weekly John's 2012 52 - Week 51/52 - Time/Fun (27th Dec) Finished !

Thanks all... a far better reaction than the one I was expecting too ;)..

Psst... John.. a little secret... it's me .. :D...

Gotta say, I'm loving the lens, the IQ is something else
 
I love it too :love::love:

Not only is the silhouette incredibly detailed (didn't know you had a couple of Dennis Healey's tho ;) ) but the background is spot on too - a good strong contrast.

And I've told you a million times, stop putting yourself down in advance - we'll do it if necessary :LOL::LOL: :rules::rules:

And so far I haven't seen any complaints so get a grip :bat:
 
Thanks Jill...

I promise to be a good boy from now on :naughty: :razz:

I think I've sorted simple... :)
 
Let's hope so Jean...

Here's mine...

We had a lovely sunset the other night... so a simple shot of a naked tree against the red

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It's simple, because about all I did, was point the camera 'over there', deliberately going for a simple composition, put the tree in the middle :D, convert to JPG and post it. Although I did use my new lens :D. I made it sound very point and shoot, but there was a bit more thought went into it than that ;)
 
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Wow John, you're on the ball with simple !!!

And not only is it early, it's simply beautiful too. Amazing sky and I have a real soft spot for silhouettes of trees, so this ticks all the boxes for me. I would perhaps have liked to see a touch more foreground at the bottom to ground it, but despite being a simple point and click exercise I think it's worked beautifully.

I've been absolutely rubbish at commenting over the last few weeks - a combination of illness and work stuff, so there are a lot in here for me to catch up on. I can't let your communication shot pass without a comment though. I really, really love it !!!

I hope that the build's coming along well and fingers crossed I'll be back on track with weekly comments from week 9 onwards, so I'll be watching to see whether that build's going to feature in any of the other themes as it progresses.
 
Thanks Alex.

Thanks Sarah... to be fair, I may have underegged the effort involved a bit... it wasn't truly point and shoot :D.. But with the sky that full of colours, the choice was pretty simple ;)...

I'm glad you're feeling better, and hope work is calming down (I know that mad work feeling only too well). Thank you again though ;).

So far so good,.. the roof should be on by the end of the coming week.. then it's time for the fiddly bits... the current Linear theme lends itself nicely to a few possibilities :D...
 
Sorry been very busy..time to catch up tonight hen upload my three weeks images! Doesnt time go quickly!

really liking the communication shot. What a set up for it too. Way beyond my capabilities and patience!

then onto fresh start....good idea. Good luck with the build!

Identity....a very hard silhouette. Another great idea. One thing I would do though is have a little trim of those eyebrows ;)

And this weeks simple sunset and tree is fab. I love this shot :)
 
Miss Cupcake said:
Sorry been very busy..time to catch up tonight hen upload my three weeks images! Doesnt time go quickly!

really liking the communication shot. What a set up for it too. Way beyond my capabilities and patience!

then onto fresh start....good idea. Good luck with the build!

Identity....a very hard silhouette. Another great idea. One thing I would do though is have a little trim of those eyebrows ;)

And this weeks simple sunset and tree is fab. I love this shot :)
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No worries Miss C. I understand... it gets madly busy. Thanks for taking the time to comment... as for the brows :razz:... were I to try it myself, I'd probably end up without any... and I'm not gonna pay someone to get it done..

Thanks Michael

Thanks Ruth
 
Simple is simply lovely John...another beautiful silhouette....colours, composition all just right! Love it :)
 
Thanks very much John... Got one for Linear that ought to be right up your street... although ... I think I may have gone a bit too far :D good job I've got an alternate...
 
Thanks Robert
 
I knew what I was wanting to go for this week, and the work offered plenty of choices.

I hadn't realised exactly how shallow this was going to turn out when I took it... considering it's at f/4, but I like it, besides I got to use my new lens again :D

IMG_3266-Version2.jpg


However, I can appreciate, it may be a little too much/little depending on how you want to look at it .. :D... so I'm providing an alternate..

IMG_3087-Version2.jpg


Now... Passion... where am I gonna find any of that ?? I'm to tired, stressed and with the tail end of a cold that just won't shift, for anything resembling a passion at the moment... :bang::bang:
 
Hi John - sorry I haven't been around to comment for a couple of weeks - so a quick catch up!

Simple: This is a stunner! I didn't for one minute think it was more or less point and shoot - I guess it took a bit of juggling to get that sky so well balanced - colours retained but nothing burnt out.

