Em's 52 for 2017 - You added

[KernowChris]

Nice separation from the background and the processing suits it.

 

[Fuji Dave]

Very nice take on Dark Emma, like the texture and gritty look of the shell and think it goes well in mono

 

[Donnie]

Love this, very close up, dark enough to fit the theme and loving the detail on the shell balanced with a nice shallow depth of field.

 

[Allan.H]

Very nice image, you have caught the texture of the shell and the leaf

 

[granddad john]

+1 for the shell detail. B&W works well too.

 

[rpn]

Love the texture and detail of the shell.

 

[Baloo]

Love the detail on the shell, not sure about black line, I might of cropped it closer, but that's just me and I am usually wrong!

 

[brrnd]

Great detail on the shell and B&W conversion works very well.

 

[posiview]

Lovely detail in the shell and nice textures.

I did think I'd prefer if the stalk of gras on the RHS distracted but it seems to frame the shell nicely.

Cheers.

 

[d00d]

Great image, shell detail, BG separation ... but Dark!

 

[SteveSc]

Great shot, I saw the colour version on flickr but have to say I think this B&W version works much better for me. As others have said the detail in the shell is fantastic.

 

[Emja]

I like that a lot, great detail on the shell

Thanks Chris

 

[Emja]

Nice separation from the background and the processing suits it.

Very nice take on Dark Emma, like the texture and gritty look of the shell and think it goes well in mono

Love this, very close up, dark enough to fit the theme and loving the detail on the shell balanced with a nice shallow depth of field.

Very nice image, you have caught the texture of the shell and the leaf

+1 for the shell detail. B&W works well too.

Love the texture and detail of the shell.

Great detail on the shell and B&W conversion works very well.

Great shot, I saw the colour version on flickr but have to say I think this B&W version works much better for me. As others have said the detail in the shell is fantastic.

Thanks so much for the kind words everyone

Love the detail on the shell, not sure about black line, I might of cropped it closer, but that's just me and I am usually wrong!

Lovely detail in the shell and nice textures.

I did think I'd prefer if the stalk of gras on the RHS distracted but it seems to frame the shell nicely.

Cheers.

The blade of grass in the original didn't look nearly so dark, but the processing has really emphasised it. Too dark for me as well tbh...but when there are questions about eligibility for the theme I thought it was as well to keep it in

Great image, shell detail, BG separation ... but Dark!

Lol - I'm surprised you're the first to mention it See above And thank you David

 

[LC2]

Hi Emma,
it certainly has a 3d feel, pops from the background.
I'd prefer a bit more contrast in the image though, I'm missing white & black points.

 

[Emja]

Hi Emma,
it certainly has a 3d feel, pops from the background.
I'd prefer a bit more contrast in the image though, I'm missing white & black points.

Cheers Tim. I played a bit with the black and white points on this one. I felt if I brought the whites up any more it began to feel unbalanced with the heavy shadow being mostly at the bottom, but that's all personal taste I guess. The blacks were brought down pretty much as far as they could go without crushing under the shell area - though I suppose there wasn't much detail to lose, so maybe it didn't matter.

 

[LC2]

Maybe use a levels adjustment layer with a mask and some use of a large soft edged brush...
I used this aproach in some of my shots to dull down distracting bright spots in images, it should work here to allow enhancing the blacks around the shell.

 

[Emja]

Maybe use a levels adjustment layer with a mask and some use of a large soft edged brush...
I used this aproach in some of my shots to dull down distracting bright spots in images, it should work here to allow enhancing the blacks around the shell.

The only softtware I use is Lightroom and Gimp pretty much only for cloning, so I haven't used layers at all. I must find out more about it...one day!

 

[Bruja]

I too like that a lot although it doesn't immediately scream Dark at me. Lots of lovely detail on the shell and the grain of the leaf too.

 

[susiejb]

Spot on with the focus there Emma ..lots of lovely texture and detail in the shell.

 

[gremlin16]

lovely mono, lovely composition, and just enough light to balance the dark. really well done.

 

[thirsty_camel]

Hi Emma, like your dark shot, great texture but as someone else mentioned I find the grass stem on the RHS a little distracting.

 

[Emja]

I too like that a lot although it doesn't immediately scream Dark at me. Lots of lovely detail on the shell and the grain of the leaf too.

Spot on with the focus there Emma ..lots of lovely texture and detail in the shell.

lovely mono, lovely composition, and just enough light to balance the dark. really well done.

Hi Emma, like your dark shot, great texture but as someone else mentioned I find the grass stem on the RHS a little distracting.

