weekly Blondie606's 52 in 2014 Wk 52 Support-THE END :-)

Sparkle: Oh yes, final edit is the one. Very classy i feel. I do like the light patch on the LHS base, feels this grounds the statue well - could'nt imagine it without. The light on the statue is bang on!

Fall: Deffo # 1 for me. The path provides a really pleasing lead in line which I think is reinforced by the banking on the right and the tree canopy above. Nicely executed and I enjoyed the finer details like the tree trunk shadows too :) I think number 2 would need plenty more water to work.

Communicate: A super idea which made me smile. Mono conversion and frame works well here. Perhaps the processing is a little too ramped up, but still its bold, creative and meaningful....which I can appreciate :clap:

Dark: Works for me. Like the way the low-key processing gives this a slightly ominous feel which works well with a techy subject....as in reality, the problem does exist where some people are "afraid" of technolgy / gadgets. Like the 2 strip details in the flash too :)

Big: Trust DK to lower the tone huh ;) You've done a really good job on this Lynne. Lighting and compositing skills have married well. Use of focus stacking on Woody is a really clever idea, and it works well. My only minor thought is I would like to see a little drop shadow around woody (something that mirrors the apple shadow somewhat)

......to be continued
 
Hi Lynne love the colours in the rocks and its of course a great idea with the one black rock on top, BG good too not pure white but a little darker at the top works really well :clap:
Glad to know it wasn't just me having problems with the site
 
Hi Lynne..

Cut: I like this idea, works well for me. Really like the colours in the flower and the bold processing which completes the effect nicely...perhaps a fine drop shadow along the white lines would make it feel more like 4 individual prints?

Balance: Beautifully simple in composition and it works...love the pale earthy tones and textures and like what looks like a graduated background with tones matching the stones. Lighting as always is really pleasing - Are you using a light tent for this I wonder?
 
Hi Lynne

Balance - Lighting a bit bright for me as some of the sides are indistinct - and the pebbles have nice textures. That black spot does bug me - trouble is that it is too small to be seen as part of the rock and therefore looks like it should be cloned out. Good stack tho as the pebbles bear a good relationship to each other and fits the theme
 
Hi Lynne... catch up from me and sorry for the delay.

Re: the rim lighting for your dark shot, I was really imagining a light behind the subject, almost pointing back to camera. Obviously positioning and angles etc. have to be tweaked very carefully otherwise you'll flood the lens with direct flash, which is not the intention, but it can provide very very shallow lighting all around the subject, which really helps separate the image from a black background. It doesn't add any light to the front (camera side) of the subject, so preserves the whole "dark" ethos. It can be quite difficult to get just right with a low key image though...

On to your next photos! Some beauties here as always...

Big - I love it. Super lighting coming down onto the subject and providing a lovely white background. Reminds me of James & The Giant Peach! Superb shot very well executed (y)

Cut - I like it, but less than big. Again, well executed and some good PP... but with almost all of your shots being so wonderful, there have to be one or two which are just "very good" :)

Balance - wow, super product shot yet again... Nice reflective background - works really well and perhaps could be converted into a full tower reflection with a shallower camera angle?? I know you mentioned about PPing the reflection, but maybe it could be done in camera? There's a slight excess of highlight top left (as we're looking at it) of each stone, but it's marginal and doesn't detract for me. Very well done!
 
very nicely stacked there - like the black one on the top - central composition works, white BG is very bright though, but theres some lovely texture in the pebbles.

Nice shadow too. :)
 
JasonGlyn said:
Sparkle: Oh yes, final edit is the one. Very classy i feel. I do like the light patch on the LHS base, feels this grounds the statue well - could'nt imagine it without. The light on the statue is bang on!

Fall: Deffo # 1 for me. The path provides a really pleasing lead in line which I think is reinforced by the banking on the right and the tree canopy above. Nicely executed and I enjoyed the finer details like the tree trunk shadows too :) I think number 2 would need plenty more water to work.

