weekly XenosElaine's 52s Thread - Support added

[XenosElaine]

I don't remember them, except for the half penny. Having those coins kicking around must be cool. I like the historical nature of this shot and think it's been well executed. No crit from me.

Thanks Simon. I should like to point out that although I do remember the coins, all of the ones in the shot were minted before I was born

 

[XenosElaine]

I remember them, well executed and a great reminder of the old money.

Thanks Carol, glad I'm not the only one

 

[XenosElaine]

Hey Elaine

Looks like you had a great holiday, plenty of photo's here, for vertical my fav is by far your edit Column shot, I saw the shot before edit and with that little tweak it very effective, I also like the yaught shot, as you say nice and simple yet works very well, I would be tempted to clone out the buoy as I feel it distracts just a tad

Yum - Lovely bright fruits, the colours are very nice, and the patches of sky lift the greens very well

Loud - Theme wise it works with your explanation, when I first saw it it did have me scratching my head

Rich - Nice yacht, fits the theme, nicely framed just anchored off shore, a very opportune capture !!

Skill - Not so sure on this one theme wise, are they not machine made nowadays ?? and the image itself doesn't do it for me... sorry

A great catch up from a great looking holiday

Thanks DK. Yeah, the lace is probably machine-made, but it was either that or a waiter carrying a tray of drinks - that's the sort of holiday it was

 

[XenosElaine]

I remember the thrupence and the hapenny and they came out well in your pic. But I don't recognise the half crown ... it didn't come out so well.

just seen the "#1 Beer with a view - both quite yummy!" pic ... love it.

Thanks d00d. The only half crown I could find was that 1901 one, so it's a bit worse for wear and I think I could have adjusted the lighting a bit better.

 

[XenosElaine]

Excellent images in here, love the pennies shot.

Hi Elaine, quick catch up sorry for being slow...

Vertical - nice shot and decent composition, could probably be brought out a touch more with more PP, but good shot.
Yum - good take, great colours. I think the composition could be stronger (more zoom/selective focus on the fruit) but it's a good one.
Rich - ok but not your best shot/subject combo. Needs a touch more interest, perhaps?
Skill - I like the lace... it is what it is. Could be a good stock photo.
Not a massive fan of cat shots but that's my bad not yours!
Half - I love the ha'penny/half shilling/half crown shot! I think this is one of your best I've seen... really good lighting and great composition (odd number).

HI Elaine - Half like it on theme, lighting works for me and the background really sets the coins off

Thanks for looking and commenting Mandy, Paul and Craig

 

[XenosElaine]

Hi Elaine, good contrast in the colouring, details good in the top two , perhaps just slightly lost in the bottom, like Allan, I thought they could be a little bright............did you use a flash?

No flash - just whatever I could find - see my reply to Allan above.

And I have know idea what these coins are..........are they foreign?

Yes dear

 

[XenosElaine]

HI Elaine

I like the layout of the 3 coins & they stand out really well against the black bg Only neg is a tad on the bright side which has resulted in a little loss of detail partic on the bottom most coin

Thanks Lynne. Yes that bottom coin's a bit of a bugbear - combination of my mickey mouse lighting and a very old worn coin I think.

 

[Judi]

Hi Elaine,
Yum... #2 for me, very yummmm
Loud.. nice street shot, bet they could be loud
Rich...Definitely a rich mans/womans boat, nice view from your house
skill... great skills there time consuming too, I agree its a good stock shot
half.. Mmmmm I have to admit that I remember them well, great black bg just a bit bright specially on the half crown, good one

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks Judi!

 

[XenosElaine]

So why couldn't this week's theme have come out when I was in Corfu Town? Oh well, instead of a palace, a couple of ancient fortresses or several dozen interesting old churches, I've shot an old cotton mill and a Tudor manor house!

Architectural #1 - Quarry Bank Mill - the sun was shining today, so instead of the dark satanic mill that I thought I'd get, I've got a nice bright chimney-against-the-blue-sky shot!

Architectural #2 - Bramall Hall - it was really overcast yesterday morning when I went for a walk in the park and I think this would have been better with some sunshine and shadows and being shot from in front of the tree, but I thought it needed the tree to add a bit of interest. Maybe if the sun shines again this week I'll have another go at it!

