MentalBlock's 2011 52 - Week 52 'Glass' added & 52 FINISHED

Webby962 said:
....Can’t go wrong with a pair of ladies!!!;)

... I think the central part of the theme is the condom, the safe part, and that just needs to be bigger (no pun intended) ....
Click to expand...


...sorry guys...just having a Finbarr moment here... just read on please... :nuts:
 
Hiya Neil,

Wow I am behind with my comments .... can't believe I have 2 weeks to comment on .... well here goes:

Pair: Absolutely love this shot .... except for one very minor niggle .... can't quite make out what is happening in the top left corner, which I find slightly distracting and feel would be better cloned out as the image speaks for itself. Love the fact that you have gone with a colour shot too. BTW where do you chaps get these chips from .... not that I'm much into poker (although have delved into a bit of strip poker before :naughty: :LOL:)

Safe: Great idea for the theme :clap: .... however I think the wrapper should have been position elsewhere, not on the bra (it just looks a tad too staged). Hell a big congrats to Catherine too for joining in for the shot .... you have one very brave and willing lady there .... so all credit to her. I bet you had great fun producing this shot ;) :naughty:

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hi Neil

brilliant idea for Safe & big (y) to your good lady for helping out :clap:

Whilst I like the 1st shot as it portrays a scene ,I think the 2nd shot hits the spot better.....maybe including some matching briefs would have added a bit more & possibly arranged slightly differently ?....still this one could def be a contender for a reshoot :naughty:
 
michael23 said:
Hi Neil, that is an excellent take on the theme! The selective colouring works very well, I find it emphasizes the safe element. Lighting looks good, and the bra and wrapper on its own makes for a very good picture.
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael, I enjoyed this week!!

posiview said:
Yip, nice one there.

Hard work being a togger

Great depth, great SC and nice placement of the props....

Part of the sheet look a tad over exposed/bright to me and have lost some detail.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

I do like the SC on it.
As for the sheets, thats just DAZ!

TinaC said:
Great take on the theme (y)

#1 I know you want me to look at the bra and wrapper but I'm a pain and the over dark back is mor intriguiing ;)

#2 is a cracker imo, though wrapper on the bra? Not near it? Nit picking now....
Click to expand...

I did try the wrapper away from the bra, but it looked lost and didn't stand out enough. At least beingon the bra your eyes should follow up th ebra and come across the wrapper!

^Joe said:
:LOL:

Nice effort mate. At first I thought you were messing, but looking closely it's a great shot. The DOF looks perfect, and although a touch too bright for me, I think the lighting works well.

It's sort of like an advert. Nice one (y)
Click to expand...

Thanks Joe

SamuelSlade007 said:
neil..i can't play devils advocate on this one..i'll say it as it is for me.. it didn't say safe to me..more so it seemed to suggest something was deflated and limp. :shrug:

lets take the scene apart .. the white sheet.. the red bra.. the wrapper (which i didn't see clearly on my phone (must be the catholic in me)) ... it was all very contrived into sucha small area? the bra has no form so is as shrivelled as the wrapper contents :thinking:

..once i had read your type about the first pic, yes... young neil.. get the missus to at least wax your models back...

:( your whole scene does not feel s3xy nor safe ... i think you'd have been better with you two on the sofa blurred out by obvious.. and a handbag open or contents spilled... come neil..!!
Click to expand...

Ilike teh sofa idea Kev, I think that would have worked too, but the problem was getting the wrapper to play a part in the scene wile keeping things that included the sex bit!