Communicate: A super idea which made me smile. Mono conversion and frame works well here. Perhaps the processing is a little too ramped up, but still its bold, creative and meaningful....which I can appreciate :clap:

Dark: Works for me. Like the way the low-key processing gives this a slightly ominous feel which works well with a techy subject....as in reality, the problem does exist where some people are "afraid" of technolgy / gadgets. Like the 2 strip details in the flash too :)

Big: Trust DK to lower the tone huh ;) You've done a really good job on this Lynne. Lighting and compositing skills have married well. Use of focus stacking on Woody is a really clever idea, and it works well. My only minor thought is I would like to see a little drop shadow around woody (something that mirrors the apple shadow somewhat)

......to be continued
Click to expand...


many thanks for the catch up Jason , I appreciate how precious time is so Thank you (y)

Sparkle...I take my time but get there..eventually :D

Fall def needs more water so hoping to get a revist at some point....

Communicate...yup, ramped up the pp a touch to much , lesson learned for next time I hope !

Dark...I'm afraid of tech & gadgets..we don't mix well :D

Big...yeah , should have thought about a shadow on the apple from Woody....starting to think my "style" of photography is that somethings always missing :LOL:
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi Lynne love the colours in the rocks and its of course a great idea with the one black rock on top, BG good too not pure white but a little darker at the top works really well :clap:
Glad to know it wasn't just me having problems with the site
Click to expand...

Cheers Alan...i was convinced it was pilot error when the site wouldn't work for me( it normally is :D ) I confess that the darker top to the bg was pure accident but it's kinda growing on me ;)

posiview said:
Much better (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers matey.....sometimes I can't see the wood for the tree's ;)

JasonGlyn said:
Hi Lynne..

Cut: I like this idea, works well for me. Really like the colours in the flower and the bold processing which completes the effect nicely...perhaps a fine drop shadow along the white lines would make it feel more like 4 individual prints?

Balance: Beautifully simple in composition and it works...love the pale earthy tones and textures and like what looks like a graduated background with tones matching the stones. Lighting as always is really pleasing - Are you using a light tent for this I wonder?
Click to expand...

Ha...don't talk to me about drop shadows for cut....I spent ages trying to sort it but got no where apart from in to a bad mood ! I'm now thinking that what I need to do is is take one section at a time on to the new background , create the drop shadow then merge those layers , then take the next section & so on, each time merging the layers before starting on the next one :thinking:

no light tent used , simply a large white sheet of paper in front of a window & much waving around of a reflector & use of exp comp to just get the blinkies flashing ....not the most technically correct way of doing it I'm sure but quite happy with it :)
 
superpippo said:
Hi Lynne

Balance - Lighting a bit bright for me as some of the sides are indistinct - and the pebbles have nice textures. That black spot does bug me - trouble is that it is too small to be seen as part of the rock and therefore looks like it should be cloned out. Good stack tho as the pebbles bear a good relationship to each other and fits the theme
Click to expand...

Thanks Alan , bright was the aim ;) the stacking was simple though i wish I was smart enough to flip the image & recreate a shadow to make it look like they were balanced small up to large :banghead: As for the black bit........hmmm...I should have just turned the bloomin pebble round ;)

pjm1 said:
Hi Lynne... catch up from me and sorry for the delay.

Re: the rim lighting for your dark shot, I was really imagining a light behind the subject, almost pointing back to camera. Obviously positioning and angles etc. have to be tweaked very carefully otherwise you'll flood the lens with direct flash, which is not the intention, but it can provide very very shallow lighting all around the subject, which really helps separate the image from a black background. It doesn't add any light to the front (camera side) of the subject, so preserves the whole "dark" ethos. It can be quite difficult to get just right with a low key image though...

On to your next photos! Some beauties here as always...

Big - I love it. Super lighting coming down onto the subject and providing a lovely white background. Reminds me of James & The Giant Peach! Superb shot very well executed (y)

Cut - I like it, but less than big. Again, well executed and some good PP... but with almost all of your shots being so wonderful, there have to be one or two which are just "very good" :)

Balance - wow, super product shot yet again... Nice reflective background - works really well and perhaps could be converted into a full tower reflection with a shallower camera angle?? I know you mentioned about PPing the reflection, but maybe it could be done in camera? There's a slight excess of highlight top left (as we're looking at it) of each stone, but it's marginal and doesn't detract for me. Very well done!
Click to expand...