 

[pjm1]

Hi Elaine... two nice Architectural shots. Comments as follows:

1. Clouds look slightly blown to me - certainly losing a bit of colour detail (don't think it's my monitor but happy to be corrected?) Also, the lighting being bright is quite harsh and I'm not sure the shadow from the left building falling onto the chimney helps the scene. Contrast on chimney is otherwise nice, though. I think this would be stronger with less direct light or really long shadows in the golden hour? Nice detail though and definitely on theme.
2. I like this shot and the hazy/dreamy effect works really well for me. The silhouette of the tree branches and trunk is a bit distracting for me - a clean shot of the building would definitely be my preference. But I do like your processing - quite opposite of the super "clean" and crisp high clarity style that would be more common for an architectural shot... good stuff!

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks for the comments Paul. I think the blown clouds are due to the sun only just being out of shot and agree that it would have been better later in the day, but I only had a couple of hours to spare yesterday (had to get home and get the Sunday roast in!) and as getting there involves a drive through an area that turns into a traffic jam on weekday afternoons, I don't think I'll be doing a re-shoot on this one. The other one though is only a couple of minutes' walk away, so if we get a bit of late afternoon/early evening sun in the next few days I'll certainly have another go at it.

 

[Phil-D]

Hi Elaine, I'm afraid I though that the clouds looked a tad bright too, but the building and chimney look well exposed I've found that its shots like this that can be easily 'manipulated' in ACR when shot in raw. A bit more detail pulled back into the clouds by lowing the highlights can make the world of difference

 

[d00d]

Hi Elaine ... like the POV in both pics. The mill would be worth shooting again if you're ever there on a sunless/shadowless day. You can fill in with a blue sky in PP later [wink].

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks for the comments Phil and d00d. I've reworked the pp on the mill shot and I think it looks better now, so I've swapped the original one in the main thread for this one -

 

[Judi]

Hi Elaine,
Architecture... the reworked mill looks much better, improved all round Bramall Hall I think it would look better without the tree

 

[Allan.H]

Hi, second version much better, the harsh shadows sometimes don't work on buildings but its not to bad here
the Hall you definitely need a chainsaw to improve it, sometimes trees are so annoying

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately I didn't get a decent sunny afternoon this week to reshoot the Hall, so it's on to Week 32 Promise.

Remember how as a kid, if you crossed your fingers behind your back when you made a promise it didn't count? I decided to enhance my False Promise image with black lace and scarlet fingernails!

Just noticed the slightly odd-looking light on the lower edge of my arm. That's because I've flipped the shot vertically and the lower edge was actually the upper edge

 

[posiview]

Hi, one idea I didn't think of. Nice one.

Cracking idea and nice skin tones.

I like the idea of the lave BG, but would prefer if you had your crossed fingers behind your back.

Cheers and on the quick post.

 

[XenosElaine]

Hi, one idea I didn't think of. Nice one.

Cracking idea and nice skin tones.

I like the idea of the lave BG, but would prefer if you had your crossed fingers behind your back.

Cheers and on the quick post.

Thanks for the comments Andy.

...would prefer if you had your crossed fingers behind your back.

Blimey, you're not asking much are you? Ever tried holding your left hand behind your back whilst composing, focussing and taking a shot of it "blind" with your right hand?

 

[posiview]

Thanks for the comments Andy.



Blimey, you're not asking much are you? Ever tried holding your left hand behind your back whilst composing, focussing and taking a shot of it "blind" with your right hand?

That sounds like a challenge and as I have very few other ideas I might just have a go

Cheers.

 

[XenosElaine]

Look forward to seeing it

 

[Judi]

Hi Elaine,
Promise... Brilliant!!!

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks very much Judi

 

[Pinkbikerbabe]

Architectural - I like your edited version of the mill shot, I find the brighter sky gives it a bit more punch. Composition is good and it's bang on theme good work.

Promise - I remember as a little girl at school crossing my fingers behind my back, composition is good I am just not so sure on the black lace.

 

[mr.si]

Hi Elaine, sorry I'm only getting around to doing commenting now - I've been a little lax!

Of your architecture photos, I like that latter of the two more as I think it's more interesting. I like the colourisation you've gone for too as I think it adds a je ne sais quoi to it.
The clouds have been spoken of in the first image so won't go there, but lovely blue sky and nice sense of scale too.

False - promise, I'm afraid it's not very interesting to me, but it does work for the theme.

