NickDs TP52 for 2021 - Week 9 - Reflection - Tech: Low Key

[LC2]

Nah, that's not dirty, you should see the inside of my boss' tea cup (which he refuses to put through the dishwasher).
Deliberate artistic choice not to point the handle directly into the corner of the frame?

 

[Harlequin565]

Brilliant. Wish I'd thought of this. My cup looks much the same and has to have regular bleachings to return it to normality.

Really think the framing, lighting, and subject all work really well together. Great colours, and well done on getting light into the cup. Really good on theme effort.

 

[d00d]

Good choice. Plenty of light down inside the cup, and the red heart adds.

 

[NickD]

Nicely done

Thank you!

Nah, that's not dirty, you should see the inside of my boss' tea cup (which he refuses to put through the dishwasher).
Deliberate artistic choice not to point the handle directly into the corner of the frame?

Thanks!

Ha!... I've seen many worse at work, but this is as bad as mine gets before my partner hits it with the bleach.
Sort of deliberate, as a result of compromise. I found that the handle directly into the corner of the frame took the heart too far of kilter, and this way was the lesser of two evils.

Brilliant. Wish I'd thought of this. My cup looks much the same and has to have regular bleachings to return it to normality.

Really think the framing, lighting, and subject all work really well together. Great colours, and well done on getting light into the cup. Really good on theme effort.

Cheers!

Lighting was the hardest bit. I had an overhead skylight, but it was pretty dull, and trying to avoid killing it with my shadow as I was taking the shot was a pain.

Good choice. Plenty of light down inside the cup, and the red heart adds.

Thanks!

It wasn't my first choice, but my first couple of thoughts didn't pan out, who'd have thought inspiration could strike while drinking tea?

 

[Cobra]

I knew there was a reason I didn't like tea
Nicely thought out Nick

 

[seaodyssey]

That's a mucky cup, have seen worst, one chap never washed his pint mug and left teabags in it all day, adding a new bag for every brew of which he had plenty.

Pete

 

[Nostromo]

Dirty
Nice idea, good to see the heart at the bottom of the cup. It's proper dirty.

 

[blakester]

I like this a lot Nick, the colour palette/tones, shallow depth of field and composition bring it together well. The only thing I might consider changing is to take out the highlight on the handle.

 

[Shugpug]

The heart makes the picture - but I'm not sure it hits the brief. Far too clean for a proper tea mug

 

[NickD]

I knew there was a reason I didn't like tea
Nicely thought out Nick

Cheers!
Yeah, I'm rethinking my position on tea the more I look at the image.

That's a mucky cup, have seen worst, one chap never washed his pint mug and left teabags in it all day, adding a new bag for every brew of which he had plenty.
Pete

It does look like I'm a bit of an amateur in the funky teacup world!

Dirty
Nice idea, good to see the heart at the bottom of the cup. It's proper dirty.

Thanks!
Without the heart (...which my daughter painted when she was 4.... Thanks Polly!) it's a bit of a nothing shot.

I like this a lot Nick, the colour palette/tones, shallow depth of field and composition bring it together well. The only thing I might consider changing is to take out the highlight on the handle.

Thank you!
You're not wrong. If I was doing it again I'd hit it with the healing brush. The more I look, the bigger the highlight gets.

The heart makes the picture - but I'm not sure it hits the brief. Far too clean for a proper tea mug

Cheers!
You're right, it does. To be fair, without it I would have gone with another idea instead.

 

[Bebop]

On theme for technique and subject. A suitably stained mug. The heart and colours add to it.

 

[minx]

I too have seen much worse, I can see your dilemma handle over heart I think you made the right choice.

 

[Allan.H]

The dof works really well emphasising the heart and the staining in the bottom of the cup

 

[NickD]

Lets see if I get away with this!

Being a climber, I do have plenty of rock/stone related paraphernalia kicking about, but then its yet another shot taken at home/locally, something that will feature heavily in this years 52 anyway under the circumstances.

