weekly Drodd's Photo52 for 2011 - Week 51, 52 and bonus: Light, Glass, Nature (post 1545)

Dawn, your take on style is fantastic, I only hope that my idea will be executed so well, I have an idea, but will not be able to shoot it until the morning as this will be the first chance that my model has been available.

But that is all that I am going to say as really don't want to let to much out till I have done it ;)

Matt
MWHCVT
 
MWHCVT said:
Dawn, your take on style is fantastic, I only hope that my idea will be executed so well, I have an idea, but will not be able to shoot it until the morning as this will be the first chance that my model has been available.

But that is all that I am going to say as really don't want to let to much out till I have done it ;)

Matt
MWHCVT
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Hiya Matt,

Thank you for the comments. Don't tell me anything about the shoot, I just hope it is successful for you and I look forward to seeing the results. I must say I am very impressed with your 365, you are doing a sterling job. I need to get my 365 up-to-day (have been taking the photos daily, it is just the time for processing that is limited at the moment, but I will get there).

Cheers

Dawn :)

..MD.. said:
Just to say I have been watching your progress on this and will continue to do so .

A very nice start to your 52..(y)


Regards

MD(y)
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Hi MD

Thanks for the compliment and I hope I can maintain the level of standard I have set for myself.

I feel like I have a fan now :) and I look forward to any comments or feedback you may have on any of my images.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hi dawn mmm what a shot ;) fantastic (y)you certainly thought about this one :thinking: looks like it would have taken a long time to set up pp etc.
I struggled this week as I have been away on a course at work hopefully week 4 will be better ;)
 
Hi.

I've really loved all your images so far.

As I'm late on commenting others have already sahib what I would have. I think I'd have changed the order of the records... But that's just me... Probably just moved photo 1 and 3 round. Or maybe t orange record into position two... I just jinx the orange one less interesting than the others... And it has less style theme about it!
 
Mr G said:
Hi dawn mmm what a shot ;) fantastic (y)you certainly thought about this one :thinking: looks like it would have taken a long time to set up pp etc.
I struggled this week as I have been away on a course at work hopefully week 4 will be better ;)
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Hi James,

Thanks for the comments. Indeed this one did take a long time as I had so many different ideas each taking quite a while to set-up. I probably took around 50 or so photos in total of different settings, but in the end had an idea to create this image, which I think worked well, bar a few things that have been pointed out here, which I appreciate as it is all part of the learning experience for me. In total it probably took me about 4 days from initial thought to final product, and I hope that as time goes by I can turn these around a bit quicker as my skills develop.

This is a huge challenge for anyone, and I appreciate that their are times when folk find it difficult or time constraints take control, I am sure I will face these issues in the future. The thing I try to do though, is dedicate at least an hour or two each day to my photography. It is difficult to do that at times, but I try and it is starting to become a part of my daily routine.

Good luck with the rest of your Photo52.

Cheers

Dawn :)



markelliot said:
Hi.

I've really loved all your images so far.

As I'm late on commenting others have already sahib what I would have. I think I'd have changed the order of the records... But that's just me... Probably just moved photo 1 and 3 round. Or maybe t orange record into position two... I just jinx the orange one less interesting than the others... And it has less style theme about it!
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Hi Mark,

Thanks for the comments and compliments. I tried various arrangements/orders of the records and see what you mean about the orange one (The Stylistics LP), but the reason I went with that one at the bottom was because I was trying to create an impression of a 'dukebox' loading the LPs, and this one was one of the best where the imag had the 'style' record and the 'record player stylus' on it. I also liked the sort of rainbow effect the light created in the bottom right of the photo. But I see your point, and perhaps I could have overcome the 'Epic' tail with that arrangement, but then again I wanted to use the top image in position one because the label flowed better and the others seemed to follow the pattern down.

Thanks again for you feedback, it is much appreciated. At some point I may revisit this project and see what other options I can achieve. Although for now I need to get cracking with Week 4 - Open.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
michael23 said:
Hello Dawn. just managed to look at your photos. They are great, excellent interpretations of the themes. I preferred the 2nd shot for the new theme, not sure why, it just appealed to me more. Well done and I look forward to seeing the rest.
(y)
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Hi Michael, thanks for popping past to view and comment, much appreciated.

