NickDs TP52 for 2021 - Week 52 - Showcase... Bring on 2022!

Nice portrait ... amongst all the confusion .
 
Well thought out, it works well on all points, Nick :)

Thanks!
Not so much thought out as spotted and grabbed... the joys of pretty much always having a camera in your bag!

Totally love it Nick, bang on theme and like it looks gritty with the Fuji iso up.

Cheers!
I do love that camera, particularly in mono.

Nice one - I did have to look up the work by Dali, but yes, a clear link to that. Bang on theme too.

Thank you!
I've honestly not looked at that painting for years, but for some reason it connected in my head for the title.

Well spotted opportunity. I think the noise suits it in B&W, giving it a gritty look.

Thanks!
I've not even looked at the Raw for this one, The Acros Jpeg is pretty complete as it is... Thanks Fuji!

That works really well. Mixing desk at ISO3200 - should be noisy :D

Thank you!
The noise/noise thing wasn't a connection I'd made until you mentioned it... Sadly I can't claim it was a conscious choice.

A nice reflection didn’t get it a first thought it was someone peeping over the mixing desk, I see what you mean about the tribute had to look it up though

Cheers!
It is a bit ambiguous. The full frame is more obvious, but I felt a crop was necessary to make more of a feature of the reflection itself.

Works really well. If it were me, I'd probably clone out that white dot on the left as it's a bit distracting but that's just my opinion...

Thanks!
I think you're right, I should have at least pulled it down a little.

Just to echo whats been said above Nick, I too think the 'noise' adds to the overall scene, nothing really to add. Good work.

Thank you!
I'm starting to sound like a fanboy, but it's the best noise on the market IMO!:ROFLMAO:

That works well for both theme & technique. Would possibly have liked a little more of the desk to give more context but that would have made the reflection smaller in the image so maybe wouldn't have worked.

Cheers!
I did have more material in the whole frame, but I felt the face got a little lost and struggled with the composition. This was a bit of a compromise.

Nice photo Nick, well on theme and technique, Thanks for the explanation as I would never have guessed, my first thought was some one reflection in a house window.

Pete

Thanks!
As above, more of the mixing desk would have helped contextualise it, but I felt the reflection called for a crop to maximise it's effect.

Nice portrait ... amongst all the confusion .

Thank you!
Ultimately a portrait is exactly what it is. As a record shot of the mixing stages, during a pandemic, I'm really glad I have it.... That it happens to fit this week's theme is a bonus. Having spotted it I would have taken the shot anyway.
 
Nice image, on theme and well composed.
 
A really interesting image - masks do seem to add a sense of seriousness to the expression of the wearer.
 
Reflection
I really like it, the composition is perfect. Black & white with a bit of noise never seems as bad as colour with noise (well in my mind anyway).
 
Reflection
Works really well, I did look up your Dali reference, it's not one I was familiar with. Also suits the technique with personally I think just the right amount of noise.
 
Nice image, on theme and well composed.

Thank you!
It was kinda grabbed, while I was doing something else... mixing a record in this case. I consciously took enough so I could sort out composition later.

A really interesting image - masks do seem to add a sense of seriousness to the expression of the wearer.

Thanks!
I'm getting used to masks now, one day you'll be able to date photos by whether there's a mask involved. I particularly treasure the masked pics I have of my children, and hope they serve both as a curio and a cautionary tale in future.

Reflection
I really like it, the composition is perfect. Black & white with a bit of noise never seems as bad as colour with noise (well in my mind anyway).

Cheers!
Monochrome does indeed cover a multitude of sins!

Reflection
Works really well, I did look up your Dali reference, it's not one I was familiar with. Also suits the technique with personally I think just the right amount of noise.

Thank you!
In mono I think I'm a fan of noise, particularly in the way Fuji's simulations render it. On my recording studio wall.... (ie, what normal people would call their living room) I have a large picture taken by Don McCullin of the Beatles from the 'Mad Day Out' session. If you break it down it's just light and grain. I'd love to learn to use noise in the same way.
 
Week 10 - Rough.

A bit of a grab shot from the garden. I took a number of shots of our old weathered ornament, using different simulations (remembering I'm Jpeg only this year), and I also tried Fuji's 'Low Key' filter. While the light didn't really allow for it, and the result ultimately comes across as a little under exposed, I felt that this version best highlighted the rough, weathered condition of the subject. PABD and all that.

Worn but Serene by Nick, on Flickr
 
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Certainly looks rough. Has a Thai feel to it.
 
Nice patina and texture Nick
 
I see what you mean regarding it looks slightly underexposed but the textures great
 
Lots of texture that's for sure. I may have been tempted to try a different composition. IMO, central subjects work best with eye contact and even though it's a statue, it's still kind-of a portrait. Certainly thematic though.
 
Certainly looks rough. Has a Thai feel to it.

Thanks!
Although I'm of no particular religious bent, I do have a few of these, there's something about the serenity in the Buddha's face I like. This one, being an outdoor one really has taken a hammering from the elements, but it just seems to improve it.

