Robs 52 for 2010 - Week 17 Peace

Dave450 said:
What I like about the image used for Poetry, is for me the imagination it left for me. With the composition of the image, it made me think what was to the right of the door, and why we must keep out. This then ties in with poem itself.

For me a crackin effort and the photo and poem interact nicely! (y)



PS - Just read Custard the Dragon, lol :LOL: (y) please do an image for it :)
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Thanks very much indeed !! It never ceases to amaze me how different people view the same picture.

Custard the Dragon is the best isn't it ? (see what I can do regarding a picture)
 
RobC said:
So I don't do poetry, allright, I do but not often. So this week I cheated rotten. When I saw the theme this week the first thing that popped into my head was "Custard the Dragon" (Look it up, it's brilliant, it'll also give you an idea of my level of intelligence when it comes to literature).

I admit, I googled like a mad thing and stumbled across The door by Miroslav Holub. and so that was that, I'd found myself a theme, an idea, a little piece of inspiration and y'know what? I love the poem and I love my photo.
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:clap: I'm enjoying reading these threads this week. I haven't read any poetry since I was at school and there are some real gems coming out of the woodwork here.

Custard the Dragon was brilliant :LOL: although I'm not sure how you would have portrayed it.
The Door - I've never seen this poem before, but like you I love it. Good to see that the 52 is getting so many people to discover new things and put so much thought into their photography.

I love the shot that you've chosen to go go with it too. I really do want to open that door and see what's behind it. The "Keep Out" sign just adds to the curiosity.

It would have been nice to have a little more foreground, but obviously you couldn't get that in and the crop does pull your eye to the door.
I think this would work equally well (although I'm not sure better) as a B&W conversion - might be nice to see it for comparison though.
 
like the colours in the picture, think if the door was on the right hand side it would be better as i seem to get drawn to the brickwork rather than the door, but thats just me, great shot.
 
That's a great picture for week 2 Rob, goes well with the poem, and good composition and tones :)

I just read Custard the Dragon too ... it's super! :D
 
Love the detail in the bricks and the texture in the overall shot. Not so sure about the colours in the door though. Was it that colour to begin with or have you +Saturation'd it?

Ian.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Love the detail in the bricks and the texture in the overall shot. Not so sure about the colours in the door though. Was it that colour to begin with or have you +Saturation'd it?

Ian.
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Thanks very much, no, it really was that colour.

jennyb said:
I agree - very effective. I love the colours. Only one thing and it may be an optical illusion with the bricks - I feel I want to straighten it, rotate half a degree to the left maybe? However, that may make the door frame non-vertical.

Jenny
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Thanks Jenny, you may be right, it may need tweaking, but I'll be darned if I can get it to look right :bang:

mich66 said:
like the poetry shot.. great colour and textures and works well with the poem :)
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Ta :D

SpidersEye said:
That's a great picture for week 2 Rob, goes well with the poem, and good composition and tones :)

I just read Custard the Dragon too ... it's super! :D
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Another "thank you" (I'm starting to sound like a broken record)

aztec said:
like the colours in the picture, think if the door was on the right hand side it would be better as i seem to get drawn to the brickwork rather than the door, but thats just me, great shot.
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SarahLee said:
:clap: I'm enjoying reading these threads this week. I haven't read any poetry since I was at school and there are some real gems coming out of the woodwork here.

Custard the Dragon was brilliant :LOL: although I'm not sure how you would have portrayed it.
The Door - I've never seen this poem before, but like you I love it. Good to see that the 52 is getting so many people to discover new things and put so much thought into their photography.

I love the shot that you've chosen to go go with it too. I really do want to open that door and see what's behind it. The "Keep Out" sign just adds to the curiosity.

It would have been nice to have a little more foreground, but obviously you couldn't get that in and the crop does pull your eye to the door.
I think this would work equally well (although I'm not sure better) as a B&W conversion - might be nice to see it for comparison though.
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I really appreciate your comments, thank you very much. I'll try a B&W conversion but will need to read up first :thinking:



I'm stoked that so many of you have taken the time to look and comment on what I've produced, thank you all for your time and honesty (I really mean it).
 