I guess you mean the 2nd shot of the Accommodation theme as I only posted one pic for New, but I know what you mean ;) thanks.

Now work begins on week 4, for which I already have the idea I just have to find time to take the photos and put it together.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
drodd said:
Hi Sarah,

Thank you for your kind words and comments I really value your feedback. Thanks for taking the time to edit the photo to show me what it is you had in mind. I like it and that is ideally what I wanted to achieve with the EPIC but didn't know how to achieve this, so I appreciate your explanation of how you did it. I don't have CS4, but think it may be time for me to invest in the program. I have Lightroom 3, Picasa and Picnic, and don't think either of those will achieve this but I will investigate to see if there is something in LR that can do this.

No need to remove the image as it would be good to hear what others think of the image and perhaps have other ideas that can apply. I am definitely going to work on this image a bit more, at some point, mainly for my own learning.

Once again your input is much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn :)
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You're welcome Dawn - and I'm glad that you didn't mind.
As Ceri said, all I did were a couple of little finishing touches - the original idea, concept and execution were all superb.

I'm not the best person to advise on editing software. I've only ever had CS4 so I don't have anything to compare it against and I have no idea what you can and can't do with the others.
I'm very happy with what I have though. To date I haven't come across anything I've wanted to do, but can't manage in CS4 . . . although there are other times when I wonder if it's overkill because there is a lot of functionality that I just never use.

For me, the key features that I'd look out for beyond the basic contrast, saturation etc (i.e. those that I couldn't live without if I'm doing something creative) are the ability to create layers & masks and move them around; the dodge & burn tools; curves adjustments; and the clone stamp.
 
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Hiya,

Well here we are into week 4 already :)

I have learned so much over the past 3 weeks and am absolutely loving this project. The feedback and comments have been very encouraging and inspiring and I have also gained so much valuable knowledge from same.

This weekend I have had a bit of time to work on my week 4, and even though I have a big image in mind I thought I would add these, seeing as the theme is OPEN this week.

I thought I would seize the opportunity to photograph the flowers that my son bought for me over the past few weeks, seeing as they have now opened, and to document their beauty.

Being of creative mind I have produced a bit of an abstract and a normal pic. So here goes:

Open Mind Abstract:

5382217047_9589366d75_b.jpg


Composed from 5 images of roses in the bouquet.

Open Rose:

5382216745_ede2aaa3a0_b.jpg


The rose that stood out the most. These are actually yellow roses, but as I found it so difficult to photograph the true colour I decided to experiment with a b&w conversion and bit of cross processing. Not sure if it works, but I like it.

I decided not to frame these, to maintain the openess of the image.

If I get time this week to produce the image I had in mind, I will post same later. However, I have so much catching up to do with my 365 so I am going to have to spend some time on that, as well as reply to other 52's here, so I have my work cut out for me :D.

Thanks for taking the time to look and all comment and critique are greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn
 
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:bonk::bonk::bonk: once again I forgot to change the title in the first post..... I think I will finally remember when I get to week 52 :LOL:
 
Hi ya

really don't know how you find time to do a 52 and a 365 & still come up with such imaginative ideas:)

If I'm being really honest I'm not keen on the abstract image (but thats just me) however I love the 2nd one . I can imgane that the pure yellow would be hard to capture true to color but love what you've done to it .Even though I've no idea about cross processing! You've caught so much detail in the petal's structure ,fabulous (y)
 
Late reply here - Week 3 was an excellent idea and well executed. Sarah's edit just added to what was there to produce a great evocative image.

Week 4 - I like the tones in the Open Mind, but finding the overlay a little too busy in the centre. I'm more drawn to this than the Open Rose, although I do like the processing you have applied to Open Rose. Both are good interpretations of this week's theme.
 
Hi Dawn,

I too am not that keen on the abstract, but love the B&W conversion of the second. If being picky, I would say maybe a little too closely cropped at the bottom, but beautiful nevertheless.

Look forward to next week

Simon.
 
