weekly pjm1's 52 in 2014 week 52 (Support) added... FINISHED!

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Name
Paul
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Here's my index of photos:

Week 1 - Linear/Line (Land line - backlit phone)
Week 2 - Play (High key Ollie with iPad) and (iPad and lego)
Week 3 - Close (selfie - close-up of camera lens in mirror)
Week 4 - Bubbles (erm... bubbles)
Week 5 - Smoke (on the water... misty question mark timber pond shot)
Week 6 - Mineral (green salad in bowl)
Week 7 - Sense (hand and fingertips reaching out from blackness)
Week 8 - Ending (suicide)
Week 9 - Positive (camera and two negatives)
Week 10 - Time (herbs arranged in clock face)
Week 11 - Swirl (Izzy's musical toy slow shutter speed)
Week 11 - Reshoot (nature: bug in macro)
Week 12 - Link (router with selective colour)
Week 13 - Step (Commonwealth games street cycling)
Week 14 - Natural (Ollie in "Kays catalogue" pose)
Week 15 - Action (oarsman in loch in blue hour)
Week 16 - Mono (Landrover in blue hour)
Week 17 - Twisted (boat and mooring rope)
Week 18 - Fresh (fruit and chopping board)
Week 19 - Shape (boulder field in B&W)
Week 20 - Number (5: the lake winding its way through the mountains)
Week 20 - Reshoot (rich: coffee cup and beans)
Week 21 - Strong (bridge)
Week 22 - Texture (shattered glass on table)
Week 23 - Wild (bunny picture)
Week 24 - Dream (holiday fantasy B&W)
Week 25 - Vertical (Mackintosh staircase)
Week 26 - Yum (Isabella in sun hat)
Week 27 - Loud (Tobermory seafront houses)
Week 28 - Rich (cookie making)
Week 28 - Reshoot (Number - train track)
Week 29 - Skill (pipe band)
Week 30 - Half (apple in light & shade)
Week 31 - Architectural (building emerging from pad)
Week 32 - Promise (ring on purple background with bokeh)
Week 33 - Sharp (shaving kit on tiles with blood)
Week 34 - Pure (darkess... backlit camera)
Week 35 - Sparkle (bridge over sparkly river) and Sparkle (cocktail scene)
Week 36 - Fall (lego accident at construction yard)
Week 37 - Communicate (radar tower in sunset)
Week 38 - Dark (dollicide!)
Week 39 - Big (sky with stars and another timber pond photo)
Week 40 - Cut (julienned carrots)
Week 41 - Balance (Taekwondo trophy)
Week 42 - Change (bank heist)
Week 43 - Grow (tomatoes on music)
Week 43 - Reshoot (of Strong: Doune Castle at sunset)
Week 44 - Live (remembrance day poppies) and live wire shot
Week 45 - First (winner's medal and "first light" street photo)
Week 46 - Smooth (low key nectarines)
Week 47 - Attached (high key figurines with attached shadow)
Week 48 - Energy (Ollie & Izzy portrait)
Week 49 - Round x2 (high key peppercorns and low key camera lens)
Week 50 - Nonsense (Alice in Wonderland mental selfie)
Week 51 - Extravagence (HP5+ film shot of Izzy at Christmas)
Week 52 - Support (Daddy holding up Izzy with sunset behind)

Ok, I'm a later starter but better late than never!

Why am I doing this? I want to improve my photography and crit is, IMO, the best way of doing that in conjunction with taking plenty of photos. The problem I have is I tend to take too many of the same sort of photo, so this should free me from that!

I've been photographing since the beginning of the year (with a DSLR at least and ignoring a brief flirtation years ago) so the good news is I've got plenty of improving to do... :)

I have a bit of trying to take a slightly different tack on things. Hopefully I'll avoid the obvious but no promises.

Week 23 (my first week) - Wild


Wild: Bunny Picnic
by pjm1, on Flickr

I'll be honest, it's Wednesday evening so I have two days before my first week finishes so I decided to use what I had to hand to create this one. Kids toys, a back "garden" (jungle?) with grass that needs cutting and an evening sun. At the least, it's a bit of fun!

Edit: here's a link (mainly for my benefit!) to the main 52 in 2014 thread (not the pictures one)
 
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I have a bit of trying to take a slightly different tack on things. Hopefully I'll avoid the obvious but no promises.

Great mindset (y)

Good start.

