Tracer's 52 for 2010 (part 1) - Wk 26 -"Beginnings"

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:wave: Hallo!

I only discovered this forum last August and then only joined in last year's 52 at the tail end. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and found it a great way to get out and take photos, sometimes out of my comfort zone.

I'm really looking forward to this year's challenge and hope I will be able to complete it. I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone else's versions of each theme - I find it a great way of learning new ideas and techniques. However I never look at other entries until I have done my own, and then may not have time to comment on all the others.

Have fun and good luck everyone!

Click on the link to take you straight to the picture.

Wk 2 - "Poetry" Wk 3 - "Chopped" Wk 3 - "Street" Wk 5 - "Speed" Wk 6 - "Present"
Wk 7 - "People" Wk 8 - "Mechanical" Wk 9 -"Play" Wk 10 - "Chemistry" Wk 11 - "Candid"
[URL="http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2492422&postcount=226"]Wk 12 - "Produce"[/URL] Wk 13 - "Quad" Wk 14 - "Shoot" Wk 15 - "Single" Wk 16 - "Stare" Wk17 - "Peace"
Wk 18 -"Indulgence/close" Wk 19 - "Ingredients" Wk 20 - "Stop" Wk 21 - "Isolation" Wk 22 - "Quality"
Wk 23 - "Post" Wk 24 - "Metal" Wk 25 - "Grunge" Wk 26 - "Beginnings"


New thread for the second half of the year here: Tracer's 52 - Part 2
 
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Here is my first entry; I had some other ideas for this theme and was already experimenting with set-ups and lighting, when I had this unexpected opportunity which I just had to use. For the first time in years we were able to go skating outdoors, and these are some of my own tracks on the snow covered ice.

Week 1: Curved
curves1072.jpg


I feel it is a bit of cheat, really, as it is more or less a snapshot. But I like the texture of the snow and how it reflects the colours of the setting sun, and the way you can see different images in the marks.

What I have learned:

  • It is a bit nerve-wracking using an expensive camera with cold hands when balanced on two narrow metal blades :eek:
  • I am not and never will be a very good skater :LOL:
  • I am lucky to live near one of the most beautiful parts of the country :love:

menteith10661.jpg

Me - not quite falling flat on my face!
 
very abstract indeed, I like that the lighting brings out the texture and contours. Looking forward to seeing your other efforts
 
Oh I really like that mate, I can see a nun praying hehe.
 
Texture of the snow if very nice indeed.
Really good take on the theme :)
Look forward to seeing more from you.
 
Very nice, I can't believe the marks are random they look so tidy.

I can see a penguin in a bonnet, but that could just be me :thinking: :)
 
Welcome back to the 52's ;)... I really like that, very abstract. Good textures and it works very well. Fits the theme perfectly (y)
 
nicely in theme with the current weather, great creativity, love the texture and shading of the snow
 
:wave: Great to see you back on the 52 this year and I'm glad that you're enjoying it here!

Now just because a shot didn't take hours of planning does NOT make it a cheat or a snapshot :bat:
Beautiful natural light, great contrast and brilliant abstract design (even if you didn't deliberately "design" it)

You're braver than me to take your camera out on the ice, but great to see you having fun out there. (and I'm glad you avoided completely falling on your face :LOL:)
 
That's a really interesting shot of a really interesting pattern in the ice. I personally see the Virgin Mary complete with halo cradling the baby Jesus. No I haven't been drinking!! :)
 
Thanks folks - I'm glad you like it. And it is fun to find out the different images you see. My first thought was also of the "Virgin and Child", and then if I look at it sideways (head tilted left) I can see Roland Rat... :D Can't find the penguin yet, even though it felt cold enough for some real ones!
 
Ok, I see a huge bum and legs in there, is that a Freudian slip :LOL:
 
Hi Tracer. Welcome back to the 52s - I shall look forward to following your thread. :wave:

This is a brilliant start. I can see a toucan-like bird superimposed on a map of Africa (my geography's not very good :LOL:). It sounds as though you had great fun setting it up, and I think you're extremely brave using your camera on skates - I couldn't even stand up on them.

The light was just right for this shot and enhances the patterns. It would make a fantastic, interesting canvas. :)

Jean
 
Nice pattern in the ice and the light is just perfect. Agree would be nice on a canvas.
 
I love it, it's like a piece of artwork (y)

A great take on the theme, nice and seasonal too. :)
 
Welcome back Tracer :wave:

Nice to see you dipping your toe into the water again (or in your case, skating on thin ice :D

Love the picture and it is NOT a snap :nono:

A great abstract, a great concept, and spot on for the theme :clap::clap:
 
Great texture, good like and intriguing patterns which I spent a moment trying to decipher as if they were ice bound graffiti :) The light looks low which has enhance the shot nicely bringing out the texture of the ice

Good kick off :D and the skating shot is just tops :D:D:D
 
Nice take on the theme.
I like the texture in the snow, and the shading gives a nice touch of depth to the image.

