. There's something niggling me about the composition, but I have no idea what it is. Your lighting is spot on, and the thought behind the dark background works very well.

Artictically, I thikn it's a really interesting shot that keeps me looking at it and asking all sorts of questions about the people who's hands you've shot.

It makes me think, therefore I like it.

Ian.
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Hi Ian - many thanks for the compliments - if you have got any composition advice for it please let me know!

Phil

Mai said:
wow! I love that shot, people - Hands, thats fab! Well done x
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MC_Stoo said:
I absolutely LOVE this shot :clap:
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Thanks both - much appreciated and thanks for taking the trouble to comment!

Phil
 
I like it!! It draws you into each person in a unique way. The hands are revealing and to know more you have to look closer at each set of hands: Female, married, well groomed, confident etc - and from that create your own idea of the person.
Nice approach to the theme ;)
 
dade_f said:
I like it!! It draws you into each person in a unique way. The hands are revealing and to know more you have to look closer at each set of hands: Female, married, well groomed, confident etc - and from that create your own idea of the person.
Nice approach to the theme ;)
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Many thanks! I wonder what this week's theme will bring?

Phil
 
Nice take on the theme. Everything looks pin sharp and well lit and the arrangement works nicely.
 
Rob Bartley said:
Great take on the theme Phil. Really good lighting and composition. Nice job.

Cheers, Rob
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dlh said:
Nice take on the theme. Everything looks pin sharp and well lit and the arrangement works nicely.
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Thanks guys - I'm really pleased with all the feedback, especially since halfway through the process I had doubts whether I was going to end up with a decent shot this week!

Phil
 
Clever stuff !
The lighting is bang on and just can't make up my mind what to look at so just keep looking. It's great, one of your best so far imho.
 
great intepretation of the theme.. lighting spot on.. and as others keep looking and am wondering who the hands belong to and what they are like ;)
 
Good job on that one Phil. The composition and lighting work well and it's bang on for the theme. The effort to sort out the scale of the hands has worked a treat too.
 
An interesting collection of hands. I would have liked to have seen some different skin colours in there, but nonetheless a different take on the theme which is always good to see. (y)
 
Thanks for all the comments guys!


68lbs said:
An interesting collection of hands. I would have liked to have seen some different skin colours in there, but nonetheless a different take on the theme which is always good to see. (y)
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I agree about different skin colours - I did ask everyone but only people with white skin volunteered!

Phil
 
Week 8 - Mechanical

I guess you don't get more mechnical than a mechanic!

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Oooh a tough week. Very busy at work and trying hard to think of something out of the ordinary - lots of mechanical things lying around but I wanted to get a portrait of a mechanic at work. Very nearly ended up with a picture of my new 'mechnical' coffee machine delivering an espresso but thought it was a bit of a cop-out!

I went to a local garage (that I'd never been in before) to book my wife's car in for an MOT. While I was at it I asked if I could take some photos for my '52. They were really helpful & even posed at the machine for me.

Trouble was, with my 16-35 wide open I still couldn't get a thin enough dof to blur the background enough to pop the subject. Also, everything was red in the place which didn't help either.

I settled on HDR which I think enhances the gritty/dirty look and selectively coloured to pop the foreground more. (This was a horrid one to selectively colour - took ages!).

SO...Single image taken on 30D with 16-35 MkII @ f/2.8, 1/50s, ISO 400 with 430EXII set at -2/3 stop. Tone mapped in Photomatix & then selectively coloured in Elements.

Hope you like it, I know selective colouring and HDR polarizes opinions!

Phil
 
In case you are interested, this was the original shot: (clickable thumbnail)

 
From the original I can see why you've added selective colouring and for the most part that's delivered what you intended. The HDR however seems a little overdone though as everything now looks like it's been soaked in a grease bath. Any chance you can tone the effect down as I think the idea is a good one and would add to the overall image if used less aggressively :)
 
I really like this Phil. The skin looks a little odd (like the others have said - grease covered skin maybe?), but other than that, the colour job is bang on. Composition is grand, as is the lighting.

But then I do like HDR shots.

Nice piece of work there.

Ian.
 
I'm going to agree with Darren here.. (note to self.. stop getting beaten to the posting :LOL:)... The colour pop really makes sense with all that background, but I find the HDR effect a little to strong for my taste.
 
Thanks for all the comments so far - funnily enough I actually wanted a stronger HDR effect than I got! I know some aren't keen on the style, but I quite like the greasy look - fits in with the greasy dirty theme!

I actually might have another play with the image. I can't 'tone down' the HDR easily because I selectively coloured after applying the effect. I'm not totally happy with the colouring on the trousers though as it looks bluer in some parts than others. I'll see how I feel!


Phil
 
I think it works, Phil. no, I actually think it works GREAT. Selective colour is the obvious way to separate him from the background. You could have masked and blurred it out, but this has more impact. I agree with you that the strong HDR works well too. My favourite shot this week so far, mate.
 
Like the HDR shot, makes the scene more grubby and lifelike.

Almost looks like the symbols at the top left have been added in pp.
 
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