weekly nickbee's 52 2016: week 19 - Colourful

Happy - Lovely glowy colours! It's a nice photo and obviously it says happy, but the mood of the photo seems a bit more sinister than happy. :p

Abandoned - Wow, nice old building. I like the panoramic view, and the grey clouds and bare trees set the mood. (Although unfortunately the tree on the front is a tad too big.) Looks a bit like a haunted house!

Camouflaged - I really like it! Beautiful lady and nice makeup! :D I like how it's more of a fashion shoot take on the theme than an actual attempt to make a real camouflage. :)
 
Happy - Good prop for the theme and I don't mind the cable but would have preferred the front letters to have been in focus. Good isolation with the black background.

Abandoned - That's quite an imposing looking building for a school, I like the sky and the bare trees, I think they add to the abandoned feel of the image. Nice to have a building with a link to you and to know the background to it, thanks for including it.

Camouflaged - Well done on trying something you are not used to, I can't really critque as I know nothing about portraits and lighting but I do like the shot and it works for the theme.
 
It looks good to me Nick. Catchlights in the eyes are a plus, having access to a model that is willing and clearly photogenic is a bonus. The whole image looks vibrant and the lighting is spot on IMO.
 
Hi Nick :)

Happy - The cables are fine for me, shame they are not in full focus but still a nice bright colourful image for the theme :)

Abandoned - Nicely boarded up old building, I like the overgrown path leading up to it, I quite like it hidden as if shamed behind the tree too given it's demise as a school :)

Camouflage - Ahhhh Having read your write up I couldn't agree more, I love doing this sort of thing but have only tried a handful of times, and for me the art is in the direction of the model, and with that I really struggle... I think you have done well, like your lighting although would be tempted to clone out the shine on the tip of her nose, other than that you have her eyes very nicely, good catchlights and liking the backlit hair, a good dark background too, a nice fun image, well done with this one :clap:
 
susiejb said:
Hi Nick ...I'm not sure if she looks very camouflaged but she does look lovely:) I know nothing about portrait photography but you've obviously put a lot of thought into this with acquiring the right props, I think it works well. I like the slight side pose instead of face on, and you've caught the light in the eyes beautifully. Perfect choice in the black background, and good to see a different take on the theme.
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Thanks Susie, I'm glad you liked the shot. I had considered a background of greenery to compliment the camouflage but I'm please I kept it simple.

viv1969 said:
It certainly fits the theme!
I can't comment on the technicals because portraiture is completely beyond my ken :D
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Thanks. It does appear to be an art unto itself.

alsjazzera said:
Hi, portraits are not something I do but that looks good to me and spot on theme
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Glad you like it!

Emja said:
Lovely catchlights and I like the pose - a fun idea! There is a white highlight or something on the left of Lindsay's nose that is distracting me a bit, though.
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At first I thought it was a bogie but I think it's reflecting the light. Stupid reflective nose.

Winter said:
Happy - Lovely glowy colours! It's a nice photo and obviously it says happy, but the mood of the photo seems a bit more sinister than happy. :p

Abandoned - Wow, nice old building. I like the panoramic view, and the grey clouds and bare trees set the mood. (Although unfortunately the tree on the front is a tad too big.) Looks a bit like a haunted house!

Camouflaged - I really like it! Beautiful lady and nice makeup! :D I like how it's more of a fashion shoot take on the theme than an actual attempt to make a real camouflage. :)
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The happy shot was sinister? I wasn't going for that! As for the haunted house, tales abound of strange goings-on in the clocktower but I never believed them. I suppose Camoflage does look like a fashion shoot, but if camo was fashionable I wouldn't have wasted so much time trudging unsuccesfullly around cheap shops looking for camo gear!

SteveSc said:
Happy - Good prop for the theme and I don't mind the cable but would have preferred the front letters to have been in focus. Good isolation with the black background.

Abandoned - That's quite an imposing looking building for a school, I like the sky and the bare trees, I think they add to the abandoned feel of the image. Nice to have a building with a link to you and to know the background to it, thanks for including it.

Camouflaged - Well done on trying something you are not used to, I can't really critque as I know nothing about portraits and lighting but I do like the shot and it works for the theme.
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Thanks Steve. Glad you liked the shots. The portrait was a bit of a gamble but I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt.

