Gatesy's Wk52 Pics - Now with Wk 10 - Trio

Hi mate

The colour version looks somewhat odd to me... I'm not sure what to say... It's maybe my screen but it does not look sharp or have any definition in the image... almost like its been taken on a really bad compact or a phone or something!

On the composition i'd have got closer in... made more of the bench... and i'd have PP'd my image with more contrast... especially the B and W image!

Sorry I dont sound very possitive... It has potential!
 
markelliot said:
Hi mate

The colour version looks somewhat odd to me... I'm not sure what to say... It's maybe my screen but it does not look sharp or have any definition in the image... almost like its been taken on a really bad compact or a phone or something!

On the composition i'd have got closer in... made more of the bench... and i'd have PP'd my image with more contrast... especially the B and W image!

Sorry I dont sound very possitive... It has potential!
Click to expand...

Hi Mark thanks for the comments I try & take everything on board & have thick skin :) . The picture hasn't been PP'd at its straight from the camera so this may be causing the colour to look a bit ropey but I will get around to doing a revised version of it hopefully.
I could have got closer but wanted to give an full view of the whole wall not just some elements up close. The picture wasnt taken with clutter in mind it just caught my eye really.
 
Hi Gareth, great idea for the clutter theme (I did something similar but yours is a better idea :)).

I think the B+W porcessed version is definitely better. I think mono works well for graveyard images. I like the dappled light coming through the trees and the texture of the old gravestones.
There's a bit to much dark areas for me so some areas of the pic lack interest.

Cheers, patrick
 
I find the grass lower left distracting and I'm fighting to see the 'cluttered' in the photograph.

I prefer the b&w but there's a a bit too much shadow.

Cheers.
 
Week 7 - Delicate

This was frost on the roof of my polo the other morning and I thought the whole pattern looked very delicate so here it is.

Delicate1.jpg
 
Hi Gareth,

(y) Great to see somebody else local on here!

Those ice patterns on your car really are beautiful. No doubt at all that they look delicate (although I suspect that they were rock hard when it came to scraping them off :LOL:)
This is one that I want to keep going back to and looking at - and even though the WB isn't quite right, I actually rather like the bluish tint to it.

The thing that I notice about this, and a couple of the others too (specifically the B&W graveyard and your shot for hard) is that the contrast is lacking a little for my taste. I think giving it a bit of a boost in PP would make a huge difference to all of these.

As for the standout shots so far. I LOVE your "open" shot. Was that taken in Newport? I'm trying to place the location, but can't quite recall a Hope Street.
I also really like the first one for accommodation. Despite the slight softness, it works very well. It brings back childhood memories for me (I used to have a very similar nightlight in my bedroom) and the composition and set-up is superb.
 
SarahLee said:
Hi Gareth,

(y) Great to see somebody else local on here!
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Yep just up the road in sunny Undy :)

SarahLee said:
Those ice patterns on your car really are beautiful. No doubt at all that they look delicate (although I suspect that they were rock hard when it came to scraping them off :LOL:)
This is one that I want to keep going back to and looking at - and even though the WB isn't quite right, I actually rather like the bluish tint to it.

The thing that I notice about this, and a couple of the others too (specifically the B&W graveyard and your shot for hard) is that the contrast is lacking a little for my taste. I think giving it a bit of a boost in PP would make a huge difference to all of these.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback I did quite a lot of playing around in lightroom to get the bluish tinge to come out a bit, its a silver car and we had a blue sky that morning so I tried to bring out the colour a bit and added some vignetting

The contrast thing I'm working on and I'm wondering if its something to do with my cheap 18-55 I'm hopefully picking up a sigma 17-50 at focus so that should improve things.

SarahLee said:
As for the standout shots so far. I LOVE your "open" shot. Was that taken in Newport? I'm trying to place the location, but can't quite recall a Hope Street.
Click to expand...

I took the shot in cardiff on a real cold overcast day that suits what I was trying to do with the image. I have to admit its one of my most favourite pictures I've ever taken and will be going into a few competitions this year hopefully.

SarahLee said:
I also really like the first one for accommodation. Despite the slight softness, it works very well. It brings back childhood memories for me (I used to have a very similar nightlight in my bedroom) and the composition and set-up is superb.
Click to expand...

I was aiming for quite a soft shot the only lights I had were 2 tea lights behind the cheese dish with one of my mums plants led on the floor behind to give the impression of a forest. The only other light was coming from a table lamp on a room behind me and around a corner so I had real trouble getting the focus I needed. I'm happy with the result though.

Thanks for your comments I'm really trying to mix things up and do something a bit different.
 
Yes! I like that!!!

Even though it means getting out the scaper to remove it!

Well done

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
good shot Gareth at first glance I thought it was the snow peaked mountains of Virginia on the trail of the lonesome pine :D:D
 
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Gatesy said:
Yep just up the road in sunny Undy :)
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Ahhhh. I'm just up the road on the other side of Newport. Rogerstone.

Gatesy said:
I took the shot in cardiff on a real cold overcast day that suits what I was trying to do with the image. I have to admit its one of my most favourite pictures I've ever taken and will be going into a few competitions this year hopefully.
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(y) I know where this is now . . . just over by Eversheds?
Fingers crossed for you with the competitions.