Nice low angle and a very whimsical take on the theme. Low angle works well and just the right DOF.

Good start.

Cheers.
 
Thanks Andy... I took a few a slightly different angles to the sun and flipped between f2.8 and f4 but this was my favourite one. I need to get more fastidious at checking the frame for stray objects (in this case long grasses) as all but 3 of the shots had distracting OOF grass over the tomato. I'm shooting into the sun but not directly so I think I've got away with it and have a touch of rim lighting on the ears.
 
Hi, always good to try and do something different, the image is as you say "a bit of fun" colour, exposure and composition all good
I think you are being a bit harsh on yourself about the long grass a minor detail
I like it as it is (y)
 
Welcome along to the challenge, and better late than never. I will echo the above comments good start to the challenge. I like your take on the wild theme composition is spot on and the dof works and the focusing is spot on.
 
Thanks Allan, Judi and Mandy. Now, I just need to keep my standards up (this is definitely one of my better photos so I don't want expectations being too high...)

Hopefully I'll actually improve by the end of this though!
 
Ok... I've finally decided. I ummed and ahhed about this one. It is a theme where there are some lovely shots I could have taken (hazy evening shots into the sunlight, rippled reflections from nearby lochs) and I decided that didn't fit my theme of "think differently". Not that there's anything wrong with thinking conventionally, of course.

I also really want to use this project to improve my photography substantially, so there's no point in me just taking the "obvious" shots or things I'm comfortable with. I want to test myself and try to communicate better through my pictures. Whether it's a bit of humour (the last one) or emotions (this one). Let's see whether it works...


Dream - escape to a better life
by pjm1, on Flickr

Crit very welcome on the story, the photo/technique and any guidance on what I need to improve first would be welcome!
 
Hi, another good interesting pic the story works to point the holiday brochures and the money box tell the story well,
the out of focus letters kind of let it down I assume they are bills :thinking:
the composition works , maybe a little more space around it, can't help thinking maybe colour would have been option, though thats probably just me
really nice pic for what is a difficult theme :clap:
 
Thanks Allan - I don't disagree at all, particularly the tight crop which was a big part of the umming and ahhing!

The DOF choice was deliberate to throw the money and bills OOF. The only thing which is crystal clear is "the dream" - the rest is dark, blurry and forgotten. It may have been stronger without the bills there at all or maybe a handwritten. "UNPAID" scrawled across?

I thought the b&w suited the sombre tone of the ultimate message... it's just going to be a dream, but you're right it's also lost something as a result.

I've never really shot "still life" before these two photos so at least I'm pushing myself into new areas!

Thanks very much for the crit - it's hugely helpful.
 
Hi Paul .... welcome to the thread ...I'm sure you will find it really helpful and good fun too.
You are doing really well...great imagination there, I really like both interpretations, I wish I had thought of that for dream :) I also would like to see it in colour.... a really nicely thought out idea....well done with that one.
 
Dream - good interiptation of the theme and it works for me, I like the composition of the image and the way you have chosen to have the focus on the holiday brochures. My only crit is I think maybe a colour version would work better for this image other than that really excellent work.
 
Thanks Susie, Judi and Mandy! It's encouraging to get such positive feedback (even if I think you might be being slightly "extra nice" because I'm new :D)... I will dig out the colour version and pop it up (even if it's SOOC) - currently battling through a bucketload of work so it will be later today!

Thanks for looking and taking the the time to comment.
 
on the bunny picnic, the only bit of grass that to my mind is an irritation, is the one behind his right ear, all the others add to the meadow setting....

tbh I thin kI'd have rather looked at one of the other possibilities you suggested for this theme... the hazy evening light over a rippling loch is definately the stuff of dreams for me! I get the idea you're going with here, but wonder if the piggy bank isn;t the right item to show the lack of cash (not sure what would be). In terms of the image the DOF and light highlights the brochures properly and the close framing lessens any distractions.
 
HI Paul & welcome :wave:

Totally love your Wild shot....brilliant thinking , well composed & shot :clap:

Dream.......good thinking again on a not so easy theme . Can see what you were aiming for & don;t mind the mono but find it a little dark to the lhs & on the money box . Possibly a smidge greater DOF to bring the money & bills more in to play ?

Look forward to seeing more from you after such a cracking start (y)
 
Thanks to you both... it's brill to have as wide a range of feedback as possible and I find crit so helpful in improving! I'm so looking forward to getting the next theme and coming up with more ideas. I might also play a bit of catch up with previous weeks I missed by joining late...
 
