jeangenie's 52 for 2009 - Part 2, Week 52 Texture - and finally ...

kennysarmy said:
The reshoot is a BIG improvement on the first...
Not sure what the reflection adds to the shot tbh :(

I think just the red tomatoes on the white would work well enough without the added distraction...
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Dark Star said:
Late again :(

The second shot is my preferred version and I think it works when you know what you did with the mirror and thats a clever and inventive idea :) Well done on the set up :)

Colours and crispness are all there too :)

Like Jeff though I wonder what just a plain white background would look like!

Still a great submission though! Very good indeed (y)
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Thanks guys. I thought a plain white b/g would be just another shot like several I've already done and wanted to try something different. The patterns inside tomatoes are amazing (sad - I should get out more, I know) and I thought it'd be fun to see them from 2 directions. :)

Jean
 
Week 32 - only 20 left. I wonder what fate and the luck of the draw has in store for us? :eek:

Exposed - could get some of us into a awful lot of trouble here, so I for one, am feeling quite smug that Mr JG came up with an idea for this week which would keep me on the right side of 'banned'! :LOL:

Living in the New Forest, we are - as you might expect - surrounded by trees and in the great storms of 1987 and 1989 many trees in the forest were blown over. Some, however, remained with a part of their root systems in the ground and, amazingly, continued to grow - horizontally at ground level. So my photo this week is a tree root system exposed for inspection:



I expected to wander into the forest, grab a few piccies of tree roots and be back home in half an hour. As often happens, though, I ended up spending 2 hours plus experimenting with - guess what? - exposure. :LOL: The lighting varied from difficult to really awful, and getting a balance between highlights and deep shade was , well, interesting.

So this is Exposed on 2 levels - the subject, exposed roots, and the togging, balancing exposure to get the result you want.

Lessons learned (after last week, this is making me happy :))

1 My camera never ceases to amaze me - it's just so clever I don't think I'll ever live up to it. :bang:

2 The combinations of exposure are infinitely variable - and I tried a good few of them on this shot. :bang:

3 When you've tweaked this, adjusted that, reset something else and still can't get the shot you want to need to go back to square one and start again.

4 Why, oh why did I not think of shooting in Manual instead of AP - I tried pretty much every other setting on the camera to get 'inside' the root ball.

5 I love Active D-lighting. :love:

6 Nature is cruel - while I was trying to nail this shot there were red deer nearby - I kept catching glimpses but didn't manage to get a decent shot of one. Grrrrr ... I'm sure I could hear them saying to each other 'Nah, nah-na nah-na' and laughing every time I fired the shutter just as they disappeared behind a tree. :LOL:

7 On a really busy day in the forest at the height of the holiday season, it was lovely to find peace, quiet and isolation within a few hundred metres of the car park. :)

C&C most welcome, as always

Jean
 
Great photo! It looks a tad grainy, but I actually think that adds to the photo. Sounds like you had a right struggle with the exposure! But all the effort paid off. Well done (y)
 
Nice pic Jean, I think you did really well to bring out the detail. :D
 
A great take on the theme and well done on getting the exposure right:clap:.

Bryan Peterson author of Understanding Exposure would tell you to meter off the green the stop it down 2/3rds before recomposing and shooting the scene. Apparently that works really well. Might be worth a try next time you're faced with a lot of green in an image.
 
Hi again Jean,

Food, the second shot is an improvement but there is something about the composition of the first I like. Really creative set up by the way, I keep meaning to get a sheet of glass/perspex for this sort of thing. What did you use to light the toms?

Exposure, very good idea from Mr JG, I've found playing around in manual mode pretty rewarding up to now, very quickly start to see the range of light in a scene.

Its a fine enough shot and while not as inventive as your food shot, its well exposed and the colours are vibrant and certainly fits the theme.

Your forrest looks like an ace place to spend the day with a macro lens.
 
You're so lucky to be living in the New Forest area with all of that on your doorstep. It looks like an absolutely stunning location.

Great idea with the exposed roots and I like the way that you've made use of DoF in this shot.
I think I'd like to see a touch more contrast in this one though, perhaps a bit darker underneath the root ball.

p.s. Glad to know that I'm not the only one using tins and other assorted bits and pieces to balance stuff on when composing photos.
This photography lark really does force you to be inventive!
 
What a great idea that was...:clap::clap::clap:

Well spotted and photographed...I keep coming back to it and think it's a lovely shot and one that we all see and don't notice...:love:

Excellent work Jean...(y)
 
Great take on the theme Jean :clap::clap:

Well exposed :)lol:) and the composition draws you in.