Hi Paul , no apologies necessary....you're feedback is always so detailed so getting round everyone takes time...thanks for all the feedback (y) I've got a lightbulb set up on a dimmer switch so may have a go with that at some point to try & create the type of image you're explaining to me...though I strongley suspect it'll be nothing like the image you have in mind :D


susiejb said:
Hi Lynne, a nice image with the stacked pebbled ...I like colour and the soft tones in them.
Click to expand...


Thanks Susie :)

overbez said:
very nicely stacked there - like the black one on the top - central composition works, white BG is very bright though, but theres some lovely texture in the pebbles.

Nice shadow too. :)
Click to expand...

Cheers Graham ,bright was indeed the intention , as was a pure white bg - 1 out of 2 ain't bad I guess :D
 
A simple idea very well executed! I particularly like the contrast between the pale matte stones and the dark shiny one on top - like the cherry on top of the cake :)
 
Hi Lynne,

the pebbles work well, nicely lit, good clean white bg, (y)
 
Just realized I've not up loaded last weeks shots :(

Neither of my chosen images will appear immediately on theme , one of those weeks where being out n about were more important than shooing specifically for the theme.....so PABD from me ;)

#1

Wk 43 Change 2 by Blondie606 Photography, on Flickr

It wasn't till I reviewed this shot on the 'puter that I saw the Germans.....!My eye was drawn to the color of the leaves......change for autumn

#2

Wk 43 Change by Blondie606 Photography, on Flickr

Meant to depict how times have Changed ....

s'ok , I'll get me coat..... :exit:
 
Hi Lynne, the tree does say change but I was a little confused with the Nazi gathering but I see what you were getting at
the second one could maybe have done with a new car in the shot to emphasise the link to the theme, nice car though,

could play picture snap with you over on the POTY (y)
 
The Germans are intriguing ... could do with another millimetre of foreground ... but you didn't know they were there anyway!
 
Haaaaaa did you not see the beach towels around the base of the tree when you first got there ???

I'm with Alan on both of these... Super colours in that tree, and what a mahooosive size it is too, no shoehorn required for me.. and that is a great car, would work really well with a new car next to it, as it is, it does require your explanation, but that's not a bad thing, guessing you did B&W to help the car stand out against the background, or was it just to help with age ?? - either way, both on theme for me ??
 
Hi, I like #1, the scale is great and the colours are wondefully golden. I must get to one of these events - is there a website that shows when and where?

#2 what a great car, bags of character. I thibk a little more processeing would take it up a few levelsl.

Anyway, got your Grow yet?

Oh, and congrats on the POTY, you and Iain are doing really well (y)
Cheers.
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi Lynne, the tree does say change but I was a little confused with the Nazi gathering but I see what you were getting at
the second one could maybe have done with a new car in the shot to emphasise the link to the theme, nice car though,

could play picture snap with you over on the POTY (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers Alan ,I was confused over the Nazi's as well but loved the tree's so much I'm not worried :) As for the car....it was in a line up of 3 other Moggy's inside th display area of a 1940's event so no chance of putting a modern car next to it........

Snap it is...love the purpley colors in your's :)

d00d said:
The Germans are intriguing ... could do with another millimetre of foreground ... but you didn't know they were there anyway!
Click to expand...


Thanks David :) & yup , I agree about a smidge more foreground

Dark Knight said:
Haaaaaa did you not see the beach towels around the base of the tree when you first got there ???

I'm with Alan on both of these... Super colours in that tree, and what a mahooosive size it is too, no shoehorn required for me.. and that is a great car, would work really well with a new car next to it, as it is, it does require your explanation, but that's not a bad thing, guessing you did B&W to help the car stand out against the background, or was it just to help with age ?? - either way, both on theme for me ??
Click to expand...

cheers Dean....didn't actually intend to do B&W , in fact I was most surprised to see I'd uploaded it :D
 
superpippo said:
Hi Lynne
Change - #1 good shot of an autumnal tree. Not sure about the figures
#2 - my first thought was that also of the others - could have done with a new model by the side to emphasise the theme.
Click to expand...