Gatesy said:
The contrast thing I'm working on and I'm wondering if its something to do with my cheap 18-55 I'm hopefully picking up a sigma 17-50 at focus so that should improve things.
Click to expand...

It's unlikely to be your lens - far more probable that it's to do with your in-camera settings. Are you shooting RAW or JPeg and if JPeg what do you have the contrast set to in-camera?

TBH I know that the 18-55 gets some negative press, but IMO it's really not a bad lens. By all means upgrade if you're finding limitations with what you have, but don't do it just because of the "kit lens" stigma.
If you push it to its limits you'll be surprised what you can get from this lens. Of all the photographs I've taken this is one of my favourites . . . taken using just the 18-55mm.
 
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SarahLee said:
Ahhhh. I'm just up the road on the other side of Newport. Rogerstone.


(y) I know where this is now . . . just over by Eversheds?
Fingers crossed for you with the competitions.
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I was in Rogerstone for the Ace of Clubs competition run by the WPF yesterday was a fantastic day out.


SarahLee said:
It's unlikely to be your lens - far more probable that it's to do with your in-camera settings. Are you shooting RAW or JPeg and if JPeg what do you have the contrast set to in-camera?.
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I shoot everything in RAW. I think I've worked out the problem I haven't been altering the contrast much on the files and also I haven't been saving them at top quality. Its sometimes hard for me to see as I have to do 99.9% of my editing on a macbook pro but hopefully will be upgrading to a imac shortly.

SarahLee said:
TBH I know that the 18-55 gets some negative press, but IMO it's really not a bad lens. By all means upgrade if you're finding limitations with what you have, but don't do it just because of the "kit lens" stigma.
If you push it to its limits you'll be surprised what you can get from this lens. Of all the photographs I've taken this is one of my favourites . . . taken using just the 18-55mm.
Click to expand...

I've taken some good shots with it but I lent my brothers Sigma 24-70 and took a few shots with both lens without moving the camera in consistent light and the difference in the results was quite a lot.

I'm still a beginner but I'm getting there :)
 
Gareth

love the "frost pic", looks a little bluish but as Sarah said in an earlier post , i also thinks it adds interest to the shot.
 
Hiya Gareth,

Great shot for this weeks theme, and it does look chaotic, especially where the kyaks are battling the wave.

The image looks a bit OOF, but then I can understand how difficult it must be to get a clear shot. What lens did you use?

BTW just a point, you need to change your title in the OP to reflect week 8.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hi, that looks like great fun.

Well done for getting this one. The guy front middle looks a bit anxious!

Focus is an obvious issue.

Cheers.
 
drodd said:
Hiya Gareth,

Great shot for this weeks theme, and it does look chaotic, especially where the kyaks are battling the wave.

The image looks a bit OOF, but then I can understand how difficult it must be to get a clear shot. What lens did you use?
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Hi Drodd,
I used a Sigma DC 4-5.6 55-200 which I have to say is a cracking lens that I don't use nearly enough. Shot is a bit out of focus but it was taken at 200mm on ISO 1600 1/1000 at f5.6 while being hand held and jostled by various people. I tried setting up with a tripod but unfortunately with the amount of people around I had no chance.

drodd said:
BTW just a point, you need to change your title in the OP to reflect week 8.
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D'oh I knew I forgot something :)
 
Nice take, the events to the right hand side definitely echo chaos... so much so that I'd suggest you to crop that section and go for a vertical image; the calm on-lookers at the bottom compared to the mixed up guys on the wave might look fun.

My Project52
 
Love weeks 4 and 5 as I love B&W street scenes. Also love the emphasis on the colour of this weeks too!
 
Hi, Gareth, I like the contrast, colours and composition, and, indeed, the idea (y)

I'd agree the skin looks over smoothed...

Cheers.

btw, who's feet are they?
 
They are my girlfriends feet she kindly agreed to model for me. With regards to the legs I wanted them to look almost oversmoothed as I the whole image is about the colour and the pattern on the knickers.
Appreciate all the comments guys keep em coming.
 
Hiya Gareth,

Well done on your Week 9 photo, I like the idea, composition, colour selection and the smoothing technique which makes the feet and legs look like those of a porcelain doll.

Indeed the b&w and smoothness brings out the colours and pattern in the knickers.

This looks like quite a seductive picture ;)

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hiya Gareth,

Wow, it's amazing the things we all learn about each other through the ideas and photos we think of for each theme. I'm impressed you play the banjo :)

From photos seen from all members so far, we could have quite a 52 band going :LOL:

I really like your photo, the focus is spot on with the nice DOF of the banjo and the bit of bokeh going on in places adds to the image.

Also think you have made good use of lighting, and the light reflections seem to be in the right places.

Well done .... (and thanks .... I now have George Formby singing 'when I'm cleaning windows' in my head :bonk:) :D

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
TinaC said:
Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooo - my pet hate! And it's stuck in my head...George Formby....He wasn't the best banjo player....Says the Jazz n Blues fan ;)

Like the image though, picks on banjo are excellent :clap:
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:LOL: had the same effect on you then :D

So go on then, tell us, who was the best banjo player? (In my eyes it is my grandad, who at 90 years young still plays the banjo like he was 21)

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hey mate. Nice trio image... I love the sound of the banjo... Has a real hill billy and folky vibe which i love... Reminds me of music nights in a pub!

Great shot!

M
 
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