weekly Marks 52 for 2015: Week 8 - RELAX added… I'm back!!!

captures.in.time

captures.in.time

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Hi All

Ive been away from photography for two years after a fairly intense spell before that. I did not intentionally choose to take a two year break it just kind of happened due to busy work and family life. But I am determined to get back on the saddle and use the equipment which I knew and loved so well.

I picked up my camera today and gave it and all my lenses a good clean. Reorganised my bag so i'm ready to go. Ive ordered some extension tubes and a flash diffuser as i'm hoping to dabble in some Macro work which I feel I can do in the house on weeks where time is maybe not on my side or I don't get the opportunity to get out!

The pictures I use in this 52 will all be this years work… however I may use photographs I go out and take at any time if they fit in with my 52. I'm also going to make use of my iPhone camera as well as my SLR as i'm a great believer in the fact that photography is about not the image and not the way it's been captured. My attitude to processing is generally quite traditional… I should clarify that by saying I'll crop and fiddle with the contrast etc… even selective colour… But i'm not big on what i'd call digital manipulation! I feel the image should be taken on the camera and only enhanced on the computer… not created.

Wish me luck as I think i'll need it! I've attempted two 52's before and failed. But i'm being less strict with myself this year!

I really hope to get constructive criticism on my images from you all and i'll do the same for others.

Thankyou for your interest in my 52!

Mark
 
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Hi All.

Today I went out to do Photography for the first time in 2 years!

The theme was Patterns so I did what I usually do and pick up the dictionary and read the description. From this I do a bit of a mind map for ideas and then write down any limitations. The main limitation was the serious lack of good light today and time. I only had a few hours and then family life kicked in again. So I decided I wanted to go down the natures patterns as opposed to more rigid geometric form. So I went to the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. When I got there I headed straight for the Glass houses as I felt I had more of a chance of getting something decent in there as everything outside was a bit drab.

I bravely ventured out with my tripod as I wanted to start as I meant to go on and not be lazy with my technique. I was half hoping the extension tubes i'd ordered would have arrived but they hadn't… and being honest I prob didn't have that much time on my hands to experiment. When I got to the Glasshouse and I asked if it was ok to use a tripod I was told it was but I had to get a permit! Which thankfully he produced there and then!

Anyway to cut a long story short I had a challenging 2 hours a lot of which was spent waiting on shafts of sunlight to backlight some of my images. I'm quite happy with all the pics I took but these 4 stood out. I've done minimal processing to them just cropping, tweaking the curves and sharpening a bit. I do all my processing in Canon's DPP which I find fine for my minimal needs. Although I would like to use something that allows me to do selective colour in the future or maybe apples aperture for landscapes.

Anyway here they are… I can't decide on a have… and await your feedback… and I'll pick one later in the week. You will find indecision is my biggest downfall!

1. W00_LQ001 by markelliot77, on Flickr
2. W00_LQ002 by markelliot77, on Flickr
3. W00_LQ003 by markelliot77, on Flickr
4. W00_LQ004 by markelliot77, on Flickr
 
Hi Mark, good start. I'm a fan of botanical photography and you have picked some interesting subjects.

#1 had done interesting patterns, mainly pricey on the left. BY is a little distracting for me. Why f11?
#2 well composed and nice detail in the hrs of the leaf, maybe get in closer to this section?
#3 weakest of the set for me, nice detail, patterns and backlighting, but too many distractions.
#4 is the strongest IMO. good detail, no real distractions, nice symmetry. Uber crit would be that the light is a little uneven. I think this would make a strong high contrast b&w.

Good start.

Cheers.
 
Hey thanks for your critique

1, Not sure about why f11. To be honest it's prob just an oversight… this was the first image i'd shot in two years and spent more time on the composition… F11 was prob the setting of the last pic I took. I agree about the background also but in the Glasshouse there was not much I could do… although being down at f5.6 may would have helped blur it. I guess bit of a schoolboy error.
2, I tried to get closer in but my lens would then not focus … My extension tubes just arrived today so i'll try some close up work in the weeks to come.
3, Is one of these shots I seen in my head turning out a bit better than it did. Again I knew the background was distracting but I'm not sure the botanic gardeners would have appreciated me tampering with it.
4, I agree this prob is the best… yet I didn't want it to be as it was really the simplest of pictures to set up and take as it just set out at the side of the path. I prob should have used a flash to improve the lighting but to be honest i'm no expert in using a flash and so far when I do use it I find the results disappointing. I think there is a lot to good use of flash and I need to do more learning. I also prob need a diffuser for my flash.

I'll maybe reprocess 4 later tonight.

Thanks

Mark
 
Hi Mark .... I can never decide which one to put on either !

I really like the shadows on number one but I wonder if a much tighter crop would work to emphasise them, I'm also liking number two, the way the leaves fan out from the top left looks really effective.
 
Hi Susie

I tried tighter crops but didn't like them… they got a bit unobvious first time round but i'll maybe give them ago another night before final submission!

Thanks for your interest in my 52!

Mark
 
Welcome aboard Mark - really good to have you here and I hope that we manage to break your 2 year photography exile!
And a seriously massive well done for the amount of thought and effort that you've put into going out and getting these shots.