The very first thing that popped into my head when I saw this was, Gerald Scarfe. The curves and swirls and the nose-like shapes, a. nudging the bottom of the shot and, b. top right would all look at home in his artwork for The Wall.
 
Hmm, I can see penguin in a bonnet, but its much more like Roland Rat IMO.

Nice start, not a snapshot IMO, its well composed.
 
jeangenie said:
Hi Tracer. Welcome back to the 52s - I shall look forward to following your thread. :wave:

This is a brilliant start. I can see a toucan-like bird superimposed on a map of Africa (my geography's not very good :LOL:). It sounds as though you had great fun setting it up, and I think you're extremely brave using your camera on skates - I couldn't even stand up on them.

The light was just right for this shot and enhances the patterns. It would make a fantastic, interesting canvas. :)

Jean
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Thanks, Jean! I was having great fun skating - first time in several years - and noticed these interesting tracks I had just made. The camera was safe in its backpack most of the time but I was really glad I had taken it with me.
 
rosario144 said:
Nice pattern in the ice and the light is just perfect. Agree would be nice on a canvas.
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wilmorh said:
I see the penguin too!:D

I like this so so much, very abstarct and striking:clap:
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SpidersEye said:
I love it, it's like a piece of artwork (y)

A great take on the theme, nice and seasonal too. :)
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Thank you, Rosario, Wilmorh and SpidersEye!

Bruja said:
Welcome back Tracer :wave:

Nice to see you dipping your toe into the water again (or in your case, skating on thin ice :D

Love the picture and it is NOT a snap :nono:

A great abstract, a great concept, and spot on for the theme :clap::clap:
Click to expand...
Thank you, Bruja - I got lucky!
 
Somehow missed this one (there are just so many 52's), and it's a cracker. Love the light and detail in the snow/ice. (y)
 
Dark Star said:
Great texture, good like and intriguing patterns which I spent a moment trying to decipher as if they were ice bound graffiti :) The light looks low which has enhance the shot nicely bringing out the texture of the ice
Click to expand...

robp said:
Nice take on the theme.
I like the texture in the snow, and the shading gives a nice touch of depth to the image.

The very first thing that popped into my head when I saw this was, Gerald Scarfe. The curves and swirls and the nose-like shapes, a. nudging the bottom of the shot and, b. top right would all look at home in his artwork for The Wall.
Click to expand...

Squawk said:
Hmm, I can see penguin in a bonnet, but its much more like Roland Rat IMO.

Nice start, not a snapshot IMO, its well composed.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Dark Star, robp and squawk - it was really a fluke as I didn't set out to make those particular marks, but was just having fun. But when I looked back and saw them I thought of artists like Scarfe, and very gingerly got my camera out. The sun was starting to set and the low light was perfect.
 
I was rather put off poetry at school and never really recovered. This is one I remember - it is terribly sad but it used to make me laugh, causing me problems in class...

Week 2 - Poetry

John Keats: "Isabella, or, the Pot of Basil"
It's very long and based on a story in the Decameron: Isabella loves Lorenzo; her brothers disapprove and murder him; Isabella finds his grave, cuts off his head and
"She wrapp'd it up; and for its tomb did choose
A garden-pot, wherein she laid it by,
and cover'd it with mould, and o'er it set
Sweet Basil, which her tears kept ever wet."​

isabella11145smallbgrg.jpg


Her brothers find out and steal the pot; Isabella dies of grief lamenting, "Oh cruelty / To steal my Basil-pot away from me!" Cue sniggers...

What I have learnt:
This is my first attempt at a montage, and I had fun playing with layers and different blending modes. The head was made some years ago in school by my son. I also added a shot of a mossy boulder to give texture.

Lighting was difficult. I experimented with off-camera bounced flash and different relectors but but I'm still not happy with it.

Ideally I would have had a larger, better shaped bush of basil but couldn't get one at this time of year. This is just a couple of tesco plants shoved in an earthenware pot. Also it could do with a better background but I couldn't find any medieval Florentine windows ...

I have actually enjoyed some of the poems I have found here so maybe I will abandon my prejudices!
 
I have a black sense of humour too, and this verse had me giggling like mad! I can see why it wouldn't have gone down well in the English class. :LOL:

The photo works really well. It looks slightly gothic to me and that fits the theme. :clap::clap::clap:

I actually thought how healthy the Basil plant looked and thought it due to the natural, organic fertiliser it's growing in! :D

Jean
 
:LOL: Isabella dies of grief lamenting, "Oh cruelty / To steal my Basil-pot away from me!"

That had me giggling too :LOL:

I love the way that you've brought all the elements together in PP. The one thing (well one of many) that I'm useless at in PP is selecting and cutting images out, so I'm really impressed with your cutting out of the Basil plant.

