weekly Bobby Gold's 52 Weeks 2014: Week 13 - STEP added

This is my submission for the theme "Swirl", not your typical swirl but I wanted to interrupt the theme slightly differently - swirling wine!

I shot both Swirl and Linked in the same session, thinking that this was going to be the harder shot and Linked the easier one, but as it turned out it was the opposite way around with this being the easiest.


Fifty Two Weeks, 11/52 - Swirl by SimonRobson, on Flickr
 
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So this was a bit harder than I imagined, I had a set-up in mind that I thought would work but typically it didn't work out. I was hoping for a one light set-up but as it turned out I needed three! I'd tried this shot in the past but wasn't that happy with it so the theme "Linked" presented a good opportunity for me to retry it.

I used a Canon 430exII with orange gel to give the white background colour and also whacked up the WB to enhance it further. Then I feathered the fill light with a Bowens Gemini 400 and added some rim light with a bare Canon 580exII.


Fifty Two Weeks, 12/52 - Linked by SimonRobson, on Flickr
 
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Swirl - a different take on the theme, composition is spot on for me. The lighting looks spot on for me.

Linked - a nice simple image, but fits the theme. Again the lighting looks well balanced through out the image. The yellow background really does add to the image for me. All in all 2 very well thought out shots and well put together.
 
Swirl - Wow! I really, really want to know how you set that shot up - was the glass on its side and you've rotated it and how come there are no "legs" from the red wine?

Linked - a very clever idea for the theme and the background was well worth the effort :clap:
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
Swirl - a different take on the theme, composition is spot on for me. The lighting looks spot on for me.

Linked - a nice simple image, but fits the theme. Again the lighting looks well balanced through out the image. The yellow background really does add to the image for me. All in all 2 very well thought out shots and well put together.
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Thanks Mandy, linked was definitely a lot harder than it looks!
 
XenosElaine said:
Swirl - Wow! I really, really want to know how you set that shot up - was the glass on its side and you've rotated it and how come there are no "legs" from the red wine?

Linked - a very clever idea for the theme and the background was well worth the effort :clap:
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Basically you just slide the glass along and bring it to an abrupt halt and then fire at the the same time (I used wireless triggers and also put tape on the table as a marker so that I knew where to stop) it's a bit like the smoke or water drop shots in the way that it's a bit 'hit and miss' I probably shot about 50 frames and ended up with 2-3 keepers. Non are rotated etc, they were framed like this in camera. Btw not sure what you mean about the "legs" from the red wine?
 
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Bobby Gold said:
Basically you just slide the glass along and bring it to an abrupt halt and then fire at the the same time (I used wireless triggers and also put tape on the table as a marker so that I knew where to stop) it's a bit like the smoke or water drop shots in the way that it's a bit 'hit and miss' I probably shot about 50 frames and ended up with 2-3 keepers. Non are rotated etc, they were framed like this in camera. Btw not sure what you mean about the "legs" from the red wine?
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Thanks for the explanation Simon - I can certainly understand why you thought it was going to be the more difficult shot of the two!

"Legs" are the little rivulets of wine (or brandy as well), also known as tears, that run down the side of the glass when you swirl it around. The more alcohol in the liquid, the more distinctive "legs" you get.
 
XenosElaine said:
Thanks for the explanation Simon - I can certainly understand why you thought it was going to be the more difficult shot of the two!
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No problem, I'd like to come back to this at some point and get a big swirl that comes out of the top of the glass.

XenosElaine said:
"Legs" are the little rivulets of wine (or brandy as well), also known as tears, that run down the side of the glass when you swirl it around. The more alcohol in the liquid, the more distinctive "legs" you get.
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I cleaned the glass up in PP as the drops of wine made the glass look dirty. Thanks for the info though, I'll have to remember that (y)
 
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Sorry,but it's definitely the first one for me. The liquid in the second shot looks too opaque - more like paint than wine and I don't think I should say what the shape reminds me of, but I'm sure that Freud would have had something to say about my psyche :oops: :$
 
XenosElaine said:
Sorry,but it's definitely the first one for me. The liquid in the second shot looks too opaque - more like paint than wine and I don't think I should say what the shape reminds me of, but I'm sure that Freud would have had something to say about my psyche :oops: :$
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Yeah I have to say I probably agree with you there to be honest. (y)
 
Time.. you have done really well to get the watch face so free from reflections very sharp nice job (y)

lines.. love the little camera nice sharp shot :)

Swirl..I like #1 the best, thanks for the tutorial too must try it (y)

Linked... is an all round brilliant shot, great background the forks are well focused (y)(y)
 
Hi Simon :)

Swirl - A couple of great images there, and I'm torn between the two... and this is going to sound a bit erratic but...

