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

Hi Paul
Line - not my favourite of yours. All a bit underwhelming I feel. Like the angle and the clarity on the numbers. I would prefer to see all of the handset and the starburst is good as such but seems a bit incongruous in its position. Also a few too many small bright spots which could be dust or scratches but which detract.

Attached - on theme and like the lighting, partic the position of the source, throwing the shadow towards the viewer. Good also that the shadows of each become 'attached' to each other. Maybe a bit more contrast or a bit whiter

Energy - on theme for me - the expressions are animated, indicating interest and energy. Your little girl does look a bit unwell - something about the eyes. . Like the matching colours which helps the shot and you have handled the separation very well given the white clothes on white b/g. I like the lack of eye contact in the context of the theme because it is as if something has caught their attention sort of down to the right off camera and they are reacting to it with their eyes and expressions. Pleasant shot all round (y)
 
superpippo said:
Hi Paul
Line - not my favourite of yours. All a bit underwhelming I feel. Like the angle and the clarity on the numbers. I would prefer to see all of the handset and the starburst is good as such but seems a bit incongruous in its position. Also a few too many small bright spots which could be dust or scratches but which detract.

Attached - on theme and like the lighting, partic the position of the source, throwing the shadow towards the viewer. Good also that the shadows of each become 'attached' to each other. Maybe a bit more contrast or a bit whiter

Energy - on theme for me - the expressions are animated, indicating interest and energy. Your little girl does look a bit unwell - something about the eyes. . Like the matching colours which helps the shot and you have handled the separation very well given the white clothes on white b/g. I like the lack of eye contact in the context of the theme because it is as if something has caught their attention sort of down to the right off camera and they are reacting to it with their eyes and expressions. Pleasant shot all round (y)
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Cool, thank you for the detailed crit, Alan - it's appreciated and very helpful. Line was one of those where I had an idea, but the execution didn't really live up to it. Individual bits are ok, but the whole doesn't really hang together. Still - gives me stuff to work on :)

Attached - glad you liked it and I was pleased with my quick setup. I had been mulling over the idea in my mind for a while (a few days) and I'm glad I managed to capture something pretty close to what I was imagining. I did think about more contrast, but for once I wanted more of a midtone look... unusual for me and B&W!

Glad you liked Energy and whilst there is plenty more I can improve on, I think it's me moving in the right direction with portrait shots. I will take more shots when they're both better... winter's probably not the best time in that regard!

Cheers as always and time for me to catch up with comments... (y)
 
Hi Paul ....I was just going to say well done with the white clothes against the white background, but noticed Graham mentioned it ...but I'll say it anyway :) Those white backgrounds do make for some great portrait shots. It's so nice not to have items of furniture causing distractions.

Your children look gorgeous of course ...two little cherubs :) but for the theme, it would be nice if there was a bit more action going on. Although your daughter looks really gentle ...I can't imagine them beating each other up like my grandsons do !
 
susiejb said:
Hi Paul ....I was just going to say well done with the white clothes against the white background, but noticed Graham mentioned it ...but I'll say it anyway :) Those white backgrounds do make for some great portrait shots. It's so nice not to have items of furniture causing distractions.

Your children look gorgeous of course ...two little cherubs :) but for the theme, it would be nice if there was a bit more action going on. Although your daughter looks really gentle ...I can't imagine them beating each other up like my grandsons do !
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Thanks Susie... as you well know, they're never cherubs all the time! Izzy is a little cutie but she's made Ollie cry more than the other way around... she's a feisty one and her special kung fu move is pulling Ollie's hair. I suspect he'll get his own back when she's older!

Thanks for commenting. The background is one of the best photography "investments" I've made: it wasn't that cheap (£50) but it's white on one side and black on the other, so basically two-in-one for that price. The way I justified it was if we went to get a family photoshoot, we'd spend over £100, so this was a lot cheaper and a lot more fun! Only downside is I now have a queue of friends and family members wanting to take up my weekends before Christmas...
 
Ok, a bit of a placeholder / reserve shot for Round. I had semi interesting thoughts to do a selfie of sorts but that's not going to work now... you'll all have to hang on for another week or three for that :)

I thought a macro shot would be a good idea for this... basically things which look round often look far less round when you get really, really close. And it appears that peppercorns (of all varieties) follow this principle:


Not quite as round as they seem by pjm1 (Paul), on Flickr

Lighting was my "usual macro" for still objects: first key light from left - very close and diffuse, reflector very close on right bouncing back, overhead second key light (again, very close and diffuse)... basically the light sources are just out of frame - which given this is a macro shot shows how close they were! But then at f/22 indoors lots of light is pretty much essential.