Having been on a recording session this weekend (in a Covid secure manner, obviously), I couldn't resist grabbing this. It's a bit of a record shot, but I remembered the scene from last time I was there, and when the theme was drawn I knew this was what I was going for. I have no real control over the studio lighting, it's always harsh through the windows, and the internal lighting is set for mood rather than photography, so I could only experiment with different times. I did move the water bottles, and the wipes from the window ledge, but preferred the shots with them in as a document of recording during a pandemic.

I guess it's all down to interpretation, but it doesn't get more 'rock' than this!

Rockface by Nick, on Flickr

 

[FlyPhot]

Great take on the theme, I was wondering if anyone would do something like this. That's a lovely bank of amps etc!

 

[StuartPearson]

Great lateral thinking on your rock theme, a tighter crop for the "fill the frame" technique might have been an option

 

[Shugpug]

Very nice - and very lateral! It's a record shot, but it's a good record shot!

 

[-Oy-]

Nice take - and some impressive amps! My choice back in the day was a Carlsboro Stingray 120W head sat on a SAI 2x15 cab sat on a Marshal 4x12

 

[Nostromo]

Rock
There's no question as to if it fits the theme. Of course it does.
The set up looks pretty impressive. My only little gripe is the bright window. Being the brightest area in the photo, it does become a little distracting.

 

[d00d]

Yep, looks pretty impressive. Nice to see something different.

 

[Cobra]

Lets see if I get away with this!

Its called a shoe horn, and a well interpreted one at that

 

[NickD]

Great take on the theme, I was wondering if anyone would do something like this. That's a lovely bank of amps etc!

Thanks!
It's tricky to get a proper shot, but it is is quite an impressive sight in the flesh.

Great lateral thinking on your rock theme, a tighter crop for the "fill the frame" technique might have been an option

Cheers!
I did try that, but I couldn't get it to work for me. It's at iso 3200, and so not as clean as it could be, and cropping in highlighted that, plus it removed any context (in my head at least). For all the clutter around it, it tells you where you are... er, I think.

Very nice - and very lateral! It's a record shot, but it's a good record shot!

Thank you!

Nice take - and some impressive amps! My choice back in the day was a Carlsboro Stingray 120W head sat on a SAI 2x15 cab sat on a Marshal 4x12

Cheers!
Those old Carlsboros had a sound to them. It's an impressive array alright, the Brunetti 059 Mod is stunning, as I found out on an earlier session. That little Kemper though, it's revolutionary, it can do a 95% indistinguishable impression of any amp in that collection.

Rock
There's no question as to if it fits the theme. Of course it does.
The set up looks pretty impressive. My only little gripe is the bright window. Being the brightest area in the photo, it does become a little distracting.

Thanks!
It is annoying, but it's a second floor room, and at this time of year the low sun is pretty much insurmountable. Rethinking it, I should have taken a tripod and bracketed it, but I wanted to spend as little time in the control room as possible, staying separate from the producer in the live room all weekend , I grabbed this from the doorway while he was out... Socially distanced rock 'n' roll!

Yep, looks pretty impressive. Nice to see something different.

Thank you!
It's phenomenally impressive if you're into that kind of thing.... On reflection maybe less so in a photograph!

 

[NickD]

Its called a shoe horn, and a well interpreted one at that

Thanks!
It totally is.... I didn't expect to pull out the shoehorn this early!

 

[Boots]

I think that fits the theme perfectly.

 

[d00d]

Thank you!
It's phenomenally impressive if you're into that kind of thing.... On reflection maybe less so in a photograph!

Yeah well, I did a bit of roadying back in the day, and that Marshall inscription says Rock like nothing else.

 

[minx]

Good twist on the theme. The light through the window is very bright which is a shame but as you say not much you can do about that.

 

[blakester]

That's a great take on the theme Nick. Lateral thinking at its best in my opinion, not much to add, it tells a story in itself, good work

 

[Harlequin565]

No shoehorn as far as I'm concerned. Just a lot of loud Great stuff.

Sadly my guitar is an acoustic and really wouldn't stretch to "rock" as that was my first thought. Amps though - very much do.

 

[NickD]

I think that fits the theme perfectly.