I tend to use manual in low light settings, and bump the ISO, then gradually shorten the exposure time until I get the shot (I hope) I want. It then gives you a few to choose from.
 
First of all, an apology to those kind enough to comment on Week 32 - I still haven't had chance to try out your suggestions. Sometimes life just gets way too busy, and the last straw this week-end was having an emergency trip to the vets following a sleepless and worrying night with a sick dog. I hope he's now on the mend, but I wouldn't want to go through that again in a hurry. :)

I'll catch up with all your Week 32 and 33s soon - promise. :)

Way back when the theme was drawn I had a bright idea about catching a great sky, with a lone (mono!) tree, some interesting landscape, and trying to produce an Ansel Adams-style b&w with a good, balanced range of tones - something I've often tried to do in the darkroom but not in digital.

Huh, fat chance. :LOL:

So this week took me no further than the pinta on our doorstep - just a simple white object on a black background. Mono in colour, if that makes sense. :thinking:




Lessons learned this week:

1 There's no such thing as a 'simple white object on a black background' in the photography world, especially when the white object is also reflective. :bang:

2 The more simple and pared-down the subject, the more crucial the placement.

3 After ten or so attempts, no composition looks right.

4 Our kitchen has got too many windows.

5 I exposed for the black and then adjusted the white in PS - I don't know if there's a better way.

6 Taking the bottle of milk straight from fridge to table resulted in a lot of condensation on the bottle which needed constant mopping up. Next time, I'll get the milk to room temperture first. But then we wouldn't want to drink it. :LOL:

7 Perhaps I should have gone with my other idea - a bottle of white wine. :D

Thanks for looking.

Jean
 
Very clever Jean...:clap::clap::clap:

That works very nice with the black B/G...its something I didn't think of, just goes to show how we all think differently when it comes to the 52s...:LOL:

Excellent...(y)
 
I like this. Sometimes the simplest things are the most effective.

Great detail on the bottle and definitely worth getting condensation everywhere for (y)
I like the framing on it too.

I always do the exposure the other way round - expose for the subject and adjust the black in PS. Not sure if it really makes any difference, it's just what I've found easiest.
 
well I think it was worth the effort. You've got this just right!
 
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Mono in colour makes perfect sense. And I actually like how it's in colour, cos I think...even though this is mono, if you were to....Mono it, it'd not suit :clap:
 
You have done well to get such an exact black and exact white. I really like this.
Brings back memories of when I used to steal bottles of milk like this with my mates when we were at school. Naughty naughty! ;)
 
Spartacus said:
Very clever Jean...

That works very nice with the black B/G...its something I didn't think of, just goes to show how we all think differently when it comes to the 52s...:LOL:

Excellent...(y)
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Thanks Marcus. It seemed simple when I first thought of it. How wrong that was. :D

SarahLee said:
I like this. Sometimes the simplest things are the most effective.

Great detail on the bottle and definitely worth getting condensation everywhere for (y)
I like the framing on it too.

I always do the exposure the other way round - expose for the subject and adjust the black in PS. Not sure if it really makes any difference, it's just what I've found easiest.
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Thanks Sarah. I'll have to try the exposure the other way round. I exposed for the black, because I think that's the hardest to get right, so on a white b/g I'd expose for the subject, then sort out the white. I suppose that was my thinking - I don't often use black b/gs, but you always get yours nice and black, so you must be doing something right. :)

maddog.mark said:
well I think it was the efforts you've got this just right!
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Thanks Mark. :)

Shorty said:
Mono in colour makes perfect sense. And I actually like how it's in colour, cos I think...even though this is mono, if you were to....Mono it, it'd not suit :clap:
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Thanks, Shorty - and I know what you mean. :D

Kiwi Jaz said:
You have done well to get such an exact black and exact white. I really like this.
Brings back memories of when I used to steal bottles of milk like this with my mates when we were at school. Naughty naughty! ;)
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Thanks for the kind comments. Hope you enjoyed the milk. :LOL:

Jean
 
well Jean, lovely shot on exposed. very well captured.(y)

Mono is simply smashing. a small complaint is I would have got rid of the coloured bottle top. well done :clap:
 
I agree with Corky. Cracking mono shot. Something I never thought of. I'd have lost the bottle cap too though. Great photo all the same (y)
 
I love the idea of your exposed shot but your mono is fantasitc. kida the same idea as me but done totally differently :D
 
jeangenie said:
Thanks Sarah. I'll have to try the exposure the other way round. I exposed for the black, because I think that's the hardest to get right, so on a white b/g I'd expose for the subject, then sort out the white. I suppose that was my thinking - I don't often use black b/gs, but you always get yours nice and black, so you must be doing something right. :)
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I really don't know if there's a right or wrong way for this - I'm just making it up as I go along :D
My thinking is that if I want the focus to be the foreground that's where I should put my effort into getting the exposure right (give or take a few tweaks later).

