weekly Nickbee's very late 52: final three photos added - done!

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Nick
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Hi all

I got off to a strong start last year before life got on top of me and I've barely taken a picture since. Life is still on top of me but I regret letting it slide so I'm back for another go.

Last year I wanted every shot to be something special but that's not realistic on a weekly basis, so I'm going to try very hard to be a bit more PABD where inspiration fails me.

Good luck everyone!
 
Week 0 - Song title


Hot Stuff
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Lighting bottles is a pain isn't it? I'd planned on doing something much brighter and more colourful, but it all generated too many reflections. In the end I just ended up using a single bounced flash in the background and (as I could only find one remote trigger) the torch on my phone to bring out the label.
 
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Good luck with your 2017 challenge, I agree bottles can be a tricky subject to light nicely, a nice start to your challenge tho just a shame it's not a bit brighter, but it is a good song choice.
 
Yes, it's very hard to take a photo of glass without annoying reflections. Well done!
 
Good for you .. very inventive with the lighting. Works fine and good interpretation for the theme ... did that sauce burn a hole through your table protector?
 
Hi Nick a good hot start to the challenge with good focus :)

Good luck with your 2017 challenge, I agree bottles can be a tricky subject to light nicely, a nice start to your challenge tho just a shame it's not a bit brighter, but it is a good song choice.

Yes, it's very hard to take a photo of glass without annoying reflections. Well done!

I think the dark background might be working against you a bit there Nick but you've done a great job in getting all the detail on the label, it works really well for your song choice ...I really like this one.

Interesting approach, lighting the bottle from behind, but it does work to show the texture in the surface and there is sufficient light on the label.
Works for me.

No I think that works fine Nick, the theme got your grey matter working and you came up with a nice image, good start (y)

Good for you .. very inventive with the lighting. Works fine and good interpretation for the theme ... did that sauce burn a hole through your table protector?

Thanks all! Happy to report no furiture was damaged - the surface was a spare tile. Although I wish I'd left the cap out of the composition, it's grown on me a little since I took it; I think I'd just been looking forward to producing something more colourful.

Speaking of which... On to week 1!
 
Week 1: Order


Coffee cups
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I don't know how many ideas I tried for this. Animals going into a toy ark, playing cards, chess pieces, matchsticks... in the end I went for simple and colourful and I'm please that I did. I should have used another flash to brighten the background a bit. I really need to start looking at the photos on a PC before putting everything away so that I find out these things in time!
 
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I'd like to see the lighting a little more diffused personally as it's coming across a little bit harsh but it's a simple effective and very colourful shot, like the space on the left to allow the shadow to be seen and a part of the picture.
 
Very colourful and orderly Nick - looks good with the plain white bg. I struggle with lighting and particularly with white. Have been overexposing by a stop or so to whiten the whites and that seems to work well.
 
I like the colours and the comp I don't think the lighting is too harsh the only problem is the whiteness as you already know, overexposing or more light is the only way to go, I have often gone outside and used the big light in the sky
 
Very nicely done - the strong colours and shadows make a really striking shot. My only tiny niggle is that maybe the purple cup could have moved a couple of mm to the right? But I had real problems lining up my Russian dolls too - every time I thought I'd got them right the shot showed one out of line :rolleyes:
 
Agree with rpn and others re the shadows. I like them and don't have any crit to offer this time around. Good shot :)
 
Hot Stuff ... writing on the label's good & sharp, BG's intriguing.

Order ... I like the set-up and the shadows.
 
Thanks for the comments @Dave70D @Donnie @Carl Ayling @susiejb @Allan.H @Dark Knight @Emja @rpn @Ian W @d00d

Lighting was deliberately harsh as I've decided I'm a fan of hard shadows in shots like this. If anyone remembers my short-lived 2016 "52" I usually have no problem getting white backgrounds but this time it didn't quite work. Still, I'm pleased with the photo and I'm grateful for the positive feedback! Is it Thursday yet?
 
Great vibrant colours and I like the hard shadows!
 
I wonder, and this is only a thought, if rather than struggling to whiten the background, actually having the background a lot darker, with the cups in a pool of light might work. Dunno, just a thought.
 
Thanks very much @brrnd @Pinkbikerbabe @LC2 @posiview, I'm glad you like the photo. Tim, I'm sure I'll try doing a pool of light at some point.

This is the bit where I usually say "on to this week" but I'm still searching for some inspiration!
 
Simple and orderly. Another light on the left would probably help lighten the shadows, which I would like more. Then again, I'm still learning indoor lighting, so I might be off-base with that idea.
 
Thanks @Ms_Tex. I'm making it up as I go along too!

Right. On to this week...
 
Week 2: Comfort


Comfort
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Severely lacking inspiration this week, which doesn't bode well considering it's only the third shot. Not managing to come up with anything clever I just went and took a photo of my bed. I tried a symmetrical shot with the bedclothes all neat but it looked too clinical, whereas I felt the messiness in this shot makes it look more inviting. Anyway, my bed is comfortable. Fits the theme, etc. Onward!
 
Good for you Nick - we all suffer mojo deficiency from time to time; it'll return. Simple shots are always best and this one does suit the theme very well. Good angle and that slightly ruffled look creates more texture and shadows.
 
PABD ... look ahead to next week, if/when you're not happy with the result keep the theme in mind for a reshoot some weeks down the line.

Anyway this is not so bad, I like the way it's lit, and the incomplete wording randomisations.
 
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Thanks @Carl Ayling @Dave70D @d00d @CliveNX @Dark Knight @Emja,

I suppose the lesson here is that simple can sometimes be effective and that there's no need to spend ages rearranging your living room into a studio late at night just to take a photo for an online challenge. I'm ignoring that lesson... on to week 3!
 
Week 3: Hairy


03 Hairy
by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Well, someone had to do it!

I've wanted to try one of these bodyscape things for ages, so when hairy came up I thought it could be a twist on the theme. I mean, who wants to take photos of attractive women anyway? Fortunately, I know a bloke who has lots of hair and very little shame and the rest is history, albeit the type you'd probably prefer to forget sooner rather than later.

Joking aside, this is the first time I've taken this type of shot and I'm quite pleased with the result. Processing was limited to tweaking the contrast, rotating and cropping. Nothing else.
 
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