Nickbee's 52 late excuses for 2019 - updated to 09 Wet

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Nick
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Got halfway in 2016, finished it in 2017 and missed 2018 after swearing I'd never do it again.

So obviously I'm back for 2019.

Wish me luck!
 
In before the end of the first month...

01 New


01 New
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Ah, but the sign is old! See what I did there?

02 Clean


02 Clean
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Erm, cleaning stuff. Shot with a 200mm lens on a crop body, in my kitchen, so it had to be tightly framed...

03 Open


03 Open
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Single table lamp as a light source, shot standing on a table leaning over the cans.

04 Distant


04 Distant
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

When you should probably photoshop out the lamppost but you're just too far behind...

This is actually my view as I walk to work. I wish I'd had my camera on the previous, bright day as it looked spectacular, but I sort of like the haziness at the bottoms of the towers. I wish I'd stood further up the hill to get a bit of separation between the buildings and the foliage. Still, adequately conveys "distant".
 
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A nice set there Nick, good to see another starter :)
My pick would be #3, open, simple and effective.
I do want to query the colour in #2, the whites don't look right, worth a re-edit and play with the balance? Or is it as you intended.
 
Excellent set Nick!(y)

NEW: Love the colours, and the juxtaposition, clever stuff.
CLEAN: Nice use of DoF for separation and great reflections in the shiny surface.
OPEN: Superb! Cool perspective, great details and tonal qualities, works very well as a mono, love the contrast too.
DISTANT: Of the four this is my favourite....fantastic mood....I'm with @BobBCN , terrific framing and the mist really elevates this image. You've managed to pick out the distant building tops very effectively, and the mist really adds to distant the feel....the lower parts of the buildings almost seem to fade into the mist! Cleverly shot!
 
Fantastic entries - rack em up at the end of each month eh :)

New - what a great find and nicely composed

Clean - very clever use of dof and love the reflection

Open - what's not to like - very well thought out and executed

Distant - countryside meets bricks and mortar. Nice
 
Hi Nick,

Cracking start to your 2019 52 here (y)

New - Good shot and a good play on the theme. Like :)
Clean - I like the reflection to further emphasise Clean. WB looks a bit off maybe?
Open - Gotta be one of my faves for Open. Very well thought out. Simple and effective.
Distant - I like this with the haze. It seems more distant because of it.
 
Love New, as you can tell i like old interesting signs. Nice colours with the rust and interest with the faded sign.
Distant has a nice composition works well.
 
Hi Nick

New, oh no it isn't, I love the details of the brick and rust on the sign, good effort on your first entry.

I can't see clean on your thread, but it's on flickr, I like the reflections on the clean surface, I'm not sure about the position of the bottle being so close to the top of the Image, but it fits the theme.

Open, Nice detail in the can tops, picks out well in B&W. Shadows are too dark for me.

Distant, I think this works well for the theme, but as you say the seperation might have worked better up the hill.

Pete
 
Up to date with a bang!! Four great shots to start your challenge. I particularly like the framing in DISTANT.

Thanks Bob, I tried many different crops and though about cutting most of the foliage out completely so I'm pleased you like it.

A nice set there Nick, good to see another starter :)
My pick would be #3, open, simple and effective.
I do want to query the colour in #2, the whites don't look right, worth a re-edit and play with the balance? Or is it as you intended.

No you're quite right: I messed it up trying to make the pinks pop a bit more. Should be fixed now. Glad you like 3, these are probably my favourite type of photo to take.

Four great images, and they all fit the theme well. I agree with Tim, my favourite is number 3.

Thanks Carl. I was pleased with 3. Last time round I did all my more fancy lighting with remote flashes and stuff but for this I used... a table lamp with no shade! State of the art stuff.

All images nicely on theme Nick, out of the four my pic is New as the colours go together very nicely.

I saw the sign right at the start of the challenge but it was covered by scaffolding. By the time I got round to posting they'd removed it!

