daddy day cares Photo52 for 2010 part 2 finished

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daddy day care

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Andy
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This is the second half of 52 week challenge for 2010. Weeks 1 to 26 can be found here

My first attempt at a white BG shot with the one child that hasn't yet featured in my 52.

Lots of PP to get the white unfortunately. Two flashguns on the background at full power through reflective brollys and my SB600 at the front on 1/2 power through a shoot through brolly.

BG is white vinyl from Dunelm Mill so is only 1.4 metres wide. this made life interesting and involved lots of cropping.



Andy
 
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Good to see that we've had the full DaddyDayCare household in the 52 now - and I think this is my favourite of your portraits.

Well lit and nicely posed. I really like the expression on his face too.
I'd be tempted to paint out the pencil on the far left that's disappearing out of frame. One of the advantages of pure black or white backgrounds is that you can just paint out the bits you don't like :LOL:
It would be nice if you could lighten the shadow from the sketch pad too.

But all in all I like this one a lot. It's very professional looking - the effort with the lighting has really paid off :clap:
 
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I like this image Andy, it is a nice simple looking portrait, clean and certainly fits the theme. I agree with what Sarah mentioned above about the pencil at the edge of the frame but apart from that, perfect (y) Iain
 
Nice job on the background Andy and the subject looks pretty happy, he does look like he's on a slope a bit or is it just my eyes? I think i'd be tempted to clone out the pencil on the left too just to improve the composition a bit. Other than that a good job.
 
Thanks folks.

I'm really happy with this now. I agree about the chopped off pencil so I will clone it out when I get chance.

Sarah - Thank-you for the comment about it looking professional. This is something I hope to do in time. I have a long way to go yet and do not want to get a studio as I would need to staff it full time. I need to be able to work in smaller locations to give people a home or location shoot. I have already purchased the website address but need to get my portrait skills sorted before I will unleash myself on the general public.

By the way, you haven't seen the whole household yet. Theres still me, the dog and SWMBO :LOL:

Andy
 
A lovely portrait and looks very pro. I'm sure his mum is pleased with it!
 
Well done Andy, lovely work on the background, and a well lit portrait. I do agree on the pencil...:clap:
 
Thanks again folks.

Sarah - it is something that I would like to do and I am really pleased with some of my latest photos. The key has got be consistancy though. I don't feel that I am far enough down the road with portraits that I could start up yet. I reckon 12 to 18 months is realistic. I don't intend to go full time hence not having a studio. I work a 4 on 4 off shift pattern so have plenty of days off to run a part-time business.

This will be one of the shots to go on the website when I set it up.

Andy
 
Well done, Andy - a lovely portrait and a very good model (I hope he got paid! :) )

It's interesting that you had to do a lot of pp on the background. Is this because it wasn't white enough? If so, I wondered if you had tried using shoot-through brollies on the background instead of reflecting them. You would probably need to move them back away from the backdrop a little or turn down the power, but I think it would give you more control - and less pp. :)

I like the fact that the light on your son is to the left of the camera giving definition on the left side of his face, and I think you could afford to use a slightly lower setting to enhance that. My other suggestion would be to use a slightly higher pov to put more emphasis on his face and that goregous smile, and to bring out the colour of his eyes.

Please don't take this as criticism - it's just my thoughts, and it's a lovely shot as it stands and most definitely meets the theme of Art, and I love the excellent eye contact he's making - he looks very happy in front of the camera. (y)

Good luck with developing your business, too. (y)

Jean
 
Thanks Jean.

The PP was partly to boost the white but that was easy. Most of it was because the edges of the background were in shot so lots of cropping and extending the canvas size was needed. This is purely down to space constraints.

He has been asking to be in a photograph for my 52 for months now but I've not really had a shot suitable until now. I hope to include more portraits so we will see how things go.

The business is a long way off but I think I will need plenty of good luck thanks.

Andy
 
What an excellent portrait. The lighting is just great and I love his expression. The version without the stray pencil is definitely better. Just one tiny thing - I would probably have moved him and the pencils down very slightly just to have a tiny bit more white space above and slightly less below.

Jenny
 
I love portraiture and that's a cracking shot - lovely clean background - good eye contact with the subject - interest added with the drawing materials - really good - I wouldn't change a thing.

Phil
 
Thanks folks.

I need to get white BG shots of the other three as well now. I am then getting them made up on canvases for the wall.

If I can get these to fit in with themes then my 52 may get a bit repetitive :LOL:

Andy
 
Well we have just returned from a relaxing week in Dorset :D

I have two photos for relaxation as I can't decide which one to use:




Grace has still to be taken so I won't comment on other peoples shots just yet. I have taken "endings" and will post it as soon as I have "grace" up.

Andy
 
This is the grave of TE Lawrence otherwise known as Lawrence of Arabia.



I'm now up to date again :eek:

Andy
 
Congratulations on catching up, something I won't be doing (nor will I be commenting on anything prior to week 30 or my head might explode).

Feeling the composition is somewhat spoilt by the plant smack bang in the middle of the image. I'm pretty sure a bit of gardening would have been out of the question :) so to avoid the distraction I might have tried to go in close and low shooting up.
 
