weekly Arlandria's 52 Thread :: NEW - Up, Duo, Direction

A quickie before I depart for the valleys:

Shiny

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...make that two (I think I need to join photographers anonymous!).

Symmetry:

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The idea here isn't just the symmetry of the subject (and the light reflected in it) and shot itself, but the idea of symmetry between the real world and the camera created by the thing in between: the lens.
 
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Handmade - Nice shot, good colours and angles of the pencils

Abstract -very interesting! Like the reflection in the glass. Nice background.

Soft - love puddy cat! They are very soft. Lovely colours and markings, and the angle again is great.

Shiny - could have been one for abstract. Definitely shiny, nice clean image.

Symmetry - good lens shot. Simple and well executed.

Strong composition in all pictures!
 
ChickenDipa said:
Handmade - Nice shot, good colours and angles of the pencils

Abstract -very interesting! Like the reflection in the glass. Nice background.

Soft - love puddy cat! They are very soft. Lovely colours and markings, and the angle again is great.

Shiny - could have been one for abstract. Definitely shiny, nice clean image.

Symmetry - good lens shot. Simple and well executed.

Strong composition in all pictures!
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Thanks very much :) I'm not quite sure how I feel about shiny - like the first version of abstract, something's not quite right, but I can't put my finger on it.

I attribute all of my composing skills to my nifty fifty - something about a prime forces you to learn how to put the shot together.
 
So whilst spending a wet weekend in Wales (my first - I feel like I've hit some kind of life-experience milestone here) I persuaded my ever-indulgent husband to let me take advantage of it and swing by the Rhondda Heritage Site, which is on the site of an old coal mine and has some very awesome photo opportunities. It's given me a small but different from my usual set and, most importantly, my industry shot!

Industry

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We were actually there to celebrate my husband's grandmother's 80th birthday, and that too let me catch up on the back catalog.

Leave

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Not as obvious as some I've seen on this theme, but the brief exchange with the waitress as she removed my plate explains it more clearly:

"Are you going to leave that?" I was asked, as I finished my steak. "Well, yes. It's the bone."

I thought I had one for Joy, too - my niece with her face covered in chocolate and grinning like a madwoman - but the lighting in the restaurant was dark, I'd had a couple of drinks, and it wasn't quite in focus :( So disappointed.
 
Hi Vicky

Shiny - certainly shiny and good colour. But I am not sure whether there is a focus and there is no context to what is the object so it leaves me a bit underwhelmed.

Symmetry - good idea, well executed. Light reflections are particularly good with nice exposure(y)

Industry - i really like the sepia/washed out treatment - suits the subject. :clap: It is like one of those old sepia shots where they applied a colour wash to certain parts afterwards. Pity that there was 2 lines of trucks as one would have been better because the engine is obscured/ cut off, but that is what you had to work with.

Leave - another good idea but in mono i find the subject a bit hard to work out. Colour would probably be too busy :thinking: but, without flogging the technique, it might lend itself to the treatment in Industry.
 
superpippo said:
Shiny - certainly shiny and good colour. But I am not sure whether there is a focus and there is no context to what is the object so it leaves me a bit underwhelmed.
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I agree, I think that might be the problem. Definitely one for a later reshoot, if we get another one.

superpippo said:
Symmetry - good idea, well executed. Light reflections are particularly good with nice exposure(y)
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Thanks!

superpippo said:
Industry - i really like the sepia/washed out treatment - suits the subject. :clap: It is like one of those old sepia shots where they applied a colour wash to certain parts afterwards. Pity that there was 2 lines of trucks as one would have been better because the engine is obscured/ cut off, but that is what you had to work with.
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Thanks very much :) I love the treatment too - I have a full colour version on Flickr, but it looks too modern. The engine is displayed separately from both rows of trucks, so no possibility of getting a shot with them all together, unless we moved everything around... and considering I made my husband haul a heavy bin out of the shot already I think I'd exhausted my good will there! The main reason why I framed it like that was because it got in all three things together: Trefor (the big red bit in the background - one of the mine shafts), the coal carts, and the valleys in the background. The triumvirate of Welsh mining, as it were.

superpippo said:
Leave - another good idea but in mono i find the subject a bit hard to work out. Colour would probably be too busy :thinking: but, without flogging the technique, it might lend itself to the treatment in Industry.
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Ooh that's a good idea. I tried it out (literally copying and pasting settings) and the bone comes out the same colour as the wood platter, so it's pretty much lost. I tried a variation though:

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I do like it... perhaps more so than the black and white, but it lacks what originally drew me to the B&W which is the effect on the cutlery.