For the black backgrounds: With my bridge camera I'd adjust the background using the eyedropper tool in levels. Shooting in RAW with the SLR is easier because you can just alter the black slider.

You don't seem to have lost anything from the milk bottle with your method though, so I'm not sure that it really matters which way you do it.
 
corky said:
well Jean, lovely shot on exposed. very well captured.(y)

Mono is simply smashing. a small complaint is I would have got rid of the coloured bottle top. well done :clap:
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karmagarda said:
I agree with Corky. Cracking mono shot. Something I never thought of. I'd have lost the bottle cap too though. Great photo all the same (y)
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Thanks Corky and KG. I dithered about taking off the coloured bottle top, but thought it would just be Sod's Law this week that if I did the bottle would be chipped or something, and it was the only one in the fridge. Mr JG is grinning like a Cheshire cat and saying 'there you are - I told you to get rid of the top!' :D


Toothie said:
I love the idea of your exposed shot but your mono is fantasitc. kida the same idea as me but done totally differently :D
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Thanks Ruth. We must have been sharing a brain or something. :)

SarahLee said:
I really don't know if there's a right or wrong way for this - I'm just making it up as I go along :D
My thinking is that if I want the focus to be the foreground that's where I should put my effort into getting the exposure right (give or take a few tweaks later).

For the black backgrounds: With my bridge camera I'd adjust the background using the eyedropper tool in levels. Shooting in RAW with the SLR is easier because you can just alter the black slider.

You don't seem to have lost anything from the milk bottle with your method though, so I'm not sure that it really matters which way you do it.
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I think that's one of the fascinating things about digital photography - there's so many ways of getting to the same end result. But I will try your method next time. :) I did a tweak in Levels and toped it up with the the eyedropper to get the white - the black is as taken - I was quite chuffed with that 'cos I thought it would be much harder. I'll definiately do more stuff with a black b/g now. :)

Jean
 
Great picture of the milk which reminds me of London ( as I live in Germany now ). My aunt still get´s her "bottles" every morning - typical english. I like it.
 
So many cool interpretations on this theme, and this is no exception!
I just can't help feeling that a silver top would have made a difference.
Brilliant pic though, and makes me more determined to have a proper go at black backgrounds.
Thanks for the inspiration! :)
 
78seconds said:
Great picture of the milk which reminds me of London ( as I live in Germany now ). My aunt still get´s her "bottles" every morning - typical english. I like it.
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Glad it brought some happy memories of 'home' - although our milkie only delivers 3 times a week but it's better than late night dashes to the supermarket. :LOL:

Hyster said:
Good take on the theme Jean and you have controlled it well.
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Thanks Hyster - it was bit of an experiment, so I'm pleased you think it worked. :)

bigsteve said:
So many cool interpretations on this theme, and this is no exception!
I just can't help feeling that a silver top would have made a difference.
Brilliant pic though, and makes me more determined to have a proper go at black backgrounds.
Thanks for the inspiration! :)
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Thank you Bigsteve. :confused:

I agree about the silver top - but I didn't dare mess with it since it was the only bottle I had and with hindsight (wonderful gift!) I should have cloned out the red bits. :bonk:

Have fun with your black background. :)

Jean
 
That's 2 of us that have done black and white in colour this week so I'm bound to say I like it :D

You've got the balance spot on, and if I look closely I can see you and the window in the reflection on the bottle :eek:

Seems like you've got a consistent black background too which I know was something you've felt you've struggled with in the past. :clap::clap:

As for lesson 1, I had a similar problem with the teapot where I had a bright spot of reflection on one of the characters, fortunately at the top. And because it was Chinese no-one noticed I cloned it out :LOL:
 
Bruja said:
That's 2 of us that have done black and white in colour this week so I'm bound to say I like it :D Great minds, eh? :LOL:

You've got the balance spot on, and if I look closely I can see you and the window in the reflection on the bottle :eek: Oh no, not an accidental sp - another first - for me anyway!

Seems like you've got a consistent black background too which I know was something you've felt you've struggled with in the past. :clap::clap:

As for lesson 1, I had a similar problem with the teapot where I had a bright spot of reflection on one of the characters, fortunately at the top. And because it was Chinese no-one noticed I cloned it out :LOL: I bet it says something rude now, heheheh :)
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Jean
 
Ah always always late :)

Exposed: That has a real depth to it Jean - almost 3D on my monitor I like it and like the colours!

