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

Week 17 - Peace

Birmingham Peace Medal

Larger version here

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Week 17 - This was a difficult week for me - lots of thoughts on what to do, struggled to execute any of them. I tried a shot of one of my kids sleeping but wasn't 100% happy with it. Then, when I was at a relative's house over the weekend my dad happened upon the 'Birmingham Peace Medal' and suggested it.

This was made from two shots. The main shot was on a glass table and lit with natural light in the conservatory, camera on a tripod with 2s shutter delay.

Canon 1D MKiii, 24-105L, 1/4sec, f/8

I merged a second shot of just the medal in Elements and added the text using tones from the medal to get the text colour.

Hope you like it,

Phil
 
Forgot to mention - I was going for the style of an entry in a museum guide!

Phil
 
Phil, this is very poignant and a bit different from some of the other war themed ones which have been gravestone/graveyards.

Every year on November 11th, my Mum used to get out her brothers medals and have a good cry, so medals mean a lot to me. It's a really good take on the theme.

I also like the second close up shot of the medal. IMHO that makes the photo. You can see so much detail on it which you cannot make out on the main image.

Well done this week :clap::clap::clap:

Jenny
 
jennyb said:
Phil, this is very poignant and a bit different from some of the other war themed ones which have been gravestone/graveyards.

Every year on November 11th, my Mum used to get out her brothers medals and have a good cry, so medals mean a lot to me. It's a really good take on the theme.

I also like the second close up shot of the medal. IMHO that makes the photo. You can see so much detail on it which you cannot make out on the main image.

Well done this week :clap::clap::clap:

Jenny
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SarahLee said:
That was exactly what I thought about it when I saw it.
. . . and it really does look good enough to be part of a museum guide. All the elements are perfectly balanced - and the detail in the medal close-up is very sharp.
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Thanks guys, a bit different from my usual style but I guess that's what I wanted to achieve with the 52 - trying different things!

Phil
 
Phil, the idea is sound as is the composition, but there seems to be some technicalities that need sorting out.
I am not sure if they are reflections or not but..
Across the top of the image and running down towards the hinge are very dark lines, also to the right there are fainter lines on the background. Because you mention "Museum Guide" I feel that the image should be free of any distractions such as these. Perhaps in this case the clone tool could be your friend :LOL:

Allan
 
Digitall said:
Phil, the idea is sound as is the composition, but there seems to be some technicalities that need sorting out.
I am not sure if they are reflections or not but..
Across the top of the image and running down towards the hinge are very dark lines, also to the right there are fainter lines on the background. Because you mention "Museum Guide" I feel that the image should be free of any distractions such as these. Perhaps in this case the clone tool could be your friend :LOL:

Allan
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I took a number of different shots of the medal on plain and more textured backgrounds - texture provided by reflections.

The plainer backgrounds looked really flat and dull so I intentionally went with one with reflections as it gave the medal in the case more depth.

I guess in a true museum guide they might have used a white seemless background.

Phil
 
I like it Phil, and my first thought was something out of a guide book so I reckon it worked.
 
Hi Phil,

I really like the subject choice, and colour picking the lettering to match the medal is a nice pp touch that's worked.

I'm with Allan though on the background. My first impression was that it looked like it was floating because of the glass table and "something" in the background. Like you said, a product shot for a catalogue would have a plain background.

Seems like you went to a lot of effort this week though, and I do like teh overal final image.

Well done!

Ian.
 
Stare.... mean and moody street shot, just the whites of the eyes seem alittle too much, I keep thinking of Stargate :D

Peace.....would be a great shot but the water mark is a little too intrusive though as it crosses the bottom of the medal
 
your shot for stare is fantastic.. am memerised by his eyes.. great attitude too.. top notch

like the medal, nicely composed, pin sharp.. I dont mind the reflections, agree that they add some depth to the shot
 
jgs001 said:
I like it Phil, and my first thought was something out of a guide book so I reckon it worked.
Click to expand...

Many thanks!

Harlequin565 said:
Hi Phil,

I really like the subject choice, and colour picking the lettering to match the medal is a nice pp touch that's worked.

I'm with Allan though on the background. My first impression was that it looked like it was floating because of the glass table and "something" in the background. Like you said, a product shot for a catalogue would have a plain background.

Seems like you went to a lot of effort this week though, and I do like teh overal final image.

Well done!

Ian.
Click to expand...

Glad you liked the overall effect - it did look very 'flat' with a plain background!!

foggy4ever said:
Stare.... mean and moody street shot, just the whites of the eyes seem alittle too much, I keep thinking of Stargate :D

Peace.....would be a great shot but the water mark is a little too intrusive though as it crosses the bottom of the medal
Click to expand...

