weekly Southdowns' 52/2012 - Week 52 - Busy SP Posted. Thank You, and Goodnight :)

Hi Mark


absolute belteing shot....reshoot of secure...can see that as a book cover for a thriller ...great work both in pp & the subject itself :clap::clap:

Small.....choices choices..I'm actually quite taken with the tilt shift type image , just a bit different (y) of the 2 church images I'm torn...love the dramatic feel of the B&W but also love the slightly muted tones of the color version...both really good images matey (y)

As for Straight...love it ( non yellow version)...great work with the shadow (y) the only thing that's bugging me a teeny weeny bit is the slight gap between the the G & H & S & T.... optical illusion ?
 
Thanks Alan and Sarah :)

Lynne, the "gap" is the bottom of the "S" and the top of the "H" blocks, where the flash has blown them out a bit. Someone much cleverer than me could probably sort it out in PP, but not me. Glad you like it though appart from that :)
 
Southdowns said:
Someone much cleverer than me could probably sort it out in PP, but not me.
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I'd take that challenge but there are too many empty beer bottles in the house :puke:

The original Straight for me. I like the impact the G has, really draws my eye.

One thing I have to say, and I had the same problem, with a theme like Straight, it's got to be absolutely straight and you're is a tad off; or maybe the light :thinking:

Good idea though and different.....which is always good :D
 
I like your thinking on this Mark (y)

Although quite a literal take on the theme by spelling the word out with the blocks, it is still very creative IMHO. The shadow is a great touch which adds a little twist to the photograph.
 
ha ha don't start about my monitor :LOL:
 
Mark, that's very clever and I think it's great... very nicely balanced too :)... Much better with a Green G. Sounds like you had fun at bootcamp too... Very nice brolly, but it looks like it's sunny... where did you find some sun ??
 
posiview said:
One thing I have to say, and I had the same problem, with a theme like Straight, it's got to be absolutely straight and you're is a tad off; or maybe the light :thinking:
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Cheers Andy. It's actually as straight as was possible given the manufacturing tolerances on the (cheapo) blocks! I think the fact that the blocks spell straight compensates reasonably well.

blakester said:
I like your thinking on this Mark (y)

Although quite a literal take on the theme by spelling the word out with the blocks, it is still very creative IMHO. The shadow is a great touch which adds a little twist to the photograph.
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Cheers mate :)

sturisoma said:
ha ha don't start about my monitor :LOL:
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Well yeah but come on; it should be able to tell the difference between green and yellow!!! ;)

superpippo said:
Hi Mark

Straight - Very good shots - can't make up my mind which 'g' I prefer. Clever and well executed. Shadow is great. A really good entry for the theme.

Also like your parasol shot. Good comp, colours and lighting
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Ta everso! :)

jgs001 said:
Mark, that's very clever and I think it's great... very nicely balanced too :)... Much better with a Green G. Sounds like you had fun at bootcamp too... Very nice brolly, but it looks like it's sunny... where did you find some sun ??
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Cheers. We were VERY lucky with the weather. It was all done within about 800 yards of the Sherwood Forest YHA, and although the area was flooded the day before, and again on Monday, we had mostly great weather. Bit of a downpour on Saturday afternoon, but intermittent sun/cloud the rest of the weekend. I guess Practical Photography have special access to the weather gods?!
 
Do you have the address of the Practical Photography weather controller you could share :D
 
I think you have to subscribe for a minimum of 10 years with a single DD payment, AND go on one of their courses, before you can access that :(
 
Cheers Peter :)
 
Well, not a pleasant picture this week, but I wanted to go for something darker.

Dear John Letter

I'd have liked the blood to be a bit more, umm, blood-like, but think it works OK as it is.


W29 - Dear John Letter.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
Very much like the 'straight' blocks, good concept and well produced - 'letter', I see the intention but I think it's lost ... unless thinking he/she has spilt the beer.
 
Hi Mark,
I very much like the idea and execution (excuse the pun) of your letter shot. Very creative thinking behind it, which is also technically very good but I am with Gramps on the colour of the blood, its not quite there for me.
Would it not be possible to adjust the colour in pp? It would be beyond my skills but I am sure it could be done. Iain
 
Hmm, the more I look at it, the more I agree with you. I did concider B&W, but thought it would completely lose the impact.