I liked the high key shot, but then decided it was all dark outside so why not shot a low key shot of something round? Well, I have a new lens (but no camera... long and very annoying story!) and that's round...


New lens by pjm1 (Paul), on Flickr

Lighting here was more difficult, and I can't say I'm totally happy with the lighting off the glass element(s) of the lens. I did want reflections there but they are, of course, very difficult to manage with convex object (as described in my post to Blondie in the main comments thread!) Key light diffused and close from right, just out of frame - which gives the (IMO) nice band of light showing the roundness of the lens barrel. Reflector on other side (frame left) which gives a second, much softer light on the other side of the barrel and fills in a bit of shadow. Light to give the reflection(s) in the glass from above through a shoot through umbrella which you can clearly see. I'm struggling a bit with why these reflections don't work - maybe that there are simply too many, too confused etc.

I think I'm fairly pleased with the low key look of the photo, excluding the glass.

Probably hard to get two more opposite shots of the same theme!
 
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Hi, Paul, two decent placeholder. #1 is a nice fresh submission and the reds work well. I like the fact you've cropped some of them, but would like to see the front peppercorns on focus and then the focus to fall off.

#2, a wonderfully clean, well lit photograph, again with a good, close crop.

Cheers.
 
posiview said:
Hi, Paul, two decent placeholder. #1 is a nice fresh submission and the reds work well. I like the fact you've cropped some of them, but would like to see the front peppercorns on focus and then the focus to fall off.

#2, a wonderfully clean, well lit photograph, again with a good, close crop.

Cheers.
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Yes, that's a valid point... but with the wafer thin DOF, focusing even closer would have reduced that even further. I could have pushed it to f/32 (think my lens goes that small) as I'm already well into diffraction territory and the flashes had plenty more power left in them. I do seem to default to "get the middle bit in focus" - it was the same for my "Time/Thyme" shot (the clock made out of herbs) which also seemed to divide opinion.

Thanks for looking Andy and I appreciate you commenting given the shots are not quite what I was after!

Pinkbikerbabe said:
Round - two very interesting placeholders I have to say, I like the lens very nice indeed. I look forward to seeing what else you may have to offer for this theme.
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Hiya Mandy, thanks for commenting. The lens is indeed a nice looking lens but I have yet to try it out in anger. Replacement camera body en route from Germany (quicker than Japan and hopefully more reliable) and fingers crossed it will arrive in time for Christmas. Although not sure a 50mm medium-format lens will be much use for the "usual" Christmas photos as it's the equivalent of a 25mm in 35mm language and about 16mm in APS-C...
 
Hi Paul, out of the two I have to say the lens, really well lit don't think there is anything you could do about the glass reflections and I do feel you needed a little bit of reflection anyway or it would have looked like a black hole

The peppercorns not really doing it for me it's nicely detailed and well lit but I think compositionally it doesn't really work, although the reds do add an interesting touch to it
 
I see what you're doing now Paul, after 20-odd weeks of having to bash in 2 shots.... you've got into a bit of a habit. :p ;)

Firstly, two very different lighting challenges both handled impeccably, like Allan, once the lovely amount of detail in the corns has been explored, there's nothing to hold the attention really. Highlights on these work super well.

The lens, bummer to hear the sorry tale regarding this one...... something that should be such an anticipation and exciting, turns out to be a bit of a let down before you even start. Chin up - I'm sure you;ll make the best of the situation. :)

Lovely lighting again here, you've got a beautiful gradient on that RHS, falling off and then coming back less strongly on the LHS, really showing off the roundness of the object, all of the individual ridges visible in the black, the top reflecttion of he umbrella could be seen as a tad distracting, but again, it hints at the gentle convex shape, and (like the lens body) looks lovely and clean.

Only crit is on the crop on the lens, viewed big, FS on flickr, it adds black to either side. Which works much much better for me. thats all. (y)
 
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Hi Paul. Sorry I've not been around on your thread much...

Live: You dont need any of us to tell you what a great shot this is. The regular shots of the poppies around the tower became tiresome and this one is so refreshing and certainly stands out from a mile. DOF is perfect and the colour in the sky really nice to see and of course the bokeh lights are always an instant souce of appeal. Seems to me like it could use the slightest of counter-clockwise rotation?