Yeah - it's a balance - watermark too small is pointless, too large is distracting - no happy medium!

mich66 said:
your shot for stare is fantastic.. am memerised by his eyes.. great attitude too.. top notch

like the medal, nicely composed, pin sharp.. I dont mind the reflections, agree that they add some depth to the shot
Click to expand...

Many thanks - glad you like them.

Phil
 
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Peace: I like the effect you've created and it certainly fits the theme. Soomebody gave a talk to our family history society recently on medals and I had no idea how fascinating they can be and how much they tell not just a story of a conflict but also of a personal journey.

As to the background, I like the effect. My only tiny niggle would be that the ribbon looks a tad over exposed - but it might just be my screen.

Another good week, Phil. (y)

Jean
 
This fits the subject really well. I really like the lighting and composition of this, and the way you have put it all together. Personally I rather like the textured background. Presumably the medal ribbons have faded with age.

The left edge of the medal on the right seems a bit soft, so that it sits rather uneasily on the surface of the image, if you see what I mean, but that is a very minor niggle...

(y)
 
jeangenie said:
Peace: I like the effect you've created and it certainly fits the theme. Soomebody gave a talk to our family history society recently on medals and I had no idea how fascinating they can be and how much they tell not just a story of a conflict but also of a personal journey.

As to the background, I like the effect. My only tiny niggle would be that the ribbon looks a tad over exposed - but it might just be my screen.

Another good week, Phil. (y)

Jean
Click to expand...

Tracer said:
This fits the subject really well. I really like the lighting and composition of this, and the way you have put it all together. Personally I rather like the textured background. Presumably the medal ribbons have faded with age.

The left edge of the medal on the right seems a bit soft, so that it sits rather uneasily on the surface of the image, if you see what I mean, but that is a very minor niggle...

(y)
Click to expand...


Many thanks - I was worried about the edge actually, but it looked odd with a hard cut so I chose to feather it!

Phil
 
Week 18 - Indulgence

A silver core, gold-plated hi-fi cable.

Larger version here (looks much better on black!)

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Really short of ideas this week, but music & hi-fi is definitely one of my major interests and the high-quality interconnects to squeeze the last bit of performance out of it are definitely an indulgence.

Ths was difficult to take to get it to look right. I suspended it from a thread against my wife's black dress (lying on the floor - just as well she was asleep!) I then rotated and cropped in lightroom making some adjustments to the saturation and black point.

EOS 1Ds MkII, 70-200 f2.8 MkII (another indulgence!), 580EXII bounced off a side wall, 1/250, f2.8.

Hope you like it & sorry it's a day late!

Phil
 
Is it a day late because you had to wait until your wife was asleep to use the "background" Phil ? :naughty:

It certainly is an indulgence and looks good on black.

I can't help thinking the plugs should have been in the foreground. The OOF cable at the front keeps drawing my eye to it.

Andy
 
philthejuggler said:
Really short of ideas this week, but music & hi-fi is definitely one of my major interests and the high-quality interconnects to squeeze the last bit of performance out of it are definitely an indulgence.
Click to expand...

I thought the indulgence reference was to the precious metals in it until I read that, so it fits on 2 levels for me.

Definitely worth clicking to view on black, the purple stands out brilliantly and the plugs are absolutely pin sharp. Great lighting and reflections in there.

Like Andy though, I'm not entirely convinced by the oof cable in the foreground - it looks OK, but I can't help feeling that there's a far better than "OK" composition in there somewhere. Either arranging the cable differently or a wider DoF :thinking:
 
Hi Phil, that's an interesting indulgence. I was expecting a whisky shot!

I love the colours in this shot, but agree with the others about the OOF cable at the front. I feel that it may be better the other way round - plugs at the front, cable at the back?

Jenny
 
daddy day care said:
Is it a day late because you had to wait until your wife was asleep to use the "background" Phil ? :naughty:

It certainly is an indulgence and looks good on black.

I can't help thinking the plugs should have been in the foreground. The OOF cable at the front keeps drawing my eye to it.

Andy
Click to expand...

SarahLee said:
I thought the indulgence reference was to the precious metals in it until I read that, so it fits on 2 levels for me.

Definitely worth clicking to view on black, the purple stands out brilliantly and the plugs are absolutely pin sharp. Great lighting and reflections in there.

Like Andy though, I'm not entirely convinced by the oof cable in the foreground - it looks OK, but I can't help feeling that there's a far better than "OK" composition in there somewhere. Either arranging the cable differently or a wider DoF :thinking:
Click to expand...

jennyb said:
Hi Phil, that's an interesting indulgence. I was expecting a whisky shot!

I love the colours in this shot, but agree with the others about the OOF cable at the front. I feel that it may be better the other way round - plugs at the front, cable at the back?