I have had the week from hell !!
Got called out Sunday night, worked till Monday afternoon. Slept for bits of Monday but due to the word 'Chopped' banging around in my head it was a fitfull sleep. The rest of the week has been pretty much the same, work, work, work, work ...... I've clocked up 500 miles since Tuesday and about 47 'on site' hours.
Oh, the ideas I had for this weeks theme, knives all chopped up on tables, lego men in blenders, my head divided into quarters, the list goes on. Have I had the time? Not really. Have I the photoshop skills for some of these ideas? No Have I reaslised I'm not really a photographer? Yes.
Week 3 and already I'm feeling despondant, but I'm going to do this, I can enjoy it and most important of all I'm going to use this challenge to improve my so called photgraphy skills and my all but non-existent processing skills.

Just not this week.

I was supposed to be in a meeting today but on my way there drove past Burnham Beeches. "any port in a storm" thought I.

So, here it is, week 3, Chopped.

It's utter garbage, the picture is about as inspiring or imaginative as a Rich Tea biscuit and the processing ...... let's not go there.

4293641864_074d628b5e_o.jpg
 
Hi Rob. playing catchup on your week 2 which I really like. Nice contrast between the textures and the horizontal and vertical lines. Very simple but says everything about the poem. Well done (y)

Week 3 - think you've said it all so I won't. I'm with you on the pain that is work getting in the way. Just not enough hours in the day to enjoy, but at least you haven't given up and took something to fill the gap for this week. Don't be so hard on yourself though, your first two images show you're definitely not a bad photographer. You definitely have the skills and the eye. Photoshop will come with practice and certainly isn't the be all and end all of enjoying your hobby. Keep going, not all weeks will be like this.

And maybe try to squeeze those lego men into the blender for another theme please :D
 
RobC said:
....but I'm going to do this, I can enjoy it and most important of all I'm going to use this challenge to improve my so called photgraphy skills and my all but non-existent processing skills.
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This is exactly why I started with this challenge - and to me it doesn't look like you're doing too bad at all.

Liking week 2.
 
RobC said:
Week 3 and already I'm feeling despondant, but I'm going to do this, I can enjoy it and most important of all I'm going to use this challenge to improve my so called photgraphy skills and my all but non-existent processing skills.
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Don't get so despondant. I'm sure we'll all have weeks like this when it just doesn't fall into place. At least you still give it a go. Might not be the/your best but it's keeping you going. I should imagine the minute a week's missed then the next week would be doubly hard. Let's hope for a better theme this week.
 
RobC said:
Have I reaslised I'm not really a photographer? Yes
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:slaps:

Get a grip man!

So it's not the best shot in the world. You wanna see most of mine! The fact that you realise it's not great is a good start. Now ask yourself why? And what you could have done different. If you can't find the answers, ask on here... :D
 
Week 2 love the contrast between the door and the brickwork, nice poem to match as well.

Week 3 Don't be too hard on your self, you could still add a second option at a later date. Although I think most of the shots of trees are sawn not chopped(artistic licence) :D
 
It's a damn sight better than the logs I managed to take, bloody things are impossible to make interesting. Strangely enough I quite like this, I'd have possibly gone for a bit shallower DoF just to get the eye into the shot a bit but on the whole its not a bad effort.

There's only so much you can do with a log, and only so much you can do with the time available. How's that saying go, work expands to fill the time allotted.
 
think we are all going to get weeks when its impossible to fit time in for taking photos.. good that you got one in.. its on theme so no worries.. i'm waiting for a reshoot week already for my week 1 shot :)

I like the idea of the lego men in blenders too ;)
 
Just a quick line to you all for your words and in some cases metaphorical slaps ! I really let rip didn't I :wacky:
I don't usually get as wound up as that but for the first time in a long time everything seemed to conspire against me and the very little time I had. Well I've finally finished my working week and am sat here with a vidka and coke, a smoke (sorry) and I'm now calm, reflective and cringing at my little episode ;)
It won't happen again and my passion will remain just that, it'll never become a task again.

