weekly jamlid's 52 Project 2013 - Week 12 "Direction"

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Name
Jamie
Edit My Images
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So, I last attempted a 52 Project in 2009. I was young, in College and very busy! I'm now a bit older, slightly wiser, but in work and living in Sheffield. I've had a bit of a break from photography in the last couple of years while I concentrate on my studies but this is the year I get back into it properly..

Here's a link to my previous 52: Click Me


Anyway, here's my first week. Sin was quite an exciting start to this project, which I had many ideas to get started with! My favourite idea was a bleeding apple with a knife. It'd be fun to do, gets me using my pop-up tent and interesting light and keeps me in the nice warm indoors ;)

Here's the image:


Shot at 1/10, f3.2, single diffused strobe slightly below camera on 1/16 power.
Canon 50D with my amazing new Canon 17-55 2.8 EF-s. Late Christmas present from Me to Me!
Edited in Gimp. I've decided to ditch Photoshop after learning how powerful Gimp is! One of my favourite photographers, Rosie Hardy uses it exclusively and produces breathtaking results. It's a steady learning curve but I'm really impressed so far.


More than happy for any critique please!
 
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Hi Jamie

Good b/g, good colour on th apple, good sticky stuff and like the lighting (partic as it falls on the two sides of the knife) and focus.

apple is a bit skewed but prob more realistic like that.

Two white specks on handle I would clone out and the knife could be cleaned a bit better. Minor points but would make such a difference to such a cracking shot(y)
 
'Ello, Jamie, like it. Bit :nuts:, but good interpretation. Nice reds and decent flow of 'blood'.

Crit, well, tighter crop for me, knife could perhaps do with a straighten. Do you have any with the full apple and handle?

Cheers.
 
Thanks both of you - The white specks is something I didn't notice and perhaps need to work on my attention to detail!

I do have some full shots but they just didn't really work. To fit the apple and knife in the whole image meant it was quite wide and didn't allow you to see the detail in the blood (unless viewed on a large print or massive screen!)


I'm not sure on my software sharpening of the image. Viewed in full size does the sharpening on the blood look wrong? I really want to work on my post processing this year so looking for as much advice as possible :)
 
I like this. It's a bit different. The tight crop with the partial apple and knife works really well. I think it could be improved a bit with a prettier apple and also some less gloopy/jam-like blood - but I know how hard it would be to find the 'perfect' apple and I can't think how I would fake the blood in a better way, so that's fairly lame crit!

Nice work.
 
great take on the theme.. think i'd have tried a portrait crop, like the lighting, stands out well against the black background
 
Hi Jamie :wave:

Nice take on the theme...am intrigued by the " blood"--jam ?

Well exposed , good colors & sharp where it should be...though I agree with Andy...knife is just a smidge on the squiff...minor point...great start to your project (y)
 
Thanks everyone :) The critique is great too!

The fake blood was tomato sauce, darkened with some worcester sauce :D

I might have a muck about with the cropping to see how a portrait crop comes out. Thanks for the suggestions.

Now, onto Seasons.. I have one idea at the moment, but I want to avoid the comfort of close up in-door photography as much as I can.
 
Really liking the idea, good shot too. Look forward to seeing the coming weeks!
 
Right so here's my week 2, nice and late!




Taken in Lincoln at my Girlfriend's, late last night. Taken hand held in the snow, no flash, 1/25, f3.5 at ISO100.
 
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Hi Jamie missed the sin shot but would agree with others about a portrait shot of it.
I like the lampost very Narnia (y)
 
I like season very much - instantly reminded me of the Narnia chronicles, if I were to lay any criticism it would be that lamppost could be straightened, although from personal experience they some times look wrong when they are.
 
Hi Jamie, just getting round to commenting on your thread.
Good start to the 52, sin is quite a creative take on the theme.

I like season too, it has a spooky/magical feel to it. I'd be tempted to go with an even more closer crop on the lampost as it is the main subject. Iain
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to try it with a tighter crop and see how it comes out. Need to work out how to show grid line for alignment in GIMP..

One thing I would like some crit on is the head of the lamp post.. I put the glass parts of it into their own layer and adjusted the curves slightly so it wasn't just purely white. I can't tell if it looks a bit wrong or not?
 
Yes, the straightening worked well, but I think the crop came in a little tight as you've lost that lovely fall off to the left, also on closer inspection if you took out the sign on the lampost (the 5) that might help too.
 