The ghostly head is brilliant on both counts - your son's imagination in making it and the way that you've added it to the pot. Although I always imagined Lorenzo as better looking than that :D

The mossy boulder texture is the bit that's impressed me the most though. It's so subtle that I wouldn't know that you'd added a texture. But I can see what it's added to the image now I know that it's there.

The only bit that's not quite there for me is the base that the pot's stood on. It looks like you've missed a couple of bits when you were masking it out.

Perfect fit for the poem, and like Jean I think it's got a slightly gothic feel.
Glad that you had good fun with it - and for your first attempt at a montage it is extremely well done :clap:
 
Like the curved shot, take advantage when you can I say - when do you think the next time you can get your skates on without paying throught the nose for 45 minutes? I like it, looks almost like a fat lady putting a coat on - but then I'm weird!

Poetry, I love it, I'll never look at basil again without thinking of this!

Arthur
 
Yeah like this :) it has a wonderful soft feel but without very soft lighting, that's clever. The way it graduates from the top to the bottom is spot on for me. Can't say I'm a fan of montages, but see why you did it (y)
 
A giggle from me too :LOL:

Love the montage, what a clever bunny you are :clap::clap:

And I really like the green background. There's just so many textures to look at too. (y)
 
SarahLee said:
:LOL: Isabella dies of grief lamenting, "Oh cruelty / To steal my Basil-pot away from me!"

That had me giggling too :LOL:

... The one thing (well one of many) that I'm useless at in PP is selecting and cutting images out, so I'm really impressed with your cutting out of the Basil plant.

I had a plain black background so just used the magic wand.

....I always imagined Lorenzo as better looking than that :D

LOL I think he was! But I dare say the prospect of imminent spoilt his looks! :LOL:
...

The only bit that's not quite there for me is the base that the pot's stood on. It looks like you've missed a couple of bits when you were masking it out.

I actually tried to leave the dark base showing a bit - on my monitor I can see it. I thought it would look strange if it was floating in the air, but maybe I should mask the base out completely.

Perfect fit for the poem, and like Jean I think it's got a slightly gothic feel.
Glad that you had good fun with it - and for your first attempt at a montage it is extremely well done :clap:


Thanks Sarah - I'm glad you enjoyed the joke!
Click to expand...
 
jeangenie said:
I have a black sense of humour too, and this verse had me giggling like mad! I can see why it wouldn't have gone down well in the English class. :LOL:

The photo works really well. It looks slightly gothic to me and that fits the theme. :clap::clap::clap:

I actually thought how healthy the Basil plant looked and thought it due to the natural, organic fertiliser it's growing in! :D

Jean
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Thank you Jean - and I'm glad I'm not the only one that simply can't take this poem seriously. The basil did indeed grow particularly well:

"And so she ever fed it with thin tears,
Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew,
So that it smelt more balmy than its peers
Of Basil-tufts in Florence; for it drew
Nurture besides, and life, from human fears,
From the fast mouldering head there shut from view:
So that the jewel, safely casketed,
Came forth and in perfumed leafits spread"

:D :D
 
Ambermile said:
Like the curved shot, take advantage when you can I say - when do you think the next time you can get your skates on without paying throught the nose for 45 minutes? I like it, looks almost like a fat lady putting a coat on - but then I'm weird!

Poetry, I love it, I'll never look at basil again without thinking of this!
Arthur
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Thank you, Arthur! It will probably be another ten years before we can skate outdoors again...

I'm glad you like the basil pot - that poem has bugged me for years so I'm really pleased to have put it to good use at last! :D
 
treeman said:
Yeah like this :) it has a wonderful soft feel but without very soft lighting, that's clever. The way it graduates from the top to the bottom is spot on for me. Can't say I'm a fan of montages, but see why you did it (y)
Click to expand...

Thank you, Treeman - I don't normally like montages either but it seemed worth a try for this one.

Bruja said:
A giggle from me too :LOL:

Love the montage, what a clever bunny you are :clap::clap:

And I really like the green background. There's just so many textures to look at too. (y)
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Thank you, Jill.

mich66 said:
love the textures and colour.. nice lush greens, a welcome sight these days! :) great poem too!
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Thank you, Michelle. I enjoyed working on it while the weather was so dreich outside - and the basil smelt wonderful, with a promise of summer suns!
 
Tracer said:
Thank you Jean - and I'm glad I'm not the only one that simply can't take this poem seriously. The basil did indeed grow particularly well:

"And so she ever fed it with thin tears,
Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew,
So that it smelt more balmy than its peers
Of Basil-tufts in Florence; for it drew
Nurture besides, and life, from human fears,
From the fast mouldering head there shut from view:
So that the jewel, safely casketed,
Came forth and in perfumed leafits spread"

:D :D
Click to expand...


:LOL::LOL::LOL:

So I was right about the fertiliser! :LOL::LOL:

I shall never be able to grow Basil again without wondering what's below the ground. :eek: :puke:

Jean
 
Brilliant (y)

Picture goes very well with the poem and it's all been put together really well - I like this one :)
 
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