NickDs 52 for 2022 - Week 52 - Showcase.

NickD

NickD

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Not quite new on the market, speaking relatively, but new to me.
It's the answer to a question that no-one ever asked, and a solution to a problem that no-one has ever had, and as evidenced here is the kind of thing that well meaning folk give musicians at Christmas.
While a nicely made, well thought out little gadget, it's probably the most pointless thing ever, and D'Addario as my favourite string makers should know better.

Still... makes for a half decent image! :D

New Fangled Gadget by Nick, on Flickr
 
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Great image and the tight crop and mono works really well.
I assume this is something intended to develop strength and dexterity in fingers for playing the guitar?
Sadly although I used to play the guitar (very badly), arthritis in my fingers has pretty much knocked that on the head...
 
SimonH said:
Great image and the tight crop and mono works really well.
I assume this is something intended to develop strength and dexterity in fingers for playing the guitar?
Sadly although I used to play the guitar (very badly), arthritis in my fingers has pretty much knocked that on the head...
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Yes, the general premise is to develop strength, which does make me wonder how badly some people have their instruments set up. I play a lot of upright bass, and even then the only real training for playing is... well... playing. I think that pumping the muscles in the forearm is probably counter productive and would probably reduce dexterity if anything.

I'm sorry to hear about your arthritis, I've had a couple of friends retire recently for the same reason.
 
Nice image, good for the theme and works well in mono.
 
NickD said:
Thanks!
Yes, the general premise is to develop strength, which does make me wonder how badly some people have their instruments set up. I play a lot of upright bass, and even then the only real training for playing is... well... playing. I think that pumping the muscles in the forearm is probably counter productive and would probably reduce dexterity if anything.

I'm sorry to hear about your arthritis, I've had a couple of friends retire recently for the same reason.
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Thanks for the confirmation. Arthritis is a pain, literally and metaphorically, but many people have it an awful lot worse than me, and it's well managed. Not good for holding guitar chords (I was only a strummer anyway), but doesn't stop me doing much else :)
 
NickD said:
Not quite new on the market, speaking relatively, but new to me.
It's the answer to a question that no-one ever asked, and a solution to a problem that no-one has ever had, and as evidenced here is the kind of thing that well meaning folk give musicians at Christmas.
While a nicely made, well thought out little gadget, it's probably the most pointless thing ever, and D'Addario as my favourite string makers should know better.

Still... makes for a half decent image! :D

New Fangled Gadget by Nick, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Ha ha. I've had one of them bought for me in the past.
Ps. I'm now a Dunlop man.
 
Cockney said:
Ha ha. I've had one of them bought for me in the past.
Ps. I'm now a Dunlop man.
Click to expand...

I did try a set of Superbrights last year after hearing good things about them, but I took them off after a couple of hours as I like a bit more tension than they offer.
 
Pretty sure my strings are still Trace Elliot! Been a long time since they needed a change - stiff fat fingers have pretty much put an end to my plunking. Can't remember what brand is on my finger gym.

Nice balance of the exposure to keep detail in the gym and fingers.
 
Nice shot of a nice little gadget that I bet is consigned to that drawer in the kitchen after a few weeks :)

Brass players would maybe benefot more than guitarists.
 
NickD said:
I did try a set of Superbrights last year after hearing good things about them, but I took them off after a couple of hours as I like a bit more tension than they offer.
Click to expand...
Strange. I find Daddario has less tension, on Fender scale length anyway.
 
Fuji Dave said:
Great shot Nick, have seen a few of those in my jazz photography gigs as some of them use those too so nice one for the theme.
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Thanks!
It does amaze me that anyone finds them useful (and you'd think that Jazzers would know better).

Nod said:
Pretty sure my strings are still Trace Elliot! Been a long time since they needed a change - stiff fat fingers have pretty much put an end to my plunking. Can't remember what brand is on my finger gym.

Nice balance of the exposure to keep detail in the gym and fingers.
Click to expand...

Cheers!
The grey background helped keep the exposure quite steady I think (it was the fridge). I needed all the help I could get as I had the gadget in one hand and the camera in the other.

LC2 said:
I know this is purely personal preference, but I'd prefer a bit of additional contrast, using the black & white points within levels or curves.
Click to expand...

Thank you!
I know what you mean. I did move the black and white points a touch, but it would stand a little more.

-Oy- said:
Nice shot of a nice little gadget that I bet is consigned to that drawer in the kitchen after a few weeks :)

Brass players would maybe benefot more than guitarists.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Lord yes, at least it came in handy for a picture, I can't imagine it becoming part of my routine.


Cockney said:
Strange. I find Daddario has less tension, on Fender scale length anyway.
Click to expand...

This was on a 34' scale too. It was most noticeable on the B string... soft, vague and lacking articulation. Could have been a bad example though.
 
You’ve done really well getting that shot if that is your own hand. Perfectly captured.

I remember seeing those gadgets advertised in magazines, but always wondered why people didn’t just practice more?
 
SimonH said:
Great image and the tight crop and mono works really well.
I assume this is something intended to develop strength and dexterity in fingers for playing the guitar?
Sadly although I used to play the guitar (very badly), arthritis in my fingers has pretty much knocked that on the head...
Click to expand...

I still get by but some of the chords that real guitarists play I would have to dislocate my joints to be able to reach. My right hand is swollen on the big knuckles and I couldn't flatten a mouse if it ran under my palm, my left is not quite so bad, I think one of those finger strengtheners would be the last straw for my poor hands.

As far as the picture is concerned, I might have liked a little more detail in the dark area in the gizmo but it's otherwise the exposure is ok.
 
