weekly d00d's 52 in 2014 ... Week 51 : Extravagant

Hi, have to agree with Andy, needs a little more to it, certainly on theme though
 
Promise- Its been well covered, great image (y) for me he had a bit of a futuristic, sci-fi look about him :)

The board pins :thinking: the ideas there, the images its self doesn't look too sharp though, focus for me should have possibly been on the more central blue pin, lighting from behind works well with the slight shadow leading forward :)
 
war games!

sharp2.jpg
 
Hi d00d ..... I can't decide now ..... I thought I liked the second one better, really super clarity and colours in the map, but I just took another look at the first one and I'm not sure now :confused: I think the first one is more on the theme....but I would have maybe have liked to see a big mass of those pins, or even just one...but then I do have some strange ideas :wacky:
 
Silly technical (but non-photo) crit for you, David... you should have chosen a map of Skye because the mountains there (the Cuillins) are much sharper and "pinnacle-y" than the ones you have on the map North of Loch Lomond! ;)

Back on topic, I like the second sharp photo although the saturation is pumped pretty high (probably caused by the very high contrast?) Good amend though!
 
Thanks guys ... I haven't finished playing with those pins yet, in fact I might get some more! :D

Paul ... I used Picasa's "Cross Process" tool on the map image and I'm pleased with the result.
 
Hi David

sorry for the late visit

Architectural.....#1 for me even if a little soft on the "real " building.....well spotted reflection & I like the contrast twixt old & new buildings (y)
The 2nd shot just confuses me :runaway:

Promise.....can't add to what's already been said.....well framed , like the apparent emptiness ...great spot :clap:

Sharp....#2 for me though possibly too many pins ?
 
Definitely #2 for me! The first one, although on theme, just looked a little too random to me. But the second one really catches and holds my attention, with the crossed swords battle site icon adding to the idea of sharp!
 
Promise, I'm with the others - like it a lot, can't stop myself thinking the wall behind is a skirting board, and he's tiny though!

Sharp - hmmmm, they are that, but not much of interest there I'm afraid.

But the edit has just that. The extra colour of the map and the details on it too add the missing somethjing. Nice one
 
Thanks all for your comments. I enjoyed sticking pins in my road map, hope I'm not in trouble for defacing it. I removed some ugly bits like the A Road numbers and added the cross swords.

blondie606 said:
The 2nd shot just confuses me :runaway:
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:)

overbez said:
... like it a lot, can't stop myself thinking the wall behind is a skirting board ...
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:)
 
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Week 34 - PURE

Thought I'd go for pure as in innocent. The statuettes are mine put on a background from a local church.

pure2.jpg
 
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That actually works really well. Super idea well on theme, nice and sharp on the statues.. very cherubic they are too.

You seem to have a bit more softness on the windows (as shot or tiny blur in post?), either way it works well making it hard to say if it was a composite if you hadn;t said.

seeing a very tiny white line round the statues too in places, possibly from the cutting out, but again this could also be a bit of rim lighting as would be provided by the light through the windows.

Like it a lot, nice work. (y)
 
Thanks, glad you like it Graham. Yes, I did blur the BG a little, to add depth.

Thanks for pointing out the white around the edge of the statues. I've done an edit using the "feather selection" tool in Paint.net. I've used it before but didn't think it made any difference .... but it has made a subtle difference here. Life is a learning curve.

pure3.jpg
 
Great job, David. That's an excellent take on the theme - and well executed. The second photo is right on the money for me. Good contrast and light on the statues (not easy) and super stained glass behind. Composition good, composite work done well and absolutely no crit from me :clap:
 
Hi d00d super choice with your cherubs, and a great choice in the stained glass too. I haven't seen the feather tool in Paint ....but it's certainly blended them in well.
the rose ...is beautiful ....the water droplets add that extra dimension...lovely softness and colour tones.
 