Don't like the crop, the original works perfectly well as it is. Very Dickensian feel to it.
 
Nice stark image, very moody.
I don't use Gimp but think you can do this - if you straighten the image, duplicate it (I always duplicate so I don't muck up the original) then select a very thin strip down the side within the picture area, then select the transform tool and pull the edge away it will cover the area you cropped without losing the space to the left. You can do the same on the other side and the top but the bottom might be better cloned.
 
Thanks everyone :)

So here's my week 3. Late..




This was shot on Tuesday night I think. Plan was to shoot one night, then edit the next. I work 12 hour shifts so they don't leave much time for photography after work!

So the setup for this was a long mirror, laid across my bed, white sheet in background. Fill the glass, drop, fail, retrieve dice, repeat.

My initial attempt with this was food colouring into water, but after the first shot the colouring splashed past the plastic I put down to protect things.. So I gave up with that idea!

The shot is soft, not very happy with the colours and the splash could have been better. It's all I could manage in the time given and definitely one I'd like to revisit in the future!


Wild is an interesting one.. I'm lacking good ideas so far and the weather is putting me off venturing outside but we'll see what happens!
 
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Here's my week 4, on time for once! :D

So this morning I went for a walk to Sheffield's Botanical Gardens. Lovely place in the Summer.. rather bleak in Winter! I found all the wildlife scarce and the plants pretty much all dead.. So I thought I'd try and capture that.



I think I re-rotated this image about 10 times, trying to work out if it's straight or not! :-/
 
Hi!

Sorry you must have slipped through so ill have to comment on all your images so far!

I like the lighting in you apple shot!

The season shot is really nice, i prefer the edit! Looks really well in black and white!

Your dice shot is a good effort and i see your thinking, you've picked up on the things id have said about colour and being slightly soft.

I like the dof in your latest addition, i just feel its a little centralised, but thats just my taste!

Great set so far though!
 
Really nice and sharp.

Good colours and dof, I find the brown twig/stick on the left a little distracting but the thorns are bang on.
 
Hi Jamie, better late that not at all. I work 12 hr shifts too, days and nights so understand the reduced playtime.
Season- Good shot, fabulous focus and fully in theme. I like the contrast in B&W and the highlights around the top light in the foreground. Plenty of depth between the wall and gate due to the angle taken.
Gravity- As you say a little soft, the splashes spoil it and the red top left - centre acts as a distraction to me. The different colour dice add contrast though.
Wild - A great shot, focus, dof and detail all done well. A nice job.
See you next week (y)
 
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Your sin shot is a good start, I like the creativity, must have got "blood" everywhere?!

Season has something really special about it, and I can't tell wether it's the lamppost or the gate, but it really does have a historical feel. I prefer the third edit over the original which I prefer again over the second tight crop, it works really well in black and white.

The gravity doesn't quite work for me, for reasons already mentioned.

I love your wild shot, those are some serious thorns! The focus and DOF is fantastic, and the colours are very moody. I agree that the branch in the background is still a little distracting even with the DOF, but hey, since when does wilderness have clean backgrounds?

Good job!
 
Hmmm another one I've missed along the way :bonk:

Love the uncropped season, great capture of the snow in the light.

Gravity - I'm sure you've learned a lot from the time you spent even if you didn't get the result you wanted. At least you've managed to get a shot you can post up - I think the colours either need to be stronger - or try a B&W for this??

Wild is good too - nice and sharp :)coat:), with a shot like this, there is no straight, just what looks pleasing to the eye, a diagonal from one corner to another might work...... The branch in the background doesn't jump out too much, seems to almost sit like a shadow if you imagine hard enough.
 
Hi Jamie

gravity - goood attempt. That sort of thing does not seem easy to do. Some good elements in it , partic the blue dice and the water around it.

Wild - on theme. Good focus, dof and colour. Looks straight enough to me , partic for a wild stem that nature would not make straight anyway.
 
Gravity - brave man putting a full glass of water on your bed, I have no doubt I would have knocked it flying and had to sleep elsewhere. Might benefit from a bit of sharpening/saturation or converting to a grainy black and white as it just seems a little weak somehow.

Wild - nothing weak about this one - great focus and colour and holds my attention well
 
Nice wild shot. Great subject, and sharp in more than one way. (y)

Is it me though, or does the thorn a little bit down in the top left look like a bird sticking its head out?
 
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