weekly XenosElaine's 52s Thread - Support added

XenosElaine said:
........................ but who would have thought that purple nail polish clashes horribly with the colour of a lotto ticket?
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I could have told you that Elaine.........damn!........did I just say that out loud! :whistle:

That's a great idea and a funny story, ironing the ticket :LOL:

Good detail in the ticket, colours good in the telly and a nice touch with the crossed fingers, I like it(y)

......and if you win, its party round at your house :D
 
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Thanks for all the comments. The cold is starting to get better now, but last night's lottery numbers came out all wrong, so swings and roundabouts :)
 
Week 45 - First

Which Came First?

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Couldn't decide whether I preferred it in colour or mono, so I'll let you decide o_O

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Elaine,
Great idea. Think I prefer the colour version, but not sure..............and which did come first!
Andrew
 
Thanks Andrew. In this case, the egg came first, because it was left over from last week's shop, whereas I only bought the chicken on Friday morning - a most fortuitous choice of Sunday dinner as it turned out :D

I thought the bright green of the egg box was a bit overpowering, so that's why I tried a mono conversion, but I think that makes it look a bit too dull, so I can't make my mind up :confused:
 
Great idea, but I'm not sure how it can be turned into an interesting image though.

The mono doesn't do much for me so have to say I prefer the colour.
 
Hi Elaine

I like the idea a lot - good concept and perfectly on theme. I think, compositionally, it's a difficult one - you're dealing with two objects which immediately makes things harder (than if you had three, say). Also, the arrangement is quite "linear" - again, easier with three where you can arrange in a triangle or similar.

DOF is quite deep, which means to me you're asking the question and not presuming the outcome - which is fine - but another way of composing would be to throw one of the objects OOF, sort of implying an answer?

Lighting this scene is going to be tough: the egg inside the box is probably going to tend to underexpose at the sides (especially being quite matte) whereas the chicken inside the film is quite glossy and reflective: dealing with the highlights from the latter whilst exposing the former correctly is not easy... so I think you've underexposed the egg a bit for me? I'd probably have gone for softer, more diffuse lighting from above - e.g. bounce a flash from the ceiling - which would create a much softer shadow under both objects and also helped reduce the specular highlights on the chicken, whilst allowing you to ramp up the lighting that reaches the sides of the egg.

That's my slightly rambling take on it, but that's just my opinion!!
 
Hi, was going to go for a similar thing but decided against it, as Graham says not really sure what you could do compositionally with the objects

so out of the two the colour does work slightly better
 
Hi Elaine ...as already said it's great idea for the theme but it lacks that eye catching element of you last shots. I wonder if it would have looked better if you had taken the chicken out of the packet and put it on a wooden chopping board with just the the egg, the extra texture and colour from the board may have given it a lift, I definitely prefer your colour one to the mono.
 
The colour one for me too, love that green egg box but I think a deceased supermarket chicken is a cop-out. ;)
 
Thanks for all the comments, I have to agree that it's a pretty mundane image. I actually set it up in the bottom of my fridge (because I'm probably a bit over-fussy about where I put raw chicken) and the only lighting was the fridge light and my Kindle reading light balanced on the shelf above, then I managed to get rid of a bit of the reflection on the chicken pack in pp :rolleyes:

It's a shame the theme didn't come up earlier in the year when I had chocolate hens and eggs to give as Easter presents - I think that would probably have made it a bit more interesting :)
 
Thanks for the comment Lynne. Hopefully my Smooth shots are a bit less mundane.

First idea was Smooth as Silk. I was trying to get the feel of an old cigarette ad, but I'm not sure whether I succeeded o_O The Portuguese health warning isn't significant by the way - Portugal just happened to be the last place I stocked up in.

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The silky background for that one gave me another idea - Smooth Away the Creases. My thumb's a bit over-exposed, but it was a toss up between that or under-exposing the creases in the fabric, so as they were the main point of the theme, I decided to live with it.

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Hi Elaine I missed a few yours sorry for that.

First, it's strange that this never even popped into my mind an idea.

Obviously on theme, So well done for that, but I think you could taken it up a level by maybe unpacking the chicken and using the egg better, perhaps on top of the chicken. Mainly its the packages that I find distracting.

Smooth, quick off the mark here:clap: it's the first one for my immediate reaction was that it's giving me 'the bird'. Well composed, good detail and nice whites.

I'd like to see a little more at the purple background.

Cheers and feet up for the week:)
 
Hi, out of the two I think I prefer the second its a good composition and nicely lit, perfect for the theme,
the first one not sure on the lighting it seems a little harsh, I think its a good idea but it needs some work (y)
 
posiview said:
Hi Elaine I missed a few yours sorry for that.

First, it's strange that this never even popped into my mind an idea.

Obviously on theme, So well done for that, but I think you could taken it up a level by maybe unpacking the chicken and using the egg better, perhaps on top of the chicken. Mainly its the packages that I find distracting.

Smooth, quick off the mark here:clap: it's the first one for my immediate reaction was that it's giving me 'the bird'. Well composed, good detail and nice whites.