Carl Ayling said:
It looks good to me Nick. Catchlights in the eyes are a plus, having access to a model that is willing and clearly photogenic is a bonus. The whole image looks vibrant and the lighting is spot on IMO.
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I wouldn't use the word 'willing'. She's more a model that will capitulate after a significant amount of persistent nagging. I'm with you on photogenic though. Glad you like the shot Carl.

d00d said:
Looks good to me. :)

There's an element of fun, which I like. (y)
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Thanks - it's nice to prove that guns can be fun, in addition to both big and clever. Take note, kids. :cool:

Dark Knight said:
Hi Nick :)

Happy - The cables are fine for me, shame they are not in full focus but still a nice bright colourful image for the theme :)

Abandoned - Nicely boarded up old building, I like the overgrown path leading up to it, I quite like it hidden as if shamed behind the tree too given it's demise as a school :)

Camouflage - Ahhhh Having read your write up I couldn't agree more, I love doing this sort of thing but have only tried a handful of times, and for me the art is in the direction of the model, and with that I really struggle... I think you have done well, like your lighting although would be tempted to clone out the shine on the tip of her nose, other than that you have her eyes very nicely, good catchlights and liking the backlit hair, a good dark background too, a nice fun image, well done with this one :clap:
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Thanks Dean, glad you like the photos. I hadn't noticed the reflections until Emma pointed them out :cautious: and was wondering what I should have done differently. Cloning would have solved the problem. I won't resubmit but I might go back and do it anyway.
 
Lovely model Nick, fits the the theme, but I'm not totally convinced that the bright red lips fit in to the camo theme?
 
Cobra said:
I'm not totally convinced that the bright red lips fit in to the camo theme?
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Her chief weapon is stealth. And seduction. Her two weapons are stealth and seduction. And a gun...

In reality I tried green lips in PP when I altered the (originally purple) nails but it just looked wrong. Maybe brown might have worked.

Hang on, are you posting to say something in a picture doesn't fit a theme? :whistle:
 
nickbee said:
Her chief weapon is stealth. And seduction. Her two weapons are stealth and seduction. And a gun...
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LOL that can be read so many ways :muted: :muted: :D

nickbee said:
Hang on, are you posting to say something in a picture doesn't fit a theme? :whistle:
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I'm ill so everyone suffers
( ok ok maybe I'm being a tad hypercritical :D )
 
I agree one of the hardest thing with portraiture is getting the best out of your model and I think you've done pretty well here, she looks pretty relaxed to me, so well done.

Subject wise it definitely fits the brief and the lighting looks good to my untrained eye.
 
jakeblu said:
she looks pretty relaxed to me, so well done.
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Thanks, I'm glad you like the photo. Her looking relaxed is less to do with my technique and more to do with half a bottle of Pinot!
 
I'm finding the basics of OCF quite easy but to get a good photograph is not easy.

BG is nice and black and composition is fine but I'd like a grittier processing.

Nice gun BTW :)

Cheers.
 
Happy - fits the theme, but sadly doesn't excite me.

Abandoned - fits the theme again, and nice that it has a bit of a personal meaning for you.

Camouflage - a nice looking portrait shot, not really a strong area of my photography remit. Don't feel that I can offer useful crit.
 
LC2 said:
I agree with everyone else whose said that you've managed to get a great pose and (y) for going off-piste with the theme.
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Thanks very much. I didn't think someone wearing camouflage was very off-piste - funny how everyone interprets it differently!

wallyboy said:
I think you have made a real nice job of this, nice colours, nice pose, very pleasant image,
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Thanks Walter!

posiview said:
I'm finding the basics of OCF quite easy but to get a good photograph is not easy.

BG is nice and black and composition is fine but I'd like a grittier processing.

Nice gun BTW :)

Cheers.
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Cheers Andy. I know what you mean about the processing, I've mucked about with it since and toningthe colour down helps. I couldn't get it 'gritty' without it just looking horribly noisy!

Pinkbikerbabe said:
Happy - fits the theme, but sadly doesn't excite me.

Abandoned - fits the theme again, and nice that it has a bit of a personal meaning for you.

Camouflage - a nice looking portrait shot, not really a strong area of my photography remit. Don't feel that I can offer useful crit.
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Thanks for the comments, "Happy" isn't the highlight of my thread. There are very few experts on portraits it seems - I had imagined it might be a more common area of interest!
 