The second rose shot is lovely and the conversion works really well (y). The abstract I find very confusing :thinking: I can't settle my eye on anything really so it's not for me, sorry :|
 
blondie606 said:
Hi ya

really don't know how you find time to do a 52 and a 365 & still come up with such imaginative ideas:)

If I'm being really honest I'm not keen on the abstract image (but thats just me) however I love the 2nd one . I can imgane that the pure yellow would be hard to capture true to color but love what you've done to it .Even though I've no idea about cross processing! You've caught so much detail in the petal's structure ,fabulous (y)
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Hi Lynne,

Thank you for your feeback. I do find it a bit rushed at times trying to keep up with the 50 and 365, and I have some catching up to do with processing the images for my 365, although I am managing to keep up with taking the photos, its become part of my daily routine now.

I appreciate your honesty about the abstract image. I wasn't too sure at first either, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it. The fact is I had 5 images that I really liked so this was more of an experiment applying the technique.

With the second one, I really wish I know what the best settings and lighting are for photographing yellow. It is a very difficult colour to capture right, especially with flowers. The near colour made the image look a bit too soft and then when I tried to alter the colour with some processing it seemed to turn the various shades of yellow into a :puke: colour.

Nonetheless, I will continue to try to get it right, the main thing is I have managed to capture the beauty of the flowers which will be a lasting memory of my son's love as when he chooses a bouquet for me he always presents them say he chose them because he loves me so much :)

Thanks again for your comments.

Cheers

Dawn :)

David Gethin said:
Late reply here - Week 3 was an excellent idea and well executed. Sarah's edit just added to what was there to produce a great evocative image.

Week 4 - I like the tones in the Open Mind, but finding the overlay a little too busy in the centre. I'm more drawn to this than the Open Rose, although I do like the processing you have applied to Open Rose. Both are good interpretations of this week's theme.
Click to expand...

Hi David,

Thanks for the comments on week 3 and 4.

I can see what you mean about the overlay in Open Mind, I think I will have another go at that some time and see if I can improve on the layering. Thanks for your comment about the processing applied to Open Rose, I wasn't too sure if I had got that right as I don't have much experience of b&w conversion.

Cheers

Dawn :)

simsling said:
Hi Dawn,

I too am not that keen on the abstract, but love the B&W conversion of the second. If being picky, I would say maybe a little too closely cropped at the bottom, but beautiful nevertheless.

Look forward to next week

Simon.
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Hiya Simon,

I think the Open Mind is going to be another of those that one either loves or hates, but that is what I like about it and why I also decided to add it to this weeks them of OPEN to encourage people to be open about their oppinions of the image.

Agree with you about the close crop at the bottom of Open Rose, I noticed that too myself when I viewed it again tonight. I may will see if there is a bit of room to expand it slightly.

Thanks for your comments and feedback.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
michael23 said:
Hi Dawn, cracking work with these! The 2nd image is definitely my preferred one. The detail is great, very well done!
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Hi Michael,

Thanks for the compliment and comments, much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn :)

redcloud said:
The second rose shot is lovely and the conversion works really well (y). The abstract I find very confusing :thinking: I can't settle my eye on anything really so it's not for me, sorry :|
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Hiya David,

Thanks for your comments. Appreciate what you say about the abstract being confusing and when I produced the image I found my eye was flitting all over the show too. But as I have mention in the previous post above, the reason I decided to include it for the OPEN theme was to open the floor up for opinions. At least is seems to be opening ones mind to thinking about what it is they like or don't like about the image :D

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
drodd said:
I have learned so much over the past 3 weeks and am absolutely loving this project. The feedback and comments have been very encouraging and inspiring and I have also gained so much valuable knowledge from same.

Dawn
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Hi Dawn, my thoughts exactly.

Your week 4 is another great image. (y)

If I'm blunt I really don't like the abstract one - it makes my eyes hurt. However I can see that a lot of skillful work was involved.

However, the 'normal' pic of the open rose is very beautiful. The lighting and composition is excellent, and you've caught some amazing detail in the petals. The black background works very well and acts as a nice contrast. I'd prefer not to have a difference in focus between the outer petals at the top and bottom. Also there is a little round something at the bottom of the pic which is slightly distracting.

I know you've said you weren't happy with the colour version, but I personally would be interested to see the "normal" one in colour.

Well done.
 
Hi there!

Much prefer your second image for week 4 Dawn, the abstract image makes my eyes go a bit funny (but then i'm half-way through a night shift so i'm a bit pooped!).

The single white rose looks loverly :) although maybe the burn tool or a curve adjustment to darken the shadows a bit and make it a little more 3 dimensional. Looking forward to next week (y)
 
Hi Dawn,

Yet more at a high standard.
Have to agree with Paul on the second shot (compared to the first) for week 4.

