weekly overbez's 52 in 2014... Week 52 - SUPPORT added... *** FINISHED ***

Hi Graham, yes, as you say, shame the colours in the granite don't show, if they had, it would have looked 'not of this world' maybe?

Now you know my pp skills are still very much in the beginning stages, but they show in your sooc 2 image, I'm guessing you merged the two images, how come you lost them? Interested because its all learning to me :)
 
Judi said:
I like it, good composition and a nice little reflection (y)
Click to expand...

Thanks Judi

alsjazzera said:
Hi Graham, i sort of like it but not sure about the composition :thinking: cant put my finger on why just seems a little unbalanced
Click to expand...

Allan, I also "sort of like it".... but think that's about the best I can hope for this week. I've had 5 good weeks, wasn't going to last forever. Compositionally, they can go anywhere you want, I placed the big one to the right, near a third, and then used the smaller stack as a balance to that, and also a lead in to the larger one.

Phil-D said:
I'm guessing you merged the two images, how come you lost them? Interested because its all learning to me :)
Click to expand...

TBH, when i processed them, the bits looked just like loose specks of dust (which some of them were - I did wipe down but kept knocking the stack over :banghead:, so I just erased them, neither of the two shots really appealed on theier own, so I put them together to give an oddly scaled "little and large" image.
 
Last edited:
Great shot. I tried something similar a couple of years ago by stacking sugar crystals so know how tricky and frustrating this can be so a thumbs up from me on this one. The reflections work well as does the comparison between the small crystals and the big one. Well done.
 
Hi Graham...I like it, but I am slightly intrigued by the little pile on the left...I really like it and wonder if it would stand alone as an image. If I blank out the right hand side I like the small white pile in the inky blackness !

Oooops just noticed the answers above, but I will still say it :)
 
Last edited:
Delta Skies said:
Great shot. I tried something similar a couple of years ago by stacking sugar crystals so know how tricky and frustrating this can be so a thumbs up from me on this one. The reflections work well as does the comparison between the small crystals and the big one. Well done.
Click to expand...

Cheers Peter, sugar crystals must have been a nightmare!!! They're like quarter of the size of these rock salt crystals!!

susiejb said:
......... the little pile on the left...I really like it and wonder if it would stand alone as an image. .
Click to expand...

cowboy said:
I like your stack...............
Click to expand...

Cheers Susie and Mark, quite a heavy crop to get the stack in on it's own, was a real challenge to get them all sat on top of each other I can tell you.



Pinkbikerbabe said:
:agree: With what she said.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mandy

superpippo said:
Hi Graham

Mineral - I feel like you and Allan@alsjazzera that I quite like it. There is something about the comp that seems strange but not sure what. Perhaps a square crop with both on the equlvalent thirds :thinking: Good reflections and b/g. Would have preferred the larger one to have more dof.
Click to expand...

Alan, the larger one is actually the same size as the others in reality. Shot this with an old 50mm prime, reverse mounted on the 55-300 - can get fantastic magnification :), at the obvious expense of DOF :(. Although now I can use flash, I can actually hand hold it.. Or alternatively... might have to knock up a sliding rail, and delve into the black art of focus stacking.


Click for bigger version (much sharper than this thumbnail preview).
 
Last edited:
Prefer the cropped version. I just don't feel that the OOF crystal on the right does much for the shot wheareas the stack and its reflection works very well.
 
Hi Graham,
I am not sure which version I prefer :thinking:
I think I will just sit on the fence with a choice and just say I like concept and execution of it.
The reflections are particularly appealing, they ground the crystals in a sea of black, you've captured some nice detail in what were obviously small objects.
Good work all round (y)
 
mercurius said:
the OOF crystal on the right
Click to expand...

Cheers, BTW, it's not OOF, it just has a very shallow Depth of Field. :)

blakester said:
I am not sure which version I prefer :thinking:
I think I will just sit on the fence with a choice and just say I like concept and execution of it.
The reflections are particularly appealing, they ground the crystals in a sea of black, you've captured some nice detail in what were obviously small objects.
Click to expand...

Thanks Iain, often if one posts up more than one image (or a re-crop / re-edit), all you get is i prefer a, or I prefer b..... Thanks for avoiding that and explaining your thoughts more fully. (y)

Dark Knight said:
looks like you did loads of spot removal from the SOOC images, would have liked more DoF on the big bit but guess at that size it's impossible !!!
Click to expand...

Wasn't too bad - just painintg black over them, to make it easier to see the bits that weren't quite fully black, I made an adjustment (levels) layer, and pulled the middle slider to brighten the image, blacks stay black, anything not quite black, goes white, and then do the editing on the original layer. But the adjustmnet layer shows the effects clearer. And then delete it when done.

And DOF on the big one, I was at f/16 on the main lens to avoid going into diffraction territory, focus stacking the only way to go. I'll have a crack before the year is out I think. :D

Oh - and when you gonna take that blimmin hat off??? :p
 
posiview said:
I feel either could work individually but don't IMO, work as a pair.
Click to expand...

That's encouraging, cheers Andy, placing the two shots together was a bit of a last ditch effort to try and get something distinctive..... The stack is too heavy a crop really, and the close up suffers from too little DOF.
 
