weekly XenosElaine's 52s Thread - Support added

Hi Elaine

Cut - very imaginative and beautifully executed. No crit from me.
balance - the books works best for me.
Change - changing gear is the one I prefer, it looks a little blown on the first knuckle, maybe some selective dodging and burning required, but it is a well executed shot, well focussed and good composition.
 
mr.si said:
Hi Elaine,

It's #2 for me I think.
I like the simplicity, the clarity and the cleanliness of the shot and natural light shows up the coinage very nicely.

I like #1 but something about it just doesn't do it for me. The colours of autumn are gorgeous and it fits the theme nicely but I think it's the scene that feels too busy for me.

#3 is a good idea and there are lots of textures in there and it's a nice active angle but it's not my favourite.
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Thanks for the comments Simon.
 
pjm1 said:
Hi Elaine... some great thinking for the change theme. As you've demonstrated, there are so many ways of interpreting the theme, so I don't blame you at all for posting a few different ones.

Changing of the seasons: lovely colours and looks very natural. The eye does wander a bit as there isn't an obvious (to me at least) subject point, but that's not necessarily a big issue. The green foliage to the left/top help frame the image but I do find the OOF red/brown foliage a bit distracting.

Loose change has some nice subtle lighting - well chosen: even though it's natural light, you've clearly thought about its direction and quality and I think the image is better for it. Nicely arranged coins and the background of the hand works well (and is also well lit). I think this is a big step up from the previous picture, IMO.

Changing gear is a great spot and something I never would have thought of! I'm slightly caught with two thoughts on this though: 1. slight overexposure on the hand and jumper sleeve (also the shiny bits: ring and gearstick surround) which would be better if brought back; and 2. I really like the stitching on the seat but think you either need more of the seat in view or reduce the DOF and throw all of the background (including seat and stitching) OOF.

I think of the three, the changing gear image has the greatest potential but I think as the images stand, number two (loose change) is my favourite.
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Thanks Paul. To be honest, having my hand in the coin shot was mainly to make it easier for me to tilt them at the right angle to catch the light how I wanted it, but I think it worked ok ;)
 
overbez said:
three again Elaine? ;)

Much better standard this week if I may say.

Not keen on the changing seasons, seems to be too much twiggyness there, and not enough colour, although a lot of that is down to the weather we've had so far. Not completely sure were going to get much of an Autumn. :(

Loose change is a great idea, (one I had too), but you;ve really put a lot of effort into this and really done it justice. Having one of each coin, preceisely arranged in your hand yet still retaining a natural appearance couldnt have been easy. Beautiful light on them, showing of theiur shineyness really well.

And gear change, not sure focus is off if I'm honest... Good composition, nice pink nails and a lovely clean tidy interior. :clap:
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Thanks Graham. I'm just glad I got out on Saturday before the tail end of the hurricane hit, otherwise it would have been all twigs :(
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi, nice light on the coins and they seem to be nicely arranged in the hand,
have to say I prefer "gear change" a different take on the theme, always good to see something different
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Thanks Allan. I enjoy the thinking of ideas bit almost as much as I enjoy trying to shoot them :)
 
blondie606 said:
Flippin'eck Elaine....that's some work rat you've got for the theme's....3 again :jawdrop: i have enough difficulty coming up with one these days !

Think I'm going with the gear change.....a different , obvious but not obvious take on the theme ( if you get my drift ?) Just enough of the numbers on the top of the stick to give context when combined with the seat :)

The Autumn color shots I like but it's a little busy for me with no real single focal point .

Loose change , well lit , good focus but still prefer the gear change :)
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Thanks Lynne. Sometimes several different ideas pop into my head that don't take a lot of work to prepare. Other times, I have an idea that seems to take hours - like the Dark and Cut ones - and once they're finally done, that's my lot for the week :D
 
Richard Gill said:
Hi Elaine

Cut - very imaginative and beautifully executed. No crit from me.
balance - the books works best for me.
Change - changing gear is the one I prefer, it looks a little blown on the first knuckle, maybe some selective dodging and burning required, but it is a well executed shot, well focussed and good composition.
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Thanks Richard. I've never actually used the dodging and burning tools before, but I can see me having a good play around with them in the near future.:D
 
d00d said:
wow! you've caught those coins beautifully.
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Thanks d00d. Funny, I'd never really taken a lot of notice of what's on the backs of coins before and was quite surprised when I saw them this big and realised how much detail there is on them o_O
 
Hi Elaine ...well you certainly act quickly when we get the topic :) I'm still thinking about what to do !