Thanks very much for all your comments, I really appreciate them :) I've noticed already that when taking shots I'm bearing so many past comments in mind and they're making my shots that little bit better (see bin comment above...!).
 
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Hi Vicky, really like your industry shot, what processing did you do on this? It works really well. Leave, I like the take on the theme and a little difficult to choose between the 2, I keep going to the b+w version though, the effect on the cutlery is pretty cool, 2 version is nice, but the b+w takes top spot for me.
 
michael23 said:
Hi Vicky, really like your industry shot, what processing did you do on this? It works really well. Leave, I like the take on the theme and a little difficult to choose between the 2, I keep going to the b+w version though, the effect on the cutlery is pretty cool, 2 version is nice, but the b+w takes top spot for me.
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Hi Michael :) Thanks for the comments, interesting divide in opinion on Leave...

For Industry I did the following (all in Lightroom): Adjust WB, Exposure +0.75, Blacks +11, Brightness +57, Contrast +25, Clarity +50, Saturation -71, Darks -3, Shadows -14, Lens Vignette -61. No cropping.
 
Hi, Vicky, your doing a cracking job of catching up :clap: Having just spend, over 2 days, about 12 hours filtering and editing my TP meet photographs I'm frazzled so can only manage to comment of a few...

Abstract edit is a cracker: vivid colours, flair on the glass and I actually like the reflection of the hut.

Leave (B&W), really like this one. It looks very grim, almost like Hannibal Lecter's plate :D

Industry, well processed. Think I's like to see it from looking more towards the writing on the cart, if you know what I mean :thinking:

Cheers.
 
posiview said:
Hi, Vicky, your doing a cracking job of catching up :clap: Having just spend, over 2 days, about 12 hours filtering and editing my TP meet photographs I'm frazzled so can only manage to comment of a few...

Abstract edit is a cracker: vivid colours, flair on the glass and I actually like the reflection of the hut.

Leave (B&W), really like this one. It looks very grim, almost like Hannibal Lecter's plate :D

Industry, well processed. Think I's like to see it from looking more towards the writing on the cart, if you know what I mean :thinking:

Cheers.
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Thanks Andy :) Unfortunately my catching up is about to slow right down - came home from work yesterday to take a couple of shots and some part of my camera is covered in dust. Definitely the camera and not the lens :( No idea how it's happened but today's lunch hour is given over to shopping for cleaning supplies and this evening will be much crossing fingers!

I love the Hannibal reference. I always used to say that other than the eating people part, he was a great role model...!

I'd have moved to the right more for Industry too - sadly there was a huge Rhondda bus in the way (an old one, parked - not one that would eventually move) so I had to make do. I am pleased with the shot though - I installed PS last night and fiddling with some of the filters makes it look quite olde-painting-y. Might have to do that for a print for the wall.
 
Handmade – I’m afraid I don’t get the connection with the theme but I do like the photo. Nice angle & DoF

Abstract – I like the inverted refraction through the glass and the edit is far brighter and gets my vote of the two

Soft – Definitely soft and an aaahhh picture

Shiny – I can’t decide what this is – water on foil?

Symmetry – Nice and symmetrical and I quite like the tones in the shot

Industry – You’ve caught a real example of past industry there and the toned down pp’ing works well

Leave – On theme with my preference being the colour version. The only niggle is the blue line on the fork


Hope your camera recovers soon. You were doing a good job at starting to catch up
 
Delta Skies said:
Handmade – I’m afraid I don’t get the connection with the theme but I do like the photo. Nice angle & DoF
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Really? Wow, I thought it was so obvious I didn't need to explain! My first thought was birthday cards - a lot of them now say "hand-finished", which apparently means they can charge an extra fiver for them. That reminded me of cards I made at school as a child, mostly by drawing / cutting & pasting / etc, which brought me to the general idea of children and hand-made art, hence the coloured pencils.