Graham, could you share how you shot this? Did you use perspex or glass for the surface? How did you avoid light flare off the shiny surface? I would like to experiment more with indoor lit shots and am torn between glass (easily broken - at least by me!) and Perspex (easily scratched). Thanks!
 
errr - ok... no laughing mind!

Bathroom sink granite worktop - as said, I was hoping the little sparkly bits in the granite would come to life, and give me a double whammy of mineral-ness.



Use your imagination here, swap the brown towel along the back for a black tablecloth (or card), black deodorant is the camera lens, flash was layed down on its side, triggered remotely, and grain of salt was really that small (the little white speck 2" in from the edge of the worktop).

I think I still had the room lights on, to aid focus (handheld shots), but Shutter and aperture / ISO set to not register any ambient light.

Guess that as the angle of light was nearly 90º to angle of camera, any flare would only be visible more in line with the flash??

Hopefully this (and my last of the whisky bottle) shows that if I can set it up, anyone can. :)
 
Last edited:
overbez said:
errr - ok... no laughing mind!

Bathroom sink granite worktop - as said, I was hoping the little sparkly bits in the granite would come to life, and give me a double whammy of mineral-ness.



Use your imagination here, swap the brown towel along the back for a black tablecloth (or card), black deodorant is the camera lens, flash was layed down on its side, triggered remotely, and grain of salt was really that small (the little white speck 2" in from the edge of the worktop).

I think I still had the room lights on, to aid focus (handheld shots), but Shutter and aperture / ISO set to not register any ambient light.

Guess that as the angle of light was nearly 90º to angle of camera, any flare would only be visible more in line with the flash??

Hopefully this (and my last of the whisky bottle) shows that if I can set it up, anyone can. :)
Click to expand...
Graham, many thanks for the pic and description of your set up for the shot. Amazed at your ingenuity and at the quality of the result you got from it. I thought you might have used snoot for the flash as there isn't any flash scatter or flare in the granite worktop, nor any reflection from the main bathroom light. Great stuff!
 
Think I might have had the flash on quite a high zoom setting - which is supposed to "funnel" the light a bit more. (Can't remember tbh!).
 
I prefer the stack on its own, great image, I love the reflections and the contrast between the stack and the rest of the image works a treat.
 
It's so good of you to do the pull back shots :kisseysmiley:

I really like the shot of the "pile" on it's own. The big grain looks a touch soft to me - but it must be noted that I'm on glass of wine #2 ;)
 
Hi ya Graham

think I prefer the stack on it's own
, sharper , brighter & DOF not affecting so much...cracking whites as well (y)

The original image.....DOF is driving me nuts as it appears oof, partic the reflection of the bigger grain & that' s some crazy magnification there
 
blondie606 said:
some crazy magnification there
Click to expand...

Hi Lynne

That was 1.1:1, apparently I can get 6:1 by zooming to 300mm on the main lens. Just need to find where / how to use it all.
 
Last edited:
Mineral:

Hi Graham. I thinks its easy to read through the above discussion and get lost in the varied opionions regarding the best version.

For me its simple...Regardless of the version / crop a viewer prefers, the baisc point is that this is still overall a well lit, thought out and executed submission. Period!

If pushed to choose a version I go with the cropped version of the stack. For me this one shows off the delicate lighting and supreme exposure control to its best effect. I think the exclusion of the single piece is best as the shallow dof seems to 'jar' with the the sharp focus of the stack when placed next to each other.

Another week gone and another interesting thread with with tips and hints for us all to bookmark. Cheers. (y)
 
Cheers Jason - appreciate those comments... I' not completely sure my methods are best emulated, often a bit Heath-Robinson... and the results of lots of experimentation, and trial and error. (y)

Been a bit of a struggle last few weeks, "life getting in the way of the 52!" sums it up best..... And a not easy few months coming up too, have been thinking whether I'm going to be able to make it to the end of the year without cutting corners.

Had an enforced trip to Scotland last week, and managed a trip into Edinburgh, but the weather was "Grey" to say the least. So here's my "Sense",

Sense of Loyalty / Devotion

Week 7 - SOOC

Anyone doesn't know the story.... Greyfriars Bobby, the dog who stayed by his masters grave for 14 years, until his own passing.
 
Last edited:
Hi Graham
Sense - good image and on theme. Nicely lit for a metallic subject and sharp where it needs to be. I like the backdrop of the Edinburgh stone buildings which adds to the context. Only problem would be that bit of bright sky upper right but I am not sure that it could be cropped out as the balance of the comp would be lost, with Bobby looking into the rhs of the shot.
 
Thanks Alan, yep the sky top right is well and truly blown, (as is the top of his nose), irretrievable even in the RAW file... but trust me, if it had been there, it would've been grey!

Possibly Mandy, but that would have put the buildings behind a bit more square on though, and lost the inscription of his name starting under his right paw. And I kind of like the gaze into the distance, feel he's looking out for his master to maybe return one day. :(
 
There is a theory that debunks the story of said dog in that the dog initially went there because his master took him and when the guy died the dog went there because that's where he would normally go. People saw the dog there and fed him and so he continued to go to the graveyard and people continued to feed him until he himself died. Basically he went there to get fed.

It would be so sweet were the original story to be true.

Anyway, a well-exposed shot of the statue though.
 
Great interpretation but the composition doesn't really do anything for me, it lacks a "wow".
 
Clear, sharp image Graham (y) fits well for the theme with the story :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top