John's 2010 52, Part 2, Week 52 @ the end - Together (Jan 1st)

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jgs001

Brian Cox
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From Part 1

And for anyone that might have missed it on the end of part one..

For those that asked, here's the NLC single shot without the tree... I don't have a shot with more tree in it.

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The way the Pano ended up going together caused me to have to crop it like that... I can't get a crop to keep the full pattern and lose the foreground. I left the trees in thinking I might enter it into the Astro Photo competition as an Earth and Space entry, therefore needs something liking it to the Earth.

Relaxation

It's been another mad week, and the camera has barely been out of it's bag. So with so little time, it was a matter of what I could grab. What could I grab a quick shot of that showed relaxation... Aha... The Cat ;)

I messed this one up...

The Focus is on the eye, but as the eye is closed... The nose might have been a better bet.
The DOF is a bit too shallow

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Really good photo from this week. I think the DOF works on this one, and the fact the eyes are closed adds to the relaxation theme.
 
Doh, another interpretation I didn't think of :bang:

I've got 2 cats and in this heat they spend most of the day asleep so it would have so easy :(

Anyway, onto the picture, I agree with you about the focus point and the DoF but sometimes getting the shot in becomes more important when time is limited.

Spot on for theme though (y)
 
Definitely says relaxation to me. In fact I'm getting sleepy just looking at it.

I'm just not quite sure about the focal point . . . we all know that the focus "should" be on the eyes, but if they're closed where do you go from there? I think the nose may have looked a bit odd.
Maybe the answer, as you said, is a wider DoF to get the whole face in focus ????

That's outweighed for me by the "awww factor" though. Such a pretty cat and (s)he seems to almost have a smile on his face.

(y) Love the NLC shot without the tree!
That's relaxing in itself. I really could see this blown up on a huge canvas.
 
aw bless him, that's about as relaxed as you can get. The eyes are pin sharp mate what a pity you cant see them:D Im pretty sure if you want to reshoot this and try the focus on the nose he will assume the position sometime soon.
 
Lovely cat! :love: Ideally I would like a slightly smaller f-stop so that both the nose and the eyes could be in focus, but I don't know how much that would spoil the lovely soft background.

Your revised NLC is now perfect! :clap::clap:
 
more dof and focus on the nose, nice detail in the fur and those wiskers are great.
 
I like your relaxation shot, but I think it wanted shooting @ f/4.0 or f/5.6 - trouble is the shutter speed might then have been unhelpfully low, or the ISO unhelpfully high!

Phil
 
Thanks all.. glad to see you all agree with me... Phil, I could have used a higher ISO without issue.... this was only 200... get it right and even at 800 the noise isn't too bad, but I was rushing and messed it up. The cat adopts this pose a lot at the moment, so plenty of options... just time again...

Glad the NLC works better... As for printing it large.. I may well do just that.
 
I'm not a big fan of cats but I do like your shot! Certainly says relaxation to me especially as it has it's eyes shut.
 
Thanks very much...

Jenny, yep, no arguments from me on the DOF :bang:, no... there was no danger she was gonna move :D...
 
Lovely colour tones in your relaxation image John. Its been said above about the dof, nothing more to add except to say I dont think it detracts any from the image. I like the composition, its an interesting pov, filling the frame works well. good job(y) Iain
 
Thanks very much Iain (y)
 
another not fun week this last week, and events very nearly over took me completely. Barely used the camera. Still... went out yesterday afternoon... and ended up with a couple of shots that might just about scratch there way into the theme...

1) Resting in Grace

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2)Sitting in Grace

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Neither are particular good, nor what I wanted to get... but hey ho..
 
I prefer the second of your 2 shots for Grace. I like the subtle colouring - different from all the HDR shots of churches, and its nicely centred and straight. Its a shame you couldnt persuade the lady to move to where the light would shine on her.:)
 
Thanks Sue. I did look at possible doing an HDR, but the contrast range didn't seem to extreme, and that was confirmed on the histogram on the LCD after I'd taken the shot. Using the kit lens, I had to do some lens correction on it, the barrel distortion is a bit of a pain, but that's easy enough to fix. As for asking her to move... this was in a chapel of private (and silent) contemplation attached to the cathedral... I don't think I'd have got away with...

