weekly pjm1's TP52 in 2016 - week 31 Fauna

[pjm1]

It's good to have more alternative entries for Living World. That's an interesting take on the subject.
I think the lighting is pretty good and the image seems sharp enough so gets a from me.

Thanks Tim. I actually had to reshoot a few times as autofocus wasn't nailing it in the dark. I hate soft images! Reverting to manual did the job though although still harder on these DSLRs than it is with older cameras with giant viewfinders... Thanks for commenting and always appreciate a thumbs up!

I love your different take on topical and i am currently kicking myslef for not thinking of it!

I agree that your leftfield view of the living world could have done with a bigger fruit but otherwise i love the idea and the mood of the image

Hi Ruth, thanks for looking and commenting on those two. Please don't kick yourself too hard as otherwise you will be capturing a similar image to my topical The mood/feel for LW was what I was going for, so I'm very pleased it's worked - it was my first attempt at such a photo and I think I might be repeating that "look" in the future.

 

[Jon.P.73]

Just catching up ...........

Camo - had no idea what it was so thanks for the explanation and nice story as to how it came about ! Nice image and definitely different

Dangerous - Very poignant and a truly sad event with the climbers and a stark reminder of how dangerous a truly beautiful place can be. Stunning image, I love it L

Topical - Just wow - hugely interesting back story and wonderful interpretation - glad everyone was OK and a well captured image too !

The Living World - where to begin So much prep and a wonderful interpretation - quirky and well executed only minor crit (as has been said) is the size of the fruit, but can see how you would struggle and still get the whole of the image which you have - well done

 

[d00d]

Hmmmmm ... the Stilton is not immediately obvious, in fact nothing is immediately obvious, however my eye is drawn down to those smooth, softly-lit stones in the pot ...

 

[pjm1]

Just catching up ...........

Camo - had no idea what it was so thanks for the explanation and nice story as to how it came about ! Nice image and definitely different

Dangerous - Very poignant and a truly sad event with the climbers and a stark reminder of how dangerous a truly beautiful place can be. Stunning image, I love it L

Topical - Just wow - hugely interesting back story and wonderful interpretation - glad everyone was OK and a well captured image too !

The Living World - where to begin So much prep and a wonderful interpretation - quirky and well executed only minor crit (as has been said) is the size of the fruit, but can see how you would struggle and still get the whole of the image which you have - well done

Thanks for the catchup, Jon. Some of my shots might not be obvious, but for me that's half the fun - thinking of something or spotting something a bit different. Certainly the case with those four... Glad they (mostly) worked for you and despite different things on each of them not quite being tip-top, I'm generally fairly happy with them. Room for improvement, but that's a good thing

Hmmmmm ... the Stilton is not immediately obvious, in fact nothing is immediately obvious, however my eye is drawn down to those smooth, softly-lit stones in the pot ...

I think for that one, nothing being obvious is a good thing?! It's certainly a surreal interpretation (at least it's meant to be). Therefore, I think... thank you Interesting that your eye is lingering on the one piece of that image (apart from the green string) which isn't living and never has been - the stones. That's the great thing about this challenge, we're all seeing different things in each image

 

[SteveSc]

That's certainly a different take on the theme. I'm impressed with your thought process and preparation to get the shot, I normally end up panicking around Wednesday that I haven't shot anything and end up finding something around the house that will work. I like the idea and the image, my only slight critque would be that the tree gets a bit lost in the middle and almost seems to split the image with the tree and fruit at the top and the planter/stones at the bottom.

 

[susiejb]

Hi Paul ....it's definitely eye catching First of all I really like the base ...in fact just the base works as a separate image for me, I love the aspect of it. The black background and the lighting on the twig is great, but it's the focus on the 'tangerine' that spoils it for me I want it to be really clear and it's not ....I don't think it needs to be bigger, just really sharp. But then that's just my point of view and as you say we all have a different one..Well done for trying something outside the ordinary.

 

[pjm1]

That's certainly a different take on the theme. I'm impressed with your thought process and preparation to get the shot, I normally end up panicking around Wednesday that I haven't shot anything and end up finding something around the house that will work. I like the idea and the image, my only slight critque would be that the tree gets a bit lost in the middle and almost seems to split the image with the tree and fruit at the top and the planter/stones at the bottom.

Fab - thanks for the comments, Steve. I'm glad the concept and overall image has more or less worked for you and I agree with you about the lighting on the middle of the tree. I should have dodged that part a little more, as I did with the base. Spot on and thanks for taking the time!

Hi Paul ....it's definitely eye catching First of all I really like the base ...in fact just the base works as a separate image for me, I love the aspect of it. The black background and the lighting on the twig is great, but it's the focus on the 'tangerine' that spoils it for me I want it to be really clear and it's not ....I don't think it needs to be bigger, just really sharp. But then that's just my point of view and as you say we all have a different one..Well done for trying something outside the ordinary.