Bebop said:
You’ve done really well getting that shot if that is your own hand. Perfectly captured.

I remember seeing those gadgets advertised in magazines, but always wondered why people didn’t just practice more?
Click to expand...

Thanks!
It is my hand, and the hardest thing was that it was on the edge of my minimum focus distance for that lens, so I kept getting the dreaded red AF square of doom!

Cloudforest said:
Nicely detailed close up Nick. A good start.
Click to expand...

Cheers!
I would have liked a touch more DOF to keep a little more detail throughout, but shooting one handed in poor light, f4 was as much as I could manage.

seaodyssey said:
No idea what it is or what it's used for, but fits the theme as new.
Click to expand...

Thank you!
It's a device cunningly designed to clutter up drawers and cupboards in the post Christmas household of musicians!

ShinySideUp said:
I still get by but some of the chords that real guitarists play I would have to dislocate my joints to be able to reach. My right hand is swollen on the big knuckles and I couldn't flatten a mouse if it ran under my palm, my left is not quite so bad, I think one of those finger strengtheners would be the last straw for my poor hands.

As far as the picture is concerned, I might have liked a little more detail in the dark area in the gizmo but it's otherwise the exposure is ok.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
On reflection I could have lifted the shadows a touch more, but then I'd have had a bit more noise to deal with.
 
It does make a good image Nick. I'm just not sure what I'm looking at. It's to build finger or wrist strength?

I thought that it was a "new" resolution to lose all of that finger weight... :)
 
Darkslinger said:
It does make a good image Nick. I'm just not sure what I'm looking at. It's to build finger or wrist strength?

I thought that it was a "new" resolution to lose all of that finger weight... :)
Click to expand...

Thanks!

It is indeed a finger gym... ignoring the fact that there are no muscles in the fingers. Like other gyms, it will be unused after January. :D
 
It looks like we had a similar idea at the same time!

I like your shot of the dials around the lens. I especially like how the sharpness drops of at the side quite markedly, holding our attention to the centre.

Are you going to tell us what the camera is?
 
That "Old" shot is lovely. The diagonal, the very tight crop, the lighting, all of it really punches you in the face with detail. Then there's a lovely fall off in depth of field from left to right giving the whole image a feeling of , well, depth! I really like this shot, genuinely great shot and I think is the best shot of any of the images so far in this years 52. (y)
 
I love that Nick. I like the framing on the diagonal and the "grainy feel" to it.
 
Boots said:
It looks like we had a similar idea at the same time!

I like your shot of the dials around the lens. I especially like how the sharpness drops of at the side quite markedly, holding our attention to the centre.

Are you going to tell us what the camera is?
Click to expand...

Thanks!
The setup around the lens barrel fascinates me, and I'd been looking for an excuse to use it in a shot for ages. It's a Voigtlander Vito CL, and it's by far the best 20 quid I spent last year.

Fuji Dave said:
61 was a cracking year as I was born lol That is a nice shot and love the gritty mono to it.
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Cheers!
It was 10 years before I was born, and its very similar to the camera my Mum had as a teenager, which I'm sure she still has somewhere. I swung between colour and mono for a while before committing, but ultimately the 'old' feel of B&W won.

Donnie said:
That "Old" shot is lovely. The diagonal, the very tight crop, the lighting, all of it really punches you in the face with detail. Then there's a lovely fall off in depth of field from left to right giving the whole image a feeling of , well, depth! I really like this shot, genuinely great shot and I think is the best shot of any of the images so far in this years 52. (y)
Click to expand...

Thank you!
That's very kind. I think I hit pretty much every cliché for this type of image... jaunty angle, gentle DOF falloff, tight framing, gritty 'film' feel. But they're clichés for a reason... they work.

Cloudforest said:
I love that Nick. I like the framing on the diagonal and the "grainy feel" to it.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
The grainy feel... well after I initially processed I was going to push it to the cloud, grab it on my tablet and use Snapseed to finish it, but while I was viewing I used the standard Windows photo editor, and found a couple of the filters in there were really useable.
 
I like it. Nicely composed, works well and right on theme
 
I love these detail shots of old lenses and cameras. Very much appeals to Ian the Engineer.

Perhaps a shade too contrasty for my liking, but the composition is really nice.
 
Yep a lovely old shot.
 
SimonH said:
I like it. Nicely composed, works well and right on theme
Click to expand...

Thanks!
I did mess around with composition, but the diagonal seemed to work best.

Harlequin565 said:
I love these detail shots of old lenses and cameras. Very much appeals to Ian the Engineer.

Perhaps a shade too contrasty for my liking, but the composition is really nice.
Click to expand...

Cheers!
It is a beautiful thing, all mechanical and at 60 years old it's still as smooth as I imagine it left the factory. It's beautifully put together.

Bebop said:
Lovely image. I like the diagonal composition and the black and white is just perfect for the subject.
Click to expand...

Thank you!
I was 50/50 between colour and mono, as there's not much real colour in it anyway, but the idea of old pushed me towards B&W.

-Oy- said:
Yep a lovely old shot.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
It's one of those things that it's hard to photograph badly. The subject carries the image.
seaodyssey said:
Big tick on every count.
Click to expand...

Cheers!
I'm quite please with the way it turned out.
 
Very nicely composed, shot and processed... what else can I say :)
 
Week 3 - Receptacle.

The neck of a yerba-maté gourd. Often made from dried fruit skins - like this one, but sometimes made of wood of animal skin. A popular drink across South America, but definitely an acquired taste for the English palate.

Gourd by Nick, on Flickr
 
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