Well done in doing three ...sorry but I'm not struck on the leaves ...it just doesn't emphasisie the glorious colours of autumn to me, but the coins are great ... beautifully focused and you're right we rarely look at them do we. The gear stick is a good idea, but visually the coins are the winner this week for me :)
 
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susiejb said:
Hi Elaine ...well you certainly act quickly when we get the topic :) I'm still thinking about what to do !

Well done in doing three ...sorry but I'm not struck on the leaves ...it just doesn't emphasisie the glorious colours of autumn to me, but the coins are great ... beautifully focused and you're right we rarely look at them do we. The gear stick is a good idea, but visually the coins are the winner this week for me :)
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Thanks Susie. It's funny, but everyone seems to dislike my leaves shot for the exact same reasons that I liked it :oops: :$ I was out for hours and took lots of more conventional autumnal views of woodland walks, babbling brooks, leaves on the lawn, etc, but the sheer randomness (aka messiness!) of the different colours and shapes in that one somehow seemed to be more evocative to me of the word "change". Always knew I was a little bit strange :vulcan:
 
Change #1 for me. Really liking the reds, oranges and greens. I have a similar one as a back up to another idea I have.

Crit, well, it's quite busy and I might have been tempted - if possible - to get closer to the upper right BG foliage as that has some cracking detail.

Cheers.
 
Thanks Andy, glad I'm not the only one with strange taste ;)
 
Hi Elaine :)

Balance - 3 good idea's, the books one I think it is a tad busy and clipped too much, but I do think it would work real well with a low PoV looking up at a tower of books :)

Balanced diet is my pic of choice, could do with a bit more even light, and DoF to capture the berries a bit sharper, but I certainly like your choice of a diet... Mmmmm chocolate biccies :)

Balancing act - A nice fun idea, feel it's a bit fuzzy... but good colors on this one :)

Change - For me it's the Autumn colours, even though again I like your ideas of the hand of change (Great shine and Detail on all the coins) and the gear change (Liking the angle and again the detail caught) I keep coming back to the colours of the leaves and many a layer of colour and shadow in the garden shot (y)
 
Thanks for all the comments DK, very much appreciated.
 
Week 43 - Grow.

I started off doing this one indoors, but I just couldn't get the lighting and background right, so I ended up copping out and going outside to shoot it against a fuzzy bg of trees and sky. I know I'm not going to win any prizes for cake decorating. I'm no Mary Berry and the "icing" was actually a mixture of mayo, flour and a drop or two of colouring, because that was the best mixture I could find to get a decent consistency that didn't drip down the sides of the "cake" (which was actually a large mushroom, not even a cake!), but it gives the right kind of impression if you don't look too closely :rolleyes:

Inspired by the background music to the latest Citroen ads, but I guess that only one or two fellow ageing hippies will get that reference ;)
- Grow larger or smaller?

2078htw.jpg
 
PS I just noticed that weird fuzzy spot in the hundreds and thousands and have now cleaned the tiny grease spots off my lens :oops: :$
 
Yeah like that... No way am I going to eat that "cake" after you've told what is made of.... I might have done before you said. :)

I don't feel going outside was a cop out. The low POV emphasised by the tree and the sky works really well, great colour of the drink too.

:clap:
 
Thanks Graham. You wouldn't want to drink that drink either - water, green food colouring and a little squirt of Fairy liquid to give it a nice head :puke:
 
I like that Elaine :clap: ... outside is definitely no cop out ... give me the great outdoors every time.