 

[Allan.H]

Hi, nice connection to the theme it is a difficult subject so well done for thinking of that idea and well executed

 

[Crtm]

This is a difficult subject to portray in a photograph so well done on coming up with such a great idea. Not sure of the BG and the glow from the lower part of your arm is a bit distracting but everything else works for me.

Interested to see how you manage to take a photograph of your fingers crossed behind your back.

 

[pjm1]

Good take on the theme, Elaine. Nice idea and well executed.

I think the hand (which is a lovely hand!) works well with the nails painted and background... good composition and the effort taken in composing it was worthwhile.
I like the diagonal coming in from the TL corner... works well.
To me the end of the middle finger (knuckle & down?) looks slightly OOF? Might just be my eyes but I find that very slightly distracting.

Otherwise a good shot and a clever take... well done!

 

[XenosElaine]

Architectural - I like your edited version of the mill shot, I find the brighter sky gives it a bit more punch. Composition is good and it's bang on theme good work.

Promise - I remember as a little girl at school crossing my fingers behind my back, composition is good I am just not so sure on the black lace.

Thanks Mandy. I used the black lace and red fingernails to suggest a more adult sort of promise, but you aren't the only one that didn't seem to get it. Maybe I should have overlaid the black lace on a scarlet fabric to make the point a bit more obvious

 

[XenosElaine]

Hi Elaine, sorry I'm only getting around to doing commenting now - I've been a little lax!

Of your architecture photos, I like that latter of the two more as I think it's more interesting. I like the colourisation you've gone for too as I think it adds a je ne sais quoi to it.
The clouds have been spoken of in the first image so won't go there, but lovely blue sky and nice sense of scale too.

False - promise, I'm afraid it's not very interesting to me, but it does work for the theme.

Thanks Simon.

 

[XenosElaine]

Hi, nice connection to the theme it is a difficult subject so well done for thinking of that idea and well executed

Thanks Allan.

 

[XenosElaine]

This is a difficult subject to portray in a photograph so well done on coming up with such a great idea. Not sure of the BG and the glow from the lower part of your arm is a bit distracting but everything else works for me.

Interested to see how you manage to take a photograph of your fingers crossed behind your back.

Thanks Carol. As I said in my reply to Mandy, maybe I should have made the adult theme of my promise a little more obvious with a more Ann Summers type background

 

[XenosElaine]

Good take on the theme, Elaine. Nice idea and well executed.

I think the hand (which is a lovely hand!) works well with the nails painted and background... good composition and the effort taken in composing it was worthwhile.
I like the diagonal coming in from the TL corner... works well.
To me the end of the middle finger (knuckle & down?) looks slightly OOF? Might just be my eyes but I find that very slightly distracting.

Otherwise a good shot and a clever take... well done!

Thanks Paul. I agree about the middle finger and think that maybe my nail polish was a little too shiny for my camera to get a decent focus on it.

 

[XenosElaine]

Week 33 (where does the time go?) - Sharp

I don't think this requires much explanation, but I'm aware that the colour of the bg I've used won't be to everyone's taste! In my defence, I tried both black and white first but I didn't think black provided enough contrast against the pencils' graphite tips and likewise with white against the pale wood, so the blue was a bit of a compromise. Also, there's a slight colour difference between the sharpened ends of the pencils and the actual shavings. The shavings did come from the same type of pencil, but I decided to rub the actual pencil tips with some of the powdered graphite from the sharpenings to enhance the grain in them. Couldn't do the same with the shavings to make them match without them disintegrating on me

 

[Tango32]

Hi Elaine - Architecture your edit is much better nice work

Promise - dam why did I not think of that excellent take on the theme love the skin colours and texture

Sharp - I like this the angle of the pencils and the detail in the wood catch your attention the shavings are a nice touch shadow police will be on your case but I quite like them
background is clean and a good choice of colour

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks Craig. Yes, I'm sure some won't like the shadows, but I think it would look rather bizarre without them - as if the shavings were floating in mid air

 

[mr.si]

Hi Elaine, very very good. Clean and sharp (very). Love it. Bg colour works for me.

 

[XenosElaine]

Thanks Simon

 

[Crtm]

Hi Elaine love "Sharp" great take on the subject don't mind the shadows, the photograph of the pencils is extremely sharp too. BG for me is fine although I feel as though it gives a blue hue to the pencils but I think it is probably just me. Like the angle and the shavings adds balance to the photograph.