Thanks Simon - I used to have a bit of trouble with my focusing but I think I'm getting there... we'll see!

Right - catch up time...

When I've got a bit of time (probably mid-week) I'm going to try to work backwards from week 22 (the last week prior to me joining this). I'll probably not manage to post a catch up pic every week, but let's see.

So here's a catch-up from week 22 (texture):


Texture - shattered
by pjm1, on Flickr

Again, I'm trying to think a bit more about the themes than I might otherwise. For me, texture is "ooh, I'd like to touch that". So I wanted a texture you wouldn't want to touch. Glass is almost textureless until it's broken and then it's the last thing you'd want to feel so it seemed perfect for my take on the theme.

Believe it or not, I spent about 15 minutes trying to break a glass Fever Tree tonic water bottle before I gave up and realised Mrs pjm1 had broken a wine glass at the weekend... huzzah! (I broke it a bit more though)
 
Good work, certainly plenty of texture in the shattered glass bits and the grain of the wood in the table. Like the lighting and its sharp (;)) and well focused.

Only thing for me is that is doesn't look like a wine glass that has taken over and smashed, mainly due to the positioingn of the large pieces, being backwards of the stem. My mind says they would have carried on forwards... That would have probably made the composition harder though. :)
 
Thanks Mandy and Graham.

I did struggle with arranging the pieces without arranging them too much.

To be honest, I'm not completely convinced by it but I'm learning with each shot. The table was quite reflective which actually made the lighting harder. I used flash as the main far left and fill-in light from the sunset to the right. Also didn't help the glass wasn't really clean but I didn't fancy cleaning thin shards of glass!

It was a toughie, but I'm getting more out of these pictures (and crit - thank you!) than I hoped for... and it's good fun!
 
Welcome to the mad house Paul.

Wild - What a great first shot. Good colour saturation to make it a nice bright image. I could imagine it illustrating a children's book.

Dream - I'm wondering whether given the subject this would have been better in colour. Nice idea though

Texture - This one probably works better in B&W. You've certainly hit the theme with both the broken glass and the texture of the table
 
Dreamy, feels a little busy to me and I thought the pity bank was a camera :) on these but I'd like a colour version.

Textures, good detail and I like the uneven lighting.

Cheers.
 
Welcome to the mad house Paul.

Wild - What a great first shot. Good colour saturation to make it a nice bright image. I could imagine it illustrating a children's book.

Dream - I'm wondering whether given the subject this would have been better in colour. Nice idea though

Texture - This one probably works better in B&W. You've certainly hit the theme with both the broken glass and the texture of the table

Peter - thank you for such a nice comment (the bold one)! I've had loads of encouragement so obviously delighted I joined the fun... I'm looking forward to some constructive "negatives" too - it's the best way to learn.

Peter & Andy, I agree Dream isn't quite there. The SOOC picture was pretty uninspiring and I think you nailed it, Andy, that it was just too busy.

I once had some advice: "Decide what is the subject and just have a picture of that with a background. That's your shot." Dream had a lot going on and suffered as a result.

Texture reverts back to that principle, but it's still not quite right - I think the lighting, the table and my arrangement of the glass could have been improved. I probably spent about 2 minutes composing (dragging the table outside, putting my flash on a stand and taking the pic) so perhaps a few more minutes getting it right would have been worthwhile...

I have some ideas for Vertical - I just hope I can translate the good ideas into good photos! (If I'm able to find a subject suiting my top idea I have no excuse: it's possibly one of the most classic compositional shots around).

Thanks again everyone...
 
Hi Paul

Good take on Texture.....the smoothness of the whole piece of glass & jaggedness of the shards along with the wooden surface work well together (y) Still thinking about the lightning , not sure if even would be better ...but possibly not:)
 
Thanks Lynne and Judi... onwards and upwards as they say.

And in this week's submission, we are quite literally going upwards - vertically:


Vertical - Mackintosh Staircase
by pjm1, on Flickr

Again, seeking to find contrast I wanted the opposite of straight lines but still somehow conveying the theme. After a bit of mulling over, I decided a vertical shoot ought to qualify, even if it's of something decidedly "unstraight".

