weekly NickD's Photo52 Challenge - 2015 - Support added

Thanks for looking in David. Your advice is appreciated, as I'm a rank amateur with non-natural light, and I can do with all the help I can get. I do have a large white foamboard, but it never occurred to me to deploy it. I did initially have enough light from the right from a window, when it faded I just started wrapping up, rather than thinking to reflect the flash. I'm fairly happy with the feel of the shot, but that lift from the right would no doubt have improved it, and left me with more processing options.

Oh, and the girl is a boy... He won't have his hair cut as he wants to be a rock star!
 
Lovely shot. Sibling love with Archies expression. and protective arm around his sister. Ideal companions.
 
The picture doesn't need any word. Well done for capturing this moment of love between a brother and his sister.

I like the vignette on this occasion.
 
Hi Nick,

Scenic - the mono works really well and I like the portrait orientation.

Companions - good shot, I love the expression on your son's face. I know just how tricky it is to get a 'natural' portrait of young ones, so wll done
 
Many thanks, I'm glad that despite the lighting, others saw what I saw in it.
 
Week 5 - Elegant.

A really tough theme IMO, as it's so potentially subjective. I scrolled through the obvious choices in my head, and eventually settled for this.

Personally, this hits elegant for me in a number of ways. The tune itself is a masterpiece of elegant simplicity, and for that reason it's one of the classic jazz standards. There's so much breathing space in the melody, that the arrangement possibilities are endless. Secondly, while there are many great versions, the first that always comes to mind is from the Nat King Cole show in 1957, which while having it's fair share of TV cheesiness, just smacks of elegance (to me), the suit, the posture, the stripped back accompaniment... and oh, that voice...


Thirdly, there's an elegance (again, to me) to notes on a page, just the form, the black against the white, I love the way it looks.

Standard by NickD71, on Flickr

Thanks for looking. :)
 
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Interesting take on the theme Nick (y)
 
Hi, really well thought out take on the theme and I do agree that music does indeed look elegant written down (y)
 
Companions ... what a lovely colourful happy image. :clap:

Elegant ... I like that ... would also like to see some more stringed instrument, they're always elegant.
 
Thanks for sharing your thought process to the shot. very interesting indeed. Had to listen to this version for me I prefer Eva Cassidy's version:rolleyes:..
 
Thanks people, nice to know you can take liberties with the theme a little, and people are prepared to try and see it your way.

I did try to push the white up a little Andy, but it just seemed too garish, and spoiled the shot for me.

... the DoF coincides with the level of light too which is completely accidental (y)

Fixed that for you Dean.
 
Hey Nick.... Nice take on the elegant theme. Really nice composition and DOF. Completely understand the written music score thing - there is something elegant about it, romantic even[emoji4]
 
Definitely Elegant Nick and it's great to see something other than the predictable for this theme. Good DOF and I wonder what it would look like in sepia to give it that 'age of elegance' feel :)
 
Hi Nick, I think you have some great images here.

Companions: I love the moment you've caught here... great timing and as a father myself (also of a little boy and baby girl) I can empathise about how these sorts of image communicate with you so clearly. The main thing to say is it's your photo, so it should please you and your close family... don't worry about the rest of us! However, if you're looking for some independent thoughts (as someone who has struggled to get the right shots of the wee ones), I'd make the following constructive (hopefully!) crit:

1. the lighting you've used is definitely of the "moody" variety... this is great and it's certainly more interesting than the more typical very soft lighting used with babies and younger kids. However, it doesn't necessarily accentuate the best features of said babies/kids and is also why it's used rarely in such circumstances. Youngsters (babies especially) are generally considered to be "bonnier" when they are fuller featured (within reason) - big cheeks, obviously those huge eyes and chunky little arms. As an example, we're a skinny family but our youngest (1.5 years) still has loads of baby fat and even her older brother looks fuller in the face than we do (these are good things at that age btw!). Therefore, lighting which accentuates the roundness of features tends to be more pleasing - this is big soft lighting which doesn't draw too much attention to cheekbones, jawlines etc. by softening the shadow areas at these "normal" shadow locations.

2. Polly's necklace looks interesting so I'd quite like to see more of it - this could be achieved with a shadow lift but these things are always better done in camera with a variation on the lighting if possible.

3. There are quite strong shadows under Archies hand and also being cast on him by Polly - nature of the lighting which would be softened if you used a larger light source. Again, this is a matter of choice and you've said you chose your lighting deliberately.

4. Finally, babies and toddlers move very quickly and don't often like posing for long... you may have noticed this ;) Therefore, by using a larger, softer light source, you accommodate a much wider range of shooting angles and positions which are still acceptably lit. Harder directional light with kickers etc. is fine when you're shooting a static, posed subject (e.g. an older child or an adult) but your hit rate with FMCLOs (fast-moving child-like objects) will be very very low - frustratingly so and more often than not, the moment you want to capture will be the one which isn't lit right!

