weekly alltaken's 52 project for 2013 - Week 14 & 15 added!

A little late, but I've been ill. :)

I had a great deal of trouble wrapping my head around this week's them, and I think I wasn't the only one. :bang:

My first idea was a juxtaposition of the old and the new, but the picture just didn't work for me and was a bit boring.

The Old and the New.


Week 9 - Juxtaposition by alltaken2012, on Flickr


My second idea was better I think, but I had quite a bit of difficulty in taking the actual shot. It's meant to be a juxtaposition between the child's toy and the adults 'toy', of the creative and the practical.

Try as I might, I simply couldn't get close enough to the toy windmill to get the effect I wanted, without blurring the windmills in the background, even with the lens at F8+.


Week 9 Fail by alltaken2012, on Flickr


I now realise that all I needed to do was take a few steps back and use a telephoto lens / or at least a lens with a higher focal range, but unfortunately, I hadn't taken it with me. The final result is a very poor second to what I was trying to achieve. :(


Week 9 - Juxtaposition by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
Hi....hope you're feeling better.
Like the colours in your windmill pictures. think I prefer the first one of the two. The road leads you to the windmills and the background is nicely blurred. The background in second picture seems too busy/messy. Good idea for theme.
 
How, there, like your Juxtapositions.

#1 is nice and simple yet very effective. Well composed and the Kindle really stands out.

Of the 2 windmills I prefer the first. The composition works better for me. I'd like to see more of the windmill handle and a bit of motion blur wouldn't go a miss.

Good show (y)
 
No1 for me too great colour the blue, yellow and green work really well. Nice composition
 
Hi steven,

couple of good shots there - much prefer the windmills though. The colours in the first along with the lead in line of the track work really well. The OOF ones in the rear don't really detract that much, we can still see what they are.

Bit of motion blur might have helped the shot along too. (y)

To increase your DOF (a bit), you could have gone to f/11, also dropping your ISO would have shortened your shutter speed.

Have a read about hyperfocal distance, (I know of it, I don't claim to fully understand it :LOL:) By having your focus point at the hyperfocal distance (1.4metres for your 18mm lens at f/11), everything from half that, to infinity should be in focus.

Whereas focusing at 0.7m, only gives you DOF of 1 metre. DOF calculator link

HTH
 
Time - lovely sharp shot and I like the selective colouring - iris reminds me of a marble I used to have. Would have preferred the white of the eye to have been in greyscale instead of colour. My only gripe with this is the nostril, if you had been slightly higher or she had tilted her head a fraction I do not think it would have been quite so dominant

Juxtaposition - I really like the second windmill, it works very well. Without the hedge would have had even more impact I think but I know how difficult it can be seeing over hedges. If I know a shot I plan has hedges in the way I take a small step ladder with me but its is never in the car when I want it
 
A couple of well thought out images for Juxtaposition, I like the first windmill one, the colours really stand out as does the line of real windmills trailing off in the background, I especially like the way the road takes you from the front one to the back ones.
 
Hi Steven


both your images for Juxta are spot on in context to the theme .

The Kindle shot.....why didn't I think of that :bonk: Simple display but works well , sharp focus

The windmill shot...#1 for me by a country mile...cracking colors , love the use of DOF & a great sky to complete the image...love it :clap:
 
Hi Steven,
I like your take on time, the SC on the eye works IMHO, it is the main focal point of the portrait and is a nice touch. The earrings don't detract any either for me, as the viewers attention is drawn to the eye.

Juxtaposition, I like windmill #1, closely followed by the kindle /books then windmill #2 in that order. The composition works really well in #1 windmill, lovely splash of colour in there too.
The kindle/bookshelf is a simple but very effective take on the theme.

Good work all round (y) Iain
 
LOVE your juxtaposition shots, the first is the one is by far the best
I think #2 could be improved by taking outer the thicker branch in the foreground to the right and also a bit of motion blur on the wind turbine

...love the yellow though, it really stands out
 
Thank you everyone for kindly taking the time to comment and critique, Graham I've bookmarked your helpful link about hyperfocal distance and will have a read as soon as I get a quiet half hour, thank you, much appreciated.


I'm reasonably happy with my subject for Week 10's theme, but on uploading it, I wonder if there's a slight tint to the pic, or is it just my pc?

Edit: Adjusted slightly in PP, think it looks better now.

Week 10 = Letter


Week 10 - Letter by alltaken2012, on Flickr

Week 11 I'm not so happy with, it's on theme, but I feel the image is lacking something and I don't know what. I may well upload something else before the week is up.

Week 11 - Electric


Week 11 - Electric by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
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Letter - really like this. Nice spot.colours? Look ok to me although a tad desaturated, but if that's the style you were going for then great :)

Electric - no idea what it is but I think it would have been better if the engine part wasn't just cropped at the bottom. Very sharp image though that has a lot of interesting things in it to look at
 
Letter - well composed with the square crop, Like the hydrant sign in amongst all the overgrowth too. Colours seem fine to me.