Hi Susie, looking at the image on lightroom, I agree with you that it doesn't seem as sharp as it should. And I'm confused - I need someone with more technical expertise to help here!! I focused using distance and "eyeballing" using manual focus - from memory I set it to about 0.7m give or take. Now it's worth bearing in mind that I was using a 17mm lens at f/11 - so the combination of wide angle and very small aperture should have meant the depth of field would be HUGE! In fact, everything from half that distance through to not-quite-infinity (since 0.7m is less than the hyperfocal distance) should have been in focus. The strange thing here is that there is a fuzziness to the tangerine and, perhaps, to the image as a whole. According to my calcs, I could have focused at 1m or 0.5m and still had it all in focus because of that DOF, so I don't think it was a focusing issue.

What else could it be? Can't really be camera shake or wind - I was shooting at 1/160 and using flash, so movement will have been frozen (and, again, at 17mm camera shake should not be a problem at that shutter speed). So the only thing I can think of is the lens is just a bit soft at f/11 at 17mm? Which is really disappointing as otherwise I do like that lens and have found it to be very robust and reliable. It's a fast zoom - f/2.8 constant and the perfect walk-around (17-50) on the crop sensor.

So thank you for taking the time to comment and pick out something which is absolutely on-the-money for me and which I'd missed. The only problem being is, I'm not sure how I'd fix it next time, other than use a different lens perhaps? Maybe I could add some aggressive sharpening in post, which feels a bit "cheaty".

Thank you and hopefully someone can help me identify what the cause of the problem is?

 

[rpn]

You do go in great length and deep thoughts into this project. Love the shot and very different from the norm. Photographic wise, like the lighting, dark background and minimalistic. Personally I would either shorten the string or different colour (brown may be).

 

[pjm1]

You do go in great length and deep thoughts into this project. Love the shot and very different from the norm. Photographic wise, like the lighting, dark background and minimalistic. Personally I would either shorten the string or different colour (brown may be).

Thanks Stan... I enjoy it! And when I enjoy something, I do put a bit more effort in Thank you very much for the comments which I have to say I agree with on reflection - the green of the string was added in post so very easy to change I guess the length... well, less so but you're right, shorter would have looked a bit more natural. But then, the shot isn't exactly screaming natural...

Plenty to think about for next time (and I'm definitely after some help on the sharpness issue). Looking forward to this Thursday's theme! Cheers for looking and commenting

 

[Manxmaid]

Wow Paul, that's a striking image and having read the thought and effort you put into it, you deserve a massive

Interesting as usual to read of your lighting set up, and the way the tree and the orange are isolated so completely really adds to the impact of the image. I agree it might have been good to see more of the orange, but you achieved the image you were aiming for, and that's what counts in this personal challenge.

 

[DowntonMini]

Very clever take Paul at first I thought it looked a little dark, but on reflection I think just right

 

[sparrow]

Topical - Great photography but looks very painful, hope the Sundocrem soon works its magic.
Living World - Wow ..I love this image- so original and well thought out.

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

A great story there but I have to agree with you that given all of the time and effort you put in it might have been better if the main subject was more prominent which is a shame as It's a nice enough image. Well done on making all the effort though.

I've jut had a thought, how about a dyptich? Add a close up et voila! [emoji4]

 

[Dark Knight]

Hi Paul

Nice composition, the tangerine nicely off center, I'm not so certain on the need to see the trunk and pot, you have done good with the mould effect for me it would be more effective if cropped in and the fruit on the bottom third, smashing idea as usual

 

[pjm1]

Very clever take Paul at first I thought it looked a little dark, but on reflection I think just right

Thanks Mark. The low key challenge I always have is whether I've made it too dark to be an effective image. Thanks for looking!

Topical - Great photography but looks very painful, hope the Sundocrem soon works its magic.
Living World - Wow ..I love this image- so original and well thought out.

Thanks Liz. It's the one I was after, but best of all I think there's a bit to work on to get this sort of image nailed - ideal! Thanks for looking.

A great story there but I have to agree with you that given all of the time and effort you put in it might have been better if the main subject was more prominent which is a shame as It's a nice enough image. Well done on making all the effort though.

I've jut had a thought, how about a dyptich? Add a close up et voila! [emoji4]

That's a great idea Brian - as a single image out of this theme it sort of works but for the theme it really needs another perspective on the orange. Good thinking and thanks!

Hi Paul

Nice composition, the tangerine nicely off center, I'm not so certain on the need to see the trunk and pot, you have done good with the mould effect for me it would be more effective if cropped in and the fruit on the bottom third, smashing idea as usual

Hi Dean, more good thinking as to how this image could be stronger next time. I'm definitely going to be using this tree again, but maybe with a different (longer) lens and with a different lighting setup. Happy with this in the end, even though there's room for improvement. Thanks for looking as always

 

[Virtualcolm]

WOW, I'm blown away by this
It's a stunning image. The concept is amazing and the lighting and composition are just right and it's perfect for the them

 

[Allan.H]

Hi Paul, i really like it, its a little odd and there is nothing wrong with that, thanks for the info on the set up, i don't mind the perspective it adds to me to the surreal nature of it
the lighting is really good I know you said you had a little work to do on it but you have done a great job on it,
The orange is a little to small which is a pity as you obviously put a lot of work into it,
A really good interesting image

 

[viv1969]

Wow, that really is dedication!! Makes me feel a bit lazy. I should have grown the cress instead of cutting it!
Great idea though, and I like the result.

