John's Photo 52 PtII - Week 52 (28th Dec) - Texture

Nice idea..you have pulled it off well. The cans really stick out and it certainly shows a lack of respect. Nice work jgs001.
 
Toothie said:
really liking your respect shot, the processing suits and it fits the theme really well (y)
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thanks Ruth

Kiwi Jaz said:
Nice idea..you have pulled it off well. The cans really stick out and it certainly shows a lack of respect. Nice work jgs001.
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Thanks Jaz, glad it came across clearly.
 
I had the idea... just finding the time to implement.. anyway I managed it..

IMG_8777.jpg
 
Sorry I've not commented for a while, have been away.

Grunge, lovely flower, disgusting water (y)

Respect - nothing against you or your new 'tries' but this doesn't do anything for me - again, nothing personal cos composition etc/ is spot on, as is Selective colouring....

Friendship, love this shot, looks great in Mono and is a fab picture, lighting is spot on (y) :clap:
 
very simple...and spot on
Jon
 
jeangenie said:
Lovely - says it all, John - simply, beautifully and eloquently.

Love the b&w conversion too.

(y)(y)(y)

Jean
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Thanks Jean

Kiwi Jaz said:
That is a lovely shot. Superb bokeh and nicely processed.
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Cheers Jaz

Shorty said:
Sorry I've not commented for a while, have been away.

Grunge, lovely flower, disgusting water (y)

Respect - nothing against you or your new 'tries' but this doesn't do anything for me - again, nothing personal cos composition etc/ is spot on, as is Selective colouring....

Friendship, love this shot, looks great in Mono and is a fab picture, lighting is spot on (y) :clap:
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Thanks Leanna, no worries. I hope you had a good time. I understand on your comments about Respect, it's not going to be to everyones taste.

Spartacus said:
:agree: Yes I agree, lovely take on this weeks theme...:clap::clap::clap:
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Cheers Marcus

SarahLee said:
Beautiful shot.

It's actually very similar to what I've done this week, but yours is better.
Sums the theme up beautifully and I love the contrast of old and young. The B&W conversion really brings out the difference in the skin textures.
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Thanks very much Sarah

corky said:
very simple...and spot on
Jon
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Cheers Jon
 
kennysarmy said:
..hehe...that was one of the ideas I had but just did nt get round to finding enough time to set it up - never mind persuading the poor kids to act as models (again!)...

I love the shot and the PP.

Good work.
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Thanks Jeff, I had but a slim moment of opportunity to capture this shot, but it worked.

karmagarda said:
Nice shot! I love this. Love the idea and the processing. (y)
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Thanks KG

jonesor said:
A nicely framed shot. I like the simplicity of it.
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Thanks very much Owen
 
Respect: I love it, simply love it! Well spotted and well framed and processed and a sad reflection on our times :( Well done!

Friendship: awww thats lovely and so well composed - good processing again - B&W suits the image so well and the hands meeting on a third gives the image a great balance!
 
Superb and what a great idea! Sorry I'm so late posting!
 
Thanks guys. No worries Mark. Glad you both liked them.

You know, for both of the last two weeks, I've thought a lot about precisely what it was I wanted to convey in the image and how to shoot and frame it to do just that before taking the shot (I know I was sort of at the whim of what I found for respect) but it still holds true. I think it's made a huge difference to the resulting image. I've, so far, not managed that so well this week, although I've got a few shots ready. Still got a couple of days yet.
 
My first thought was oh no not another one... but an idea came almost straight away. I wasn't able to capture that, but several other ideas did come to mind, again not able to get any of those. However, I went out in the garden the other lunchtime and was having a wander round looking for targets of opportunity when I spotted several fresh starts that the plants were making..

I grabbed a few... so here it is for this week

IMG_8892.jpg


and a few others

Fresh Start 2
Fresh Start 3
Fresh Start 4

There's a second Fresh Start hiding in these images.. I've been experimenting with further processing and tools options within Aperture. (ok, maybe not fresh... but new options to me ...)
 
Ah Phooey :D... And the bud is no longer a bud either... Blast.

Ok, let's go with this one...

IMG_8885-Version2.jpg
 
Wow, so many Fresh Starts in your garden. :)

The Rose: I love the colours and as Jeff said, a slight tweak on the focus would have been great. The distant bud looks almost like a reflection. Was the sky really that blue. :love:

#2, the b&w, is gorgeous - but I'd love to see it in colour, because I can't work out what the plant is. The texture on the berries is lovely. (y)

#3, the .....? (I should know this one, there's one in our garden) Not so sure about this, but it may be because every year when I go to cut the dead heads off our bush, I find one, just one, measely little flower still blooming and I haven't the heart to cut it off. :bonk:

#4, my favourite. Lovely colours and great dof. I'd have liked to see a bit more leaf on the left, but maybe that wasn't possible. I still like it. (y)

Jean
 
Hi John

Friendship - absolutely spot on, focus, conversion and composition. I love it :love:

Fresh Start - I love the abstract nature of this but I'd like a tiny bit more DoF as on my screen the sharpest point is on the nearest green bud thingy.
 