I'd like to see a little more at the purple background.

Cheers and feet up for the week:)
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Hi Andy, I did think about taking the wrapper off the chicken, but wasn't sure how the pale flesh would look against a white background and I wasn't going to ruin my black background card by putting raw chicken on it :eek:

Thanks for the comments on Smooth as Silk :)
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi, out of the two I think I prefer the second its a good composition and nicely lit, perfect for the theme,
the first one not sure on the lighting it seems a little harsh, I think its a good idea but it needs some work (y)
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Thanks for commenting Allan. Yes, the first one was done at night under artificial light and I think I may have slightly overdone the pp work to remove some of the warmer tones in the whites and yellows. The other one was taken during the daytime in mainly natural light and I think it's possibly better for it.
 
Hiya Elaine... you know I'm always honest and I'm afraid the first one doesn't do it for me... the subject isn't my favourite (sorry, I'm a bit of a Clark Kent on that :oops: :$) and I'm struggling with the lighting a bit. Also something I really struggle with when I'm composing shots is defaulting to placing things "flat on"... based on advice received here I think I'm convinced that subjects look far far better when they're at an angle of some sort - I think that would apply here.

The second one is a leap forward for me - the angle looks very natural (unposed) and it's superbly on theme. I like the technicals which are all good and very very precisely painted nail! (y)
 
Hi Ellaine

Live - curious way to hold a ticket until one realises that it is fingers crossed - quite subtle. Setup and colours well handled
first - I think that it would be better if the chicken was unwrapped. Lighting seems an issue - or maybe white balance - just looks a bit cold overall. I prefer the colur if it could be a bit warmer.
Smooth - #1 is a bit flat compositionally but #2 overcomes that. Good angle makes it look like the ironing is really happening and together with the folds there is a feeling of movement. beautiful nail polish - such a nice detail does help - and not purple this time?
 
Hey Elaine :)

Smooth - Liking both of your ideas here, the cigarette shot could even get away with a crop above the health warning for me, a nicely exposed shot, did well to get detail in the silk still (y)

The iron shot, again a great idea, a little tweak in LR or PS would correct your thumb exposure, for me you dealt with it the best way, it would be nice to see a smooth area of cloth too, colours are real nice again :)
 
pjm1 said:
Hiya Elaine... you know I'm always honest and I'm afraid the first one doesn't do it for me... the subject isn't my favourite (sorry, I'm a bit of a Clark Kent on that :oops: :$) and I'm struggling with the lighting a bit. Also something I really struggle with when I'm composing shots is defaulting to placing things "flat on"... based on advice received here I think I'm convinced that subjects look far far better when they're at an angle of some sort - I think that would apply here.

The second one is a leap forward for me - the angle looks very natural (unposed) and it's superbly on theme. I like the technicals which are all good and very very precisely painted nail! (y)
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Thanks Paul - honest constructive crit always appreciated! I agree about the positioning of the carton and would normally try and use a more diagonal composition. However, the problem in this shot was that in order to get a decent outline I had to (physically) cut off the lid and some of the foil lining and it looked very odd at any angle other than full face on.
 
superpippo said:
Hi Ellaine

Live - curious way to hold a ticket until one realises that it is fingers crossed - quite subtle. Setup and colours well handled
first - I think that it would be better if the chicken was unwrapped. Lighting seems an issue - or maybe white balance - just looks a bit cold overall. I prefer the colur if it could be a bit warmer.
Smooth - #1 is a bit flat compositionally but #2 overcomes that. Good angle makes it look like the ironing is really happening and together with the folds there is a feeling of movement. beautiful nail polish - such a nice detail does help - and not purple this time?
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" just looks a bit cold overall " Well I did say it was in the bottom of my fridge :p

Thanks for the comments on Smooth. Funny how I spent absolutely ages on #1 whilst #2 was more of an afterthought and only took a few minutes, yet that one seems to have been most people's preference. I think the purple nail polish would have actually been a better match for the background fabric this week, but I didn't have that in mind when I put it on a couple of days earlier ;)
 
d00d said:
Hi Elaine

Going with the flow ... #2 :agree: such nice clean props, fingernails too.
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Thanks d00d. I'm starting to regret my comment about the nail polish the other week and have to confess that I do have a bit of an obsession about making sure my nails are well manicured at all times :oops: :$
 
susiejb said:
Hi Elaine I really like the idea of the silky smooth material in one, but I'm not keen on the warning on the packet, I find it distracting ...if I scroll my screen down I like it better with just the top lettering showing. two is a great idea ...you certainly come up with some excellent ones.
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Thanks Susie. I did try cropping the health warning off, but it meant that I had to lose a lot of the bg fabric in order to keep the 3:4 proportions, so I decided to leave it alone.
 