5. Window light can be a great friend, especially on a cloudy day. This is because you can shout out to your model: "what's out of the window" and then they get lovely soft light falling on their face just when you want it (sometimes not having eye contact can be more interesting).

I still think you've captured a magical image and if you / your partner likes it that's by far the most important thing. If you want pictures which the rest of the family go "aahh" at even more, then some of the tips above might be helpful. If you're using flash/strobes do use walls and ceilings to bounce, especially with kids as it creates a massive light source. I have a fairly large softbox for my strobe (1.2m) but I actually prefer to bounce the flash when shooting the kids - it also takes less time to set up ;)

Elegance: quick comment here after all that - lovely shot, really well composed and a very very novel take on the theme, which I really like. I'd echo @Dark Knight 's comments about having just the right amount of guitar visible too - cracking shot! (y)
 
Thanks everyone. Given how subjective it is, I'm glad that my notion of elegance also struck a chord (see what I did there?) with others.

Many thanks, that's excellent feedback, and I very much appreciate both the advice and the time taken to give it.

@ Paul - I have had a crack at taking the more conventional baby pics, when they were smaller, with reasonable success, however I'm a rank amateur with OCF (and indeed with any other kind of photography for that matter) and can use all the help I can get. There is a large window to the RHS, but by the time this shot came along the light had gone, leaving me with the pretty harsh shadow. I did try to process it out a little, but lacked the skill to do that as selectively as I would have liked, so opted for the style I did. I do like the shot as is, but it's selection was very much making the most out of a poor session.
 
Week 6 - Watery

It's been a hell of a week here, teething twins and a project going live at work, so firstly I'd like to apologise for my lack of crit this round. I will get my shit together, with a bit of luck this week.

Onto the shot...

I had wanted to experiment with a floral shot with water & glycerine, as I closed my 2013 52 with that kind of shot and fancied a go at improving on that... Not a bloody chance... thanks kids!

I had a few pics in the bag from a weekend visit to a local activity farm, and it's clear at this stage that I need to go with one of those. I quite like this one and I'm not sure why... I think it might be the fact that isolating just the one area distances it from the animal, and makes it a little more abstract... In my head at least. Ok, so it's a bit of a PABD, hands up to that, but if I don't stay on track I haven't got a chance of catching up.

Wet Nose by NickD71, on Flickr
 
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Curious. Is it a dog with a large nostril or a cow that has a rather dog-like face...or neither of these? It made me think so that's good.
 
Curious. Is it a dog with a large nostril or a cow that has a rather dog-like face...or neither of these? It made me think so that's good.

Exactly what I thought!!!
I've never seen a pooch nose pictured so close :)
 
Thanks for dropping in folks. It is a cow, but it's not as obvious without the other features is it?
 
Interesting take, I'm not usually keen on upthenose photographs, but it has nice detail, nice warm colours and textures in the hair.

Cheers.
 
Nice close up image, though not my cup of tea.
 
Watery - well it is a watery nostril so fits the theme. Like the composition and the DOF, nice and sharp where it should be (y)
 
Elegant - A really nice photo and a great fit to the theme. I especially like the inclusion of the guitar underneath. A nice touch (y)

Watery - I like this too. definitely a watery nose. A very minor thing - I do wonder if the nose is a touch dark though?
 
Thanks people, I knew it wouldn't be for everyone, it is after all, a picture of a cows nostril... probably a niche market for canvas sales.:)

@ Lee - I think you're right about it being a bit dark. All my processing is done on an uncalibrated laptop, and while I don't think it's bad, it's hardly designed for the purpose. It looks ok on here, but on my work monitor it's a little dark, and on my phone even more so.
 
Week 7 - Bold.

I think this was always going to be an animal shot. I did have a couple of other ideas, but working not far from St James's park, where pretty much all the wildlife has lost the natural fear of humans, this was my best bet. A lunchtime sortie it was then. Monday, nope, rain... Tuesday, nope, meeting... Wednesday, nope, Spanish class, and so on. I finally got half an hour today, but it was practically dark, and bloody cold. I spent a little time stalking tourists with a long lens, didn't get beaten up, and came away with a few shots to boot. I settled on this one, mostly for little fellas pose I think. He looks pretty bold to me, it's amazing what hunger will do.

Feed Me! by NickD71, on Flickr

Thanks for looking. :)
 
hey mister, will get back to ya! :p
 
Squirrels are certainly bold, whenever they think there is a free meal involved,
good idea for the theme :)
 
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