MASSIVE catch up time... apologies

Colour: I much prefer the second - lots of vibrancy and like John says, somehow it's got movement. I find the colours in the first a bit lacking so for the theme the second has to take the prize.

Food: I'm glad you reshot this one - as you say there are things wrong with the first that could have been sorted given more time and less hungry people (damn them!). The shadow is the only issue I have with the second one but it still looks good enough to eat ;)

Exposed: Great idea but I think the BG is lacking a bit. I think you can get away with strong composition of a single sweet but you need to make it really pop against the BG.

Mono: I'm sorry the fist mono shot doesn't do a lot for me but I LOVE the second one you posted. Much bolder composition wise and the texture is great.

Season: The crop of Season is also better imo - got rid of the tree on the right which was a good choice. Actually no - scrap that - I like the pano best! Getting rid of some of the sky seems a bigger plus than losing the tree. I don't know why but it just looks more balanced.

Grunge: I've said the same about a lot of peoples grunge shots. Regardless of how technically good the shot is - manky stuff just isn't very photogentic! I think the flower looks lovely though.

Respect: Great take on the theme - something I considered but didn't get off my bum to do. I think the desaturation works well - it's not overpowering but helps tell the story of the shot. (y)

Friendship: Great composition and entirely suited to B&W :clap:

Fresh Starts: The colours on the first shot are beautiful but the DOF & focus is not doing it for me I'm afraid. I still prefer it to the second effort though - It looks like more thought went into the composition of the first. I'm not seeing any main focus point in the second shot. I wish the bud was still a bud because if you could have another go at that rose I think it could be a great shot.

PHEW - I will try to keep up to date from now on! :bonk:
 
WOW, LOVE the first one, the colours, the DOF, the everything - Fabulous!!!
Second one does nothing forme after seeing the first.
:clap: :clap:
 
The first picture definitely has the best potential, can I be awkward and say I think the 2nd in colour may be a good shot.;)
 
kennysarmy said:
Great idea...just think you;ve overdone the depth of field too much so that the flower in the foreground has just missed being in focus and the far flower has become too much of a blur for my tastes...
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Thanks Jeff, you're right, and I couldn't see it for looking :bang:

jeangenie said:
Wow, so many Fresh Starts in your garden.

The Rose: I love the colours and as Jeff said, a slight tweak on the focus would have been great. The distant bud looks almost like a reflection. Was the sky really that blue. :love:

#2, the b&w, is gorgeous - but I'd love to see it in colour, because I can't work out what the plant is. The texture on the berries is lovely. (y)

#3, the .....? (I should know this one, there's one in our garden) Not so sure about this, but it may be because every year when I go to cut the dead heads off our bush, I find one, just one, measely little flower still blooming and I haven't the heart to cut it off.
#4, my favourite. Lovely colours and great dof. I'd have liked to see a bit more leaf on the left, but maybe that wasn't possible. I still like it. (y)

Jean
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Thanks Jean. The sky was sort of that blue... I gave it a helping hand ;). I'll sort out a colour version of the berries later, the berries are yellow with teeny white flowers. I think the third is spoilt by the fence in the background, I couldn't manage a short enough DOF with my 55-250 to blur it out. To get the composition of the bud in the frame as I wanted it, I couldn't get all the leaf in... sorry.

Bruja said:
Hi John

Friendship - absolutely spot on, focus, conversion and composition. I love it :love:

Fresh Start - I love the abstract nature of this but I'd like a tiny bit more DoF as on my screen the sharpest point is on the nearest green bud thingy.
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Thanks Jill. I'm a bit gutted I fluffed up the DOF for fresh start, but hey ho... I almost got it... :bonk:

Daysleeper40 said:
MASSIVE catch up time... apologies

Colour: I much prefer the second - lots of vibrancy and like John says, somehow it's got movement. I find the colours in the first a bit lacking so for the theme the second has to take the prize.

Food: I'm glad you reshot this one - as you say there are things wrong with the first that could have been sorted given more time and less hungry people (damn them!). The shadow is the only issue I have with the second one but it still looks good enough to eat ;)

Exposed: Great idea but I think the BG is lacking a bit. I think you can get away with strong composition of a single sweet but you need to make it really pop against the BG.

Mono: I'm sorry the fist mono shot doesn't do a lot for me but I LOVE the second one you posted. Much bolder composition wise and the texture is great.

Season: The crop of Season is also better imo - got rid of the tree on the right which was a good choice. Actually no - scrap that - I like the pano best! Getting rid of some of the sky seems a bigger plus than losing the tree. I don't know why but it just looks more balanced.

Grunge: I've said the same about a lot of peoples grunge shots. Regardless of how technically good the shot is - manky stuff just isn't very photogentic! I think the flower looks lovely though.

Respect: Great take on the theme - something I considered but didn't get off my bum to do. I think the desaturation works well - it's not overpowering but helps tell the story of the shot.