Delta Skies said:
Abstract – I like the inverted refraction through the glass and the edit is far brighter and gets my vote of the two

Soft – Definitely soft and an aaahhh picture
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Thanks very much, I'm pleased with both of these.

Delta Skies said:
Shiny – I can’t decide what this is – water on foil?
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Nope - I think I explained in an earlier post, but it's Marie (the cat)'s water fountain. A big stainless steel bowl with two levels of water. It's pretty relaxing to look at, actually.

Delta Skies said:
Symmetry – Nice and symmetrical and I quite like the tones in the shot
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I'm so pleased that no-one's noticed yet, it's actually selective colour - the blacks are all desaturated to get them bang on and give me more flexibility with the lens colours.

Delta Skies said:
Industry – You’ve caught a real example of past industry there and the toned down pp’ing works well
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Thanks! I'm glad I got a good set out of the mining experience - getting that much dust in the camera and NOT getting a shot would've been heartbreaking!

Delta Skies said:
Leave – On theme with my preference being the colour version. The only niggle is the blue line on the fork
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Ooh I hadn't noticed that - thanks, I'll remove it.

Delta Skies said:
Hope your camera recovers soon. You were doing a good job at starting to catch up
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Thanks :) After a good clean last night it's almost back to normal - just one or two tiny spots which I can work around. I'm going to keep going with cleaning it until it's back to normal. In the meantime I've taken this as a sign that I should order the new camera I've been eyeing up, so that's now on its way to me - hopefully it'll arrive ready for the weekend. It might even be my joy picture...!
 
Hello Vicky, great set. I love the lot. The colour leave is my preference.

Industry is a great shot.

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the work.
 
Vicky, came back for another view of your photographs. I hope you catch up soon. Good work.
 
Hi Vicky

Joy - good idea. Perhaps not centred and the 'j' seems to have swung round slightly. Difficult lighting but the 'joy' stands out well. I like the way that the shiny reflective surfaces at the top have been handled but the tiles lack detail. Really original idea(y)

Sweet - like the different colours and a good black background. Well handled lighting and I like the composition woth the top one breaking up and the bite out of the bottom one .(y) Perhaps bottom of stand should not be cropped so tight

Secure - Spot on theme. Good spare treatment - maybe a little too much space to left. like the focus and the mono adds to the pic.
 
Some very nice shots in your thread!
I particularly like the abstract reshoot.
I think your joy offering is a really good idea.
Maybe people who don't know the themes etc wouldn't actually spot the word at first
so perhaps there's a kind of a hidden message aspect to it?


Cheers
 
Arlandria said:
...and one more, because my wonderful husband decided to play along:

Secure

...I feel compelled to mention that the handcuffs were bought specifically for this shot (and I have the eBay receipts to prove it!).
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yeah right

really like what you did with sweet
 
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superpippo said:
Hi Vicky

Joy - good idea. Perhaps not centred and the 'j' seems to have swung round slightly. Difficult lighting but the 'joy' stands out well. I like the way that the shiny reflective surfaces at the top have been handled but the tiles lack detail. Really original idea(y)
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I realised it wasn't centered after taking the first shot, but if I'd have moved them over it would have taken ages for them to stop swinging about, and I was losing the light coming in from the door off to the side so I wanted to press on. It did bug me afterwards though (I'm very much a symmetry-and-balance-and-order kinda girl). Good spot about the tiles, thank you - I was so focused on the shiny bits I missed them! I've corrected them now.

superpippo said:
Sweet - like the different colours and a good black background. Well handled lighting and I like the composition woth the top one breaking up and the bite out of the bottom one .(y) Perhaps bottom of stand should not be cropped so tight
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Yeah, I think it would've been better to get the whole stand in. I did try a few like that, but then the balance between the macaroons and the background was off - I think I need to move around more when I'm shooting stuff like that and experiment some more with different angles, because I don't think I naturally go for the magic one.

superpippo said:
Secure - Spot on theme. Good spare treatment - maybe a little too much space to left. like the focus and the mono adds to the pic.
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Ah, see that's intentional... not for artistic reasons, but because that shot was almost accidental and the background I had him standing in front of stopped short so I had to drop out all the random living room in the background! I've made a slight edit where you can see just the definition of his other leg - do you think that helps?

