weekly SiblingChris' 52 in 2013

Hi Chris

lovely sharp icicles mister (y) Can't decide between the 2 shots but the B&W works really well , good focus on both ....2nd one edges it I think as the 1st one has a vignettey thing going on bottom right :)
 
blondie606 said:
Hi Chris

lovely sharp icicles mister (y) Can't decide between the 2 shots but the B&W works really well , good focus on both ....2nd one edges it I think as the 1st one has a vignettey thing going on bottom right :)
Click to expand...

I put the vignette in myself during pp, was in two Mids about it tbh
2nd shot is just a crop of the first
 
Personally, I prefer the second icicle shot as well. The fist seems to stop abruptly and just have background. You got a good amount of detail on the icicle and a good B&W conversion.

Drew
 
OK so a little late on this. Here is my Gravity shot...another go at levitation....

I took on more than I could chew with this one to be honest.

All sorts of things wrong with this in terms of what I decided to shoot creating for a real challenge in pp with the levitation effect

the dark subject with the bright light of the TV behind caused no end of green/cyan and magenta fringing (chromatic abboration), particularly on teh headset cable...same around the tv and speakers....
the cable therefore was a real PITA to edit

then there was/is a subtle (but noticable) amount of lens distortion that did not appear to be equal across the hole image that in the end I could not fix entirely. It was exaggerated somewhat by all the elements in the shot not being perfectly straight or at 90 degres to one another

from a leviation point of view what i should have done was to stick the controller in front of a solid plain backdrop that would have been easy to remove and avoided some of the ca (hindsight is a wonderful thing). What actually I did, was to use a metal framed chair that could be seen through and this made things smuch more fiddly

also I didn't realise until pp, that the image on the video game was moving slightly (simulating breathing of the player!) and so my background image and object images where not easily matched up

the pp is by no means perfect (if you care to examine the headset and cable I am sure you will see!), but I was losing the will to live with it to be honest and decided just to post "as is" and move on to week 4 before I found we'd already reached week 5 and then I'd be 2 weeks behind!

I used GIMP 2.8 by the way, rather than my old verison of Photoshop Elements which was not really up to the job and I couldn;t work out how to do a layer mask with it (PSE5).

So here it is.... moral of this week "You live and learn"! :bang:


Gravity by Sibling Chris, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I really like this one - very well done.

Do you mind me asking how you got the floating effect?
 
Nice one. It's not noticeable in lower res, but in large some of the cable is a bit jagged?.. Still not noticeable really. Job well done I think :)
 
Well I've had a look on the 2048 size on flickr and I don't see any jaggedyness. I think it's a great job considering the challenges already outlined. Focus on the controller is pin sharp which works exceptionally well to separate it from the background. Great how the red and green lights have come out too being OOF!

I feel your pain with just wanting it to be over after a long, tedious bout of PP - and agree that as this is "last weeks" theme you're right to get it posted and move on!

But I think you've still created an awesome - believable shot. :clap:
 
I really like that, fantastic use of the game as the background (even if it was moving ;-))

I particularly like the power/standby lights in the background, as the oof/bokeh has done a good job.

Well done to get it posted, your sanity would be at stake otherwise!
 
JohnN said:
I really like this one - very well done.

Do you mind me asking how you got the floating effect?
Click to expand...

Thanks

If you google levitation photography you will soon find tutorials....it's the first time I've tried this myself ;)

The method I used was to first take a shot of the background, then another of the subject resting on a foreign object which is later edited out

The idea of this is to get the lighting equal so it looks believable, this is why I rested the controller on a kitchen chair which was metal framed - it allowed light from the window to the left of the tv to come through naturally so the controller doesn't look too unrealistic and like it should be there

In photoshop or gimp, you then import the background photo followed by the subject photo layered on top. The idea is to then add a layer mask on top of this and paint out the foreign object the subject is resting on with a black brush which reveals the background layer underneath

My use of the chair was good because of letting the natural light on to the controller. What wasn't so good was that slightly moving video game in the background....this meant that rather than just painting away the foreign object I had to paint away almost all of the top layer very close up to the subject I wanted to leave behind "floating" - the wire in particular therefore became a problem because of its thinness and the amount of Green/purple fringing....I edited away as much of those as I dare and then desaturated the green/cyan and magenta colours in those areas were it was most obvious

HTH
 
Last edited:
Cheesy feet said:
Nice one. It's not noticeable in lower res, but in large some of the cable is a bit jagged?.. Still not noticeable really. Job well done I think :)
Click to expand...

Thanks
I didn't think it was jagged, although I was trying not to feather the edges too much as I didn't wanting it looking too blurry - blurred cable and in focus controller would have looked really odd I think

There is one spot near the headset that is bugging me, were I can see as I was painting the layer mask I managed to "slip"......tempted to go back, but I think I should just move on to week 4!
 
overbez said:
Well I've had a look on the 2048 size on flickr and I don't see any jaggedyness. I think it's a great job considering the challenges already outlined. Focus on the controller is pin sharp which works exceptionally well to separate it from the background. Great how the red and green lights have come out too being OOF!

I feel your pain with just wanting it to be over after a long, tedious bout of PP - and agree that as this is "last weeks" theme you're right to get it posted and move on!

But I think you've still created an awesome - believable shot. :clap:
Click to expand...


hughwi said:
I really like that, fantastic use of the game as the background (even if it was moving ;-))

I particularly like the power/standby lights in the background, as the oof/bokeh has done a good job.

Well done to get it posted, your sanity would be at stake otherwise!
Click to expand...

Thank you both, your comments made me feel a bit better about how this shot came out
When you get frustrated with something I guess it is easy to focus on the negatives
 
Top quality job on the postprocessing for gravity there, not obviously edited at all (to me at least). Great mental image of some raging counterstrike player with the controller and headset frozen mid-fall!
 