"Excuse me... would you mind moving forward 2 rows please as it'll fit my picture better ?" :LOL:... I can imagine the feel of the answer tingling across my cheek now ...
 
Second one for me and definitely fits the theme. . You have managed the exposure really well and the figure makes it - I assumed you had got your OH to pose for you! Did she notice the noise of the shutter?
 
#2 gets my vote too John. I like the lighting and colour tones. Iain
 
I'm going to go against the flow and say I prefer shot no. 1. I think I would prefer the focus on the hands with the background OOF but I think it fits the theme well.
 
Without doubt #2 for me too. Very well centred and the colours really help set it off
 
Definitely the second one for me too - a slight stretch to fit the theme, but I can hardly comment on that this week ! :LOL:

The first is a nice shot, but it's just not doing much for me . . . and I'm finding the third head coming in horizontally from behind them a little bit odd.

The second shot is just beautiful though.
I have a soft spot for this sort of architecture and you've caught it brilliantly. I love the detail in the ceiling and the beautiful stained glass. The only thing that would have improved it would have been to have the woman sittingin a shaft of sunlight as mentioned . . . asking her to move would have been a bad idea for all sorts of reasons though :LOL:

And for the little kit lens I think it's come out brilliantly - great correction on the distortion too.
 
Yup - number 2! I'm surprised you caught all that range of light without using HDR. I guess there is quite a large area of light, making the interior lighter than some churches.

It's a simple and effective composition with the lady balancing the flowers on the opposite side of the isle.

Phil
 
Tracer said:
Second one for me and definitely fits the theme. . You have managed the exposure really well and the figure makes it - I assumed you had got your OH to pose for you! Did she notice the noise of the shutter?
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Thanks Tracer. As for my OH posing for the camera... I've got more chance of platting fog. As for the noise of the shutter, I was a fair way back, and outside the chapel itself, and there were plenty of others snapping away around the cathedral.

blakester said:
#2 gets my vote too John. I like the lighting and colour tones. Iain
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Thanks Iain

Mike Jackson said:
I'm going to go against the flow and say I prefer shot no. 1. I think I would prefer the focus on the hands with the background OOF but I think it fits the theme well.
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Thanks Mike, I see what you mean about the hands... I was to busy trying to make sure I got the faces in focus... guess that doesn't matter for statues like this... Rules are made to be broken... Must remember :bang:

DC2Z said:
Without doubt #2 for me too. Very well centred and the colours really help set it off
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Thanks very much Darren

clud17 said:
Second shot looks good to me, id be tempted to wait till the lady cleared off to get an empty church shot.
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Cheers Chris, I did think about that, but apart from not having the time to lurk until however long it might take, the sun shining through the windows created a lovely light in there, and that might not have lasted either, there was a fair amount of cloud around. And I thought she helped make the connection.

SarahLee said:
Definitely the second one for me too - a slight stretch to fit the theme, but I can hardly comment on that this week ! :LOL:

The first is a nice shot, but it's just not doing much for me . . . and I'm finding the third head coming in horizontally from behind them a little bit odd.

The second shot is just beautiful though.
I have a soft spot for this sort of architecture and you've caught it brilliantly. I love the detail in the ceiling and the beautiful stained glass. The only thing that would have improved it would have been to have the woman sittingin a shaft of sunlight as mentioned . . . asking her to move would have been a bad idea for all sorts of reasons though :LOL:

And for the little kit lens I think it's come out brilliantly - great correction on the distortion too.
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Thanks very much Sarah. As for that third head in the first one, I've no clue, I have to confess I didn't spot that till I'd downloaded them... I waited for a couple walking past to walk out of shot before taking it, but just didn't notice it :bang:

I agree with you about having the woman in the light, that would have reflected the theme even better... but

justlooking said:
I prefer #2. The colours are lovely and all the details show really well
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Thank you

philthejuggler said:
Yup - number 2! I'm surprised you caught all that range of light without using HDR. I guess there is quite a large area of light, making the interior lighter than some churches.

