weekly nickbee's 52 2016: week 19 - Colourful

Hi Nick
Living World - That's an odd sight. At first I thought it might be Easter related, some kind of comment on how the Romans used to crucify criminals along the roadside. Then I read your write up and to be fair, am still none the wiser ;)
I think the shot suits B&W
Spiky - Lovely high key image, that looks spot on. Interesting content and very nicely captured :clap:
 
Wow! That is spiky Nick. Never heard of a Venus Comb Murex but just looked it up ..... my gosh over 100 spines!!! Nicely taken - stands out on that plain white bg. :clap:
 
Fab Living world really like that the living and the hmmmmmmmmmmmmm not living :)
Spikey whoa ! Thats cool. Love the really hard light sets of spikey even more.

Gaz
 
Hi, thats an odd image for living world , very good and well spotted but what on earth is going on

Spiky, very good, like the shell and the shadow its almost skeletal in appearance
 
Topical - I like it! The colours and dof stand out for me. Nice use of props!

Living World - Oh, I really like that - four and four. (Although it could be four and five if you count what’s in the pram. :p) You’ve captured the scene really well, with people in the right places to balance the whole image. And I like how the little boy is looking at the scarecrow. It’s so cute!

Spiky - Wow, nice one. I’ve been expecting a lot of cacti and hedgehogs, and maybe even someone’s spiky hair, but not a snail shell! I like how you’ve lit it. Lovely shadows!
 
Wow - that shell is incredible! I love the shadows you have captured - it makes for an image you can let your eye wander round for ages. For me, the centre part of the shell is just a little too bright - but it looks as though I'm definitely out on a limb there!
 
Topical - good choice I like the set up and very topical
Living world - i like the Image but wonder if it would look better with some colour
Spiky - great picture very spiky Well lit I like the shadows.
 
Danger - The second one for me, love the movement in knives.

Topical - Bang in theme, very creative image

Living world - Works well with the juxtaposition of the people and scarecrows. Again good subject for the brief

Spiky - Something different and it works well, seamless white background well lit
 
Hi Nick :)

The Living World - Now that is nice and unusual, a tad scary if you think about it too walking through there !!! - Liking the letterbox crop and the B&W looks good too :)

Spiky - Love this one, a real good high key image, love the detail and the shadows really make it stand out - a cracker mate :clap:
 
Wacky living world image but needs resizing (?)

Spiky is most interesting and the shadows work really well.
 
Love the living world image, Nick. Nice crop and framing. Not a lot to add. Spiky is excellent. Well lit and framed. Perfect for the theme.
 
Spiky is a brilliant high key image - really, really interesting and something which would make a wonderful picture (i.e. hanging). I think the lack of shadow darkness (contrast) isn't a particular negative - it's the style of image I presume you wanted to create. Yes, it means the dynamic range is compressed towards the right but there is no such thing as a "wrong" exposure :)

One question is whether you intended for it to have a slight red/blue cast (looking at the background)? It's very subtle and works pretty well against the yellow and orange of the shell, but setting the white balance for a neutral background could be seen as "more correct" if there's such a thing?

Overall, it's one of the best images I've seen on the TP52 this year - I love it.
 
Living world - great take on the theme.
Spiky - beautiful, great lighting and colour.
 
Thank you @Brian_of_Bozeat @Carl Ayling @Cobra @SteveSc @viv1969 @Virtualcolm @thirsty_camel @sirch @LC2 @rpn @Toothie @cargo @CliveNX @alsjazzera @Winter @Emja @minx @jakeblu @susiejb @Dark Knight @d00d @posiview @purplepleaser @pjm1 @wallyboy @sparrow - I really appreciate all your responses! :ty:

Living World is a bit of a random shot; it worked well but it was pure luck that those four people were there at that time (@Winter it was four - the pushchair is empty!). I have no idea what the display was actually about but there were a couple of dozen scarecrows. @d00d I only posted a smallish image in the thread but if you click through to flickr is it big enough?

I was quite pleased with Spiky when I took it but I'm blown away with the reaction. A few people mentioned the low contrast and the fact that it's bright but it was very deliberately shot that way - I wanted the shadow to be as big a feature of the image as the shell itself. @pjm1 the background isn't actually white, it's a champagne colour. I chose it because it was a close match for the colour of the shell and I was going for low contrast, but the flash made it look almost white. That might be what you're seeing, or it might be to do with the fact that I've never set a white balance, ever. @posiview @rpn you both mentioned a dark background - the other way I tried to shoot it was resting on a mirror with a purple background - it looked pretty cool but the internal relections in the mirror ruined it. And lastly I have to give a nod to @alsjazzera as I can't be 100% sure I'd have come up with this if I hadn't seen his Camouflage shot!
 
I was quite pleased with Spiky when I took it but I'm blown away with the reaction. A few people mentioned the low contrast and the fact that it's bright but it was very deliberately shot that way - I wanted the shadow to be as big a feature of the image as the shell itself. @pjm1 the background isn't actually white, it's a champagne colour. I chose it because it was a close match for the colour of the shell and I was going for low contrast, but the flash made it look almost white. That might be what you're seeing, or it might be to do with the fact that I've never set a white balance, ever.

That might be it! :D If you're shooting in raw, it's easy to do in post in most of the packages like lightroom etc. And it doesn't take anything away from what is an exceptional image.

I love the background - it works well but I'm definitely getting a hint of red/blue, especially against the white of the forum page when posted. Still, it's an absolute belter of a shot and there's a reason you're getting such rave reviews! Also, you mention about exposing to accentuate the shadows - it's worth remembering the shadow tone is more a function of the ambient light than the additional lighting source(s). So you can set your flash power for the highlights in your image but set the ambient (aperture, shutter speed and ISO) to get the shadow tone you want. Losing all ambient would give you the black shadows no matter how much flash you add (assuming a single key light) :)
 
Nick, that spiky is superb, high key if thats what they call it really suits it!!!

I would be very proud of that image!!!
 
Week 11: Artificial

Oh God, it all could have been so different. My initial thought was to do a bodyscape featuring a model with breast implants but I couldn't guarantee what day I'd be about so booking something would have been difficult, and that's before finding out what my wife would have said. It's art, damn it! Anyway, using an unnecessarily hairy guy as a model seemed a better option logistically, so that's what I went for. I thought about using balloons as comedy boobs but then thought about male enhancements, stuck with the comedy theme and, well, this is it. Post and be damned; at least it only took ten minutes. I have no idea why I didn't just shoot a fake flower.

Won't get you fired but might make you look like a weirdo in front of your colleagues so choose your moment to click:

Just pleased to see you... by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

This was all before finding out this week's theme...
 
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Well, didn't know what to expect after all that subterfuge with the links but not that ! Dare I say but it is (quite obviously) on theme and a very novel take.
 
You haven't looked closely enough @LC2 ! It's not polystyrene but rest assured it's not part of my anatomy either.
 
@Emja @susiejb This is ARTIFICIAL, not personal!

Mrs B wishes it was personal...
 
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LOL very good Nick (y)
 
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