  • I'm really liking the lighting in both of them
  • I prefer the colour and clearness of the wine in the first shot
  • But prefer the actual angle and swirl on the second
  • But the second is a bit tight at the top, a bit more room and that would be my choice I think, despite the 'silkier' look of the wine
  • Still really like both (y)
Linked - Really like you take on the theme, a nice bright image, I think the vignette is a little overpowering, but also at the same time does concentrate my eyes on the forks, which have perfect detail (y)

Finally thanks for sharing your technique, I must try some gels, Have seen some cheap on ebay I may give a go :)
 
Lighting and colour in the forks is really nice.... bit of banding in the circles... but that has to be down to the resize and compression... bet it's silky smooth in the full size original.

the swirl with the wine glass is something I've not seen before and is really effective. You really are a clever bugger! You know there are still 40 weeks to go, you really should pace yourself! :D

Wonder if (seeing as you have no shortage of lights) another flash to the right on the first to shine through the liquid might have helped.

And cheers for sharing the secret. (y)
 
Swirl - I prefer the original submission. The quality of light has come out really well on this. The background has a nice gradient and the light on the left side of the glass has been well handled.

Linked - I've seen this idea done before but this stands out as one of the better ones purely for the super background that mimics the shape of the linked forks. Nice one
 
Your original swirl and your linked are too excellent shots for me Simon (y) you've captured the wine at a perfect place in the glass, also like the bg, white changing to grey really suits it (y)....its very minor and I could be wrong,( no one else has mentioned it) but as I scrolled the page down I did wonder if the wine glass needed a very slight cw rotation to straighten it :thinking:

Linked- composition, focus, lighting, bg colour, all look great to me (y) really like it :)
 
Simon
Time - lovely shot of the Rotary - my Time also uses that brand and they have lovely straps don't they? Good lighting and I like the comp, clarity and colour. Not sure whether the 'line' should be a little lower - but that's just personal preference.
Swirl - #1 for me (altho #2 looks like it is a piece of cloth and so does have a different feel). Very good lighting and super b/g.
Linked - not much to say on that as i think that is excellent:clap:
 
Swirl, cracking idea and the lighting works really well, especially the gradiated BG. Goo detail and colours. I'd like to see more swirl, though.

Linked, again really well lit and good detail. The BG colour really adds a sense of mood. Uber crit, the forks are slightly off centre. I'd like the dead central or more on a third.

Cheers.
 
Judi said:
Time.. you have done really well to get the watch face so free from reflections very sharp nice job (y)

lines.. love the little camera nice sharp shot :)

Swirl..I like #1 the best, thanks for the tutorial too must try it (y)

Linked... is an all round brilliant shot, great background the forks are well focused (y)(y)
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Thanks for going so far back in my 52 to give crit on all of them, really appreciate it :)
 
Dark Knight said:
Hi Simon :)

Swirl - A couple of great images there, and I'm torn between the two... and this is going to sound a bit erratic but...

  • I'm really liking the lighting in both of them
  • I prefer the colour and clearness of the wine in the first shot
  • But prefer the actual angle and swirl on the second
  • But the second is a bit tight at the top, a bit more room and that would be my choice I think, despite the 'silkier' look of the wine
  • Still really like both (y)
Linked - Really like you take on the theme, a nice bright image, I think the vignette is a little overpowering, but also at the same time does concentrate my eyes on the forks, which have perfect detail (y)

Finally thanks for sharing your technique, I must try some gels, Have seen some cheap on ebay I may give a go :)
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Cheers DK, you should definitely try some gels especially if they are cheap - I saw some of the Rosco Strobist gels on eBay not long back for like £7.99 which is a bargain, although I have the Rogue Universal gels as I like the way that they fit onto the speedlite.
 
overbez said:
Lighting and colour in the forks is really nice.... bit of banding in the circles... but that has to be down to the resize and compression... bet it's silky smooth in the full size original.
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Yeah as you say the banding may have come from compression, looks great in full size. Tbh I've noticed that the Flickr app has given some of my pics banding and pixelation, which doesn't appear to be like that on the full website version... Maybe a Flickr issue?

overbez said:
Wonder if (seeing as you have no shortage of lights) another flash to the right on the first to shine through the liquid might have helped.