Thanks everyone. It was a bit of a shoehorn and I'd agree the grass is a bit dark in this version - I appreciate your feedback!

 

[Emja]

This was one very willing model when he realised he would be able to pull one whole pack of party poppers all by himself Unfortunately I completely failed to capture the moment of them popping as it either happened between frames or his hands kept shooting out of shot. Still, I did love some of the expressions we captured as these particular party poppers seemed to take a lot of effort to pull!

Week 12 'power' by Em's TP 52 2017, on Flickr

 

[Fuji Dave]

Power, like it Emma a good shot showing the determination on your sons face as he tries his best to get the popper to pop for you, like the main focus on his hands and popper with his face nicely oof

 

[LC2]

I'm in agreement with Dave regarding the focus. Nice one.
With the head crop, are we going to have to start calling you Peter Hurley too?
(Though the eyes may not quite be a squinch ).

 

[gremlin16]

Great expression and determination shown on your young model's face. Nice use of focus to get the attention where it needs to be, and as the above two chaps have said, nice focus on the face, just enough to keep it detailed enough

 

[Dark Knight]

All in agreement here Em, nice idea for the theme and super expression even without the 'pop' it works

 

[Nostromo]

Yup another good image. The focus works well and the red popper really stands out.

 

[brrnd]

The focus on the popper instead of the face and your crop are quite unusual, but it works very well for me. And I like the expression on his face.

 

[Allan.H]

They must be the toughest party poppers in the world, agree with everyone else focus and expression spot on

 

[susiejb]

Well there's always the reshoot to capture the explosion Emma very nicely done with an excellent model.

 

[Emja]

Power, like it Emma a good shot showing the determination on your sons face as he tries his best to get the popper to pop for you, like the main focus on his hands and popper with his face nicely oof

Great expression and determination shown on your young model's face. Nice use of focus to get the attention where it needs to be, and as the above two chaps have said, nice focus on the face, just enough to keep it detailed enough

All in agreement here Em, nice idea for the theme and super expression even without the 'pop' it works

Yup another good image. The focus works well and the red popper really stands out.

They must be the toughest party poppers in the world, agree with everyone else focus and expression spot on

Thank you very much everyone. It was lucky I was trying for the popper explosion as I really like the effect of the oof face in the end.

 

[KernowChris]

BANG! Great expression and I think you should have another go at catching the explosion.

 

[Emja]

I'm in agreement with Dave regarding the focus. Nice one.
With the head crop, are we going to have to start calling you Peter Hurley too?
(Though the eyes may not quite be a squinch ).

The focus on the popper instead of the face and your crop are quite unusual, but it works very well for me. And I like the expression on his face.

Thank you! The composition was close so that I didn't miss any of that great detail in the explosion But I think it works to bring attention down, too. I don't mind a chopped off head if it's a fairly close portrait, but not at this distance normally.

 

[Emja]

Well there's always the reshoot to capture the explosion Emma very nicely done with an excellent model.

BANG! Great expression and I think you should have another go at catching the explosion.

not again! I'm not sure if I can stand the frustration...or if my son's enthusiasm has survived...!

 

[rpn]

Nice idea for the theme, Emma. Love his expression and the fact that the focus is on his hands rather than the face.

 

[foggy4ever]

Dark, Very nice, suits B&W.

Power, Great expression captured and the fact it's just oof, shame there's no pop but it sounds like not for the want of trying.

 

[d00d]

Poor boy ... the things you put him through in the name of art. Hope he got his fiver.

I like the compo with head crop, not sure about the focus, I feel his face should be either in or further out of focus.

 

[Emja]

Nice idea for the theme, Emma. Love his expression and the fact that the focus is on his hands rather than the face.

Cheers Stan

Dark, Very nice, suits B&W.

Power, Great expression captured and the fact it's just oof, shame there's no pop but it sounds like not for the want of trying.

Oh, we certainly tried!

Poor boy ... the things you put him through in the name of art. Hope he got his fiver.

I like the compo with head crop, not sure about the focus, I feel his face should be either in or further out of focus.

Fiver?! It was all in the fun of the popping It was shot wide open at 1.8 as the light was a bit low, and I wanted the chance to capture some movement in the pop , so the focus was more accident than design, but in the end I think it works ok for me. Thanks for the feedback though

 

[SteveSc]

What a great expression, I actually think it works well without the explosion of the party popper. I think it would have taken away from the expression which is what really makes the shot work. I agree that for me the DOF works with the sharp focus on the hands but enough detail to still see the expression. Lovely shot and a good idea, I might just use this to get a few shots of my son who won't normally pose for me.