I'm going to ignore your other comments :razz:

Webby962 said:
Neil,

Great take on Pair. Can’t go wrong with a pair of ladies!!!;)
My only minor niggles are:
Left hand crop just clipping the blue chips.
Right hand crop cutting through the knuckles
And it’s under exposed. I think a slight levels adjustment in PP to make the cards white will be all that is needed.
Other than that, it works for me :clap:

Safe, well I must admit I thought about a theme like this too, well one involving a condom anyway, but switched ideas yesterday.. I’m glad I did, or we would have had the same idea two weeks running LOL
I like the idea, but not the composition. The condom wrapper is too small in the scene, and the bra seems, well, on its own. I think the central part of the theme is the condom, the safe part, and that just needs to be bigger (no pun intended) in the scene.
I’m sure if there is a reshoot, you might enjoy doing this one again LOL :naughty:
Maybe have the wrapper nearer the lens and the lens a lot lower down, this would lose the empty expanse of bed between the bra and you pair, and open up the lens to through your guys OOF. Just an idea.

Happy shooting,


Adie
Click to expand...

Thanks Adie
The wrapper being closer could be the key, I didn't try that as I was on my nifty 50 for the DOF and I thought getting closer would leave too little in the background at 50mm
 
drodd said:
Hiya Neil,

Wow I am behind with my comments .... can't believe I have 2 weeks to comment on .... well here goes:

Pair: Absolutely love this shot .... except for one very minor niggle .... can't quite make out what is happening in the top left corner, which I find slightly distracting and feel would be better cloned out as the image speaks for itself. Love the fact that you have gone with a colour shot too. BTW where do you chaps get these chips from .... not that I'm much into poker (although have delved into a bit of strip poker before :naughty: :LOL:)

Safe: Great idea for the theme :clap: .... however I think the wrapper should have been position elsewhere, not on the bra (it just looks a tad too staged). Hell a big congrats to Catherine too for joining in for the shot .... you have one very brave and willing lady there .... so all credit to her. I bet you had great fun producing this shot ;) :naughty:

Cheers

Dawn :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Dawn.
The wrapper was very staged, without being purposely placed it didn't fall right.

As for the chips, they're my dads, my sister and I got him a poker set several years back, with a big green board too.

blondie606 said:
Hi Neil

brilliant idea for Safe & big (y) to your good lady for helping out :clap:

Whilst I like the 1st shot as it portrays a scene ,I think the 2nd shot hits the spot better.....maybe including some matching briefs would have added a bit more & possibly arranged slightly differently ?....still this one could def be a contender for a reshoot :naughty:
Click to expand...

The second shot is growing on me.
I've suggested a reshoot but so far Catherine has declined :shrug:
 
Had this idea in my head from almost day one, just not had the time to take it.
No doubt someone else has done it, that's been the way for my last few weeks!

I'm not sure if I've desaturated my model to look more like the living dead doll, but I like the process and the final image.


Week 46 Living-001 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

Big thanks to my model again.

Now on to week 47, I've not even thought about this one.
I'll drop by everyones threads once I've decided on what my week 47 will be, well, that is if you haven't done week 48 by then, then I'll have to wait!!
 
Neil. Big well done for living. I think you scene is very creative and has good composition. The colour maybe a bit strong on the yellow wall. It reminds me of the old test card with the chalk board. I do hope you paid good rates to your model and didn't take andy's idea of being an opportunist ??
 
SamuelSlade007 said:
Neil. Big well done for living. I think you scene is very creative and has good composition. The colour maybe a bit strong on the yellow wall. It reminds me of the old test card with the chalk board. I do hope you paid good rates to your model and didn't take andy's idea of being an opportunist ??
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Thanks Kev.

The rates are a take out, on my way for it in a minute!
 
Nice one Neil....:clap:

A bit of out of the box thinking....you've started Cliff Richards song going off in my head now :help:

Like it all...the colore , the chalk board ( that harks back to the end of TV prog's )....great selection of toys & most importantly a brilliant model.... well done to your good lady :clap:...oh yeah...& to you of course :LOL:
 
blondie606 said:
Nice one Neil....:clap:

A bit of out of the box thinking....you've started Cliff Richards song going off in my head now :help:

Like it all...the colore , the chalk board ( that harks back to the end of TV prog's )....great selection of toys & most importantly a brilliant model.... well done to your good lady :clap:...oh yeah...& to you of course :LOL:
Click to expand...