Cheers Alan , answered the comment re a new model in the above post...not possible to do I'm afraid :(

posiview said:
Hi, I like #1, the scale is great and the colours are wondefully golden. I must get to one of these events - is there a website that shows when and where?

#2 what a great car, bags of character. I thibk a little more processeing would take it up a few levelsl.

Anyway, got your Grow yet?

Oh, and congrats on the POTY, you and Iain are doing really well (y)
Cheers.
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy......there is a website & I'm trying to find out the name of it

What sort of extra processing did you have in mind ?
 
Wk 43 & Grow.......struggled a bit with this theme & still have to do a reshoot !

Spent ages trying to get the bg white in this......then remembered I'd shot it against a cream sheet of paper....DOH !

Wk 44 Grow by Blondie606 Photography, on Flickr

I am struggling a little with editing on the laptop , it seems so much brighter than the desktop & that's after I've lowered the brightness !

Anyways, tomorrow is gonna see me catching up with the reshoot plus this week's theme !
 
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Morning Lynne...

Change - two great shots. I really like the composition of the first - it's a real negative space job if you take the subject to be Ze Germans, otherwise it's a nice bit of additional context if you're focusing on the tree. Either way, it's very well taken and interesting.

The car shot is lovely but unfortunately the car itself has ended up a bit midtone - I think it would have more punch in mono if the car had been either white or quite dark. But still a great shot, a beautiful subject and well executed.

Grow - you've handled some difficult conditions well, in particular a water-filled vase with white(ish) background... not making your life easy, are you? I think it might have lost something as a result - to be honest, it might be one of those shots for which product tables were invented? And maybe a black background for a change? ;)
 
Lovely colours in the tree Lynne, wonder if an abstracty square crop loosing the Germans would work? As apart from a bit of quirkyness, and questions, I'm not sure they add too much?

The Morgan is a lovely car, and the B&W conversion works well, and well placed in the frame too.

Grow I like, a touch bright maybe, but the edges of the vase are there for me, and the surface of teh water too. Like the inclusion of the box showing what it will grow into, a few weeks down the line when it has the shoot things coming out the bottom would have been the icing on the cake, but you didn;t get that much notice did you. :)
 
Dark Knight said:
Hey Lynne :)

Nice colours on the box, but I'm struggling to see the vase at all (I do believe that my screen is rather bright though)... there certainly still seems to be a touch of cream to the background, looks good :)
Click to expand...


Thanks Dean...tis a bit bright for sure , still figuring out this laptop screen !

pjm1 said:
Morning Lynne...

Change - two great shots. I really like the composition of the first - it's a real negative space job if you take the subject to be Ze Germans, otherwise it's a nice bit of additional context if you're focusing on the tree. Either way, it's very well taken and interesting.

The car shot is lovely but unfortunately the car itself has ended up a bit midtone - I think it would have more punch in mono if the car had been either white or quite dark. But still a great shot, a beautiful subject and well executed.

Grow - you've handled some difficult conditions well, in particular a water-filled vase with white(ish) background... not making your life easy, are you? I think it might have lost something as a result - to be honest, it might be one of those shots for which product tables were invented? And maybe a black background for a change? ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks Paul....the car was a kinda very pale metallic silvery greeny color so yeah ,I agree with you that if it had been black or white it might have had more punch in a conversion....there was a black one parked next to it but I ended up with far too many reflections in it :(
Now what's a product table -that sounds decidedly dim even for me :LOL: The background was cream instead of white....I am trying to get away from white , honest :D & I struggle with Black .......getting the lighting right so objects don't appear to be floating ??


overbez said:
Lovely colours in the tree Lynne, wonder if an abstracty square crop loosing the Germans would work? As apart from a bit of quirkyness, and questions, I'm not sure they add too much?

The Morgan is a lovely car, and the B&W conversion works well, and well placed in the frame too.

