weekly kh_42 - 52/2021 - Weeks 11-13 added!

Tall - works for "cold" as well!! Nicely placed windmills, and some very cooperative clouds make the image.

Your portrait is fantastic! The lighting looks really nice, and the pose is very natural.
 
Tall
It looks nice with the snow and the two fluffy clouds.

Choice
What a gorgeous photo, definitely one worthy of a space on the wall.
At first I thought it might be a little dark on the right-hand side, but now I don't.
 
Tall
I definitely get that impression, the fact the edge of the blades start above the highest tree only adds to it

Snappers Choice
A great expression, makes me wish I had more interest in photography when my daughters were younger, we did takes lots of photos, but nothing with much forethought and planning. I'm trying to improve my portrait skills so it's good to have a comparison
 
Week 6 - Pair

Not a particularly fancy picture this week, haven't had much time to get out over the last 3 weeks, combination of work and terrible weather. But, I believe this meets the brief and I had some fun playing with and learning about use of off-camera flash.



Week 7 - (depict a) Film + Technique

Hopefully its obvious what this is, I had tons of better film ideas in mind, but not the skill or ins some cases the necessary props/locations to pull them off. So in the end, I rooted around in my son's toy box and this is the result. I actually wanted to do this with real cars, but no car parks big enough (or full enough) nearby.



Week 8 - Half

Self-portrait this week, and some more learning about how to use flash and process the resulting images. Its my trademark dark image, but I quite enjoyed setting up and taking it. Having a lot of fun using the wireless flash stuff I bought, long may it continue.

 
Cracking image. Right up my street. It can be hard to focus on so many things.. lighting, composition, expression... You got them all in one.

I'd be sorely tempted to crop it square for a shade more impact, but that's a niggle.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Cracking image. Right up my street. It can be hard to focus on so many things.. lighting, composition, expression... You got them all in one.

I'd be sorely tempted to crop it square for a shade more impact, but that's a niggle.
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Thanks, appreciate the feedback! I had to set it all up and was then using my phone as a remote to take the shot!

Funnily enough I very nearly cropped it square but then changed my mind. Not sure I could articulate why in the end, other than the fact my last portrait here was also square. Which on reflection is a daft reason! Might go back and do a square crop as well.
 
Fabulous Half picture. The tie for the hoody is a bonus being pale in colour.

Pair is on theme. Made me think of that diagram of all the different ways you can tie your running shoes laces for some reason - I think because mine go the other way :)

I'm not sure what the film is, but that's no surprise for me - I'm rubbish at remembering film and book titles. Lots of cars there and mostly yellow and blue! Fits the technique.
 
Bebop said:
Fabulous Half picture. The tie for the hoody is a bonus being pale in colour.

Pair is on theme. Made me think of that diagram of all the different ways you can tie your running shoes laces for some reason - I think because mine go the other way :)

I'm not sure what the film is, but that's no surprise for me - I'm rubbish at remembering film and book titles. Lots of cars there and mostly yellow and blue! Fits the technique.
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Thank you! I chose this to wear specifically for that reason, I thought it would add some interest. I may have had to do some post to get rid of the other one...

The movie is “Cars”
 
Half is a cracking shot, you’ve got the lighting spot on and the black and white processing really suits the image :)
 
Hadron said:
Half is a cracking shot, you’ve got the lighting spot on and the black and white processing really suits the image :)
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Thank you!
 
Another one really liking your Half shot.
 
Kell said:
I was going to say you've exposed yourself very well, but that's not quite what I meant.

Very nicely done. Was the lighting captured in camera, or did you adjust it in post?
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Ha! not sure that’s a phrase I want on the Internet in perpetuity!!

It was mostly captured in camera, but a bit of post to darken the shadows and remove the other tassel on the hoody to make it cleaner. Probably could have done a bit better with lighting up front, but it was enough of a challenge being both subject and photographer as it was so I’m not going to judge myself too harshly!
 
Half is a cracker :)
 
Half
Well handled lightning, can't decide if the hood drawstring(?) adds or detracts from the image, did you try any where it didn't extend to the bottom edge?
 
StuartPearson said:
Half
Well handled lightning, can't decide if the hood drawstring(?) adds or detracts from the image, did you try any where it didn't extend to the bottom edge?
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Thank you for the feedback! I quite like it being there, but you’ve piqued my interest. I might try and edit it out just to see how it looks. Interestingly, if you look at the image on Flickr it isn’t such a harsh crop, the bottom of the drawstring is a little further from the bottom of the image.
 
Half is a great image, really nice use of light. For the images for pair and film I find them a tad dark (as in not bright rather than sinister ;) ), although I like the way you've composed them.
 
FlyPhot said:
Half is a great image, really nice use of light. For the images for pair and film I find them a tad dark (as in not bright rather than sinister ;) ), although I like the way you've composed them.
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Yeah, fair comment. I think they are a little bit, on reflection. Thank you for the feedback!
 