Hi David
Sharp #2 - fine for me - weird PP on colour but works, kind of old fashioned look. Good inclusion of the 'sharp' swords battlefield icon to relate to the title.
Pure
#1 - excellent idea and well handled, partic the edit. Good job(y)
#2 - lovely shadows and good detail in petals and droplets(y)

Skill - on theme but I would prefer a tighter crop onto the puzzle and less of the pencil. Looks a bit dark too - the yellow of the pencil could pop a bit more I feel.
 
pjm1 said:
Great job, David. That's an excellent take on the theme - and well executed. The second photo is right on the money for me. Good contrast and light on the statues (not easy) and super stained glass behind. Composition good, composite work done well and absolutely no crit from me :clap:
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Thanks for the rave review Paul

susiejb said:
Hi d00d super choice with your cherubs, and a great choice in the stained glass too. I haven't seen the feather tool in Paint ....but it's certainly blended them in well.
the rose ...is beautiful ....the water droplets add that extra dimension...lovely softness and colour tones.
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Thanks susie. I've got a the tool under Effects > Selection > Feather Selection. I may have downloaded it separately as a "Plugin". Please email for further info.

Thought you'd like the flower. I sprayed the water on myself.

superpippo said:
Hi David
Sharp #2 - fine for me - weird PP on colour but works, kind of old fashioned look. Good inclusion of the 'sharp' swords battlefield icon to relate to the title.
Pure
#1 - excellent idea and well handled, partic the edit. Good job(y)
#2 - lovely shadows and good detail in petals and droplets(y)

Skill - on theme but I would prefer a tighter crop onto the puzzle and less of the pencil. Looks a bit dark too - the yellow of the pencil could pop a bit more I feel.
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Thanks for your comments Alan. I'm not in love with my SKILL shot. It's the first time I've posted a pic where I've used a flash. Should do a reshoot really, but here's a crop ... you're right, it needs it.

skill2crop.jpg
 
The rose shot is great, David. It feels slightly too dark because of the background, but I'm guessing boosting the exposure any more would result in some highlights being blown? Love the water. Lighting would have been difficult by the look of it because of other things getting in the way, so well done.

Skill, I'm not loving but I think you admitted you were the same! I don't think the lighting has worked - it has made the image very flat. Perhaps with some fairly hard side lighting to create a shadow from the pencil over the travel bag advert?
 
Hi David

Your edit of the cherub shot is really good, tidied up those white edges a treat (y) Not my type of image but it works well with the backdrop & bg blur

The rose shot is lovely...an unusual color , water drops give it some life & the detail in the delicate petal edges is great (y)

Sill...crop works much better as it concentrates the eye , agree with Pjm re the lighting
 
Week 35 SPARKLE

Sparkling water with a sparkle on the glass.

sparkle3.jpg
 
Hi David... yes, a smart take on this theme. I actually really like the refracted (?) highlight on the table but your starburst is a nice touch (if slightly "fake")... definitely worth an experiment and anyway, it satisfies the sparkle theme no matter!

For me the composition is just a touch tight, especially at the top. Only other very minor crit is the very left of the table looks like it is blown slightly and recovered? But otherwise very well done for what is turning out to be a tricky one!
 
love the sparkle in the glass, from the bubbles. Not sure the bottle is adding much to the shot. Being a bit dark and no visible bubbles in there. Also maybe a touch too far away from the glass?

Looks a touch stretched horizontally too.

Think the tablecloth under is perfect and the "ching" on the rim of the glass is beautifully done. As well as the nice strong but soft shadow coming from the glass. (y)
 
Hi d00d ...is this on the main thread ....I couldn't find it....maybe it's just me :confused: I love the glass with the fizzy bubbles and the little highlight ...perfect position...I think with a bit more space at the top this would be fine as a stand alone image. There's also a nice green sparkly reflection coming from the green bottle (it's a great colour) but I would like to see it closer to the glass.
 