Andy, looks like you had a nice relaxing holiday...

Grace, That works well, and I rather like the 'bow wave'

Endings, a good take on the theme, and an interesting grave to go with it. That exposure looks tricky, with harsh shadows though... The front edge seems a little bright to me, and I'm trying to read the text at the front, but there's not enough of it in shade... I really don't know what could be done about those though, not and retain the detail in the head stone.
 
Thanks folks.

I read this theme on my phone while I was on Holiday. I then spent lots of time photographing gravestones at every church we saw in Dorset :LOL: When we drove through Moreton I only had my compact with me so couldn't really do much as far as exposure went anyway. I don't think any gardening would have gone down too well either :LOL: I knew that I would do a B&W conversion when I got home and this is the result.

For relaxation I was going to do a studio portrait of my Son sitting on a beanbag with his DS. As I'd already submitted a white BG portrait the week before I thought I'd wait until we were away and get something else.

No idea what I am doing for "electric" though :shrug:

Andy
 
Andy, a wee bit of a catch-up for me commenting on other's 52's.
I like relaxation, both of them ;), why choose between them, have them both. I like the way (I assume your daughter) is looking into the frame of your son. Both images are colourful and fun which say holiday to me, and what better way to relax.
Your grace image I like too, this is the second swan image I have seen for grace, Tracer posted the other, and I will say the same for yours, you have handled the exposure well on this. It can't have been easy balancing the swans white feathers against the darker water, so well done on that.
You went for graveyard theme for endings too, great minds think alike eh? :D As you explained above you were using a compact camera, so well done for handling the harsh light, you've managed to retain the detail. Thats you up to date now...got an image/idea for electric yet? :LOL: Iain
 
Thanks Iain,

Yes, it is my Daughter. I do like them both.

For the swan I knew that the white would be an issue so I dialed one stop less in on the exposure compensation. It seems to have worked out about right.

No idea what I'm doing for electric yet. I want do do another portrait but the electric guitar has been used too many times now.

Andy
 
Good take on the theme, its just a shame there was a plant in the middle as it gives off some nasty shadows.

Still a really good shot and bang on theme
 
Catch up time for me, Andy.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday in Dorset - despite not knowing about Moor Valley Country Park! :)

Relaxation: They both look relaxed and I bet they both have a natural golf swing to go with it! I wouldn't be able to chose between the either, so I'd stick with Double Relaxation and make them into a dyptych. :)

Grace: This is lovely - and not at all obvious as far as I'm concerned. The bow wave just adds to the overall effect. A big (y) from me.

Endings: I thought of grave stones too but didn't have a chance to get out there and do it! The light is really difficult on this one, Andy, but I think it would make a very interesting shot on a less bright day - part of the interest is in reading the epitaph and the sun's making it quite difficult.

Jean
 
Thanks folks. I was concentrating on getting the headstone in focus and didn't look around the rest of the frame. I did want to go back with the D90 and reshoot it but didn't get chance.

I have checked the original file and can't pull any detail back in photoshop at all.

Andy
 
why choose for relaxation they both do the job.endings i like the black and white suits it well and the plant looks like is dying as well.
 
I've always wanted one of these and tomorrow I'm going to pick one up when I'm out shopping if I can find one. Thanks for reminding me.

You've caught the colours nicely here and the effects are entrancing. As another idea, I'd like to see is a closeup of the innards and lose the space.
 
Thanks folks.

Darren Maplins have them at £12.99 I believe. I got mine from freecycle :D

Andy
 
I like the colours in your electric image Andy they are very vibrant. Do you have any with a hand/finger touching the globe, just to give it a sense of scale? Iain
 
I'm afraid not Iain.

The original idea was to have a portrait of my Daughter touching it and her hair standing on end. I couldn't work out to get her hair standing up and looking natural so I went with just the plasma ball.

Cheers,

Andy
 
Hi Andy.

Great catch up since I last dropped in (y)

Relaxation : If I had to choose it would be the one on the left. In the second one I'm finding that the colours of the golf obstacle thingy draw my eye in a bit too much. But both really say holiday relaxation to me so either is ideal for the theme - a really nice pair of candid shots (y)

Grace : Simply beautiful - can't think of anything else to say about it. Simple, elegant and you've captured the movement in the water perfectly.

Endings : Great idea and I think you've done well with tricky lighting conditions. If you get the chance to go back I'd love to see this reshot on a more overcast day - I think there's bags of potential and loads more detail that could be brought out in this one.

Electric : I nearly did something similar - just couldn't find the power cable to plug mine in.
Another good idea and very well executed. Great colours and you've really caught the detail in the electricity. I'd quite like to see the b/g a bit blacker though, so you lose the stand. I think that would give you the opportunity to crop in closer to the ball too.
 
Thank-you Sarah.

Straight from camera the background was a lot darker and you couldn't see the stand. I brought it back up in PP.

I might have another look at it.

Andy
 
A great idea for electric... and it's very nearly there... I can just make out the base... I can't help but think, the base needs to be visible, or invisible, not this nearly as it is now... I think the blacker background is the way to go.
 
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