The composition works for me - there's something about lone trees against the skyline, and this one's a beauty.

Linear: I like the bricks - for some reason they remind me of that 'test your colour vision' thingy on TP a couple of years ago! (Good to hear you're at roof height) and I like the very shallow dof (macro lens?) The only tweak I can suggest - move the dof very, very slightly to the right so the mortar in the top row of bricks is sharp. Lovely colours, too!

#2 I like this too, but it's a pity the interesting grain in the lower plank isn't repeated in the one above it. But another good take on the theme.

Busy or not - you've had a good week, John. (y)
 
Much prefer the bricks to the planks. Great DOf. Fab
and Im sure you will find some passion somewhere!!
 
Simple - absolutely stunning. Great colours, love the composition and it's also a very soothing picture. Top of the class with that one :clap::clap:

Linear - well you were right about the building work providing opportunities ;) I'm finding it difficult to choose. Normally I don't like such a narrow DoF as it makes me feel like my glasses need cleaning :eek: but I love the way the colours of the bricks blend together to make it feel very warm. As for the wood, lots of lines there but I think I'd prefer more contrast.

Some great pics so far John (y)
 
jeangenie said:
Hi John - sorry I haven't been around to comment for a couple of weeks - so a quick catch up!

Simple: This is a stunner! I didn't for one minute think it was more or less point and shoot - I guess it took a bit of juggling to get that sky so well balanced - colours retained but nothing burnt out.

The composition works for me - there's something about lone trees against the skyline, and this one's a beauty.

Linear: I like the bricks - for some reason they remind me of that 'test your colour vision' thingy on TP a couple of years ago! (Good to hear you're at roof height) and I like the very shallow dof (macro lens?) The only tweak I can suggest - move the dof very, very slightly to the right so the mortar in the top row of bricks is sharp. Lovely colours, too!

#2 I like this too, but it's a pity the interesting grain in the lower plank isn't repeated in the one above it. But another good take on the theme.

Busy or not - you've had a good week, John. (y)
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Thanks very much Jean... you're right it was a little bit more than point and shoot, but that makes it sound less simple... the composition was simple, and to be honest, the exposure was just set on the sky, ignore the tree as I wanted it dark. One day, I'll find a decent spot with skies like that with a proper singleton tree to use, as opposed to making do with what's in the field at the end of the garden :D.

As for the bricks, I missed that I'd just missed the mortar... fiddlesticks :bang:... I've still not got a macro lens... this is the 70-200 f/4 at point blank range and wide open... I was amazed at how shallow it turned out. (the 70-200 with the raynox on makes a very good, better than the 55-250 for quality at least, macro setup, even if I can't get the same level of magnification out of it :D). As for the planks, I didn't spot the texture variation... note to self, must look harder.

Miss Cupcake said:
Much prefer the bricks to the planks. Great DOf. Fab
and Im sure you will find some passion somewhere!!
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Thanks Miss C... I hope so...

Bruja said:
Simple - absolutely stunning. Great colours, love the composition and it's also a very soothing picture. Top of the class with that one :clap::clap:

Linear - well you were right about the building work providing opportunities ;) I'm finding it difficult to choose. Normally I don't like such a narrow DoF as it makes me feel like my glasses need cleaning :eek: but I love the way the colours of the bricks blend together to make it feel very warm. As for the wood, lots of lines there but I think I'd prefer more contrast.

Some great pics so far John (y)
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Thanks very much Jill. Sorry if I caused you to spend 10 minutes cleaning your glasses :D... I'll take a look at the contrast... I've already pretty much had to strip the green and boost the red, the wood is pressure treated so has that green tint to it... I hope I can maintain this level through the rest of the year...
 
thanks very much Michael
 
Struggled with this one... too much happening, but I got a short while this afternoon, and the thought occurred to me that, actually, in photographic terms, I have two main passions... Astro and Macro... not that I'm necessarily any good at either of them (Jean and Jill, that's not a self criticism so no reading of the :rules: :D)

Now, there are currently no passion flowers in the area... seeing as it's completely the wrong time of year... which was the first thought, but then I used a bee macro in a passion flower in 2009... (I did consider recycling that image, but as I'd actually used it for the 52 felt that was pushing things a bit too far...)

So what to do... Well, first off, there's this... but this was pretty easy..