First: Medal: Makes me smile the thought of you all crouched up in the bath to take a photo. To be honest I cant picture this one on gloss black, get the feeling the toy like medal would sit a little uneasy against a serious black background. The bath has worked a treat here and the light falls off nicely towards the top of the picture. Would be tempted to clone the black spot on the bottom of the medal though I know you like to err on the side of keeping things 'as seen'. In general really like this - Bright, punchy and crisp. Good work Paul.

Street shot: Works for me. Nice lead in lines adding perspective and an interesting contrast between modern building foreground left and the older building background right. Guess we could discuss the need for a subject endlessly and without conclusion but for me the view I see speaks of quiet empty streets which fits what I'd hope to see at first light.

Play: Ipad. A cracking shot. The old vs new theme is so topical and this picture tells that story without requirement for any wordy debate. I like the desaturated background blocks and you've done well on the counter-balancing vignette added :). I really like how you're not afraid to use dynamic cut-off crops on your tabletop photography as you've done here too. Works well for me and like that rusty orange colour on the i-pad too (y)


to be continued.......
 
Hi Paul,

I very much like your high key round shot. The colours really work and I like how you describe your set-up. It helps people like me! Your lens shot is great too, but the other stands out to me! (I'm fickle and like the colour).

Looking further back, your energy shot of your children is great. Nice pose and I can certainly see they have a lot of potential energy within them!

Your attached shot is good too, very simple but I think it's the long shadow which makes it what it is.

Si
 
Hi Paul

I've peeked at this ENERGY shot a few times over the past week or so and still not sure what to say. You must be a very proud father. The image is ... erm ... technically excellent! But why aren't they fighting, hugging, whatever kids do and showing their true personality!
 
I love the ROUND peppercorn shot, I suppose partly because I'd never have guessed they were peppercorn! Fantastic colours, well composed and lit but I do agree with Andy when he says "would like to see the front peppercorns on focus and then the focus to fall off".

No comment on the lens shot other than to say I adore quality shots of quality camera equipment. (y)
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi Paul, out of the two I have to say the lens, really well lit don't think there is anything you could do about the glass reflections and I do feel you needed a little bit of reflection anyway or it would have looked like a black hole

The peppercorns not really doing it for me it's nicely detailed and well lit but I think compositionally it doesn't really work, although the reds do add an interesting touch to it
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Thanks Allan - I wasn't convinced by the peppercorns which was why I went for a slightly different crop, losing the sides. It probably needed pestle & mortar in there as well, perhaps further away in the background but with such a shallow DOF it would have needed to be a non-macro shot. Hmmm...

Glad you like the lens :) Looking forward to getting out to shoot with it hopefully tomorrow!

overbez said:
I see what you're doing now Paul, after 20-odd weeks of having to bash in 2 shots.... you've got into a bit of a habit. :p ;)

Firstly, two very different lighting challenges both handled impeccably, like Allan, once the lovely amount of detail in the corns has been explored, there's nothing to hold the attention really. Highlights on these work super well.

The lens, bummer to hear the sorry tale regarding this one...... something that should be such an anticipation and exciting, turns out to be a bit of a let down before you even start. Chin up - I'm sure you;ll make the best of the situation. :)

Lovely lighting again here, you've got a beautiful gradient on that RHS, falling off and then coming back less strongly on the LHS, really showing off the roundness of the object, all of the individual ridges visible in the black, the top reflecttion of he umbrella could be seen as a tad distracting, but again, it hints at the gentle convex shape, and (like the lens body) looks lovely and clean.

Only crit is on the crop on the lens, viewed big, FS on flickr, it adds black to either side. Which works much much better for me. thats all. (y)
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Ha ha Graham... yes, you are probably right. Got myself in a right old habit that I can't break. I should put all my effort into a single shot, rather than have two nearly shots though!

I also like it with more black around - very good point. Thanks for looking!
 
JasonGlyn said:
Hi Paul. Sorry I've not been around on your thread much...

Live: You dont need any of us to tell you what a great shot this is. The regular shots of the poppies around the tower became tiresome and this one is so refreshing and certainly stands out from a mile. DOF is perfect and the colour in the sky really nice to see and of course the bokeh lights are always an instant souce of appeal. Seems to me like it could use the slightest of counter-clockwise rotation?

