nickbee's 2021 52 - week 5 - Snapper's Choice

nickbee

nickbee

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Hi everyone

Before I start, it's still January, OK? Starting your thread in February is too late and should probably result in disqualification but 11-something on 31 January might as well be New Year

Anyway, having failed to complete this on two out of three occasions in the past I'm back once again to try and make it evens. None of my technology wants to help me do this; my camera will no long talk to my PC but will talk to my phone. My phone will talk to my PC but won't send it the photos that it was sent by the camera. In the end I've managed to email them to myself but can't get the RAW files across, which for me is a disaster.

Right: onward! It's nearly February.
 
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00 - Nearby

local by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Look how prepared I was! It was a last minute decision to join the 52 this year but I got straight out there in week 0 and got this shot of some nearby seagulls siting on a nearby roof, who appear to be watching something happening nearby.

01 - Fruit

01 Fruit by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

And then when it was week 1 , boom: straight out into the garden to get this shot of the last apple on nextdoor's fruit tree. The number of blurry shots I took before this are testament to the fact I really need a tripod. I've reduced the blue levels significantly partly because I thought it brought out the red better, but also because January is already blue enough. If you're wondering, the apple is still there now.

02 - Dirty

02 Dirty by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

After trying and failing to get images off my camera I got a bit disillusioned and, time passing as quickly as it is at the moment, suddenly found myself at the end of January and having been bang up to date (a rarity for me) I was suddenly a couple of weeks behind. Hence, this straight-out-of-phone shot for Dirty. I like the juxtaposition of dirt on the clean floor. My wife didn't.

03 - Stone (and filling the frame)
03 Stone by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

When I read "stone" I immediately thought "fossils" as I have a number However, I cant find them, so I used this one which hangs on my daughter's necklace. It's actually reasonably sharp (or at least it is for something taken with a macro-enabled zoom lens resting on a cushion under artificial light) but having got it on the big screen, the subject doesn't enlarge well.

04 - Tall

04 Tall by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I took my phone out today in the miserable weather and decided to take a picture of the first tall thing I saw and here it is. I do like the entirely unplanned way the weeds appear as tall as the trees, which probably says something deep about everything being relative, our place in the universe and the meaning of life.

So there we have it, possibly the most uninspiring set of photos I've ever posted (which is saying a lot) but I'm in the game.

It'll get better, I promise.
 
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Good catch up - and welcome.

Nice perspectives on your Tall picture. Your stone looks fascinating - a little soft maybe, but definitely has potential!
 
I think it's easy to dismiss these as 'just the first thing I saw' but you're doing yourself a disservice.

I like the thought that went into the viewpoint of 'Tall' for example.

And I think with a little PP you could tell an interesting story about the wellies. They look like they've led a life - and I'd be interested to know what happened to the top of the right boot.

Something like this:

50896521897_cfa594d0ef_o.jpg
 
nickbee said:
I took my phone out today in the miserable weather and decided to take a picture of the first tall thing I saw and here it is
Click to expand...
That is as good a reason as any to take a photo. And if you weren't taking part it would bever have been recorded. I really like the composition and vantage point that you've chosen. Lots of leading lines in there that work really well.
 
Catch up

A good start to your 3rd try at completing the 52. My favourite being the sea gulls.
 
Hi Nick ....

nickbee said:
So there we have it, possibly the most uninspiring set of photos I've ever posted (which is saying a lot) but I'm in the game.
Click to expand...
:D ... Tall has some inspiring elements. And the gulls are a really nice find.

You'll soon be back in the swing on things.
 
Well done for catching up the stone is interesting but as you say hasn't enlarged well, the colour of the apple really pops on the fruit shot.

If you are doing the technique can you mention it on the main thread or it may not be recorded on the spreadsheet (which is fortunately more up to date than my comments).
 
Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated. I need to do some commenting myself.

@Kell Wow, how much better does that look? I'll remember to be a bit more experimental in future! The wellies are at least a decade old, and a rabbit is what happened to the brim.
 
05 - Snapper's choice


05 Hungry Bird by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

My initial instinct was to stay in my safe zone of something with shallow DOF and some artificial lighting but I decided that I'd rather try something I'd never done before. This bird (or many similar-looking birds) keeps feeding on the apple so I thought it might make a nice photo. It's a sad state of affairs than in six shots I've twice aimed my camera at the same piece of fruit on the same tree but there's not a lot going on at the moment.

My 70-300 kept giving me soft shots so I brought out the trusty 200L; not quite as long as I needed but more reliable output. Not perfect though, and with a fast shutter speed and an autofocussed L lens I was frustrated that so few looked even nearly crisp - this was one of the better ones. I had plenty where the bird was looking left but thought it more interesting with the head turned. Also the portrait format was a last minute-change after I'd uploaded to Flickr - previously I'd included branches away to the left but much prefer it more concentrated.

Thanks for looking!
 
That's a WOW shot for sure! Lovely Fieldfare - lovely light!
 
That's a great shot - nice dof and pretty sharp. There are a lot of fieldfares around here at the moment searching for food in gardens - lovely birds.
I'm in total agreement with you - I've tried many times to get some sharp bird shots and it's not as easy as it looks.
 
Agree with the above, lovely capture. As you say, it is not entirely sharp, perhaps the tiniest bit of camera shake perhaps, can't tell for sure. Many of my wildlife pictures turn out like this, so close but just not quite there. And then you look at the professionals wildlife pictures and think 'why do I bother at all?'. But we carry on, it will come, or it will not, all we can do is keep trying (like me and chess, it's hard to understand how I enjoy it so much and be so bad at it!).
 
Lovely image of the fieldfare (I think?) and the red apple. The colour of the apple really adds to it and I like that you've got the bird's attention.

Topaz Sharpen AI is a great program for rescuing shots where the focus isn't great. It doesn't work on everything, but I've had some success with birds - for your other shots!
 
Choice
I looked at this on Flickr and think it looks better there. I think the pose is pretty good and the red apple stands out well, without being too dominant.
 
Snappers Choice
A great capture, I'm lucky to see any birds on my travels, let alone photograph them. Looks even better on Fkickr
 
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