BobBCN said:
Some very nice shots in your thread!
I particularly like the abstract reshoot.
I think your joy offering is a really good idea.
Maybe people who don't know the themes etc wouldn't actually spot the word at first
so perhaps there's a kind of a hidden message aspect to it?
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I was wondering that too, whether the word was obvious enough... I think it's a nice idea as a hidden message though, I hadn't thought of it that way :)


alsjazzera said:
really like what you did with sweet
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Thanks very much :)
 
hi Vicky, took me ages to see the Joy in your joy shot because my attention was on the oven, I think a tighter crop would improve this. Sweet is lovely, I always like colour, and it's even better when the rest of the shot is neutral. Only niggle is that the biscuits seem a little oof to me. secure, good shot :clap:
 
sturisoma said:
hi Vicky, took me ages to see the Joy in your joy shot because my attention was on the oven, I think a tighter crop would improve this. Sweet is lovely, I always like colour, and it's even better when the rest of the shot is neutral. Only niggle is that the biscuits seem a little oof to me. secure, good shot :clap:
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Thanks for your comments :)

What drew your attention to the hob? I ask because I paid close attention to the rule of thirds when framing the shot to encourage focus on "joy". Is it just because it's darker in that area? A tighter crop would cut off the wok handle on the bottom left.

With sweet, the macaroon with a bite out of it is slightly OOF when viewed at 100%, as the focus is on the tower. Are you saying you think the tower's OOF? I've been staring at it for a while now and I don't see it.
 
Hi, Vicky, you're catching up fast :clap:

Joy in B&W works really well. The top half looks really sharp and contrasty....wonder what a wider DOF would look like. Nice steam and I like the idea....not my idea of joy though...cooking...:help: My main concern is the bright BG above the hob.

Sweet, great, vibrant colours, crisp whites and uber dark blacks....I'd prefer it without the lower base.

Secure...my first reaction was :naughty: but I like it. It have a very photo-documentary feel to it and B&W was the only choice. Hands look a tad bright in place.

Good set...keep up with the catch up...(y)
 
posiview said:
Hi, Vicky, you're catching up fast :clap:

Joy in B&W works really well. The top half looks really sharp and contrasty....wonder what a wider DOF would look like. Nice steam and I like the idea....not my idea of joy though...cooking...:help: My main concern is the bright BG above the hob.

Sweet, great, vibrant colours, crisp whites and uber dark blacks....I'd prefer it without the lower base.

Secure...my first reaction was :naughty: but I like it. It have a very photo-documentary feel to it and B&W was the only choice. Hands look a tad bright in place.

Good set...keep up with the catch up...(y)
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Thanks Andy :) Part of the joy was that my husband was cooking dinner for me, which is pretty rare because I do love to cook :)

I'm not sure what you mean by the "lower base" - do you mean the cake stand? If so I had to put them on something - my black background is the underside of a picnic blanket and much as I love photography, I'm not wasting good macaroons on a photo!

I actually bought the handcuffs with vice in mind, but hubby wouldn't play ball, so I settled on secure instead :naughty: I agree the hands have a couple of blown highlights, I did try fiddling but with no good outcome - I may well have another look later on and try something else. That is once I'm done going through the 200 macro shots I just took for small :D
 
Cant see Secure and Joy :(

Sweet - yum! They look nice! Good colours but could do to be a tad brighter. And I would have avoided clipping the plate edges.

Nice clean background though and that helps the macaroons stand out.
 
ChickenDipa said:
Cant see Secure and Joy :(
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It looks like when I update the pics on Flickr the links change slightly - how annoying is that! I've updated them so they should be there now.