Thanks Lynne.
It took me a while, but I've eventually got the tune out of my head
The OH has been a good sport of late as she's appeared in several of my most recent, even if she didn't make the final posted version.

SamuelSlade007 said:
my god..she's cheap?? .. send her round here.. i'll dial up the bombay duckery...i want to do bonnie and clyde...but don't fancy playing both parts.. :nuts:
Click to expand...

Cheap!
She's been pretty much out of work the last 4 years.
The first two of which she claims to have been raising our children and looking after the house. The last two years she's been training to become a teacher. Neither role pays that well!

TinaC said:
Neil, well done for your take on the theme, an excellent idea (y)

Your model is clearly guaranteed to win an Oscar ;) I like this image though feel slightly unsettled as I type this...
Click to expand...

Thanks Tina.
She was a star for posing.
 
Hiya Neil,

Well done to you and Catherine on the 'Living' shot .... that is such a creative image and well thought out.

Fantastic :clap:

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Hi, Neil, living doll, well thought out and executed. It is quite a chilling photograph, though (no offence meant). Almost has a Chucky feel to it.

Only critique from me would be the composition, hmmm, can't really think how it could be improved, though...:thinking:

Cheers.
 
drodd said:
Hiya Neil,

Well done to you and Catherine on the 'Living' shot .... that is such a creative image and well thought out.

Fantastic :clap:

Cheers

Dawn :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Dawn
I'm pleased that my mind has gone a little more creative with this one.
Mt only neg on this since looking back is the angle of her head.
She's kept her arm ridged like a doll, but then the head is to one side which I guess it shouldn't be. I like it, but it goes against the ridged feel of the doll.

posiview said:
Hi, Neil, living doll, well thought out and executed. It is quite a chilling photograph, though (no offence meant). Almost has a Chucky feel to it.

Only critique from me would be the composition, hmmm, can't really think how it could be improved, though...:thinking:

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy,

Space was tight with furniture in the girls room so I only had one angle to shoot from. I felt a high angle showed more of the doll and a low angle would be shooting up her skirt.
 
Still playing catch up, so I wont be doing the re-shoot, although redoing Safe would have been fun!!

So, here's Week 47 Light, which speaks for it's self.
Not sure which I prefer, there are more on my flickr too.

#1 - Lighthearted!

Week 47 Light-111204-001 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

#2

Week 47 Light-111204-019 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

#3

Week 47 Light-111204-035 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

#4 -Water Effect

Week 47 Light-111204-036 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

As ever, fee; free to comment.
 
Hiya Neil,

Ooooh I like this post .... i.e., something juicy to get my teeth into regards c&c .... thanks :D

#1

You haven't quite got the perfect heart shape (sorry to say) a few candles out of position at the top (but I love the idea) and personally I would have cloned out 'all' reflections on this one to emphasise the heart. Other than that .... I think it is brilliant! :clap:

#2

Absolutely perfect!!!! I love everything about it .... from the colour, reflection, natural feel .... it is truly a romantic image (y)

#3

A tad soft, especially in the foreground candles. If you could have got the sharpness in them, leading to the softness in the DOF that would have worked well in my eyes. As it is ... the candles in the middle are sharper than fore and back ... which just doesn't gel for me .... especially as you have shot it as such to be a lead in.

#4

I can see where you were going with this one ..... but I have to say .... it is 'messy' for want of a better word, and it just doesn't do the image justice (especially as it is so similar to #3).

Hope this doesn't all sound to critical .... I have tried to be constructive with my limited knowledge .... it is purely an expression of my observation.

Creative idea though .... so well done

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Young Neil... I think all your takes on light are fitting. Beautifully taken and well thought out. The reflections are what catches my eye. So to the lines the candles draw... Well done. You might be behind but producing quality means so much.
 
Hi Neil

#1 - Lighthearted!
I like this though feel the reflections distract slightly from your shape. I found myself searching for the sharpest flame :confused: Don't even know if it is possible. Was the room draughty?

#2
I like the use of dof in this but would like all the candles in the shot.