Once again thanks to you all for your time, crit, understanding, slaps and encouragement.

ps, just looked at other shots I took the day I managed to find some felled tree's and surprise surprise I've found some better ones :D
 
Keep up the good work Rob, during the year everyone is going to have ups and downs. Keep your chin up and don't forget its meant to be a fun learning curve
 
It's odd
when the subject was first posted I thought "nice one - plenty of ideas"
but come to actually trying to make a picture I struggled

sort of relieved that I wasn't alone

having said that - nice composition, but a little dark/sombre
unlesss that was the aim of course!
 
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Hey, you put the effort in and got a result. That's what these challenges are for, right? :)

At least you're getting comments. More than can be said for some... :shake::thinking: :LOL:
 
As already said Rob, dont get despondant, I must have shot about 80 different Chopped images and only ended up with a few I could use - bright sunshine and me putting the tripod in direct line made a lovely large shadow in most of them, I was somewhat annoyed when I got back.

Get some artistic filters / presets for Lightroom and just play, its what I do when I get a shot I dont like, but need to do something with it, you can get some crazy detail, although as seen in some of my other posts, I can go completely over the top with them.....
 
RobC said:
I have had the week from hell !!
Got called out Sunday night, worked till Monday afternoon. Slept for bits of Monday but due to the word 'Chopped' banging around in my head it was a fitfull sleep. The rest of the week has been pretty much the same, work, work, work, work ...... I've clocked up 500 miles since Tuesday and about 47 'on site' hours.
Oh, the ideas I had for this weeks theme, knives all chopped up on tables, lego men in blenders, my head divided into quarters, the list goes on. Have I had the time? Not really. Have I the photoshop skills for some of these ideas? No Have I reaslised I'm not really a photographer? Yes.
Week 3 and already I'm feeling despondant, but I'm going to do this, I can enjoy it and most important of all I'm going to use this challenge to improve my so called photgraphy skills and my all but non-existent processing skills.

Just not this week.

I was supposed to be in a meeting today but on my way there drove past Burnham Beeches. "any port in a storm" thought I.

So, here it is, week 3, Chopped.

It's utter garbage, the picture is about as inspiring or imaginative as a Rich Tea biscuit and the processing ...... let's not go there.

4293641864_074d628b5e_o.jpg
Click to expand...

Mate, I think a few of us have had a bad week on this one - believe me I understand exactly how you feel. All it takes is one decent shot and you will be as happy as Larry, bit like falling off a horse, you just got to get right bacck in the saddle.

And, if you want to see the Worst picture EVER and cheer yourself up, you have to see what I was reduced to ...check out "Sprout in a Puddle"

Post #20 on page 2
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=196056
 
RobC said:
It's utter garbage, the picture is about as inspiring or imaginative as a Rich Tea biscuit and the processing ...... let's not go there.
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Stand still, 'cos I'm going to give you a slap too! ;)
Now you've had a weekend to relax, look back on it and it really, genuinely is nowhere near that bad!!!
OK, it's not the most inspirational shot ever but it's on theme and there's actually some very nice texture in the bark.

There will be weeks in the 52 where either the theme just doesn't click for you or you have the ideas and for whatever reason things don't slot into place and you don't get the shot you want.
If it's any consolation it was one of those weeks for me too. . . it's always these themes that seem so simple on the surface that catch me out. :bonk:

Now onwards and upwards, I'm sure you'll be back on form for week 4.
 
Rob, just think how much worse it could have been - that log could have been totally hidden by snow then you would have got nothing :p

Cheer up, its not that bad and it fits the theme. You have 49 more weeks to get all creative in and if just ONE of those pic makes you feel like you really succeeded then you will be doing well, because you know what, we ALL know we can do better with almost every single shot (y)
 
Rob, it's ok, it works and fits the theme, it may not be the most exciting or imaginative but there's nothing wrong with it either...