Excellent set Nick!(y)

NEW: Love the colours, and the juxtaposition, clever stuff.
CLEAN: Nice use of DoF for separation and great reflections in the shiny surface.
OPEN: Superb! Cool perspective, great details and tonal qualities, works very well as a mono, love the contrast too.
DISTANT: Of the four this is my favourite....fantastic mood....I'm with @BobBCN , terrific framing and the mist really elevates this image. You've managed to pick out the distant building tops very effectively, and the mist really adds to distant the feel....the lower parts of the buildings almost seem to fade into the mist! Cleverly shot!

Thanks for the comments Gareth. Distant got a far better reception than I'd anticipated.

Hi Nick, it’s hard to resist the challenge isn’t it? You’re off to a good start and up to date :) I think New is my favourite, it’s one of those simple but effective images, but they are all bang on theme,

Hi Susie. Hard to resist, despite knowing how challenging it is! What have I done? I need to find simpe images more often to help me keep up so I'm glad you like it.

Fantastic entries - rack em up at the end of each month eh :)

New - what a great find and nicely composed
Clean - very clever use of dof and love the reflection
Open - what's not to like - very well thought out and executed
Distant - countryside meets bricks and mortar. Nice

Thanks Ian. I seem to post in batches, it's not quite in the spirit but it's that or nothing! Very pleased that you like the shots, I'll try to keep it up.

Hi Nick,

Cracking start to your 2019 52 here (y)

New - Good shot and a good play on the theme. Like :)
Clean - I like the reflection to further emphasise Clean. WB looks a bit off maybe?
Open - Gotta be one of my faves for Open. Very well thought out. Simple and effective.
Distant - I like this with the haze. It seems more distant because of it.

Should have fixed the WB now. I did clean the floor a little for 'clean', much to the confusion of my wife.

Think my favourite has to be the cans, I like the idea of just one being opened, suits the B&W conversation

Thanks Chris. It reminded me of one of those graphic designs where you have like 99 grey elephants and just one pink one, but it becomes a picture of the pink one anyway. I should have used more cans, would have been a great excuse to buy a nice big slab of beers...

Love New, as you can tell i like old interesting signs. Nice colours with the rust and interest with the faded sign.
Distant has a nice composition works well.

Thanks Rob, I did notice the signs in your thread.

Hi Nick

New, oh no it isn't, I love the details of the brick and rust on the sign, good effort on your first entry.
I can't see clean on your thread, but it's on flickr, I like the reflections on the clean surface, I'm not sure about the position of the bottle being so close to the top of the Image, but it fits the theme.
Open, Nice detail in the can tops, picks out well in B&W. Shadows are too dark for me.
Distant, I think this works well for the theme, but as you say the seperation might have worked better up the hill.

Pete

Those first couple of shots were both taken with my 200mm 2.8, as I couldn't find any other lenses. Works brilliantly for picking out detail, which I'm glad you appreciated, but it doesn't leave a lot of room faround a subject when you shoot indoors. If I'd left more space at the top of the bottle, I'd have lost some of the reflection. Agree totally about the framing but I had to compromise.

Welcome back Nick, and you're off to a good start with these. I particularly like the new/old contrast in the first one, and the way the one open can stands out against the three sealed ones in that image (y)

Thanks Andrea. I quite like contradictions in photos. Unfortunately there are none in my next two entries, as you'll see...
 
05 Cold


05 Cold
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Essex thawed the moment the theme was announced. I took some pictures of my fridge, of some ice cubes, nothing I liked at all. And then this morning, the morning when week 7's theme was due to be announced, I got in the car before defrosting and the screen was all frozen, so I snapped it with my phone camera. I quite like it. It's nicer in mono, the patterns in the ice are more prominent.

06 Waiting


06 Waiting
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Phone in hand I then decided that I would jolly well take a waiting shot today and get myself up to date. Looking down to the lower ground floor of our glamourous Basildon office I noticed these people waiting for their morning coffees. This is a bit PABD. Edited on the phone itself, and only in mono because the dark fabric to the left of the shot is actually bright red and totally overpowered everything else in the shot.
 