First: Medal: Makes me smile the thought of you all crouched up in the bath to take a photo. To be honest I cant picture this one on gloss black, get the feeling the toy like medal would sit a little uneasy against a serious black background. The bath has worked a treat here and the light falls off nicely towards the top of the picture. Would be tempted to clone the black spot on the bottom of the medal though I know you like to err on the side of keeping things 'as seen'. In general really like this - Bright, punchy and crisp. Good work Paul.

Street shot: Works for me. Nice lead in lines adding perspective and an interesting contrast between modern building foreground left and the older building background right. Guess we could discuss the need for a subject endlessly and without conclusion but for me the view I see speaks of quiet empty streets which fits what I'd hope to see at first light.

Play: Ipad. A cracking shot. The old vs new theme is so topical and this picture tells that story without requirement for any wordy debate. I like the desaturated background blocks and you've done well on the counter-balancing vignette added :). I really like how you're not afraid to use dynamic cut-off crops on your tabletop photography as you've done here too. Works well for me and like that rusty orange colour on the i-pad too (y)


to be continued.......
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Hi Jason - thanks for the very detailed crit. I think you're being very kind on a few points but I'll take that ;) Thank you!

Live - I toyed with the "level" on this for a while... hmmm... still don't know!
First - just goes to show, sometimes the simplest things. No particular fancy lighting and definitely no fancy "set" :)
Street - glad it's worked a bit and it's certainly helped hone my style on these sorts of images. Now as soon as I get my medium format beast out with some TriX or Ilford loaded, I'll be rattling off a few more!
Play - glad you liked that one... it wasn't universally favoured, and I did think my subsequent Play shot (of Ollie with a very high key background) worked better. But glad it's working for you! (y)

mr.si said:
Hi Paul,

I very much like your high key round shot. The colours really work and I like how you describe your set-up. It helps people like me! Your lens shot is great too, but the other stands out to me! (I'm fickle and like the colour).

Looking further back, your energy shot of your children is great. Nice pose and I can certainly see they have a lot of potential energy within them!

Your attached shot is good too, very simple but I think it's the long shadow which makes it what it is.

Si
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Hi Simon, thanks for looking. I enjoy describing my setup, partly because it reinforces in my own mind what I did and why, but also because I remember the first time I wanted to explore lighting and just didn't have a clue... what I was searching for were examples of "if you do this, then this is the outcome". If you want my best tip, go out and get Light: Science and Magic. Send me a message and I might be able to dig out a copy for you if you're interested.
 
d00d said:
Hi Paul

I've peeked at this ENERGY shot a few times over the past week or so and still not sure what to say. You must be a very proud father. The image is ... erm ... technically excellent! But why aren't they fighting, hugging, whatever kids do and showing their true personality!
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Thanks David... you're right, this was the only one of the 30 shots which had them not doing some/all of those things!! I reckon that's why they look too far apart... any closer and they're like magnets :)

d00d said:
I love the ROUND peppercorn shot, I suppose partly because I'd never have guessed they were peppercorn! Fantastic colours, well composed and lit but I do agree with Andy when he says "would like to see the front peppercorns on focus and then the focus to fall off".

No comment on the lens shot other than to say I adore quality shots of quality camera equipment. (y)
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No worries re: the round shots. Neither is perfect by any stretch, but it's keeping me in it!

Good news is my new (old) camera arrived this morning from Germany. To replace the WRONG camera which arrived previously (and to which my 50mm lens didn't attach - because it was the WRONG camera!) I haven't managed to get out to use it yet, but plan to do so tomorrow or over the weekend at the latest. I have half a roll of HP5+ B&W film to use up (well, more than half actually - 7 frames out of the 10 left)... so planning to shoot as soon as I can :)

But, in the spirit of sharing my excitement with you all, I thought I'd post a round (fisheye) shot of it, since that's vaguely on-theme...ish:


New camera! by pjm1 (Paul), on Flickr

(Lighting setup was really quick and simple so far from perfect: bounce flash off ceiling and a big fat diffused flash behind the subject, to light up the backdrop and also provide some backlighting... overdid it a bit but hey ho). Fisheye was actually achieved in Photoshop because the closest I have is only a 17mm rectilinear lens!
 