Friendship: Great composition and entirely suited to B&W

Fresh Starts: The colours on the first shot are beautiful but the DOF & focus is not doing it for me I'm afraid. I still prefer it to the second effort though - It looks like more thought went into the composition of the first. I'm not seeing any main focus point in the second shot. I wish the bud was still a bud because if you could have another go at that rose I think it could be a great shot.

PHEW - I will try to keep up to date from now on!
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Well done Fi on catching up with all the comments. And thanks for all the comments. I agree with you on the downsides to the shots, and I wish the bud was still a bud too... but hey ho... I also haven't had the same lighting and sky conditions since...

Shorty said:
WOW, LOVE the first one, the colours, the DOF, the everything - Fabulous!!!
Second one does nothing forme after seeing the first.
:clap:
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Cheers Leanne

maddog.mark said:
The first picture definitely has the best potential, can I be awkward and say I think the 2nd in colour may be a good shot.;)
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Thanks Mark, just a shame I fluffed it. As for the second one, you can be awkward ;) I'll get a colour version of it sorted and posted later when I can get at it.
 
I like the first shot the best, yes a tad over done with the focus but that really makes you look at the shot all the more deeply...:clap::clap::clap:

Love the red showing through the second rose with the great blue b/g...(y)
 
Thanks very much Marcus (y)

I went and grabbed another shot (not a bud this time) but with much greater DOF.

IMG_8916.jpg


and for those that asked

IMG_8885.jpg
 
Oh now your just showing off...:LOL::LOL::LOL:

more cracking shots John, you certainly nailed the flower shots this week...:clap::clap::clap:
 
:D... Thanks Marcus.. the second one is the non mono'd one I posted earlier, so it's not actually a new shot...
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Fresh Starts: The colours on the first shot are beautiful but the DOF & focus is not doing it for me I'm afraid. I still prefer it to the second effort though - It looks like more thought went into the composition of the first. I'm not seeing any main focus point in the second shot. I wish the bud was still a bud because if you could have another go at that rose I think it could be a great shot. QUOTE]

I have to agree with Daysleeper I'm afraid....the good news is you'll do better next week ;)
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Wow. We're spoilt for choice this week !

Personally, I like the extreme dof in the first Rose shot . . . sort of an abstract reflection type thingy (note my precise technical description ;)) going on as Jean said.
Although I agree that the Rose in the front could be a touch more in focus I still really like this shot. (y)
In fact I far prefer it to your second Rose shot with them in full bloom.

The Berry shot (No.2) : Compositionally this is my favourite out of the lot. I definitely prefer the colour version, but the B&W works too. Lovely dof and great texture on the berries. My only niggle is that it says Autumnal more than Fresh Start to me.

I like the subject matter on fresh start 3, but as you pointed out the fence in the b/g spoils it a bit. And I'm not quite getting the fresh start theme from this one either.

However, Fresh Start 4 would be my pick of the bunch for this week (y)
I don't like the composition quite as much as No.2, but it's spot on for theme, and has lovely colours and great dof. :clap:
The bud looks so fresh and you've kept just the right amount of the leaves around it in focus.
The combination of yellow and green adds to the fresh feel too.
Definitely the one that I'd pick for this week's theme!
 
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Jon,You're right... hey ho... I can but hope for this week ;)

Thanks Sarah for looking at them all. I just wish I'd got that first shot with the rose properly (it looked ok even fully zoomed on the camera) prior to the bud blooming. I nearly chose that fourth one as the entry, but preferred the Rose even with it's drawbacks.
 
Thanks Ruth
 
Well... what to do for this one eh :naughty::naughty:

I glanced around and out the window and new where this one was going to go straight away. Just finding the shot...

Well, I finally managed to get it today. So here's this weeks shot..

Shot using the 55-250 and Raynox DCR250 using Focus Priority (a technique I'm still trying to get right with higher magnification but seems to work ok with less

The Bees Passion (Flower)

IMG_8962.jpg


Ok, I admit I'm reasonably comfortable with this sort of thing, but I do struggle with moving targets, and this bee was certainly moving. I'm also using a new technique.
 
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Very impressive with all the pollen on the bee.
Coincidently it has the same colouring (yellow and purple) as a passion-fruit!
My only criticism would be the view point of the shot means my eye isn't drawn to the bee immediately but I guess you wouldn't have had much of a choice as if you went lower, you probably wouldn't have had a clear view of the bee over the bottom petals.
Just out of interest, how close to the subject can you focus your 55-250 with the Raynox?
 
Thanks Jaz. I know it produces some fruit, but I'm not sure they'd be edible... I see what you mean about not being drawn straight to the bee, it flew away as soon as it come out from under that bit of the flower...

It depends on the focal length. probably between 6 and 12 cm's... roughly... I've never actually checked it... I'll set up and measure it later. The normal min focus distance for the 55-250 is 1.1m.
 
Hmm.. Not sure about that Jeff. I'll have to measure it to be sure, but I have to move the camera further back with greater focal length.


Edit... it's about 120mm.... You're right Jeff... I was being thick... As I extend the zoom, of course the front element moves towards the subject, so I have to move the camera back, but the distance between raynox and subject remains constant.
 
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