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Both terrific images Nick.

Cold: Great details in the frost textures, and the processing works really well. A super, abstract image.
Waiting: What a great perspective, very interesting indeed. Again the mono processing works very well, and given your explanation of why, it seems like a wise choice.
Very nice work Nick and both fit their respective themes perfectly!(y)
 
Both great captures, on theme. The bird's eye view in WAITING is particularly interesting and you avoid being caught in the act more easily I guess.
 
Good catch-up, Nick (y) B&W is the right choice for both, with the textures and patterns in the ice standing out really well in the first, while the lack of colour in the second one simplifies the image to the patterns of the tiles, the arrangement of the waiting people, and the dark framing at the bottom and left. Two good images for the themes :)
 
Two very good images that are perfect for their respective themes. I especially like Waiting. The top down view gives a different and interesting look to the shot.
 
Cold: Nice abstract image. You can see the patterns better if you click over to flickr.
Waiting: Mono suits this image well and the angle you have taken it at suits it.
 
I really like the cold image, very abstract and lots of detail to make you look closely. And the waiting photo is a great take on the theme, with an interesting perspective from above. I like them both a lot!
 
I like the cold image - great detail in the ice

I love the waiting one too and think it's a great perspective where you took it from.

I think I would have cropped loosely around the two people standing together and maybe put a little vignette around them too.
 
Cold, good pattern in the ice.
Waiting, like this. Lots of different textures & contrasts make it really good in black & white. I agree with @IanD a crop around the two people on the right would be interesting, maybe even a tight crop so you only see the pattern of the floor with nothing else in frame to distract?
 
Hi Nick,

A couple of phone shots, really shows how good these devices are getting these days compared to how they used to turn out.
I think you're right about using mono for the cold shot, it does work well showing the texture/patterns.
I was pondering something similar for waiting too, a top down shot at Waterloo (before I got the one I posted), but I think your one would have been better than anything I would have achieved, your's has the less is more feel to it.
Mono works for it too (y)
 
Wow, thanks everyone. I wasn't expecting much of reaction, especially to an off-the-cuff mobile phone shot so I'm vey grateful for the feedback. :giggle:
 
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07 Rough (Landing) by nickbrotherston, on Flickr


"Rough" came up when we were skiing and I had this idea when we were messing about. On my phone so photographically nothing special but I love a chance to get my daughters involved.

08 (Foreign) Object by nickbrotherston, on Flickr


Me, desperate for ideas?

09 Wet (SOOC) by nickbrotherston, on Flickr


Another phone shot. I took this one on time but re-shot it later as there were annoying reflections. I'm quite enjoying the spontaneous captures. I might look to get a decent-but-pocketable camera to carry about with me.
 
Three great images Nick!
Rough: Creative, imaginative and funny! Love it!
I especially like the use of red in this image, and the placement of the skies is great...very decent for a mobile phone image!
Object: This image creeps up on you!! In a good way!!!
I like the composition, and the colours are very good....nice little story there too!
Wet: I really do have a soft spot for water droplet images of any kind, there's so much going on with the reflections.
I like this image, spontaneity can be a marvellous thing....this image proves it!
Nicely done!(y)
 
Three good photos Nick, all very different but well captured. I love the humour in the first photo. The second is great with the object hidden from view, although I think both eyes in view would have improved it. The third is great too, lots of detail and nice light reflecting off the water. Good stuff
 
Love that rough image. Nicely executed. How long did you make the subject lay there face-planted, until you got the shot just right? :)

Sneaky little foreign object peering out there. Fits the theme perfectly

Wet - I just like these kind of shots anyway. Anything abstract does it for me. Nice
 
Rough landing fits perfectly, good collaboration!!
Foreign object lurking in the weeds . we all have our desperation moments!!
Wet - ticks all the boxes, as others have said, water droplets are always interesting to view, looking for reflections or whatever.
Keep catching up!!
 
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