I'm not going to comment on all four, but the standout one for me is number 2.
The off centre composition works well for me, I love the sunburst effect of the leaves and the way that the lefthand bit sweeps around slightly outside the plane of focus.
The lighting works well and the whole thing has an abstract quality to it while still being immediately identifiable.

My only criticism is that I'm finding that patch of sky(?) top left corner and the blue bit bottom left distracting. I'd be really tempted to crop those two pieces away from the top & bottom. I know you'd lose your perfect square composition, but for me that would really strengthen the image without taking too much away from it.

Number 4, which is the one in the 'photos only' thread is a good strong second candidate IMO.
However, it's lacking a little interest for me as it is and I'm actually really taken by @posiview 's suggestion of turning that into a strong, contrasty B&W.

p.s. your link to this thread wasn't working in the 'photos only thread' - so fixed it for you ;)
 
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No2 & 4 for me. No 4 has the edge though . Would be interesting to see this converted to B & W as per posiviews comments.
 
HI Mark & welcome back....see you at wk 52 this year for sure (y)

Nice set of images to kick start your challenge........I'd also opt for #4....sometimes simple really is the way to go (y) If you can I might be tempted to crop in closer to the centre to show off the tightly packed leaves or crop so the central area of the plant is off centre in the image...if that makes sense :thinking:
 
Wow 4 images to start putting us to shame. Image 4 for me :clap:
Good Luck for your 2015 52 challenge.
 
Number 2 for me would be perfect with the crop Sarah suggested. We've got fan palms in the garden and I shot something similar for the 2009 52. Well done on great practice round, and Happy New Year :wave:
 
Welcome to 2015 52s Mark! Four great shots to start - hard to choose between, but I think #2 just edges in for me. With 68 starters for the year, I don’t think any of us have a chance of commenting on every entry every week, but I hope to keep popping in to each thread at least once in a while. Good luck with the rest of the year.
 
welcome Mark

Like the palm shadows on the palm ... an idea that could be expanded upon.
 
Hello.
Four good photos makes it tricky. I like all of them but I think 4 is my preferred shot. I like the closeness and composition.
 
I really like the first one too, great idea for a pattern and agree about the shadows adding something.
 
Hi All

Sorry I've been off line for a few days and not responded to comments… family life has been hectic!

Add addressing various comments by @Bruja @d00d @Dark Knight @blondie606 @SarahLee @posiview @HeartandSoul @susiejb I've come up with the following edits….

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qF52h6]W00_LQ005 by markelliot77, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pJeT6u]W00_LQ006 by markelliot77, on Flickr[/URL]

However i'm choosing the last of the 3 as my patterns picture for the week…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qFauTQ]W00_LQ007 by markelliot77, on Flickr[/URL]

Moving on... I've an idea for Bliss which i've noticed someone else has also tried... but i'm not going to let this put me off as i'd developed the idea on my own without seeing this other shot until today and my twist will be slightly different and it fits the theme perfectly.
 
Love the first of the edits in post #23 - the shadows really make the shot and the colours are striking.
 
Hi All

Apologies for not catching up on everyones week 1 photo yet… I will try to before the week is out!

I know other bath shots have been done but this was my favoured idea when I done my weekly mind map for the theme…. so decided to stick to my guns and just do my shot.

Thankfully my wife volunteered to model for me if I ran the bath, poured the wine and lit the candles…. So here it is...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pLju1Z]W01_LQ001 by markelliot77, on Flickr[/URL]

Tripod was essential… I took about 10 shots and the biggest issue was my wife managing to stay still for the long exposure… thankfully I'm happy enough with this one and I think the wine glass suffering from a little camera shake and lack of DOF. I just let the candles do the work with the lighting and just let the cameras light meter do its job. Bracketed and found the 1 stop over exposure worked best.
 
Makes me think I fancy a bath all of a sudden.

Not sure if the wine glass being unsharp matters or not but I don't think it does as the photo sums up the idea very well whichever way.

If we get themes regarding cooking, or hoovering, or washing up, or doing the laundry I wouldn't get your hopes up that your wife wil be the subject in those! :)
 
Good to hear you have got back into photography, Some great images there, good start to your 52.
 
posiview said:
Hi, I'm not into baths, myself but I can see the appeal. In theme, nice lighting, just the WB a bit off.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Yes ur right to pick up on the WB being off! I deliberately warmed up the temp as the correct WB did not give the image enough of a cosy feel! Maybe tweeking the WB like this is cheating?

Mark
 
markelliot said:
Yes ur right to pick up on the WB being off! I deliberately warmed up the temp as the correct WB did not give the image enough of a cosy feel! Maybe tweeking the WB like this is cheating?

Mark
Click to expand...

I had a quick edit in LR and cooled it down a tad and it seemed to work for me.

Cheating, IMHO, only happens when people deliberately deceive others.

Cheers.
 
I like that a lot Mark. I don't mind the wine glass being OOF - it's implying the wine is secondary to the candles which is probably a healthier assessment of bliss! WB isn't an issue for me for the reasons it appears you've made the original selection... adds to the warmth.

I like it!
 
Nice shot I too like the wine glass slightly out of focus (y)
 
I like it too (y)

Perhaps I could convince hubby that filling the bath, lighting candle and bringing me wine in the bath is essential for this week's theme :p
 
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