ChickenDipa said:
Sweet - yum! They look nice! Good colours but could do to be a tad brighter. And I would have avoided clipping the plate edges.

Nice clean background though and that helps the macaroons stand out.
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If I make them any brighter / more saturated on my screen, it looks wrong - like I've coloured them in. Especially the dark pink one in the foreground. Is your monitor calibrated?

I did try some other frames with the whole of the cake stand in shot, but it didn't quite look right to me - the proportion between the stand and the macaroons seemed off. I think ideally I needed a smaller stand, but that's the smallest plain coloured one that I have.
 
Arlandria said:
It looks like when I update the pics on Flickr the links change slightly - how annoying is that! I've updated them so they should be there now.

If I make them any brighter / more saturated on my screen, it looks wrong - like I've coloured them in. Especially the dark pink one in the foreground. Is your monitor calibrated?
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Will have a look now, yeah if you change them on Flickr you can loose the link here.

Monitor is fine, just know how colourful they can be so hence the comment. I was only talking about a tab brighter anyway. Nothing to major.
 
I'm with Summer on the Joy one, did not notice at first!!! Nice B&W image though, has worked really well.

Good idea for Secure, I believe that you bought them for the purpose of the theme!
 
Hi Vicky

Shiny - Ooo I like that, no idea again what it is, but it fits very well

Symmetry - Very clever, great colours coming off the lenses/elements, liking the crop and the angle taken from

Industry - Liking the tones/pp on this one, you did well by not getting others in the shot - obvious to say but bang on for the theme

Leave - The B&W processing doesn't help identify what is left, but still very nice image and the cutlery seals the 'Leave' shot for me

Hope you had a good break?? I had a week in Wales a couple of years ago - I too had 6 days rain in the 7 day holiday, no wonder the Welsh are so miserable all the time ;) :D
 
Thanks very much for all your comments :) I'm having a bit of a hectic week so far (and it's only Monday - argh!) so I wanted to get Small done before I lost the energy to do it right. Plus I'm waaaaaaay behind on commenting on other people's shots - bad Vicky.

Dark Knight said:
Hope you had a good break?? I had a week in Wales a couple of years ago - I too had 6 days rain in the 7 day holiday, no wonder the Welsh are so miserable all the time ;) :D
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Had to respond to this though! I had a fab break thanks, we were there for my better half's grandmother's 80th, she's a wonderful woman and none of the Welsh folk there were miserable at all! I was actually really impressed with how friendly everyone is, some of us could learn a thing or two in the valleys methinks. (And by that I mean me. Not you lovely people.)

Without further ado, let me drop Small on you and run away to comment on others... I call this "Converse Smallstars":

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Have to agree with Michael really well executed, you have very small feet :D
 
Haha! Thanks guys :) I'm quite proud of this one: after some playing with spoons the other day I spent a lot longer than usual checking and re-checking for this shot, and a lot longer tweaking the PP too, and I think the effort shows. Now to keep doing it until it's second nature...!
 
You've really nailed the lighting on this one Vicky, good work there(y)

I like the composition too, but just wonder if a tighter crop maybe square would help it along as I feel there is too much empty space at the sides.

Potential with the subject to have different compositions too, maybe with them set up as if they are walking? Iain
 
hello and welcome to you too.
abstract - the 2nd shot for me was a lot better i thought the 1st one was a bit too dark

handmade - lovely shot, vibrant colours but, dont know but the last row of pencils seemed out of focus..

sweet - perfect in every way!!

thanks
 
blakester said:
You've really nailed the lighting on this one Vicky, good work there(y)

I like the composition too, but just wonder if a tighter crop maybe square would help it along as I feel there is too much empty space at the sides.

Potential with the subject to have different compositions too, maybe with them set up as if they are walking? Iain
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Thanks Iain. I did take bunches of shots in lots of different poses - some "catalogue style", some walking, some with one overturned like they've just been kicked off... but that's the one that seemed "right". I may well put some of the others up on Flickr when I've had a chance to edit them and have a mini-set, like I did with Industry. The lighting was considered but technically ambient - just from the overhead light in the study. It was a case of move the subject, not the light :)
 
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