Hi Paul

Round
#1 - peppercorns etc - some good detail and good choice of colours but after that not a lot going on for me.
#2 - much better. Exceptionally clear with good light showing the roundness of the barrel. Reflections in the glass do not bother me because of the clarity and detail in the main part which really grabs the attention. Quite sensuous almost chocolatey brown on my monitor with those flashes of colour.(y)

New/old camera looks super.
 
superpippo said:
Hi Paul

Round
#1 - peppercorns etc - some good detail and good choice of colours but after that not a lot going on for me.
#2 - much better. Exceptionally clear with good light showing the roundness of the barrel. Reflections in the glass do not bother me because of the clarity and detail in the main part which really grabs the attention. Quite sensuous almost chocolatey brown on my monitor with those flashes of colour.(y)

New/old camera looks super.
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Thanks Alan... just desperate to get out there and try it (and then I'll be desperate waiting for the developed film to come back!!)
 
Hi Paul ...Im a bit late in this week ...two smashing round shots ...great idea with the peppercorns , I would never have thought of that one, the red really adds another dimension to what would have been a rather plain shot.

Love the camera lens, a smart classy image.
 
Line - Blimey week 1 !! I prefer the closer cropped edit. Nice BW shot with the added attraction of the starburst. If I'm nitpicky I find the bright line on the left hand side a little distracting. Clamps for reflectors plus other stuff have been clothes pegs before now but we've since moved up to those black and orange plastic clamps you can get in pound shops like this. We've got a few of varying sizes

Attached - ooooooo super mono image. Very arty. This is a great example of why you don't always have to have brilliant white surfaces/backgrounds. Please remind sometime. The positioning of the subjects is well thought out and the lighting is absolutely spot on especially with the slight glow on the heads and the elongated shadow. One of my favourites.

Energy - You've talked about the lighting and i think you've almost got it. For me it feels a little flat so having a stronger light on one side may have helped. I don't do kids (probably as a result of having 7 & 19 year old boys) but I think this would go down well with family and friends. Trouble is Sarah has talked me in to helping out shooting a 12 day old on Sunday ;-]

Round - I like both but #1 stands out for me. Beautifully lit and with the textures and colours jumping ut of the screen. I could imagine this as a series of similar images on the wall of a restaurant or tea room.

Super camera BTW. I've still got a Bronica SQA and feel that improved my photography when I got it (worryingly about 25 years ago) as you only got 12 frames on a roll plus everything was the wrong way round in the view finder. As a result you slow right down. Something I feel I do when out with landscapes but admittedly not in the studio.
 
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Hi Paul

Energy.........hmmm, as you know , I don't "get" kiddy shots or ,come to think of People shots in general ! I will say , well exposed , hint of a shadow to ground them & sharper than a sharp thing.......:)
You mentioned that something didn't seem to work for you on this shot ( poss your little girl being poorly ?) The thing that stands out to me is that it looks like to completely separate images joined seamlessly.....poss because of how they are sitting & their differing heights....no contact & side by side plus eye's looking in different directions ? Dunno , but that's what jumps out at me....sorry

Round...lens shot for me , really well handled exposure & a cracking close -up (y) Glad your camera finally arrived :)
 
Attached: Its exactly the low contrast appoach you've used that caught my attention and intrigued my senses. Negative space works well and of course the diaganol shadow and elevated point of view add to the overall feel. Refined and confident piece of work on this. One of my fav's of yours I think.

Round: Peppercorns. A really accomplished macro pic. Lighting is superb and the DOF perfect. Lovely and sharp to where it counts and so nice to study the differnt shapes, textures and colours in this.
Round: Lens. Beautiful classy shot. Dark background and subtle lighting have worked well and I think you should give yourself more credit for this one than you have. Glad too that your foray into film and associated equipement is finally coming together for you. All the best with that and hope you have lots of fun man (y)
 
Susie, Peter, Lynne and Jason - thanks for comments, will respond to each of you later today!

Just a very quick post to get this week's up:

Nonsense: decided on an Alice in Wonderland (hence the quote and link) meets Donnie Darko construction! And yes, I am obviously a bit disturbed...

BUT... It's a SELFIE as promised! :eek:


Nonsense! by pjm1 (Paul), on Flickr
 
Hi Paul :)

Energy - Ooooo theme wise :thinking:

Given you explanantion I recon you spent all your energy setting this lot up :D

A lovely image, really like your lighting, and great expressions captured - Cracking family image (y)

Round - Now they do look very different close up, love the collection opf colours, as always well lit and a DoF that that works fine, liking the placement and crop too witrh the gaps top and bottom :)

Round 2 - I'd prefer to see the rest of the bottom, other than that, like the reflections of the brolleys and the detail of the numerals... and boy you can't beat the buzz of new toys :)

Nonsense - A great idea for a first post too, a freaky idea really well pulled together, I wish I knew where to start to creat an image like this, or how to add crit.... I do know though that I really like it (y)
 
susiejb said:
Hi Paul ...Im a bit late in this week ...two smashing round shots ...great idea with the peppercorns , I would never have thought of that one, the red really adds another dimension to what would have been a rather plain shot.