Jenny
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments, guys! I may well try again with it. I actually quite like the oof foreground - in so many photos the background is oof and I thought this made an interesting change.

There was also a practical issue - this was taken hanging down and shot from above with a black 'background' on the floor - I'd need to re-think the setup to do it the other way round.

Food for thought!

Phil
 
Hi Phil, love the purple and is very nice with the black background (I have a piece of black carpet you can borrow next time ) :LOL: I like the dare to be different approach, I just wonder if maybe a little less OOFness might be less distracting and so make it work better keeping it this way around......fantastic sharpness on the plugs (y)
 
Sonial said:
Hi Phil, love the purple and is very nice with the black background (I have a piece of black carpet you can borrow next time ) :LOL: I like the dare to be different approach, I just wonder if maybe a little less OOFness might be less distracting and so make it work better keeping it this way around......fantastic sharpness on the plugs (y)
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the comment - I'm very impressed with how sharp this new 70-200 is - even @ f2.8. To get significantly more dof I could perhaps reshoot using a wider angle closer to the cable, although it might take away from making the plug stand out.

Phil
 
I like it Phil, and it's an interesting interpretation of the theme.

I suspended it from a thread against my wife's black dress (lying on the floor - just as well she was asleep!)
Click to expand...

Maybe it would have looked better framed against the thin ice you were stood on when you took the shot?

Brave man :)

Ian.
 
I like it too Phil, I agree with Ian above that its an interesting take on the theme. It does look better against the black too. It could almost be a product shot, maybe with slightly more dof to bring the other plug into focus as the cable ends are the more important aspects. I like the vibrant colour too. Iain
 
Phil, I think that's great, given what's in it, that's defo an indulgent cable :D... I think having the oof purple in the foreground works ok, although having both plugs in the DOF, would I think, have helped it a bit more. I was wondering how you'd got the seperation from the black...
 
ladysue said:
A different indulgence from all the food pics. Definitely an indulgence. The gold colour looks good but I dont like all that oof cable.
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Thanks for your comment - it seems most people aren't keen on the blurry cable!!

Harlequin565 said:
I like it Phil, and it's an interesting interpretation of the theme.



Maybe it would have looked better framed against the thin ice you were stood on when you took the shot?

Brave man :)

Ian.
Click to expand...

L
OL!
blakester said:
I like it too Phil, I agree with Ian above that its an interesting take on the theme. It does look better against the black too. It could almost be a product shot, maybe with slightly more dof to bring the other plug into focus as the cable ends are the more important aspects. I like the vibrant colour too. Iain
Click to expand...

Thanks Iain!

jgs001 said:
Phil, I think that's great, given what's in it, that's defo an indulgent cable :D... I think having the oof purple in the foreground works ok, although having both plugs in the DOF, would I think, have helped it a bit more. I was wondering how you'd got the seperation from the black...
Click to expand...

Yeah - if I get round to reshooting I'll have to stop down a bit! To get the seperation I suspended the cable from a thread tied to a cane about 1 foot above the dress. There was a little texture of the dress initially, but upping the blacks in lightroom lost that.

Phil
 
Week 19 - Ingredients

A close look at some ingredients.

Larger version here

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This week I fancied using as an excuse to do some macro! I liked the idea of sticking with the obvious (cooking ingredients), but do them so close-up it was difficult to recognise them and hopefully add some interest. I wanted the three colours as a contrast & thought from the outset they'd look good combined into one shot.

I used the 1DMKiii, MP-E 65mm @ f/11 for each shot lit by a 580EXII master and 430EXII slave on various brackets (see below).

I hope you like it!

Phil

p994254714-2.jpg
 
I like that a lot, the colours work well together and the really nice thing is that the dof is consistent across all 3 elements with the blur to the front and the back. Excellent shot, one of the best on this week's theme I would say.
 
Bloody brilliant, Phil. Love the detail and dof used. Making it a tryptich works so well too. Yumtastic!
 
Indulgence - great colours and composition.

Ingredients - again, lovely colours and detail, and really well put together as a triptych.

(y)
 
That's a really good triptych and really appropriate for the theme. Great colours and DOF. I love macros :) I think it is so interesting to see things that we cannot easily see with the naked eye. So many things that we take for granted in everyday life are miniature works of art in themselves. The pepper is my favourite.

Your macro set up is interesting and much more complex than mine. I would love an MP/E but after throwing out hints for my birthday, our fridge freezer broke down and that was the end of that :(

Definitely a good one this week.

Jenny
 
Fantastic image(s) for ingredients Phil, I am liking that a lot. The lighting and dof are consistent through the three images, the colours work well together in their similar tones. Not much more I can say so(y) Iain.

Oh ps if you still have that tweaked image of mine from ingredients, I wouldn't mind seeing what you did with it. :)
 
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