Electric, plenty to look at - all good and sharp too. maybe too tight a crop overall, may be that there's nowhere for the eye to rest, maybe too much to look at??
 
Hi Steven


Liking your letter shot....nicely composed , good colors with just a hint of desaturation possibly ? & a slightly jaunty angle that works far better than a square head on shot (y)
Electric....whatever it is I bet it could deliver a powerful shock if you touched the wrong bit :LOL: Like the sharpness & focus & colors :)
 
like the letter shot works really well agree with Graham about electric being a bit busy
 
Thank you all once again for your comments and critique. The electric picture was a generator, I'd already done the pylons thing for another theme and didn't want to be repetitive. The close up was to try to eliminate the background clutter in my shed being in shot, but I agree, the shot doesn't really work.

This week's theme is the obvious and easy one, as I've already done road signs once or twice for previous themes as well, and I know I'm just not going to have time to do anything else this week.

I've tried to use the red line from corner to corner to draw the eye through the picture.

Week 12 - Direction.


Week 12 - Direction by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
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bang on theme I like the way the compass follows the red line too (y) pity about the shadow not to bad but i suppose inevitable
 
damn you - that was my idea... grrrr.

well executed - good colours and detail on the map, like the all in focus and the detail in the old compass.

horizontal lines seem to have a bit of a downward sag to them though?
 
I think quite a few thought of maps compasses etc.. but early bird got the worm so we re think.. signposts.. arrows etc
 
Letter is very nice; those hydrant markers are usually vertical, and I particularly like that it seems to have fallen over and been abandoned. As mentioned, the square crop works.

As you said, Electric is on theme, but I find it quite hard to see an interesting picture there (like many others on this particular theme).

Direction is lovely. Simple, clear, well positioned, well lit. Couldn't ask for more... and it IS an interesting picture!
 
Thanks once again everyone. :) It's going to be a busy week for me, so wanted to get the theme out of the way, hence taking the most obvious route with the theme, though I now see I wasn't the first think of using a map.

I do really need to look into the use of lighting to eliminate shadows though, and perhaps a photocopy of the map would have done better, so that it lay perfectly flat.

I'm hoping I'll have more time to put a little thought into next week's theme, and I also hope that it isn't going to be another curveball like juxtaposition. :D
 
Direction - nice idea, executed well!
Maybe position the compass a little lower into the bottom third would be my only crit - but composition comes down to preference a lot of the time! Nice work! (y)
 
Elvis bear..tacky...outside...noowwww!! :D

Tacky indeed.

Lighting isn't too back, perhaps a tad more on the left? The left of the cape is a tad dark. Minor point.

That's you very much :D
 
A bit to square and central to me but definitely tacky as was the real one from the seventies onwards (y)
 
Hi Steven :wave:

Juxtaposition: I likke the contrast of the kindle on a shelf of its own and the books on the bottom. Well in theme and a good idea.

Electric: I think its the control panel and starter of a generator(?). Good focus and colours and well in theme but not obvious. The AC voltage and cb led to my thinking anyway.

Letter: Good shot but maybe some pp on the yellow & H to clean it up would help it to stand out.

Direction: Well composed and spot on theme. Excellent focus on both the compass face and map.

Tacky: more cute than tacky in my opinion but as you say open to interpretation by the viewer.
 
Not sure how "tacky" elvis bear actually is, this is definately a theme that is very open to personal preference and interpretation....

good shot, love his quiff... could you have removed or hidden the cardboard tag by his left shoulder - or I'm sure it could be disappeared with the clone tool!
 
Elvis bear tacky not too tacky...too nicely done. Maybe try to lose label.
 
Tacky indeed! (y)

For me the exposure and lighting are good. Looks like a catalogue shot, hope thats what you were going for ;)
 
Thanks once again for the comments and critique guys.

The lighting issue is because there wasn't any. I've made myself a rudimentary lightbox, but still hadn't got any lighting for it at the time the picture was taken. I've bought some basic lamps now, and got some daylight bulbs, so hopefully there should be an improvement in future.

The bear's owner wouldn't hear of the tag being removed, so I was hoping no one would notice. :naughty:
 
Hi Steven, technically very good on your tacky shot IMHO.
I like the lighting and sharp detail in the image.
As others have said, definitely open to interpretation as to how tacky but on theme(ish) for me :LOL:
 
I've had a lot of trouble thinking of something for this week's entry, but it has, if anything, taught me the value of taking a few different lenses with me wherever I go.

I would have liked to blur our the building in the background, but it wasn't possible with the lens I had with me, so I've blurred it out a bit in PP to try and make the sign pop out a bit.

Week 14 - Value (for money)


Week 14 - Value by alltaken2012, on Flickr
 
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Works for me - a sign that really 'says' great value... lovely and square on to the poster, might suggest loosing the 1/4 brick line at the bottom to echo the perfect framing you have top and left.

Can't make up my mind on the bin - more I look the more I see it as a distraction, have you tried with it cloned out - and prob the square to its top left while you're at it?

Liking the raindrops - well done for getting out in the weather.. (y)
 
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