Love the camera lens, a smart classy image.
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Thanks Susie... it's funny how these two shots haven't quite worked (at least not universally) but there are certainly some fans... pleased given they were quick grab shots (ish). Thanks for looking as always.

Delta Skies said:
Line - Blimey week 1 !! I prefer the closer cropped edit. Nice BW shot with the added attraction of the starburst. If I'm nitpicky I find the bright line on the left hand side a little distracting. Clamps for reflectors plus other stuff have been clothes pegs before now but we've since moved up to those black and orange plastic clamps you can get in pound shops like this. We've got a few of varying sizes

Attached - ooooooo super mono image. Very arty. This is a great example of why you don't always have to have brilliant white surfaces/backgrounds. Please remind sometime. The positioning of the subjects is well thought out and the lighting is absolutely spot on especially with the slight glow on the heads and the elongated shadow. One of my favourites.

Energy - You've talked about the lighting and i think you've almost got it. For me it feels a little flat so having a stronger light on one side may have helped. I don't do kids (probably as a result of having 7 & 19 year old boys) but I think this would go down well with family and friends. Trouble is Sarah has talked me in to helping out shooting a 12 day old on Sunday ;-]

Round - I like both but #1 stands out for me. Beautifully lit and with the textures and colours jumping ut of the screen. I could imagine this as a series of similar images on the wall of a restaurant or tea room.

Super camera BTW. I've still got a Bronica SQA and feel that improved my photography when I got it (worryingly about 25 years ago) as you only got 12 frames on a roll plus everything was the wrong way round in the view finder. As a result you slow right down. Something I feel I do when out with landscapes but admittedly not in the studio.
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Hi Peter - thanks for the detailed comments given you are catching up with a few peoples' !

Line definitely wasn't one of my stronger shots - even though there were things I liked about it, the subject wasn't clean enough and the harsh lighting really made that jump out. Compositionally it wasn't quite there either. I now have an arm to hold my reflector :)

Attached - this one has definitely met with some good comments, so thanks for yours too :) Sometimes the simplest things (and it wasn't even long in the setup) are the most successful...

Energy - agree it's lacking something. Enjoy tomorrow's baby shoot!

Thanks for the compliments on Round... again far from perfect but quite simple and unfussy which means they have enough to be background passable.

Looking forward to shooting a full roll of film on the new (old) beastie. With these short days it's difficult to fit in time to get out and shoot with the kids and their parties etc. I will do though! I only get 10 frames on a roll... extra frugality required!
 
blondie606 said:
Hi Paul

Energy.........hmmm, as you know , I don't "get" kiddy shots or ,come to think of People shots in general ! I will say , well exposed , hint of a shadow to ground them & sharper than a sharp thing.......:)
You mentioned that something didn't seem to work for you on this shot ( poss your little girl being poorly ?) The thing that stands out to me is that it looks like to completely separate images joined seamlessly.....poss because of how they are sitting & their differing heights....no contact & side by side plus eye's looking in different directions ? Dunno , but that's what jumps out at me....sorry

Round...lens shot for me , really well handled exposure & a cracking close -up (y) Glad your camera finally arrived :)
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Hiya Lynne... thank you for the detailed commentary, especially on something you're not a massive fan of shooting yourself! I do appreciate it and I think you've nailed it with them looking far too separated... leaves me with plenty of improvement possible, which is a good thing :)

Glad you liked round... and the camera is lovely to use!! Cheers!

JasonGlyn said:
Attached: Its exactly the low contrast appoach you've used that caught my attention and intrigued my senses. Negative space works well and of course the diaganol shadow and elevated point of view add to the overall feel. Refined and confident piece of work on this. One of my fav's of yours I think.