#3
Love the composition but would like the focus on the first candle dropping off as we progress up the line.

#4 -Water Effect
Great idea that would be improved without the extraneous puddles but the focus is more as I feel it should be. Again the draught!
 
michael23 said:
Hiya Neil, the heart shaped one and number 3 for me, 4 is growing a little but I can't make my mind up on the inclusion of the water.
Click to expand...

Apparently the glass top on our oven isn't straight so the water kept draining off. The idea was to have like the reflection rippling in the water, but it never worked!

drodd said:
Hiya Neil,

Ooooh I like this post .... i.e., something juicy to get my teeth into regards c&c .... thanks :D

#1

You haven't quite got the perfect heart shape (sorry to say) a few candles out of position at the top (but I love the idea) and personally I would have cloned out 'all' reflections on this one to emphasise the heart. Other than that .... I think it is brilliant! :clap:

#2

Absolutely perfect!!!! I love everything about it .... from the colour, reflection, natural feel .... it is truly a romantic image (y)

#3

A tad soft, especially in the foreground candles. If you could have got the sharpness in them, leading to the softness in the DOF that would have worked well in my eyes. As it is ... the candles in the middle are sharper than fore and back ... which just doesn't gel for me .... especially as you have shot it as such to be a lead in.

#4

I can see where you were going with this one ..... but I have to say .... it is 'messy' for want of a better word, and it just doesn't do the image justice (especially as it is so similar to #3).

Hope this doesn't all sound to critical .... I have tried to be constructive with my limited knowledge .... it is purely an expression of my observation.

Creative idea though .... so well done

Cheers

Dawn :)
Click to expand...

Dawn you know me, always happy for good C&C.
Several of the shots were a bit sharp, I need to practice my manual focus and hand held technique. The shutter was getting low as the only light availabl was the candle light.

As for the heart, no cloning of the reflections has been done, it's all as shot.
Some cloning has been done to remove some highlights off the glass oven top I used!

#2 is my fav.

SamuelSlade007 said:
Young Neil... I think all your takes on light are fitting. Beautifully taken and well thought out. The reflections are what catches my eye. So to the lines the candles draw... Well done. You might be behind but producing quality means so much.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kev, especially the quality comment.
I may have to return to this with better props, such as a bit of glass not attached to my oven!

TinaC said:
Hi Neil

#1 - Lighthearted!
I like this though feel the reflections distract slightly from your shape. I found myself searching for the sharpest flame :confused: Don't even know if it is possible. Was the room draughty?

#2
I like the use of dof in this but would like all the candles in the shot.

#3
Love the composition but would like the focus on the first candle dropping off as we progress up the line.

#4 -Water Effect
Great idea that would be improved without the extraneous puddles but the focus is more as I feel it should be. Again the draught!
Click to expand...

Hi Tina,
The wife would say our house is draughty, but the draught came from the wife and children continually passing the set!

#2 is my fav for angle etc., but it needs a couple more candles in the shot, which I didn't see until I got it on the computer.


Thanks for the comments everyone.
 
Well, it had to be one of the children for this one.
I've three models, not all willing, but when they're a sleep!!

#1

Week 48 Cute-001 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

I think this is my fav.
I know the ears are cut out, but I don't think it's a problem, but I'm no expert!

#2

Week 48 Cute-017 by HaplessClicker, on Flickr

This one has all the bits in, but I still prefer the first.

He looks cute now, but in 6 hours he'll do his usual trick and be climbing in to my bed. I get a great big hug, but lose my pillow!

I'm not fully taken with the lighting.
It was OC and bounced off the ceiling.
The problem I found was that it wouldn't go dim enough.
I know I could have uped the f, but then I'd lose DOF.

Thanks for looking.
 
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Hi, Neil, I like your light idea and might have to give this a try myself sometime.

#2 and #4 for me. I like the close composition of #2 and the reflections; also you did well to get such a dark BG.