This staircase is inside the wonderful Charles Rennie Mackintosh "Lighthouse" building smack in the centre of Glasgow. If you're ever in the city, check the place out - it's free to enter (donations welcome). Unfortunately at the moment, the staircase is closed but they were happy for me to walk to the bottom and take a picture looking up towards the roof. So we get a slightly unusual perspective of all the "gubbins" underneath the stairs, although I think it's actually remarkably clean in the circumstances (it's being renovated). I've cropped square and shifted very slightly off centre and off-axis which hopefully works?

Comments & crit very welcome - including on the PP style, where I've gone for a more synthetic look (semi-forced as I had to shoot at very high ISO so I pulled NR up quite a bit). High contrast B&W would probably work as well, but I'd be in danger of over-using that style by now...

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi Paul - Welcome to the 52 (y)

Well, I've had a busy couple of weeks, and look your flying along !!!!

I'm a tad behind with commenting on several threads, but hope to catch up this week (no sniggering :cautious:)

Wild - This made me smile when I saw this on the photo's thread, Lovely bright colours, effective DoF and really like the set-up and composition, a fun starting image :)

Dreamy - My main crit, the tight crop has already been mentioned, i like your idea here, well set up again, nice and bright (Maybe at the limits on the brochure) and liking your chosen DoF again, can clearly see your thoughts and needs no explanation - Another nice one :)

Texture - A good original take on the theme, only a thought, but i'd be tempted to flip it horizontally, so that when viewing the fragments come away from the main glass in the flow of reading the image (Left to Right) For the theme I think it works fine, even in one piece, glass has a smooth texture.. I like the light coming from the one specific direction and the glint it has on the fragments, liking your thinking so far (y)

Vertical - Now that's an interesting shape... not so sure on how it sits in frame, I like the square crop and the colours, the more you look the more you see, again nice and bright, loads of nice detail and reminding me of a shell interior, infact I now like how it sits in the frame :)

Well that's a cracking start, good luck with the mammoth catch up, not sure if you will get all the back ones, but good luck and keep the current ones up to date :)
 
Thank you for the detailed crit DK - much appreciated!

One of the things I'm gradually picking up are these little "rules of thumb" which often (but not always) improve an image. Your suggestion on texture with the Left-to-Right flip makes a lot of sense since that's how we read so presumably how our minds are wired (at least here in the West). I'm going to file that one away so thank you!

I've been wanting to photograph a good spiral staircase for a while but hadn't found one. Unfortunately this one was closed, so it's not as obviously a staircase since it was shot from the bottom up. But for me, it adds interest as you see things you normally wouldn't and for such a simple subject there's quite a lot (too much perhaps?) going on. It's not perfect by any stretch and it could well be a bit of a marmite shot because it's certainly not "just pretty". To be honest, I'd be delighted if people start off thinking it's interesting and end up deciding it's ok!
 
I rarely get chance to see spiral staircases and I do like them. Plenty of detail and I like the square crop.

I'd ilke the cross to be vertical and horizontal, and I can also see this workiong well as a B&W.

Cheers.
 
Thanks Andy - yes, it's always nice to find a good spiral! Thanks for the crit... I did have to push the noise reduction and sharpening right up as I shot at 3200 ISO on my APS-C. Just goes to show though what these modern sensors are capable of, though.

I know what you mean by having it all aligned... I did think about that and actively chose not to. I might try to realign in post and compare. I'm happy to admit when I make the wrong choice!
 
I'm actually going to say I prefer the first composition - with the angle and the off centre centre :)

Nice spiral, very shell like.
 
Hi Paul - Vertical, I was going to comment on the cross hair but seen your second edit and I think you were right to go with the first version. Nice sharp image and great depth of field, great shot well done!
 
Thanks Richard... appreciate the comments! I think I'm leaning towards the first one but could easily be convinced otherwise...

Time for a catch up (working backwards). Here is my submission for Strong - week 21:


Strong: The Erskine Bridge
by pjm1, on Flickr

And confession time: I shot this nearly two months ago but I decided that since it is a catch up, I will give myself a bit of leeway.

There is no clever story behind this - I saw the bridge and thought "wow, it looks impressive from down here." As a structure, it's pretty big but in terms of the depth of the carriageway, it's not as substantial as I'd expect - basically it relies on material strength and engineering rather than just "lots of concrete".

I think the wideangle works as it exaggerates the span over the river where there are no supports - it almost looks like it's unsupported nearer to the viewer. I'm not going to pretend it's a great shot because there's lots I'd like to change, but I think it's "ok".

Any other thoughts?
 
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