However, I'm only getting round to commenting on your week 3.......WOW!
LOVE IT!
Never mind raising the bar a few notches, this shoots it off the scale. I love every thing about it and cant find even the tintiest crit at all.
It really makes me want to strive way beyond what I have done before.
Keep it going.:clap:
 
Hi Dawn

I'll start with the negative... I really did not like the abstract... It's just not me... and too much going on for my eyes to cope with... also its just strange and PP stuff like that is just not my interpretation of what photography is for me... but that is just me... I know a lot of fab images can be produced that way... I'm just not sure they are photographs as I see them!

I loved the B + W second shot however...

I seen you had said this below...

"With the second one, I really wish I know what the best settings and lighting are for photographing yellow. It is a very difficult colour to capture right, especially with flowers. The near colour made the image look a bit too soft and then when I tried to alter the colour with some processing it seemed to turn the various shades of yellow into a :puke: colour."

You may know this but it's something I generally use with colour images especially if lit by natural light outside and it always seems to work well.

Your camera meters on a standard grey card reference... so colours which reflect more light will end up being overexposed and colours which are darker are usually underexposed... So for instance if im taking a pic of snow I will always underexpose by -2stops and generally the snow will end up white and correctly exposed. Yellows and oranges or sand on a beach -1 stop. Greens, blues and reds... and other mid tone colours... as the meter... then dark browns, purples etc... +1 stop and Dark Greys, blacks etc...+2 stops. I tend to find often the meter can cope if you spot meter in the right place... but if not a little click of the exposure compensation always does the trick... that and a small change of WB in PP if needed... but I try to keep it as simple as that... And I hope i've got all that round the right way with under and over exposure... I know what I mean.. :thinking:
 
Hi Dawn,

I'm going to disagree with a lot of people here... I thought your second image for open was technically great, clear, great capture etc etc but....

The first abstract image... I LOVE it!!! I am totally drawn in to the picture when I look at it, my eyes start to follow all the curves and I am spellbound!!!! Stunning stunning stunning!!!! It's like an image that should be a backdrop for a perfume advert!!

Really look forward to seeing more of your work,

Laura
 
Hi Dawn,
as David has already said i find the abstract photo a little busy and my eyes will not focus on one particular part of the image.

Image 2 is lovely and crisp and full of texture.I also like the pp you have applied. A definite winner in my eyes.
best wishes
Ceri
 
PatrickO said:
Hi Dawn, my thoughts exactly.

Your week 4 is another great image. (y)

If I'm blunt I really don't like the abstract one - it makes my eyes hurt. However I can see that a lot of skillful work was involved.

However, the 'normal' pic of the open rose is very beautiful. The lighting and composition is excellent, and you've caught some amazing detail in the petals. The black background works very well and acts as a nice contrast. I'd prefer not to have a difference in focus between the outer petals at the top and bottom. Also there is a little round something at the bottom of the pic which is slightly distracting.

I know you've said you weren't happy with the colour version, but I personally would be interested to see the "normal" one in colour.

Well done.
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Hiya Patrick,

Thanks for the comments and feedback, much appreciated. I can understand how some people would not like the first image, there is a lot to go at there.

I can see what you mean about the focus between the top and bottom of the rose, something I will have to pay attention to. I thank you for pointing out the little round something at the bottom, I hadn't noticed it at first until you pointed it out and has had me baffled all day. Then it dawned on me what it is ..... it is a water droplet .... because I had taken some photos of some of the roses sprayed with water and one of the drops must have fallen :bonk:, that is the only thing I can put it down to. But well spotted and hopefully I have now managed to clone it.

The depth at which you look at and critque my images is very much appreciated.

You requested to see the yellow rose, which I have revisited tonight and realised that because of the light I was using and the WB setting it was slightly distorting the colours. So in Lightroom 3 I adjusted the WB to Tungsten which looks a bit better, a slight contrast, sharpen etc and I think it looks better than initial.

What do you think?

5388517158_6daf71d636_b.jpg


Cheers

Dawn :)
 
antihero said:
Hi there!

Much prefer your second image for week 4 Dawn, the abstract image makes my eyes go a bit funny (but then i'm half-way through a night shift so i'm a bit pooped!).