And cheers for sharing the secret. (y)
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The problem that you have when lighting glass is that if you light it directly (like trying to highlight the wine) it will bring it every reflection, blemish, refraction etc. The key to lighting glass is to illuminate it, so for this I simply just used one Bowens Gemini bare with kill spill and lit the background top left to give it a gradient (this was the look I was trying to achieve) so to highlight the wine I would have to jeapodise the grad. I tried the 'swirl' on the left side of the glass instead (as you can see from shot 2) and tbh I'm not keen on the look of the wine, it almost doesn't look like wine anymore.

But yeah no problem, I pretty much write out all my set-ups with lighting settings and how I achieved it on the photo description on Flickr (y)
 
Delta Skies said:
Swirl - I prefer the original submission. The quality of light has come out really well on this. The background has a nice gradient and the light on the left side of the glass has been well handled.
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Yeah I'm preffering the original as well tbh, lighting was done with just the one light - I wrote a bit of a description above to Graham.

Delta Skies said:
Linked - I've seen this idea done before but this stands out as one of the better ones purely for the super background that mimics the shape of the linked forks. Nice one
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I've not actually seen any myself, but I can imagine there must be quite a few. I got inspiration from the original which is by a famous Photographer Bob Carlos Clarke, which was part of a shoot he did for Marco Pierre White in his book 'White Heat' which came out back in the 80's (I started out my career as a chef :eek:) so yeah this is more like a homage to him but with my own take on it. Here is a link to the original
 
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Phil-D said:
its very minor and I could be wrong,( no one else has mentioned it) but as I scrolled the page down I did wonder if the wine glass needed a very slight cw rotation to straighten it :thinking:
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It shouldn't be, I use the guides in PS to make sure they are straight - top of the glass looks spot on to me. Might be the grad in the stem that is making it look off? If it is out, I need a good slap :facepalm:

Phil-D said:
Linked- composition, focus, lighting, bg colour, all look great to me (y) really like it :)
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Cool, thank you Phil :)
 
superpippo said:
Time - lovely shot of the Rotary - my Time also uses that brand and they have lovely straps don't they? Good lighting and I like the comp, clarity and colour. Not sure whether the 'line' should be a little lower - but that's just personal preference.
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Yeah great watches and as you say lovely quality straps! I know what you mean about the line, when putting a line through you work it's always hard to judge where to put it, where is going to work best etc. I usually try a few different positions and then go with my gut instinct. Tbh any lower and it would start interferring with the lens flare bottom left.

superpippo said:
Swirl - #1 for me (altho #2 looks like it is a piece of cloth and so does have a different feel). Very good lighting and super b/g.
Linked - not much to say on that as i think that is excellent:clap:
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Thanks so much :)(y)
 
posiview said:
Swirl, cracking idea and the lighting works really well, especially the gradiated BG. Goo detail and colours. I'd like to see more swirl, though.

Linked, again really well lit and good detail. The BG colour really adds a sense of mood. Uber crit, the forks are slightly off centre. I'd like the dead central or more on a third.

Cheers.
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Thanks Andy,

Yeah that is uber crit, that's so tight on the centralised I could barely see it at first - well spotted! Dead central will work the best, if I have it on a third people will accuse me of being too samey - plus I'd have to add text on a third :p:D

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment (y)
 
Hi, first wine shot is superb great idea and well executed could do with a slight straighten maybe :thinking:
the forks again beautifully lit the BG works well.
nice to see something a little different too (y)
 
HI Simon


Swirl...1st image for me....love everything about it , the graduated bg , the clarity of the wine , the shape it's made ....super stuff :clap:...plus reading about how you did has me inspired to try , though I suspect it could get very messy !