Grow I like, a touch bright maybe, but the edges of the vase are there for me, and the surface of teh water too. Like the inclusion of the box showing what it will grow into, a few weeks down the line when it has the shoot things coming out the bottom would have been the icing on the cake, but you didn;t get that much notice did you. :)
Click to expand...

Cheers Graham ....I could have done with a bit more notice for sure.....:LOL:
 
& on to Wk 44.....Live


My 1st thought was a Shroom but I did that last time for this theme ,then I thought of a flower but given the time of year I may have been pushing my luck somewhat ! Out for a wander at Chatsworth & I came upon this little fella......& when I say little I mean teeny tiny....I'd estimate approx 5-8mm & boy could he motor ! couldn't set up the tripod as the angle was too difficult to get a good position & track the little chap. So hand held hence the high ISO & a heavy crop as he was sooo tiny

Wk 44 Live by Blondie606 Photography, on Flickr

Thankfully , that's me up to date ,plus I've managed to nip round a few threads so quite a productive evening (y)
 
Hi Lynne, the reshoot does look better with the rose,

as for grow I can see the vase but whats lacking for me is a little bit of growth in the bulb, just to hammer home the point.

the leaf shot works really well nice colour in the leaves and i do like the BG and the different textured squares

The snail is excellent :clap: perfectly focused reading your explanation I am amazed you did so well (y)
 
Hi Lynne,

Great pp with the leaves for change,texture or nature :D lovely colours and detail (y)

Like the idea of the hyacinth for grow (y) :thinking:......I did think the bg was a little too white though around the vase :)

The snail is a cracking image, great detail in the little chap, well done (y)
 
I think that the rose adds a nice splash of colour here, as well as making the ring have a bit more of a potential story behind it. Funny feeling I said something similar last time too. :)


Leaves, hmmm. Lovely colour and plenty of texture there. Too much texture I think though, or rather too many textures on top of each other. I (think I) can see the texture of the bark under the texture of the squares under the natural texture of the leaves.

I would say if you can remove the texture of the bark from under the square, (layer and mask, or maybe even erase as it's not overly critical) and then also remove the squares texture from under the leaves it should calm things down a bit.


Cool spot on the snail, they can be pretty fast, imagine you haven't seen Turbo the film, (where a small becomes super fast after being electrocuted I think it was) :LOL:. They have a great spiral on them, and the green moss is really beautiful.
 
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Hi Lynne... love Promise reshoot. Especially the one with the rose - I think that works and I don't care what others think, that's my opinion ;)

The lighting on the rose is absolutely perfect - love the lit "accents" on the edges of the petals. The ring lighting is a tough job and I think it's really good, although very slightly (maybe half a stop max) overexposed for me, but that's the difficulty with shiny things. The rest of the image is perfectly exposed though, so not much you can do - it's just me and shiny things! (I think you have missed a tiny spot left of the ring where you've been dodging the white background and also a little triangle on the left half of the lid, about half way along?)

Texture reshoot I like - it's full of texture no doubt, but colours and imagery work for me. There's a slight optical illusion as I look at it which makes me think it's sloping down to the right even though it isn't... my brain must be acting funny!

Live (snail) is great. I like that you've really pulled the contrast up (I presume?) which really makes the snail glisten and also the greenery pop. I think it's a perfect example of where slightly heavier PP (by which I mean bigger changes with the sliders) really work for some images... of course, I could be wrong and you might have done this entirely in camera, but whatever, it's a great image and I really like it (y)
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi Lynne, the reshoot does look better with the rose,

as for grow I can see the vase but whats lacking for me is a little bit of growth in the bulb, just to hammer home the point.

the leaf shot works really well nice colour in the leaves and i do like the BG and the different textured squares

The snail is excellent :clap: perfectly focused reading your explanation I am amazed you did so well (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers Allan....needed more notice to get the roots growing from the bulb ....when they do start to show I'll take a photo & save it for the next reshoot :D

Phil-D said:
Hi Lynne,

Great pp with the leaves for change,texture or nature :D lovely colours and detail (y)

Like the idea of the hyacinth for grow (y) :thinking:......I did think the bg was a little too white though around the vase :)

The snail is a cracking image, great detail in the little chap, well done (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers Phil (y)

overbez said:
I think that the rose adds a nice splash of colour here, as well as making the ring have a bit more of a potential story behind it. Funny feeling I said something similar last time too. :)


Leaves, hmmm. Lovely colour and plenty of texture there. Too much texture I think though, or rather too many textures on top of each other. I (think I) can see the texture of the bark under the texture of the squares under the natural texture of the leaves.