Nice patina and texture Nick

Cheers!
See, crappy English weather is actually good for something!

I see what you mean regarding it looks slightly underexposed but the textures great

Thank you!
I had a few without the LK filter too, which were much more 'correctly' exposed, but they didn't have the same rough feel.

Rough
Gloomy works well with this. Nicely textured and rough.

Thanks!
As I mentioned above, the correctly exposed versions didn't have the same emphasis on the roughness. Looking at it now though, I do wish I'd spent a little more time looking for a compromise.

Lots of texture that's for sure. I may have been tempted to try a different composition. IMO, central subjects work best with eye contact and even though it's a statue, it's still kind-of a portrait. Certainly thematic though.

Cheers!
I did have a couple of head on examples, but I discarded them. I think because the Buddha is looking downwards anyway, the eye contact wasn't really there. I find it usually pops out, but in this case I preferred the side on versions.

Good colour/texture in the hair/hat especially.

Thank You!
The Hertfordshire weather can take credit for that.

This brings out the rough texture of your garden ornament nicely.

Cheers!
Despite it's faults, it is rough.... onwards and upwards!
 
On theme Nick, it ticks the box. Onwards and upwards as they say.
 
Week 11 - Smooth.

Or 'legato'... Ok, it doesn't literally translate as smooth, more accurately 'bound' or 'tied', in that the notes are marked with ties that indicate smooth transition between them.
Problem is, my bowing hand is my right... my shutter hand is my right. :ROFLMAO:
Ok, so I maybe had to fudge it a little. :)

Legato by Nick, on Flickr
 
I like that, but I think I would have included one end of the bow or the other in the image to help the viewer understand what we are looking at.
 
Thanks!
That makes sense. I guess I was just thinking of the shot that I liked best of the two.
 
I also prefer it with the end of the bow in shot. Ironically, one has to apply rosin to the bow to make it less smooth and a bit sticky.
 
I do really like the original but I must admit I didn’t realise what it was, I think it conveys a much softer image than the second one so it’s more suited to the theme

Thanks!
I thought that too, being a closer shot, although maybe more vague, the image itself strikes me as smoother.

I also prefer it with the end of the bow in shot. Ironically, one has to apply rosin to the bow to make it less smooth and a bit sticky.

Cheers!
That's true... In this case the bow in the image qualifies doubly, as the hank is new and has never yet seen rosin, making the hair itself still smooth (however because of this it's entirely incapable of playing legato notes as touted in the title, or indeed any notes... which I guess also disqualifies it in a way... I'm getting confused now!:banghead: )
 
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Suits the B&W treatment. I like that the eye is drawn to where the bow bridges the two strings with the depth of field and the pale horsehair(?).
 
I too prefer the one you decided against. I prefer the angles and the lines in the square frame. Works really well. Nice B&W treatment too!
 
LOL nicely shoe horned Nick
 
.... second one kind of explains all but two good images.
 
Like others, I was a bit confused by your first post.. initially I thought it was a pencil! #2 would be my preference. Works well in mono.
 
Suits the B&W treatment. I like that the eye is drawn to where the bow bridges the two strings with the depth of field and the pale horsehair(?).

Thanks!
Yes, it is horsehair (horses aren't killed for it or anything hideous like that). Synthetic hanks are available, but while a bit more durable it's just not the same.

I too prefer the one you decided against. I prefer the angles and the lines in the square frame. Works really well. Nice B&W treatment too!

Thank you!
It looks like my judgement was out this time. I guess the fact that I knew what it was blinded me to the perception of the viewer.

Both ok for me but leaning slightly towards the second one too

Cheers!
There's something in the second that I wasn't keen on, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe the point of the bow takes away from the idea of smoothness, in my head.

LOL nicely shoe horned Nick

Thanks!
I managed to justify it to myself! :ROFLMAO:

.... second one kind of explains all but two good images.

Thank you!
I guess it did require some kind of context.

Like others, I was a bit confused by your first post.. initially I thought it was a pencil! #2 would be my preference. Works well in mono.

Cheers!
I'm starting to think that almost anything looks better in mono.
 
Week 12 - Alive

We spotted this little fella struggling on the patio on Sunday, exhausted and motionless, and thought we'd try and help. Apparently white sugar dissolved in water is the best way to revive them, but we never have white sugar in the house and brown sugar is a no-no. Honey is advised against as a lot of it is blended from imports and can carry novel pathogens, but we figured that our local honey, being the only option we really had, was worth a try.

Within seconds he dragged himself to the blob and started eating, after which he became noticeably more animated, he wasn't there that evening when I checked....


....so he probably got eaten by a bird!

Stayin' Alive by Nick, on Flickr
 
nice image, really good close up and plenty of detail.
 
Great story and very much about being and keeping something alive.
 
Nice close up Nick,
She may well have escaped, it doesn't take long to revive them.
 
I was busy reading your description not expecting the literal "sting in the tail". A great shot that tells a story, hopefully it escaped to live another day!!
 
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