#4, I quite like the water in this one and especially the loose water, it has a quite Terminator feel to it (this will mean nothing unless you've see Terminator 2!)

They all appear quite soft, unsure if this was intentional or not.

Cute, #1 all the way. Great composition and his arm really draws you in. He looks very content with his arm around rabbit.

You mention not being able to dim the OC flash, I'm a novice with OCF but would you use a translucent (see here) it would soften the light, but might also dim the light :thinking:

Cheers.
 
TinaC said:
DOF is a tad too shallow for me on #1 but I agree the composition in this is the better for the theme.

DOF is spot on in #2 for the theme :LOL: but the composition and angle are not as ... right.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tina
I'm happy with the DOF, in both shots.
The cute bit for me was the arm around the rabbit, which is what I was focusing on, albeit a little soft on the focus.

michael23 said:
Hiya Neil, cute, cute and cute! Number 1, it doesn't matter about the ears, that composition really works well, it does seem a little oof, Number 2 is nice as well perhaps a bit wide but thats only a minor niggle. 2 Great shots for the album!
Click to expand...

I cannot recall if #1 was manual, but most of the shots were manual focus as the light was real low and the auto focus wasn't working well. Also had a slow shutter for the lwo light.

posiview said:
Hi, Neil, I like your light idea and might have to give this a try myself sometime.

#2 and #4 for me. I like the close composition of #2 and the reflections; also you did well to get such a dark BG.

#4, I quite like the water in this one and especially the loose water, it has a quite Terminator feel to it (this will mean nothing unless you've see Terminator 2!)

They all appear quite soft, unsure if this was intentional or not.

Cute, #1 all the way. Great composition and his arm really draws you in. He looks very content with his arm around rabbit.

You mention not being able to dim the OC flash, I'm a novice with OCF but would you use a translucent (see here) it would soften the light, but might also dim the light :thinking:

Cheers.
Click to expand...

The candles were set up on the glass oven/ hob lid which is a dark brown tint.
I had a plain white sheet under the lid so the hob rings didn't show through. Then I had a sheet of black A3 paper curved up from the back edge of the frame and over the top of the set up, this made the glass black. All lights off and no flash, just the candle light.

Manual focus is probably the reason for the softness, but also I'm shooting in RAW these days and thus applying some sharpening, which I may be getting wrong.

On the cute shots, I left off the diffuser on the flash as this apparently throws the light all over and shouldn't be used when bouncing the light off a wall/ ceiling, I went ceiling on this one.

Thanks for looking.
 
Neil,

I quite like the cute shots. I can see what you were after in shot 1, but I think you missed the point of focus on the toy, and hence, the whole shot looks too soft for me.
Shot 2 is better for sharpness, but the composition isn't a patch on shot 1.

Now for OCF, the way to reduce the light output without messing with your f stop and when you can't step the power down enough, is to place a bit of card over the flash head. Half the exposed flash head, half the amount of light that leaves the flash, and half the available light on the subject.

Those diffusers are a bit misleading. They don't really soften the light, what they do is reduce the amount of light that travels in a direction. So indoors they will send light in all directions, not just at the ceiling, and it is the REFLECTED light of the walls that softens the shadows on the subject and softens the light.

For what you wanted, a bare flash pointed at the ceiling, would have given you a larger light source (the cealing), and you wouldn't have contaminated the rest of the shot with stray light from the flash gun.


I always laugh at people with em fitted outdoors, as there is NOTHING to reflect the light off, so all they are doing is cranking up the power on the flashgun and only using a small part of it to light the subject. Absolute waste!

Mentalblock said:
I cannot recall if #1 was manual, but most of the shots were manual focus as the light was real low and the auto focus wasn't working well. Also had a slow shutter for the lwo light.
Click to expand...
You should be able to get away with a 200sec shutter speed when using OCF.

Anyway, the shot really hits the theme, so well done mate.

Adie
 
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Webby962 said:
Now for OCF, the way to reduce the light output without messing with your f stop and when you can't step the power down enough, is to place a bit of card over the flash head. Half the exposed flash head, half the amount of light that leaves the flash, and half the available light on the subject.