Week 7 - DANGER!

Trying something new again. It's probably not giving me the best portfolio of pictures but it's great to be broadening my horizons.





Both pictures are composites of four shots; my eldest daughter, Sophie, holding the knife; her younger sister Emma 'watching' her; and then one separate shot for each of the knives in mid air.

The first shot is very obviously better quality but it was shot with a flash and once I'd finished putting the images together and stood back, it looks too much like she's levitating the knives. I tried introducing a little motion blur in PP but with both girls completely still, it looked really fake. So I re-shot it without a flash to get some motion blur. The problem there is that 40Ds do not excel indoors even when it's sunny outside and by the time I'd ramped the ISO up sufficiently the shot was a lot noisier than I'd have liked - and I still couldn't use a fast enough shutter. Nevertheless, the second shot looked the more believable to me so I chose that for the thread.
 
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Hi Nick. I applaud your experimentation - good for you. The base images are great, especially the first and their expressions look spot on too. I can't see much wrong personally but #1 for me. Bravo. :clap:
 
Hi excellent pics, its different than most we will see and they both work I am not going to choose, but I will be on the phone to social services :LOL:
really good idea well executed
 
Hi Nick, some really good pictures there - and brilliant to see people pushing themselves into new areas. Pretty much all of my photography is out of my comfort zone (which is non-existent) so I perhaps appreciate it more!

As others have said, your posing of the portrait and eye contact is excellent. The lighting is tough to get right and usually requires either carefully selected kit, or carefully managed use of natural light. The key is to use as big a light source, as close to the subject as possible. This applies to kids, men, women, whatever. You want areas of shadow and highlight because that's what gives the face shape, but you want those areas to be as soft and generally low-contrast as possible. That requires a very large light source (close to the subject). One tip I've read over and over is that if you're not battling to get the light(s) and reflectors out of the actual frame when you shoot, they're not close enough! The small catchlight in the eyes and the brighter reflection on the nose are consequences of a smaller light source being placed quite a long way away. You can use natural light, especially from a window on an overcast day as well - the only thing there is it's hard to control the light falling on the background. But you can sometimes get the best quality of subject light that way. Have a play though (which is what you are doing) as it's all good fun. And your images are already very good, so it's about small incremental gains.

Danger is a cracking idea and the biggest difficulty you faced is what you describe - getting light onto the scene in the way you want it without freezing the action. I think compositing or post manipulation is the only way to get it perfectly how you want it... but a good job on what you've done. Definitely keep at it!
 
The knives look better in the second shot, facial expressions and overall exposure in the first. Love the idea and effort. Well done.
 
I wondered how you did the knives until I read your description. Amazing work there. It's nice to see something different and creative! Although, after finding out it's a composite of four different shots, I had a closer look at the knives in the second photo and discovered that the top of the sofa doesn't connect properly. :p I don't think it's that noticeable, though, because most people would be distracted by the "dangerous" subject matter straight away!
 
Carl Ayling said:
Hi Nick. I applaud your experimentation - good for you. The base images are great, especially the first and their expressions look spot on too. I can't see much wrong personally but #1 for me. Bravo. :clap:
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Thanks Carl!

alsjazzera said:
Hi excellent pics, its different than most we will see and they both work I am not going to choose, but I will be on the phone to social services :LOL:
really good idea well executed
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Thanks Allan. Don't worry too much about the girls, they're not often in danger as it's rare they're allowed out of the cellar.

pjm1 said:
Hi Nick, some really good pictures there - and brilliant to see people pushing themselves into new areas. Pretty much all of my photography is out of my comfort zone (which is non-existent) so I perhaps appreciate it more!

As others have said, your posing of the portrait and eye contact is excellent. The lighting is tough to get right and usually requires either carefully selected kit, or carefully managed use of natural light. The key is to use as big a light source, as close to the subject as possible. This applies to kids, men, women, whatever. You want areas of shadow and highlight because that's what gives the face shape, but you want those areas to be as soft and generally low-contrast as possible. That requires a very large light source (close to the subject). One tip I've read over and over is that if you're not battling to get the light(s) and reflectors out of the actual frame when you shoot, they're not close enough! The small catchlight in the eyes and the brighter reflection on the nose are consequences of a smaller light source being placed quite a long way away. You can use natural light, especially from a window on an overcast day as well - the only thing there is it's hard to control the light falling on the background. But you can sometimes get the best quality of subject light that way. Have a play though (which is what you are doing) as it's all good fun. And your images are already very good, so it's about small incremental gains.