Linked......between you & Iain I'm running out of expressive words.....love the color of the bg & how it imitates the shape of the forks , perfectly lit ( again ! ).....:clap:
 
mercurius said:
Swirl - two very good images. Your lighting is superb as ever.

Linked - simple but very effective subject and well shot.
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Thanks mate :)

Tango32 said:
Linked - A really nice image good detail the back-round colours sets it off well
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Thank you (y)

beckyboy1 said:
Much prefer the first swirl the wine looks more real, and up to your usual standard.
Like the lighting and BG in the linked shot more good work and a really clever idea.
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Thank you Micheal, I'm going with No.1 too I much prefer it.

The lighting was a bit of a pain for the linked shot, it would be easy to set-up again now that I know but initially it was a ball ache :eek:

alsjazzera said:
Hi, first wine shot is superb great idea and well executed could do with a slight straighten maybe :thinking:
the forks again beautifully lit the BG works well.
nice to see something a little different too (y)
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Yea definitely needs the rotation tbh, I have all my photos saved in a file so that I can re-adjust if needed.

Thanks for the comments :)

blondie606 said:
HI Simon


Swirl...1st image for me....love everything about it , the graduated bg , the clarity of the wine , the shape it's made ....super stuff :clap:...plus reading about how you did has me inspired to try , though I suspect it could get very messy !

Linked......between you & Iain I'm running out of expressive words.....love the color of the bg & how it imitates the shape of the forks , perfectly lit ( again ! ).....:clap:
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Hella messy job, I spilt wine everywhere and stunk like an alcoholic after (not much change there haha) but worth the effort.

Thanks for the kind words :)
 
Firstly, I am away for the next couple of days so I'm not going to have much time to comment and catch up on other peoples threads until probably early next week - I will do a mass catch up... sorry!

So... this is completely going back to my roots with Photography and my classic 'trademark' processing minus the textures... I grew out of textures...eventually, just like I will grow out of putting a big line through the middle of a photo and writing on it ;D

After hanging up my camera for almost 3 years due to working and travelling abroad I finally decided to buy a new DSLR back in 2009 and with lack of inspiration I decided to have a look online for places in my area. After a fair bit of digging on the internet I came across "Urban Exploration" forums with cool photos of abandoned buildings such as Asylums and Hospitals, and a few in my area... I had to go! I was instantly hooked and after more research I started seeing images on Flickr with awesome PP work that I wanted to try. If you look further back in my Flickr you will see more than a few examples.

This was taken at an abandoned mental asylum and in my eyes this isn't really up to the standard that I require for my Fifty Two so I'm a little disappointed on that front but on the other hand it was great to get back to my roots, for like... A DAY! Would I go back to it any time soon? Hmm I'm not too sure about that, but it was fun!


Fifty Two Weeks, 13/52 - Step by SimonRobson, on Flickr
 
Swirl: The first image of swirl for me please, for all the reason already mentioned and also the bubbles in the wine......for the added interest and 'texture' they provide. The light is spot on and I really like the vertical band of highlight along the left side of the glass. Perfect!

Linked: Another well executed shot. I really like the warm colours here...especially for the fact that its different.....thinking it would be too easy to choose light comtempory colours for this. The lighting is brillinat, yet again, and proof that more efford goes into proper lighting than a person may realise. Thanks for sharing your set-up details too. (y)

Step: oh now here is a subject that really interests me. Urbex is something I've looked at before but never got involved with thinking I'm to old...lol. Really like the old hospitals filled with slides of brains tissue and what looks like torture equipment - such an insightful view into things most will never see. (ps, take me with you when you decide to go again ;))

As Mandy says, the composition is well considered and through use of your're experience, I'm sure you've chosen the best POV available too. Loads of lines, textures, distressed colours and feeling of abandonment here to give the viewer something to think about. Well done (y)
 
Works for me. The absence of any extraneous stuff, dustbins, rubbish adds the the sense of abandonment. Good lighting, almost looks lightpainted.

I like that the hand rail has been removed. Can't work out why at the moment.

Cheers.
 
Works well there Simon - well found viewpiont, plenty of places for the eye to wander to.

any idea about the holes in the floor?? And was there some lightpainting here? Or multiple flashes?
 
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