Mono: Clever and a lovely simple set up - I like the bg and light - two very different shots both meet the briel well and are well taken :) :clap:
 
Dark Star said:
Ah always always late :) ... and that's always better than 'never'. :)

Exposed: That has a real depth to it Jean - almost 3D on my monitor I like it and like the colours!


Mono: Clever and a lovely simple set up - I like the bg and light - two very different shots both meet the briel well and are well taken :) :clap:

Thanks for the very kind comments on both shots. I'm always slightly surprised but very pleased when I get such lovely compliments. :confused:
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:)

Jean
 
We're just about starting the third season of this Challenge - Autumn - so lots of ideas there, but for me, no inspiration because as soon as I saw the theme 'Season' I mentally added "... with salt and pepper". I know several other people had similar thoughts, too. But I decided to stick with it, so here is my Week 34




"Season ... with salt and pepper"



As always, I had trouble setting up this table top shot. The main problem was getting the letters into a suitable 'shape' for a conventional aspect ratio. It's an area I really must learn more about. :bonk: And then finding something to 'build' the ingredients on. I ended up using an upturned pyrex dish but found I had to crop hard to eliminate unwanted background. :eek:

Lessons learned and still to be learned:

1 Still leaving things to the last minute - I'd have recomposed this if I'd had more time.

2 Stop doing black and white in colour. The lighting is doing my head in. :bonk:

3 'Drawing' letters with peppercorns needs a steady hand and a pair of tweezers - very frustrating and fiddly.

4 Some things I just never learn. Last time I used salt I vowed 'never again' - it gets everywhere. Grrr ...

5 I shot this on black but it might have been easier on a white bg to get a more even colour in the salt. See 1 above. :bang::bang:

Thanks for looking - I do appreciate all the helpful comments you make. :)

Jean
 
I love this shot...:love:

So simple and straight forward to understand...and bloody hard to get right...:clap::clap::clap:

Looks like your back on form again this week...(y)

Love it Jean :love:
 
Oh I agree 100% with Spartacus, LOVE this shot. But wow, I'm so surprised the pepper/salt was taken more than the '4 seasons' interpretation!!

:love: :clap: :clap: (y)
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Well it's another great idea on the old salt & pepper bandwagon - I just can't believe that you had the patience to spell out "season" in peppercorns!

I don't know about needing to change this to shoot on white. The salt looks pretty perfect from where I am, and although I'm sure that the lighting was difficult to get, it's definitely paid off.
It looks so simple and effective, yet it must have taken so much effort to get right. You've really pulled this one off - Well done !

BTW I love your lessons learned! They really made me laugh, and after this week I can definitely relate to salt getting everywhere :LOL:
 
Oooh clever :) That must have taken ages :) The angle and dof really work well rather than straight above as I might have done (and got wrong :))

Cracking!

:D
 
Spartacus said:
I love this shot...

So simple and straight forward to understand...and bloody hard to get right
Looks like your back on form again this week...

Love it Jean
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You're very kind, Marcus - tbh, it didn't feel like being on form - trying to frame the shot up was impossible and I ended up cloning salt into the top of the shot to get rid of unwanted b/g. Sometimes out of focus is useful. :D

Shorty said:
Oh I agree 100% with Spartacus, LOVE this shot. But wow, I'm so surprised the pepper/salt was taken more than the '4 seasons' interpretation!!
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Thank you, Shorty. I'm surprised how many of us have chosen variations on salt and pepper - especially when salt is so unphotogenic!

SarahLee said:
Well it's another great idea on the old salt & pepper bandwagon - I just can't believe that you had the patience to spell out "season" in peppercorns!

I don't know about needing to change this to shoot on white. The salt looks pretty perfect from where I am, and although I'm sure that the lighting was difficult to get, it's definitely paid off.
It looks so simple and effective, yet it must have taken so much effort to get right. You've really pulled this one off - Well done !

BTW I love your lessons learned! They really made me laugh, and after this week I can definitely relate to salt getting everywhere
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Thanks Sarah. I set it up very late on Saturday night and had to get the shot done before going out for the day on Sunday - so I was lucky the light on Sunday was ok. I know I keep saying it, but leaving the shot to Sunday is a recipe for pressure. :eek:

kennysarmy said:
great idea and well set up!

not sure I'd have the patience.....
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Thanks - patience isn't my strong suit either - you should have heard my commentary. :confused:

Dark Star said:
Oooh clever :) That must have taken ages :) The angle and dof really work well rather than straight above as I might have done (and got wrong )

Cracking!
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Thanks John - if it's worked, it's more luck than judgment, but I'm glad you like it. :)


Jean
 
Thats a excellent pic Jean, really, really good. Simple but really effective.

Full marks this week.
 
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