It's a simple and effective composition with the lady balancing the flowers on the opposite side of the isle.

Phil
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Thanks very much Phil, most of the cathedral was the typical right pain in the posterior for wildly differing lighting, but this little chapel at one end, being brightly painted, quite small, and with the sunlight streaming through the window bouncing around I think bought it back within the realms of the camera's range, probably only just, but I can live with only just ;)
 
no.2 for me as well. nice lighting, as chris said wait till its empty, but if you need a shot it still works.
Ian
 
Definitely #2 for me John. Well done for capturing a great pic in difficult conditions. (y)

#1 doesn't do anything for me I'm afraid :(
 
karate-ka said:
no.2 for me as well. nice lighting, as chris said wait till its empty, but if you need a shot it still works.
Ian
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Thanks Ian

stu_the_flat said:
I have to say that I like number 2 its a brillant photo, But I think the first one fits the title of grace,

Stuart
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Thank you Stuart

Bruja said:
Definitely #2 for me John. Well done for capturing a great pic in difficult conditions. (y)

#1 doesn't do anything for me I'm afraid :(
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Thanks very much Jill... don't be afraid, #1 has got worse with each time I look at it...
 
Thanks very much Jenny (y)
 
Sorry about this... I seem to be taking a rather a dark turn...

I had not time at all to get the shots I originally thought of... then during one of the totally manic 15 hour work days this week... an idea came to me (for a picture) that didn't require going anywhere to get it.

I should point out that nothing at all was harmed (well except maybe the batteries) in the taking of this shot..

IMG_5849.jpg


I don't expect anyone to like it... I don't really...
 
i like the black & white brings out all the grime, pity there wasn`t a trickle of (fake) blood to make the image a bit stronger.

Ian
 
As above I think black and white suits the subject very well. I'm glad there is no blood though.
 
I'm glad you didn't slip John. Unfortunately it seems to be missing something for my liking and the conversion has left your skin looking quite blotchy (sorry if that's how you look ;)).
 
karate-ka said:
i like the black & white brings out all the grime, pity there wasn`t a trickle of (fake) blood to make the image a bit stronger.

Ian
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Thanks Ian, I did think about that... but wasn't sure what to use so figured I'd leave it like this, rather than risk just making a mess

justlooking said:
As above I think black and white suits the subject very well. I'm glad there is no blood though.
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Thank you

dlh said:
I'm glad you didn't slip John. Unfortunately it seems to be missing something for my liking and the conversion has left your skin looking quite blotchy (sorry if that's how you look ;)).
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Steady hands Darren. The blotchiness is kinda half intentional... I deliberately pushed the Definition slider (like Clarity in ACR) in Aperture as that brings out the local micro contrast to get this effect... I was sort of aiming to give a reason, in the image, why...
 
Hi John, time for a big catch-up from me. Sorry I've not dropped into your thread for ages - and I really appreciate the encourgements you've been giving me. :)

Relaxation: You've been very hard on yourself and I don't think you've messed this up at all. The cat's face is really sharp and the colours sing out. Trying to tell a cat to keep its eyes open isn't an option. :LOL: I also love the NLC minus the tree - that is also a relaxing image in itself. (y)

Grace: Two really good interpretations of the theme (and the second one is also relaxing, imo!). I think there is another shot to be found in the first one, but I'm not sure what it is. :bang: Access probably isn't very easy and scrambling onto the heads (say) to get a close up of the joined hands isn't an option. Nevertheless, I think you've done well, and I like the lighting.

The lighting in the second one is fantastic and I actually think it's better that she's in the shade because she helps the eye to travel round the glorious architecture. You could have asked her to adopt a more 'prayerful' position, though! :D This is my favourite of the two - and even more so since you had so little time.

Endings: I don't think you need blood to get this message across - it's clear there's an intention! Yes, it's dark and uncomfortable, but photography isn't always puppies (or cats!) and pretty flowers. It fits the theme, and as Darren says, it's a good job you didn't slip - especially after working 15-hour days. Well done on getting a powerful shot in such a busy week. (y)

Jean
 
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