Thanks!
Yay... I did get away with it!

Yeah well, I did a bit of roadying back in the day, and that Marshall inscription says Rock like nothing else.

It does!
Luckily modern kit is waaaay lighter than back in the day, my rig is an easy one person carry nowadays, but there's something so imposing about the old heavyweights.

Good twist on the theme. The light through the window is very bright which is a shame but as you say not much you can do about that.

Cheers!
It is a fly in the ointment, I must try and get a better take on it when the whole virus situation is more relaxed.

That's a great take on the theme Nick. Lateral thinking at its best in my opinion, not much to add, it tells a story in itself, good work

Thank you!
I do love how the 52 gives you not only the opportunity to play with photography, but also to play with semantics.

No shoehorn as far as I'm concerned. Just a lot of loud Great stuff.

Sadly my guitar is an acoustic and really wouldn't stretch to "rock" as that was my first thought. Amps though - very much do.

Cheers!
'A lot of loud'... I really like that!
It's entirely possible to rock an acoustic though!

 

[blakester]

Thank you!
I do love how the 52 gives you not only the opportunity to play with photography, but also to play with semantics.

You're welcome Nick.
That's pretty much my approach to the themes in the 52, to widen my thought processes I search for a phrase containing the theme and try to work around that. It doesn't always work but more often than not it gives me different ideas.

 

[NickD]

It's a great exercise.I really enjoy going through the threads and seeing how something can be so obvious to one person, while so off kilter to another.

 

[vanishedbob]

My original idea was to photograph my daughter in her rolling stones tshirt playing (or pretending to) a bass guitar but she got Camera shy. So glad someone went down this route and with a great shot.

 

[HelenC]

Great bit of lateral thinking. Made me smile

 

[LC2]

Bang on. Great to see something different for the theme.
Given you had no control over the lighting, I think you did a good job and actually the blown windows look like they could be painted white, which could easily fit with a recording studio.
If you did want to show the windows though, perhaps blending two or more shots together would have done it. I believe that's how architectural shots are done.

 

[NickD]

My original idea was to photograph my daughter in her rolling stones tshirt playing (or pretending to) a bass guitar but she got Camera shy. So glad someone went down this route and with a great shot.

That would have been a great shot!

Great bit of lateral thinking. Made me smile

Thank you!

Bang on. Great to see something different for the theme.
Given you had no control over the lighting, I think you did a good job and actually the blown windows look like they could be painted white, which could easily fit with a recording studio.
If you did want to show the windows though, perhaps blending two or more shots together would have done it. I believe that's how architectural shots are done.

Thanks!
As stated in the first post I edited this in Snapseed. Having had a chance to look at the RAW, I managed to recover a surprising amount, I'll use that one on the bands website eventually. You're right though, multiple exposures would be the way to do it properly.

 

[NickD]

Week 4 - Tall.

I happened upon this whilst walking this morning. Obviously the reflection itself isn't tall, but the tree itself was. Shot with the mobile combo of the X-T2 and 27mm pancake, and tweaked in Snapseed. I had to shoot with one hand while holding onto a tree with the other to get the angle I wanted. Focus was odd, I had a choice between having the reflection sharp, with the underwater leaves oof, or the reflection softer, but the leaf mosaic in the shadow of the tree nice and sharp... I opted for the latter, as I feel it makes a much better shot.

Going Up, Going Down by Nick, on Flickr

 

[Nostromo]

Tall
It's cool, I like it. You've probably picked the right one, well spotted too.

 

[Harlequin565]

Great vision. Really like the abstract nature of the patterns. Part of me wants to see what the other option looked like. Sometiomes if I can't decide, I just take both and worry about it later

 

[susiejb]

Well spotted, the detail of the leaves on the reflected tree trunk look beautiful, especially if you zoom in, there’s so much detail in there. A really super shot for the theme.

 

[Shugpug]

That's suitably abstract - I like your interpretation, and full marks for hanging on to the tree with one hand and not falling in! I'd be interested to see the alternate with the sharp branches, but I do like the way it's made it abstract.