Hi,

Pair - Quite a lot of light falloff - presumably the flash was very close? Is the vignette natural or added in post?
Film - I think you'd struggle find a real Lightning McQueen in a normal car park too.
Half - Excellent piece of low key there :)
 
LC2 said:
Hi,

Pair - Quite a lot of light falloff - presumably the flash was very close? Is the vignette natural or added in post?
Film - I think you'd struggle find a real Lightning McQueen in a normal car park too.
Half - Excellent piece of low key there :)
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Flash was close, and zoomed in, the vignette is natural. It’s the look I was going for. Anything to try and make my manky running trainers a bit more interesting!

Film - agreed!

Thank you - one week too early to have nailed the technique as well!
 
Week 9 - Reflection

Had a tough time with this one, I had some ideas of what I wanted to do but no way to get the shot I wanted. In the end, I decided to go with another self-portrait; I had an idea in mind - I wanted to take an image reminiscent of the sort you sometimes see in movies, generally in bathrooms where the light has that horrid sort of fluorescent green tinge to it. I haven't quite hit the mark with it I don't think, but for I'm using it anyway if for no other reason than as a marker to improve against. I should add, I do own clothes other than hoodies, but I do not have any other expression when in front of the camera.





Week 10 - Rough

Bit easier this one, we have a tiny bit of rough old brickwork out in our back garden that was left from the previous owners. I got in close and kept the DoF shallow on purpose. I think black and white suits it and really brings out the 'rough' element of the brick surface. In colour it just looked a bit flat. Added a small border because I thought it just finished the image off nicely.

 
Agree with Paul. The reflection is well done. Possibly a little too gloomy for my taste, but does carry the movie vibe nicely. Rough also works well. Simple and straightforward and the border does finish teh image off nicely. B&W works well when texture is a key component.
 
Boots said:
I think you hit both of those themes.
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Thank you, they always seem simple on a Thursday but somehow I end up baking my noodle about what to shoot for a lot longer than I spend taking any actual photographs!


Harlequin565 said:
Agree with Paul. The reflection is well done. Possibly a little too gloomy for my taste, but does carry the movie vibe nicely. Rough also works well. Simple and straightforward and the border does finish teh image off nicely. B&W works well when texture is a key component.
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It didn’t look quite as dark on my desktop or Flickr, but it does look a little dark on here. Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated!
 
Liking both your shots. I used to spend hours mulling over what to take whereas now I give myself a bit more leeway and sometimes just head out on a walk to see what I can find.
 
Reflection
I think it works quite well. Maybe a little green, blue may have worked too.

Rough
I'm not sure I would employ that bricklayer.
 
I think reflection works well. Of course you could crop the bright (blown out?) strip RHS .... might work.

Rough bricklaying, nice one.
 
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Reflection: Your write up made me chuckle - I wouldn't have spotted the same hoody nor expression :) I think it works well. We are drawn to look into the middle. I know the highlights are very strong - not sure what you could do - maybe combine two exposures?

Rough: I like the B&W treatment, the depth of field and border you've given it. All work well to show the rough texture of the bricks.
 
Rough is what it is.

Reflection has what I was thinking of trying, an actual reflection but also the description of someone who is reflecting on something. I'm not sure I like the green and might prefer it in monochrome but it's a good picture that more than fits the theme. It does look a little like an American prison visit too.
 
So, not content with posting two at a time, this week we have a 'threefor' posting. Determined as I am not to fall by the wayside this year. Time and inspiration has been at a premium, so I was looking forward to this long weekend as a chance to catch-up! So, here you are - weeks 11, 12 and 13...

Week 11 - Smooth

This is a cheat week, I really couldn't get an image I was happy with so I dug into the archives for this one. I took it a long time ago, when I was first learning how to use a camera properly. Its actually an image of a smoke plume, taken on a macro lens and with off-camera flash to illuminate it. There has been some adjustment to the exposure and contrast in photoshop to really pull the shape of the smoke plume out from the background and I added the colour as well. Silky.



Week 12 - Alive

This is a top down shot of a succulent. At the basic end of interpretation, its alive, but I thought it looked somewhat like some other-worldly creature opening up its mouth to accept food. Or maybe I've just been stuck in lockdown for too long. I mean, I did have a great conversation with an empty shampoo bottle the other week...

It has been cropped, and some slight PP work on the exposure and contrast, plus a white border added just for refinement (which you can't see here, but shows nicely on Flickr.)



Week 13 - Easter

Cliche, blimey. But what else is Easter for if not stuffing your face with mini eggs left over from the kids egg hunt?! Nothing fancy, just a close crop to fill the frame, and a little bit of exposure adjustment - added a frame too (again, you can't see it all here because some of it is white). I think it works, but ymmv!

 
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