I would say if you can remove the texture of the bark from under the square, (layer and mask, or maybe even erase as it's not overly critical) and then also remove the squares texture from under the leaves it should calm things down a bit.


Cool spot on the snail, they can be pretty fast, imagine you haven't seen Turbo the film, (where a small becomes super fast after being electrocuted I think it was) :LOL:. They have a great spiral on them, and the green moss is really beautiful.
Click to expand...

Thanks Graham......funny....I only applied one texture to the reshoot image & that was the bark ...the leaves were on stone slabs which had their own textures but I did use a different blending mode which gave the impression of more textures I guess....it is OTT but I kinda like it but do see what you're saying ;)

Electrocuting a snail......noooo....they're soooo cute.... :D
 
susiejb said:
Hi Lynne ....love your little snail for Live, they can be incredibly tiny and yet so amazingly perfect. Super focus on the shiny shell and lots of lovely colour and texture in the leaves.
Click to expand...


Thanks Susie (y)
pjm1 said:
Hi Lynne... love Promise reshoot. Especially the one with the rose - I think that works and I don't care what others think, that's my opinion ;)

The lighting on the rose is absolutely perfect - love the lit "accents" on the edges of the petals. The ring lighting is a tough job and I think it's really good, although very slightly (maybe half a stop max) overexposed for me, but that's the difficulty with shiny things. The rest of the image is perfectly exposed though, so not much you can do - it's just me and shiny things! (I think you have missed a tiny spot left of the ring where you've been dodging the white background and also a little triangle on the left half of the lid, about half way along?)

Texture reshoot I like - it's full of texture no doubt, but colours and imagery work for me. There's a slight optical illusion as I look at it which makes me think it's sloping down to the right even though it isn't... my brain must be acting funny!

Live (snail) is great. I like that you've really pulled the contrast up (I presume?) which really makes the snail glisten and also the greenery pop. I think it's a perfect example of where slightly heavier PP (by which I mean bigger changes with the sliders) really work for some images... of course, I could be wrong and you might have done this entirely in camera, but whatever, it's a great image and I really like it (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers as always Paul...


no dodging of the background on the Promise image......the triangle on the lid may be where I tried to clone out the gold lettering on the fabric but as I can't actually see said triangle I can't confirm....have you got a magnifing glass to check images with :LOL:

& yes...my eye's are telling me that the texture image is sloping as well....but as you say , it isn't....most bizarre :eek:

No , not upped the contrast....used a different blending mode which really makes the image pop ( found it works a treat on moto x images)...think it's vivid or Linear but I did boost the greens a smidge :)
 
blondie606 said:
Cheers as always Paul...


no dodging of the background on the Promise image......the triangle on the lid may be where I tried to clone out the gold lettering on the fabric but as I can't actually see said triangle I can't confirm....have you got a magnifing glass to check images with :LOL:

& yes...my eye's are telling me that the texture image is sloping as well....but as you say , it isn't....most bizarre :eek:

No , not upped the contrast....used a different blending mode which really makes the image pop ( found it works a treat on moto x images)...think it's vivid or Linear but I did boost the greens a smidge :)
Click to expand...

I really like the image, so I was just being picky... and no, I just had a quick look on flickr :) My monitor does have quite a steep falloff from 255 white down, so very subtle changes in bright whites do tend to jump out a bit. Conversely, the very dark blues are very hard to distinguish from complete blacks, so it does have its downsides.

Without wanting to take over your thread, here is a quick grab I did from Flickr, obviously massively emphasising the two areas highlighted with crazily excessive curve boosts: http://i.imgur.com/skz8VIA.jpg
 
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