Danger is a cracking idea and the biggest difficulty you faced is what you describe - getting light onto the scene in the way you want it without freezing the action. I think compositing or post manipulation is the only way to get it perfectly how you want it... but a good job on what you've done. Definitely keep at it!
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Thanks for the encouragement and useful tips - the umbrella for the portrait was much closer to me than the subject so that's most definitely something to bear in mind for next time. Glad you like the photos!

Ian W said:
The knives look better in the second shot, facial expressions and overall exposure in the first. Love the idea and effort. Well done.
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Thanks very much. I'd agree completely about the pros and cons of each. I wish I'd managed to get a best-of-both shot but given the available lighting and my own skill levels these are about as good as I can manage for now!

Winter said:
I wondered how you did the knives until I read your description. Amazing work there. It's nice to see something different and creative! Although, after finding out it's a composite of four different shots, I had a closer look at the knives in the second photo and discovered that the top of the sofa doesn't connect properly. :p I don't think it's that noticeable, though, because most people would be distracted by the "dangerous" subject matter straight away!
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Glad you like the photos. As for the misaligned sofa just behind the vertical knife, I have no idea what you're talking about. ;););););););););)
 
Brilliant idea Nick, the second one for me, due to the motion blur on the knives (y)
 
Well my first thought was someone is trying to keep me in work! I agree with the others both images have their merits, although I'm thinking levitating knifes is also a dangerous activity!
 
WHOA!!!!!
My first thought was "Holy Shi......"!!!
I'd say that's job well done.
Brilliant result.
 
Cobra said:
Brilliant idea Nick, the second one for me, due to the motion blur on the knives (y)
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Thanks very much! I do think the motion blur is key.

Toothie said:
Well my first thought was someone is trying to keep me in work! I agree with the others both images have their merits, although I'm thinking levitating knifes is also a dangerous activity!
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Keep you in work because you're a paramedic or because you're a social worker? ;)

JasonGlyn said:
Dangerous: like it a lot! 2nd one for me here, The placement of hands best adding to the realism
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Thanks Jason. Sophie was really keen to be in a picture but neverthless, getting a five year old to sit in an exact position is no mean feat in itself. It would be easier with a cat.

susiejb said:
Hi Nick ....an interesting .....and scary take on the theme, you've caught the expressions and focus in the girls eyes perfectly ...not sure if there's too many knives ....I think I'd prefer either the flying knives or the one in her hand ....but maybe I'm missing something !
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Thanks Susie. I think it has to be three to count as juggling, otherwise it's just "holding a knife" - although that's still dangerous I suppose.

Emja said:
Wow - a very creative take on the theme, and the girls' expressions and the direction of their gaze makes them work brilliantly. I like the children's wallpaper in the first - it emphasises the 'wrongness' of the knives!
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Thanks Emma. I originally chose Sophie's bedroom for the exact reason that the knives would look so incongruous against all the girly pinkness. Unfortunately it's just wasn't light enough in there to try the shot without the flash.

viv1969 said:
WHOA!!!!!
My first thought was "Holy Shi......"!!!
I'd say that's job well done.
Brilliant result.
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Thanks Ruth, it's great to get such a strong reaction. Whilst we're talking can I apologise now for whenever the time comes that I call you Viv by mistake?

Richard Miller said:
A great pair of images - reminds me of the work of Markku Pajunen!! Well worth the effort!
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Thanks for the comment and for bringing Markku's photos to my attention - they're hilarious!
 
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#2 has got the wow factor ... well thought out and executed ... well, I mean I hope no executions were involved in the making. :eek:
 
d00d said:
well, I mean I hope no executions were involved in the making. :eek:
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Now, that would be a tad embarrassing to explain wouldn't it? :D
 
Good idea, defiantly danger(ous). I prefer the couch image, and love their expressions.
 
:eek: What sort of father do you think you ar.. Oh, wait, that's not real. Phew! :rolleyes: Lovely creativity and bang-on for the theme, well done!
 
#2 for me Nick, no, changed my mind after another look #1 because of the eye contact with the knives. And I think I prefer the knives without the motion blur but it's a close run thing (y)
 
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