The single white rose looks loverly :) although maybe the burn tool or a curve adjustment to darken the shadows a bit and make it a little more 3 dimensional. Looking forward to next week (y)
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the comments, and I apologise if the abstract imaged played tricks with your eyes half way through your night shift ..... perhaps I should have issued it with a WARNING :LOL:

Regards the single white rose, I will look into how to apply the burn tool and curve adjustment you suggested. I have been very conscious of shadows since my week 1 image, and as a result was trying to tone them down with the lighting. But I suppose they do work in some images. I will have another a look at it some time.

I too am looking forward to next week, I can't believe I have to wait 5 more sleeps before finding out what it is :D

Your comments are much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
McNyat said:
Hi Dawn,

Yet more at a high standard.
Have to agree with Paul on the second shot (compared to the first) for week 4.

However, I'm only getting round to commenting on your week 3.......WOW!
LOVE IT!
Never mind raising the bar a few notches, this shoots it off the scale. I love every thing about it and cant find even the tintiest crit at all.
It really makes me want to strive way beyond what I have done before.
Keep it going.:clap:
Click to expand...

Hi Ciaran,

Thanks for your comments on week 3 and 4 and for your high praise of the Style image, I am really happy that you love it :)

I am sure you will learn gain some valuable information and techniques by doing your Photo52 and reading what comments are left for others. I know I have gained so much knowledge already in the last few weeks and appreciate everything that folk have commented on my photos.

Good luck!

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
markelliot said:
<snip>You may know this but it's something I generally use with colour images especially if lit by natural light outside and it always seems to work well.

Your camera meters on a standard grey card reference... so colours which reflect more light will end up being overexposed and colours which are darker are usually underexposed... So for instance if im taking a pic of snow I will always underexpose by -2stops and generally the snow will end up white and correctly exposed. Yellows and oranges or sand on a beach -1 stop. Greens, blues and reds... and other mid tone colours... as the meter... then dark browns, purples etc... +1 stop and Dark Greys, blacks etc...+2 stops. I tend to find often the meter can cope if you spot meter in the right place... but if not a little click of the exposure compensation always does the trick... that and a small change of WB in PP if needed... but I try to keep it as simple as that... And I hope i've got all that round the right way with under and over exposure... I know what I mean.. :thinking:<snip>
Click to expand...

Hiya Mark,

Thanks so much for your indepth critique and the advice about metering, much appreciated and info I will apply in the future.

I also appreciate that folk may not like the first image, it is not quite everyone's cuppa tea, thanks for your opinion.

As for post processing, etc. I view this as a part of an artists pallete, and as such is a tool I wish to learn more about in my applied art. Indeed it is essential to get the initial image as close as possible in camera, so as to alleviate the time in post processing, but at the same time there are some things that one can't always capture with camera equipment that necessitates the use of processing software to achieve the desired result.

In some instances I see the photograph being the canvass with a sketched outline and then with some applied creativity and imagination, create the image that I have in mind. In the end the image would not be born without the photograph, so they go hand-in-hand, in my opinion.

There may be weeks where you see images in my project that are perhaps not to your liking due to the processing, and then again their may be weeks where I just go with a standard photograph. Either way, I hope I maintain your interest to come back to see what ideas I come up with and comment on same.

Thanks for your support

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
laura-elliot said:
Hi Dawn,

I'm going to disagree with a lot of people here... I thought your second image for open was technically great, clear, great capture etc etc but....

The first abstract image... I LOVE it!!! I am totally drawn in to the picture when I look at it, my eyes start to follow all the curves and I am spellbound!!!! Stunning stunning stunning!!!! It's like an image that should be a backdrop for a perfume advert!!

Really look forward to seeing more of your work,

Laura
Click to expand...

Hiya Laura,

I :love: you, finally someone who appreciates the image (and for those reading this NO I did not bribe Laura to say this :LOL:)

Appreciate your comments about the second image, thank you. But more taken with your critique of the first , you are defintely a woman with a keen eye for a good image (which I have already concluded from the images you have produced for your own Photo52 ... which are fab!).

I like your use of the phrase 'spellbound', because that is what I thought when I created the image.