Dark Knight said:
Hey Elaine :)

Smooth - Liking both of your ideas here, the cigarette shot could even get away with a crop above the health warning for me, a nicely exposed shot, did well to get detail in the silk still (y)

The iron shot, again a great idea, a little tweak in LR or PS would correct your thumb exposure, for me you dealt with it the best way, it would be nice to see a smooth area of cloth too, colours are real nice again :)
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Thanks DK. Your idea about the smooth area of fabric's good, but it would have meant actually doing some ironing and that's going a bit above and beyond for me :D
 
Two good ideas, and turned into nice images too.

Think I prefer the first, it does have a look of and old cigarette advert, and smooth as silk is perfectly fitting. Lighting used well to show the box and the contents, as well as bring out the folds on the fabric. Looks more like velvet than silk to me but I'm not an authority on cloth. :)

Ironing works well too, nowhere near over exposed on the thumb to my eye, looks spot on and the nicely painted nail echoing the shape of the iron itself is nice. Again good lighting to bring out the folds.
 
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Hiya Elaine, at first I thought your 1st for smooth looked a bit flat, as in 2D and that it appeared to be deifying gravity by hovering vertical up against a curtain :eek:......then I read your explanation about the look you were going for and saw it in a different light.

The old ad look you've definitely achieved, composition works ok, even down to where the creases are (y) if anything, my eye was drawn to bit of shadowing on the right of the tip that's been lifted from the packet......or is it where you've cloned something out? :thinking:
 
XenosElaine said:
Thanks DK. Your idea about the smooth area of fabric's good, but it would have meant actually doing some ironing and that's going a bit above and beyond for me :D
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Ha Haaaaaa but we must do the extraordinary for our hobby :LOL:
 
overbez said:
Two good ideas, and turned into nice images too.

Think I prefer the first, it does have a look of and old cigarette advert, and smooth as silk is perfectly fitting. Lighting used well to show the box and the contents, as well as bring out the folds on the fabric. Looks more like velvet than silk to me but I'm not an authority on cloth. :)

Ironing works well too, nowhere near over exposed on the thumb to my eye, looks spot on and the nicely painted nail echoing the shape of the iron itself is nice. Again good lighting to bring out the folds.
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Thanks Graham :)
 
Phil-D said:
Hiya Elaine, at first I thought your 1st for smooth looked a bit flat, as in 2D and that it appeared to be deifying gravity by hovering vertical up against a curtain :eek:......then I read your explanation about the look you were going for and saw it in a different light.

The old ad look you've definitely achieved, composition works ok, even down to where the creases are (y) if anything, my eye was drawn to bit of shadowing on the right of the tip that's been lifted from the packet......or is it where you've cloned something out? :thinking:
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Phil-D said:
Hiya Elaine, at first I thought your 1st for smooth looked a bit flat, as in 2D and that it appeared to be deifying gravity by hovering vertical up against a curtain :eek:......then I read your explanation about the look you were going for and saw it in a different light.

The old ad look you've definitely achieved, composition works ok, even down to where the creases are (y) if anything, my eye was drawn to bit of shadowing on the right of the tip that's been lifted from the packet......or is it where you've cloned something out? :thinking:
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Thanks for commenting Phil. Yes, I managed to slightly crease the tip as I was pulling it out of the packet and my efforts at tidying it up are somewhat less than perfect :oops: :$
 
Week 47 - Attached

Three from me this week, because I quite liked this theme :)

#1 Putting aside my fear of shiny things and reflections - bits of the shower attached to other bits of the shower

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#2 Still in the bathroom, the door of the bathroom cabinet attached with a hinge

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#3 Eventually escaped from the bathroom to shoot this gecko attached to a neighbour's wall

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First in again. :)

It's the shower fixing that takes it for me from those three. Love the corner entry of the hose and the other bit in the top right with the reflection of the hose echoing it's lovely curve. Nice diagonals with the lines of the tiles and whilst I could live without the shadow from the hose I quite like it.

Not much in the hinge for me although it is nice and bright, makes the gecko look a bit underexposed next to it. Although it ( the gecko) has a really nice range of colors that need a bit of work to make them pop. Composition here is great too. :)
 
Whilst I'm inclined to agree with Graham@overbez about the gecko colours ... I love it, my fave of the three.
 
Three good images Elaine (y) I'm a little undecided, I quite like the simplicity of the hinge, good dof works, the shower attachment's got some good detail and well done with handling the reflections , (we can see you :D) which I like (y) The gecko has fun factor, composition works, as said, maybe a little underexposed, the colours do look a little dull :)
 
Hi, have to agree with the above comments, the shower is the standout image with the gecko a close second only because of the slight underexposure

well done for getting three images
 
Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad that people seem to like the shower one, because it took me ages scrubbing all the tiny crevices with a toothbrush to get it that clean and shiny :oops: :$ The gecko was a bit of a revelation to me, because the wall it's attached to is permanently in shadow and from my kitchen window I've always thought it was just plain metal, so I was really surprised to see all the painted-on colours when I zoomed into it! I did do a bit of pp to bring them out more, but I agree that a tad more brightness would improve it.

Edited to add - now reworked and swapped the link on the main thread to the new version on the next page.
 
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