Round: Peppercorns. A really accomplished macro pic. Lighting is superb and the DOF perfect. Lovely and sharp to where it counts and so nice to study the differnt shapes, textures and colours in this.
Round: Lens. Beautiful classy shot. Dark background and subtle lighting have worked well and I think you should give yourself more credit for this one than you have. Glad too that your foray into film and associated equipement is finally coming together for you. All the best with that and hope you have lots of fun man (y)
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Hi Jason... very pleased with the feedback generally on attached and gives me more food for thought: I love your description of "refined and confident"... I think that's one of the nicest compliments I've had about my photography!!

Glad you liked the rounds shots and I appreciate you stopping by to comment (on quite a lot of shots in some considerable detail!!) Cheers :)
 
Dark Knight said:
Hi Paul :)

Energy - Ooooo theme wise :thinking:

Given you explanantion I recon you spent all your energy setting this lot up :D

A lovely image, really like your lighting, and great expressions captured - Cracking family image (y)

Round - Now they do look very different close up, love the collection opf colours, as always well lit and a DoF that that works fine, liking the placement and crop too witrh the gaps top and bottom :)

Round 2 - I'd prefer to see the rest of the bottom, other than that, like the reflections of the brolleys and the detail of the numerals... and boy you can't beat the buzz of new toys :)

Nonsense - A great idea for a first post too, a freaky idea really well pulled together, I wish I knew where to start to creat an image like this, or how to add crit.... I do know though that I really like it (y)
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Hiya Dean... thanks for the comments. Energy is an interesting one which I think I can learn a lot from, even though it hasn't quite worked as I'd have liked.

New toys are great... you'd think it was Christmas or something :)

Nonsense - well, I'm not often first off the base, but I had an idea and wanted to get it in before someone else had it! I do occasionally like to do dark shots (figuratively, rather than low key, although they tend to be that too)... Dollicide was another one where I went a bit "horror". I loved the film Donnie Darko and when Nonsense made me think of the Alice in Wonderland quote, I started to wonder if I could turn myself into a rather creepy Mad Hatter.

Or a demon. Demons are cool too.

My one year old daughter was a bit scared when she wandered into my study to see a picture of her Daddy with red eyes and evil bunny ears growing out of his head, though. Oh well, it should be character-building I guess :exit:
 
Donnie Darko, belting film, watched it a few times.

Quite a surreal Nonsense there.

Lovely soft lighting on your hands and the fall off is just right. Nice red eyes and the text on the moon has been handled well.

Crit, just the moon, not quite spherical.

Cheers.
 
posiview said:
Donnie Darko, belting film, watched it a few times.

Quite a surreal Nonsense there.

Lovely soft lighting on your hands and the fall off is just right. Nice red eyes and the text on the moon has been handled well.

Crit, just the moon, not quite spherical.

Cheers.
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Thanks Andy... yes, one of my faves as well. Yeah, definitely went for the surreal option this week :)

The rabbit ears aren't quite perfect, but they just about work (although that may depend on everyone's own monitor setup: it could look too dark or too light on others')

Moon was a problem: I shot it a while back but a few days after full moon so I would get crater definition... only downside is it's not quite a circle!! And sadly it's the only moon shot I have, so I had to try to stretch it and... well, it didn't really end up round. Still, it's my "world" so I can make it any shape I want, I guess :)

Thanks for the crit and was pleased with the lighting: was going to go for a second light on the background to light up behind the moon (which was actually a melon that I was holding, btw - I deliberately left some of the melon texture at the bottom, just to make it even odder)... but sadly four of my Eneloops were nearly dead so only had one flash to go with. Hey ho - still fairly pleased with the lighting setup.
 
posiview said:
Im getting a second flash for Christmas and am ssoooo looking forward to experimenting :)

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Very exciting!! It does expand the possibilities but also makes decisions so much harder!

I have a little 300Ws strobe arriving soon - can always use the flashes as fill or background lights! Also need to order a softbox :)

Yes, I'm a bit of a gadget head!!
 
Hi Paul, thats just scary, Donnie Darko is a great film, you have nailed the lighting on this, very menacing, going to have to agree with DK above can't really add much in the way of crit,
but what I do know is I like it :clap:
 
Its a great image Paul, composition,well lit, focus on the lettering looks spot on and great dof (y)

Not being a film watcher at all, I don't get the connection to ...errrrr Donnie Darko?? .....:thinking:.....and I think I've only ever seen Alice in Wonderland once, a very long, long time ago :D
 
Nonsense .... yea .... this is the sort of nonsense we need!

I really like the composition/pov ... and of course the lighting is good. :clap:

Well done on getting a melon to look like the moon, and the writing on it like that.
 
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