IMG_3278-1.jpg


So I went for a handheld macro... lit with my home made ring converter.. The focus is on the bit with the pollen on... There's another bit in front but it didn't look so good focused on that... the pollen was too distracting.

IMG_3322.jpg


In the end I settled for this...

IMG_3329.jpg


But then it occurred to me to try something, so I went for maximum magnification... so it's the 70-200 at 200mm, min focus distance, 70mm of jessops macro tubes on one end, and the Raynox DCR250 on the other... mounted on my ebay macro rail... this is the husk of a Coriander seed sat on more seeds, they are about 2mm across.
 
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Wow, John - three passions!! :D

#1 I love your astro photos - and this is no exception. You just make it look too easy! btw, should I recognise the tree on the right? :cautious: Georgeous photo.

#2 This doesn't have quite the impact of the other two, and maybe it's suffered from being handheld. But still a good take on the theme.

#3 Brilliant, that's really pushing magnification. Great detail and lovely colours.

The jury's out on whether you crossed the line of self-criticism with that comment - "not that I'm necessarily any good at either of them". Jill and I will have to confer! :nono:

Jean
 
jeangenie said:
Wow, John - three passions!! :D

#1 I love your astro photos - and this is no exception. You just make it look too easy! btw, should I recognise the tree on the right? :cautious: Georgeous photo.

#2 This doesn't have quite the impact of the other two, and maybe it's suffered from being handheld. But still a good take on the theme.

#3 Brilliant, that's really pushing magnification. Great detail and lovely colours.

The jury's out on whether you crossed the line of self-criticism with that comment - "not that I'm necessarily any good at either of them". Jill and I will have to confer! :nono:

Jean
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Thanks Jean, This sort of AP isn't too bad... it's just balancing the exposure knowing the lit part of the moon is gonna blow... You know... Good spot, I think you may be right and you should recognise that tree :D.. I think the second doesn't quite hit it as the pink bit in the middle is covering the pollen (hope you like the technical names :D), a focus stack would have been a good idea, but no way, not handheld. One day I'll have an MPE65 to get me 5x, till then... I'll just have to make do :D

michael23 said:
3 excellent shots there John. Like all of them, but number 3 takes the top spot, that has come out very well.
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Thanks very much Michael
 
For someone who is very busy 3 photos is a real treat :clap::clap::clap:

#3 stands out for me and, before I read your commentary I thought they were walnuts :thinking::shrug:

My esteem for your photography has soared since I found out the actual size of the little seeds. What a star!!!! (If you pardon the pun :D)
 
Thanks very much Jill... I'll excuse the pun :D... (y)
 
Thanks Robert
 
Had a bit of an inspiration fail until today... then this idea struck me... It's another of those last minute rush jobs ... but there we go...

IMG_3373.jpg


I managed to squeeze some time in for some extreme macro the other day, and I really did enjoy pushing my 70-200 as far as I could manage to stretch the magnification (I reckon I hit 6x lifesize :D)... Oh... on that point Jill, I got the measurement wrong... the Seeds were about 3mm, not 2mm... I know that sounds a minuscule amount, but... at these levels of mag it makes a big difference :D (have a look at http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=4488655#post4488655 and you'll see what I mean)
 
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Thanks very much Michael... it was tricky to get everything lined up, not get anything else in frame and manage a not too rubbish background whilst still holding the camera in my other hand :D...
 
Thanks very much Jean. Glad you like it... The lens has IS, and that helps with it being one handed ;).

Good luck getting yours done
 
It's been rather madly busy, no change there, and only managed to grab a few minutes to shoot something. This was all I could think of with the props to hand... This is a bit rubbish very hard to do...


A rubbish moment of reflection in the sun.

IMG_3837.jpg


I've got something I can use for emotion this week, it's prepped and ready (from the amdram dress rehearsal), but it's from last week, and I'll hold onto it for now in case I should get the time to grab something this week (seems unlikely)
 
Well done on getting a shot John. I hadn't thought about Reflection in that way - I looked at your shot and tried to work out where the mirror was! Do'h :bonk: :LOL:

It fits the bill, but it would have been better with more of a 'pose' I think. But I can't criticise - you're up to date and I still haven't done Hands!!!

Jean
 
I like the hands photograph John, theres a story in there.

A creative take on the theme of reflection, good work, I like the thinking outside the box (y)
Is it a self portrait? If yes, respect to you. Again if yes, you've handled the focus and exposure really well, the only small crit would be to suggest a different background. Perhaps more of the fence to fill the background. Iain
 
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