Had a go at it in Photoshop Touch on my iPad; I think this improves it quite a bit?:


W29 - Dear John Letter by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
well taken pic but as you say the blood colour on both of them is off
 
Hi Mark

now that is one deep thought provoking image ,.Nicely lit , good DOF & focus .The 2nd image has a better color to the blood but it could be pushed a bit more....no idea how you make fake blood so think you've a pretty good job :clap:
 
Thanks everyone.

I'm really disappointed with Letter, because I could kick myself for not spending more time over the blood. The whole thing, including processing, had to be done in 30 minutes to get it in the right week. Maybe I should stop beating myself up about that, but I've not fallen behind once so far and don't really want to.

I'm extremely pleased with the image in all respects except for that damn blood; even down to that very dead looking hand. It's exactly how I saw it in my head, except for the blood. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

This is definitely a candidate for a reshoot :(
 
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So, onto Contrast, and a nice early post this week which should allow me time to get around everyone else's submissions :)

Contrast in the sky, but also contrast between the old and the new. Hope you like it (it's one of those ones that looks way better as big as possible):


W30 - Contrast.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
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Not really drawn to the sky but like the old/new contrast ... well presented and reminds me that I miss my old, original Mini!
 
Cheers Gramps :)

Mike, there was a bit of PP, but not as much as you might think. I boosted the vividness and clarity, and added a graduated filter to the sky to reduce exposure (I'd metered off the cars, so the sky was very over-exposed in the raw file), and to boost contrast and warm it up a bit. Other than that, I did clone a street sign out to make it a nice clean composition.

Glad you like it; I had to lie on the road between two parked cars to get it, grabbing my shots between passing traffic and pedestrians:)
 
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Hi, Mark, Contrast, now that's a proper mini on the left (y)

I like the low angle and reflections.

Now, imagine one of the Minis was a nice contrasting red...and I bet some clever member could remove the railings...wonder what that you look like :thinking:

Good show and well spotted :clap:

Cheers.
 
Cheers Andy :)

I reckon removing the railings wouldn't be too tough, but I actualy really like them, along with the hint of beach and sea behind. I think it puts the Mini's in context; I spotted them in Brighton, which is a pretty fitting place for a Mini to be, what with all it's 1960's history!

I actually did spot two red ones next to each other later on (an old and a new), and thought I might be able to do a dioptic or tryptic, but couldn't get a shot that would have worked with this one.
 
Thanks guys :)

Just for Andy, I got the new one resprayed - I hope the owner likes it!

Andy you're a bu66er though, because even though I was all set to say I didn't like the red, I do, and now can't decide which is my favourite :bang:

I'm going to go with the original I think, if only because it's more honest and has a bit more shine!


W30 - Contrast for Andy by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
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I've made two tiny edits to the original, which I think just perfect it. There's a very small prize on offer to the first person to tell me what they are (clue - the red version does not have these edits :) ).
 
Nice idea on the old/new contrast. Shows how a lot of modern cars are quite ugly compared to the originals - of course, that is just my opinion.

Cheers
 
posiview said:
Hope you washed the paint off your hands :)
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I got it off my hands, but the damn stuff won't come off my monitor no matter what I try :shrug:
 
Letter is a dark and moody image, well lit, well composed and works well, apart from that blood... I have to agree, it's not thick enough...

Contrast, I was immediately drawn to the two cars... there's a big contrast between the two of them isn't there. The mini and the mini all growed up :D... nice processing, it's worked really well.
 
Both versions of contrast work equally well for me Mark.
There's a lot to like about the photographs, the interesting sky, the reflections in the cars, the low shooting angle also emphasises the difference between the old and the new. All round good work (y)
 
Cracking photo, can't fault it! I prefer the original but I like both versions:clap:

I could see this on a billboard!

Southdowns said:
I've made two tiny edits to the original, which I think just perfect it. There's a very small prize on offer to the first person to tell me what they are (clue - the red version does not have these edits :) ).
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You've removed the pillar/ pole on the left on the railings! Haven't found the other edit yet;)
 
Southdowns said:
I've made two tiny edits to the original, which I think just perfect it. There's a very small prize on offer to the first person to tell me what they are (clue - the red version does not have these edits :) ).
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Oh oh oh can I play?:LOL:

The vertical post from the hand rail on the left and the red version doesn't have the drop shadow like border around it :D
 
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