Like your idea of it being used as a backdrop for a perfume advert ..... perhaps you are on to something there. I did think that the image oozed a certain degree of panache, perhaps the image appeals more to woman than men (now disprespect intented here blokes). I thought that the subdued tones and the feminine flows made it more of a female image, although I had thought that my introducing the beige/browns would have enticed the men more, but obviously not :thinking:

Who knows, maybe one day I may even design my own range of frangrances, at least I would already have the imaging for it :D I can only dream .....

Laura, you have made my day and I am indeed very happy that there is at least one person who LOVES the first image. Thank you.

Cheers

Dawn :)

fido18 said:
Hi Dawn,
as David has already said i find the abstract photo a little busy and my eyes will not focus on one particular part of the image.

Image 2 is lovely and crisp and full of texture.I also like the pp you have applied. A definite winner in my eyes.
best wishes
Ceri
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Hi Ceri,

Thanks for your comments, and can well imagine that your eyes couldn't focus on one particular part of the image, that was the method in my madness :LOL: Rather than create an image that had a particular focal point, I wanted the eyes to wander all over the image; a bit of an open aspect image.

Appreciate your praise of the second image, which is a bit more focused and less busy, hence why I posted image 1 first, to get the eyes flitting about and then calmed by image 2.

Thanks for your well wishes and good luck for your Photo52 too.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
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Hi Dawn, seeing the colour is interesting, but it doesn't have the magical appeal of the B+W conversion.

The B+W makes me think of an origami flower. The petals have a sharpness and fragility which is very appealing - almost like very delicate paper which someone has spent many hours folding and arranging to perfection.

The processing of the colour version seems to have lost that. Although it is a very nice image in itself.

That probably all sound a bit vague, but I'm no expert on PP and have no idea what you did to achieve these effects.
 
PatrickO said:
Hi Dawn, seeing the colour is interesting, but it doesn't have the magical appeal of the B+W conversion.

The B+W makes me think of an origami flower. The petals have a sharpness and fragility which is very appealing - almost like very delicate paper which someone has spent many hours folding and arranging to perfection.

The processing of the colour version seems to have lost that. Although it is a very nice image in itself.

That probably all sound a bit vague, but I'm no expert on PP and have no idea what you did to achieve these effects.
Click to expand...

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the comments. Hence why I decided to take the colour image and convert to a b&w, I thought it was more appeal as in the image I produced. I do like your analogy of the origami image and can see how you view that, which makes me even more pleased with the image :)

There wasn't much processing with the colour version, except for an alter in WB, broadening the black background (bearing others comments about more space around the flower) and a bit of a sharpen.

As for the b&w image, there was a little bit more processing involved, although not much more than stated above for the yellow flower.:)

This has once again been an extremely fun and artistic theme to work with and I have quite a portfolio of various rose images. I have also taken many Tulip images, which I haven't used here, but very much along the same lines of OPEN. But not going to waste as I have big ideas for all the photos that I have taken for this weeks theme ;)

Once again thanks for your c&c.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
rtfc said:
Hi Dawn,

As with many others here, not that keen on the first although I can see you put a lot of time and effort into it and you should be commended for that.

I do however love the second image of the single rose. Very creative.:)
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Hiya Kev,

Thanks for the feedback. It seems like the first image isn't such a hit, but heyho we can't please everyone all of the time.

At lease I also included my second image which people seem to like. Thanks for your comments on same.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Dawn you are on it! I think you have really got into the swing of your 52 and it has been fun seeing your meticulous planning and effort into getting such different shots :D
 
Hope said:
Dawn you are on it! I think you have really got into the swing of your 52 and it has been fun seeing your meticulous planning and effort into getting such different shots :D
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Hiya Hope,

Thanks for your compliments. I am really enjoying this 52 as it makes me think about the photo, from concept, technique and application. I also love viewing other 52'ers images and appreciate and learn from the comments and critique. It is also improving the way I critique other images as I find I am looking at the images from a more technical aspect now, rather than just 'that is a lovely photo'.

I am now looking forward to week 5 theme.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Dawn, your second image for week 4 is fantastic. it really is a work of art. You need to run around the background with the burn tool to make it pure black and I might be tempted to darken the shadows a little on the rose itself. Once thats done get this printed on a canvas and stuck on the wall where is belongs!
 
drodd said:
Hiya Mark,

Thanks so much for your indepth critique and the advice about metering, much appreciated and info I will apply in the future.