Hi guys ... thanks for your thoughts. I wasn't totally happy with this, was going to reshoot and post that on the main thread but haven't got around to it. I don't remember cropping it so close to the glass at the top!o_O
 
Hi, skill reshoot is better than the original ones, though it does look like an ad for a pen a little
sparkle works to an extent though i am not sure about the BG maybe crop the light bits on the right
fall is a great idea and well captured, bet you had a few attempts at that
 
the thing that stands out from the skill reshoot is the OOF girl in the top right corner!, also wonder if seeing as the puzzle isn;t finished, the lid should still be on the (other end of the) pen?

agree with Allan sparkle works to some degree, wonder if it needs something else? dunno what though?

fall is the best of these three, great idea and well executed, perfectly vertical and horizontal for the shelf and the books, working really well in the corner, now.... is that real motion blur or added in post? :thinking:, I honestly can't say for sure.... so (y) either way!

Do like a Jack Reacher book too! :)
 
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Hi David - that's a cracking idea for fall. Really smart and superbly captured movement (I'm not as sceptical as some others ^^^ ;))

Well composed and set up and the only thing I might have thought about adding was some directional light from the right so that the area the book has come from is in real shadow and in contrast to the rest of the wall. You could perhaps up the exposure a touch as well (white wall will likely lead the meter to underexpose the scene by default)?

But a great take and it's very nice to see something different (y)

Skill reshoot is definitely stronger than the original, but I find myself looking at the writing on the pen rather than the sudoku puzzle! It's a difficult scene because newspapers are such busy pages so there's a lot to distract the eye. Definitely a big step in the right direction though and I'm stumped how it could be improved much beyond what you've done already... good job!

Sparkle has some great elements and some other bits I'm less keen on. The good: I LOVE the striped pattern shadow on the table - I think that's a brilliant backdrop and I'd definitely like to see you use that more as a surface for shots. It's really superb and for me creates just the right amount of interest given it's "background". Unfortunately, that makes the shadow from the glass less distinct and it might be you need a touch more ambient to provide a little contrast between the two shadows? I do really like the refraction "V" of light cast just inside that shadow as well.

What I'm not such a fan of: the table abruptly stopping just before the rim of the glass. I realise it means you would need a higher POV, but I'd prefer to see no other background apart from the table - so shooting higher should give you that (although it will be a less flattering shot of the glass). The only other option is to bring the glass towards you more and/or reduce the ambient and have some light coming from camera side so that we can see the table but it fades quickly to black by the top of the frame. Not sure if that makes sense?

You also really need to lose the chair (?) far right of frame... it spoils the shot a bit for me, especially as it's OOF and makes me wonder what it is...

It's an interesting shot with some very cool features - perhaps a tweak here & there and it could be properly "wow", given it's just a simple glass of sparkling water :)
 
Hiya d00d :) well done on a big catch up session there.

You've really nailed the focus on Skill...and a super Sparkle although I would definitely nip that right hand (chair) side off.

Love your idea for fall.....a clever take on the theme....and you've captured a really super blurry falling book.

(On The Other Hand is a very good read too :))
 
Thanks Allan, Graham, Paul, Susie ...

Yes SKILL does look very much like a pen promotion o_O ... and perhaps the chair in SPARKLE should be cropped, I thought at first it added something to the image but maybe not. I'm quite pleased with FALL and no it's not a shopping job, although say about four layers of the book moving may have produced - in many ways - a better result. Doing it the honest way proved not too difficult: the paperback bent/buckled and fell surprisingly slowly, I was there with my right hand ready to catch it and my left firing the remote. I think now that it would work better with patterned wallpaper ... add interest and give the camera something to focus on.
 
Hi, missed a few....

Quick catch up:

Skill, on theme, but I'd like the pen in focus. I never got Sudoku :thinking:

Sparkle, you've doen really well here to control the highlights, especially in the glass and I like the faint shadow and light pattern at the base. Slight crop, maybe to remove the RH distractions.

Fall, looks ever so slightly under exposed but nice movement in the falling book...maybe a little further along the fall but it's an idea that I never had.

Cheers.
 
been out on the streets with a long lens, got a selection of different shots, most featuring a mobile phone, and this is my favourite.

WEEK 37 ... COMMUNICATE


Communicate.jpg
 
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