Crossroads said:
Top quality job on the postprocessing for gravity there, not obviously edited at all (to me at least). Great mental image of some raging counterstrike player with the controller and headset frozen mid-fall!
Click to expand...

Cheers it's COD :)
If I had the wherewithal I would have done a wider shot with me floating around reaching out for the controller.....maybe another time eh? ;)
 
hughwi said:
I really like that, fantastic use of the game as the background (even if it was moving ;-))
Click to expand...


D'oh! D'oh! D'oh! D'oh! D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!

What makes this worse is I just this second remembered my TV has a picture hold function which would have made this way easier.....sigh....

I wonder if I might do this as a reshoot in a later week.....
 
Cheers Chris, it seems so simple now, but getting teh cable just right must have been a pain.

BTW I think you did a great job with the TV to - I cannot see a fault with it at all, so the hard work paid off :)
 
:clap:

Good show.

'Live an learn' wise words (y)

Crit, none really. Perhaps having the headset and controller posiitoned as it if was being used?

Cheers.
 
posiview said:
:clap:

Good show.

'Live an learn' wise words (y)

Crit, none really. Perhaps having the headset and controller posiitoned as it if was being used?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Cheers, I wondered about that but was after an anti-grav feel...perhaps I should have Halo in the background for that, or even just some sort of space scene would have worked.......star wars, mass effect....hmmmm....
 
excellent pic and take on the theme, I think you are being to harsh on yourself (y)
 
Nice idea, well executed. Well done for sticking with it.
 
Great take on Gravity, read all the other FB and in no way able to look at this shot and give you any FB from myself, but using yours and all the others to help me improve my skills :clap:
 
Been scrabbling around all week trying to find my old cassette copy of this album so I ciould take an old skool photo alongside my original sony walkman....couldn't find it, so settled on the CD instead.

This is pretty much as shot, bit of contrast editing and dust removal from the CD.


Week 4 - Wild 1 by Sibling Chris, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Gravity - I am not going to examine it closely after your description of how you did it as I think it looks great, you have excellent floating effect and looks sharp

Wild - a little difficult to see the word Wild so having it turned round into the light unless the black strip is across the CD might helped. Nicely in focus and I like the rainbows - they are wild things as well are they not
 
not too sure about this it doesn't really say wild to me the writing is a bit indistinct, sorry
 
alsjazzera said:
not too sure about this it doesn't really say wild to me the writing is a bit indistinct, sorry
Click to expand...

Well it's not supposed to "say wild" in the sense it is depicting that
It literally is wild, as that is the name of the cd

I take the point about the writing being a bit on the dark side, but that was the vibe I was after for the image as a whole...might have a think about what I can do with it
 
Limited time, I'm afraid, so quick comments...

Hi, it's all about interpretation and producing a photograph, which you've done. It looks a tad dark for me and I'd like to see more colour in the CD.

Cheers.
 
posiview said:
Limited time, I'm afraid, so quick comments...

Hi, it's all about interpretation and producing a photograph, which you've done. It looks a tad dark for me and I'd like to see more colour in the CD.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

thanks for that

:thinking:
..the CD is a plain silver one with text on, the colour you see is just natural light refracted through it...ther isn;t really any natural colour to enahnce. Not quite sure what I would do in pp about that to be honest. Interested to hear your thoughts.

The image as a whole, I think given other feedback too I might brighten overall.
 
Hi Chris

Wild - words are fine with a bit of other context to add photographic interest and there are many e'gs of that approach in the 52s. As photographed, it is all a bit dark in the area of the word 'wild' It is easier to see 'erasure' I like the colours in the disc - it adds lift. I just wondered whether if the disc was turned 45 degrees anti clock, the 2 words would appear in that lighter band, which would make them more of a focal point, clearer and on a nice diag. :thinking:
 
Really like the gravity shot, really well done! Bet you wish you had the bluetooth headset instead right?! Haha! Really well done though, having done something similar (albeit an easier edit) I know what you mean about tedious PP work!

Wild - not so sure on this one. Maybe taking the CD out of the environment (cd player drawer etc) would help to emphasise the text a little more, and possibly help you get a more interesting rainbow effect from the CD itself?
 
An unusual take but well in theme for wild. Good dof but the Text is a little small. Like the colours, adds a bit of contrast.
 
ok - so I did some pp on th eoriginal to emphasise the text a little

I also tried a reshoot of this, but personally not as happy with the result - for some reason the lightling has created what looks like some odd patches on the CD...it was all natural light...don;t particualrly want to shoot again or do masses of pp to smooth it out. I am moving on to space now before the week runs away with me :)

The text is clearer though!


Week 4 - Wild 2 by Sibling Chris, on Flickr


acrtually just thinking...those patches might be reflection of my jeans!!! :bonk:
 
Last edited:
Similar idea to my original gravity one here Chris. Better lit than mine was too!

Loving the camp one skipping along in the black! Says space perfectly to me, maybe a bigger base board or a tighter crop might have improved things? And good work catching the red man mid flight!
 
overbez said:
Similar idea to my original gravity one here Chris. Better lit than mine was too!

Loving the camp one skipping along in the black! Says space perfectly to me, maybe a bigger base board or a tighter crop might have improved things? And good work catching the red man mid flight!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes the board was the main thing in this I was dissatisfied with. I could have put another one either side, but would have been tricky to make it look continuous.

I couldn't really get closer with my 35mm lens or crop and keep the same subjects in frame without it looking all too cluttered.
So my justification is that this is in the style of the old instruction leaflets you'd get in the space Lego kits back in the 80's

Hd fun putting it together and I even followed some of the original instructions and don't have any pieces missing...considering this stuff is probably about 28 years old I was quite chuffed about that :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top