Get up, get out, and get shooting ;)... just wait till one of the real stinkers comes out the bag... then we'll all be taking and posting rubbish :LOL:
 
I'm with you mate. I am really struggling with the very easy themes at the moment.I dread to think what will happen when a stinker comes along. I thought a 365 with a photo of choice would be a far easier route as you can take a photo of whatever you like. But then I think we are all here to try to push ourselves artistically so the best thing is to post your best shot take some crit and then move on, trying to take some of the advice on board and do a little better next time. Well that's what I'm trying to do.

To be honest when I first saw this photo I thought "what a great way to use the theme" and "why didn't I think of that"! So if nothing else you are winning me over :LOL: I very much like the photo anyway. Now pick yourself up brush yourself off and go shoot some "street" :)
 
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Well, another week trying to concentrate on work whilst all the time my poor little brain explodes with ideas I'll never be able to recreate in a million years !! Still, Street, how hard can it be? There's one right outside my front door for heavens sake.

Monday - up at 5 drove to a job in Peterborough got home at 10:00 on Tuesday morning
Tuesday - slept
Wednesday - Off to Norwich today, got home at 2 Thursday morning
Thursday - Dragged myself out of bed and drove to P'boro to tie up some lose ends then headed into the town Center to see what could be 'snapped'. DON'T GO INTO PETERBOROUGH TOWN CENTER WITH A CAMERA. In the space of an hour I was acosted by some annoyingly over enthusiastic Red Cross cash collecter (why are they always soooo pretty?). Threatened by some mad bloke who thought I was a benifits investigator and finally when I'd given up all hope followed back to my car by 3 very suspect looking chaps in tracksuits.

My acomplishment:

A bloke with an Accordion

4312844603_78b14e9159_o.jpg


and this cost me 3 quid !!

Friday - A quiet day, kids at school, whiff at work. Got up, spot of breakfast, caught up with some brain bubblegum on the sky+ box and wandered into town.
Dark skies over a market town with damp pavements, busy, busy people rushing to and fro. It was cld, wet and my week was fast catching up with me, then it hit me, my idea, what's the one thing you'll find in every high street in the land?

4313028761_e18af11e3b_o.jpg


It's not supposed to look like this, the one in my head didn't, but y'know what? It's growing on me. To the right of the puddle is the local nick, there was some bloke stood outside it, wearing a rucksack wandering in a little circle...... they came to investigate.....then moved me along once I'd taken my shot.
This isn't the end of my attempt at Street, just a fewtasters of what's not to come. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and look at my pics.
 
That's one interesting looking acordian player. For me thats the shot, the second one is a nice interpretation of the theme but doesn't do much for me as an image. The acordian player is on the money.
 
That face is well weathered, glad you got out of Peterboghorror in one piece. The Tesco shot may have worked a little better with a larger puddle so the reflection filled the frame.

Did you have chance to have a chat with the plod or jusy leave quietly :D
 
Bloke with accordian is the one I like Rob. Well done. You've got a shot to be proud of there.

Ian.
 
Wow on both Street photos - wouldn't like to have to choose as both are pretty ace.

I would probably go for the Tesco reflection as more different from what everyone else has done
 
The accordion player is very good. :clap: Personally though I would prefer it in B/W - I don't really like the colours though I see why you are doing it.

The second doesn't do a great deal for me, I'm afraid, and it is all very soft. However the idea of reflections in puddles is a good one and you should pursue it.
 
Nice street portrait of the accordion player. Interesting face and the tools of his trade all included. I think street images have to tell or hint at a story and this one does just that. Good luck with your quest for more.
 
Final Submissions for week 4.

The B&W conversion suggestion was genius, thanks Tracer.


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Sorry Rob, I think the original processing on the colour version wins hands down :)
 
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