I don't eat cake, don't drink green drinks either, so I'll pass. ;) ... [think I've grown enough anyway]
 
Hi, a great idea, my only crit are the labels are a little in your face, nice impro with the cake and icing :clap:

I get the "white rabbit" reference (y)
 
d00d said:
I like that Elaine :clap: ... outside is definitely no cop out ... give me the great outdoors every time.

I don't eat cake, don't drink green drinks either, so I'll pass. ;) ... [think I've grown enough anyway]
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Thanks d00d. I certainly feel far more comfortable with outdoor shots and natural light - just don't have the equipment to deal with indoors.
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi, a great idea, my only crit are the labels are a little in your face, nice impro with the cake and icing :clap:

I get the "white rabbit" reference (y)
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Thanks Allan. I wanted the messages on the labels to stand out because they were really the main connection with the theme, but I agree that I may have overdone it a bit.
 
Hi Elaine

Change
#1 - some good colours in there. A bit abstract ( some call that 'a bit twiggy'). Not keen on oof bit at front
#2- good layout, good details and lighting. Nice range of tones
#3 - excellent idea. Good angle and some good detail . Perhaps a bot overexposed top of hand but agree with Graham @overbez - a very clean car.

Grow =- must admit that I did not see reference to anything else and so not sure about o/s location - but now with the ref, hten the location is spot on. Excellent ideas for creating the 'food'. Fumy how the real article often does not photo as well as one might expect.
 
superpippo said:
Hi Elaine

Change
#1 - some good colours in there. A bit abstract ( some call that 'a bit twiggy'). Not keen on oof bit at front
#2- good layout, good details and lighting. Nice range of tones
#3 - excellent idea. Good angle and some good detail . Perhaps a bot overexposed top of hand but agree with Graham @overbez - a very clean car.

Grow =- must admit that I did not see reference to anything else and so not sure about o/s location - but now with the ref, hten the location is spot on. Excellent ideas for creating the 'food'. Fumy how the real article often does not photo as well as one might expect.
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Thanks Alan. Can't take any credit for the cleanliness of the car - I leave that to OH :rolleyes:
 
blondie606 said:
Hi Elaine

Hmmmm....not quite getting the connection , though someone mentioned White Rabbit which has started me thinking about Alice in Wonderland which is probably not connected in any way shape or form ! love your improvisation for the cake as well (y)
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Thanks Lynne. Yes, the cake and drink come from Alice in Wonderland, but I suppose if you don't know the story it might not be obvious.
 
Week 44 - Live

Wanted something quick and easy this week, because I've got mushy brain syndrome from a stinking cold. So, I set last night's lottery show to record so that I could pause it at the right moment and told OH not to chuck the ticket away. Imagine my delight then as I watched him screw it up in disgust this morning when the wrong numbers came up - and who knew that if you iron a lottery ticket the black ink runs all over it? He was quickly despatched to the shop to buy another one and all seemed well, but who would have thought that purple nail polish clashes horribly with the colour of a lotto ticket?

Anyway, eventually got it all set up and here's the result.

Live the Dream?

2ynfnzd.jpg
 
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Hi Elaine, good interpretation of the theme, liking the crossed fingers a nice touch. Must remember not to put on purple nail polish when out buying a lottery ticket, what will people think :)

we will all know what has happened if we don't hear from you after Wednesday (y)
 
Hi Elaine, catch up time for me...

Grow - I really like this. I think it's a super idea, I love the subtle theme link (but cleverly done) and the photography is really well thought out and executed. There could be really tiny tweaks here and there, but as an overall image and concept I think you've nailed it. I really like the POV...

Live - again, a good one but you set the bar high with grow :) Well done and a good job managing the relative exposures of a TV background and the hand & ticket foreground. Being ultrapicky, there's probably a tiny bit of tweaking that could be done to the cutout/black background (some slight feathering perhaps?) and maybe the lighting on the hand to lift it a touch more, but it's still a really good shot. When I'm being picky like this it's just because you have a great base image to start with... really well done. (y)
 
colours on the TV / laptop screen really pop out, the ticket is nice and sharp.... Great idea, and well executed. Can't ask for more than that.

and you find out tomrrow whether you won anything or not! :D
 
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