I also appreciate that folk may not like the first image, it is not quite everyone's cuppa tea, thanks for your opinion.

As for post processing, etc. I view this as a part of an artists pallete, and as such is a tool I wish to learn more about in my applied art. Indeed it is essential to get the initial image as close as possible in camera, so as to alleviate the time in post processing, but at the same time there are some things that one can't always capture with camera equipment that necessitates the use of processing software to achieve the desired result.

In some instances I see the photograph being the canvass with a sketched outline and then with some applied creativity and imagination, create the image that I have in mind. In the end the image would not be born without the photograph, so they go hand-in-hand, in my opinion.

There may be weeks where you see images in my project that are perhaps not to your liking due to the processing, and then again their may be weeks where I just go with a standard photograph. Either way, I hope I maintain your interest to come back to see what ideas I come up with and comment on same.

Thanks for your support

Cheers

Dawn :)
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It's simple really... you see photography as a way (not all the time) of producing images...The starting blocks I guess... I only really want to produce photographs... nothing wrong with either school of thought... I looks forward to viewing the rest of your work!

PS where do you get the time to do all this your doing on here and keep down a job, life etc???
 
hi dawn, it appears you've had tons of feedback on this already. Think the plain flower image is stronger. I'd be tempted to stop down to get it all a bit sharper, maybe even try overexposure or a bit of post processing but thats just me.

Its a good photo either way, looking forward to seeing whats next.
 
Cris_L said:
Dawn, your second image for week 4 is fantastic. it really is a work of art. You need to run around the background with the burn tool to make it pure black and I might be tempted to darken the shadows a little on the rose itself. Once thats done get this printed on a canvas and stuck on the wall where is belongs!
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Hi Cris,

Thanks for the compliment and the suggestion of making the backgroun pure black, I agree but unfortunately don't have software with a 'burn tool'. I have tried to adjust it by using the shadow slider in Picasa, but then it darkens the rose too. I will have to do some more research about processing techniques and see if there is a way I can do this with the software I have (I don't have photoshop which I think has this tool, might have to get it installed some time).

I think I may just have this printed on canvas once it is complete and have the perfect place in my home to hang this.

Cheers

Dawn :)

markelliot said:
It's simple really... you see photography as a way (not all the time) of producing images...The starting blocks I guess... I only really want to produce photographs... nothing wrong with either school of thought... I looks forward to viewing the rest of your work!

PS where do you get the time to do all this your doing on here and keep down a job, life etc???
Click to expand...

Hi Mark,

I totally agree with you regards the different school of thoughts, I actually fall inbtween the two, sometimes using the photograph as a building block and at other times producing just a photograph. I think that perhaps once I delve into portrait photography that will where I maintain it as photography. In the meantime I am enjoying expressing my creative mind through photography and post processing.

As for the time issue, I'm not sure where I find the time. It is difficult at times to juggle child, work, home, photography, etc, etc, but somehow I seem to manage. I think my determination to make a success of my photography is what drives me at the moment. Just when I thought I didn't have enough to cope with I am now also considering doing some study this year. I think my hair will probably be snow white by the end of the year :LOL: But it is worth it, and I can always add some post processing to the hair to cover the grey :D

I look forward to receiving more of your indepth c&c on my pics too.

Cheers

Dawn :)



robbys82 said:
hi dawn, it appears you've had tons of feedback on this already. Think the plain flower image is stronger. I'd be tempted to stop down to get it all a bit sharper, maybe even try overexposure or a bit of post processing but thats just me.

Its a good photo either way, looking forward to seeing whats next.
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

I am overwhelmed by the feedback I have received and appreciate the time people take to comment and critique my effots.

Thanks for the comments about the second image and the tips. I was a bit weary about sharpening the image too much for chance that it spoiled the image, but I will push it a bit more to see what it is like. I tried a tad +OE both in camera and post processing. But unfortunately it seemed to make the edges of the petals a horrid greenish colour (on the colour version), although on the b&w conversion it added a bit of warmth to the white which I like.

It is amazing how versitile this image has been and have managed to create an array of images of different coloured roses, all of which I think would look great on canvas and as a triptych etc. This is definitely one image I am keeping and will be using in the future.

I am now looking forward to the next theme, and to see what my creative mind comes up with next :D

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
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