Those diffusers are a bit misleading. They don't really soften the light, what they do is reduce the amount of light that travels in a direction. So indoors they will send light in all directions, not just at the ceiling, and it is the REFLECTED light of the walls that softens the shadows on the subject and softens the light.

I always laugh at people with em fitted outdoors, as there is NOTHING to reflect the light off, so all they are doing is cranking up the power on the flashgun and only using a small part of it to light the subject. Absolute waste!

Adie

For what you wanted, a bare flash pointed at the cealing, would have given you a larger light source (the cealing), and you wouldn't have contaminiated the rest of the shot with stray light from the flash gun.
Click to expand...

Thanks from me for that information...(y)

Andy
 
posiview said:
Webby962 said:
Neil,

I quite like the cute shots. I can see what you were after in shot 1, but I think you missed the point of focus on the toy, and hence, the whole shot looks too soft for me.
Shot 2 is better for sharpness, but the composition isn't a patch on shot 1.

Now for OCF, the way to reduce the light output without messing with your f stop and when you can't step the power down enough, is to place a bit of card over the flash head. Half the exposed flash head, half the amount of light that leaves the flash, and half the available light on the subject.

Those diffusers are a bit misleading. They don't really soften the light, what they do is reduce the amount of light that travels in a direction. So indoors they will send light in all directions, not just at the ceiling, and it is the REFLECTED light of the walls that softens the shadows on the subject and softens the light.

For what you wanted, a bare flash pointed at the ceiling, would have given you a larger light source (the cealing), and you wouldn't have contaminated the rest of the shot with stray light from the flash gun.


I always laugh at people with em fitted outdoors, as there is NOTHING to reflect the light off, so all they are doing is cranking up the power on the flashgun and only using a small part of it to light the subject. Absolute waste!

You should be able to get away with a 200sec shutter speed when using OCF.

Anyway, the shot really hits the theme, so well done mate.

Adie
Click to expand...

Thanks from me for that information...(y)

Andy
Click to expand...

Ditto (y)
 
Webby962 said:
Neil,

I quite like the cute shots. I can see what you were after in shot 1, but I think you missed the point of focus on the toy, and hence, the whole shot looks too soft for me.
Shot 2 is better for sharpness, but the composition isn't a patch on shot 1.

Now for OCF, the way to reduce the light output without messing with your f stop and when you can't step the power down enough, is to place a bit of card over the flash head. Half the exposed flash head, half the amount of light that leaves the flash, and half the available light on the subject.

Those diffusers are a bit misleading. They don't really soften the light, what they do is reduce the amount of light that travels in a direction. So indoors they will send light in all directions, not just at the ceiling, and it is the REFLECTED light of the walls that softens the shadows on the subject and softens the light.

For what you wanted, a bare flash pointed at the ceiling, would have given you a larger light source (the cealing), and you wouldn't have contaminated the rest of the shot with stray light from the flash gun.


I always laugh at people with em fitted outdoors, as there is NOTHING to reflect the light off, so all they are doing is cranking up the power on the flashgun and only using a small part of it to light the subject. Absolute waste!

You should be able to get away with a 200sec shutter speed when using OCF.

Anyway, the shot really hits the theme, so well done mate.

Adie
Click to expand...

Thanks Adie.

What a simple solution -a bit of card over half the flash = half the light, why did i not think of that :bang::bonk:

And I'll now take my plastic diffuser thing out of my kit bag and leave it in the house so I don't feel tempted to put in on when outside!
 
Hiya Neil,

I thought I had commented on your 'cute' photo, but obviously not.

Indeed, a child asleep is always cute.

As most have already commented, I too agree with the composition of the first one ... it is better than the second .... and then the second is better focused.

Adie always gives great advice regards lighting and I will be adding his advice to my tog journal for future reference.

Well done though, definitely on theme.

Cheers

Dawn :)


P.S. ..... where is your Chrimbo hat?
 
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