 

[Minx]

Abandoned - I love the Abandoned Road - maybe the Cow should have been your Dangerous shot as it was taken whilst Driving.
Camouflage - The snow has certainly camouflaged everything around and blends into the sky too, great pic.
Danger - Beautiful scenery with a sad back story. Great photo
Topical - bang on theme hope the wounds have healed now.
living world - an interesting take on the theme good lighting and a lot of effort on your part well done.

 

[Winter]

Topical - omg that looks very painful but I really like how you’ve treated the photo. The desaturation looks perfect and I like the grittiness. And the light shining in the middle. Really nice! I won’t say how lucky you got these wounds at the right time, but it’s kinda serendipitous.

Living World - Wow, the things you do for art. It’s a bit gross… I don’t like looking at fungus and mould (who does lol) but everything is beautifully lit and pretty. So I’ll just pretend the orange is normal and sound.

 

[pjm1]

WOW, I'm blown away by this
It's a stunning image. The concept is amazing and the lighting and composition are just right and it's perfect for the them

Wow, thanks for the very generous praise, Colm Glad you liked and thanks for commenting so effusively!

Hi Paul, i really like it, its a little odd and there is nothing wrong with that, thanks for the info on the set up, i don't mind the perspective it adds to me to the surreal nature of it
the lighting is really good I know you said you had a little work to do on it but you have done a great job on it,
The orange is a little to small which is a pity as you obviously put a lot of work into it,
A really good interesting image

Thanks Allan - pleased it's worked for you and thanks for the very positive comments. I agree with the overall image probably being stronger than it fitting the theme, but I'd probably rather do that than the other way around, if you know what I mean? The PP was a requirement but with more carefully placed lighting I could try to shoot something similar and get it closer in camera, I reckon. Ish! Cheers for commenting.

Wow, that really is dedication!! Makes me feel a bit lazy. I should have grown the cress instead of cutting it!
Great idea though, and I like the result.

Not at all Ruth - it took a few minutes on the orange and the rest was leaving it Thanks for commenting and looking!

Abandoned - I love the Abandoned Road - maybe the Cow should have been your Dangerous shot as it was taken whilst Driving.
Camouflage - The snow has certainly camouflaged everything around and blends into the sky too, great pic.
Danger - Beautiful scenery with a sad back story. Great photo
Topical - bang on theme hope the wounds have healed now.
living world - an interesting take on the theme good lighting and a lot of effort on your part well done.

Thanks for the catch-up, Minx...Glad they've mostly worked for you and looking forward to getting out and shooting spiky at some point!

Topical - omg that looks very painful but I really like how you’ve treated the photo. The desaturation looks perfect and I like the grittiness. And the light shining in the middle. Really nice! I won’t say how lucky you got these wounds at the right time, but it’s kinda serendipitous.

Living World - Wow, the things you do for art. It’s a bit gross… I don’t like looking at fungus and mould (who does lol) but everything is beautifully lit and pretty. So I’ll just pretend the orange is normal and sound.

Thanks Sheylara - agree on all fronts (except the mould bit - I love blue cheese!) Better get on with this week!

 

[pjm1]

Right, I've decided to do something completely different for this theme (spiky). I didn't have particularly wonderful ideas and with a busy rest-of-week, my ability to shoot was limited to a slightly elongated lunchbreak today. I wanted to have a play with reflections and lighting. I care less about whether the image is particularly compelling but I wanted to experiment with reflective surfaces and angles of illumination etc.

So, I decided to arrange a shiny fork (the spiky thing) on a blackened glass surface with a bubble (the thing about to get "spiked"). So time to make some bubbles which will last (no glycerin so gelatin and sugar had to be deployed instead) and get playing...

First of all, I didn't really have the right surface but needs must, so my black background plus a plate glass surface from a table should do. It had a metal thingy stuck to it in each corner, but that can be shopped out

I noticed that the depth of the plate glass was giving me multiple reflections and whilst that didn't result in a clean image, it led to quite an interesting one for this study.

Finally, my biggest experiment would be to combine dark field lighting to illuminate the edges of the bubble with a more conventional light illuminating the inside of the fork. The combined effect is interesting and I think I'd like to play more with glass lighting (aka dark field and light field) and combining it with additional accents etc. I guess this particular scene was about as tough as I could make things with the mixture of a glass-like object and the metal fork. Still, I'm learning lighting as I go so I have to push myself out of my comfort zone all the time. A bit more on dark and light field lighting is here, although I learned it from Light Science and Magic (a super book on lighting basics): http://www.diyphotography.net/crossing-over-to-the-dark-field-has-never-been-easier/

The overall end image is one which I'm reasonably happy with but happy to concede it will never be a "wall hanger". The multiple reflections, rather than a single harder reflection probably don't work perfectly, but the thick glass was all I had to hand in the limited time. A proper black marble surface would obviously be better.

Is it on theme? I worry less about it, but I can confirm the fork is definitely spiky enough to burst the bubbles (having done a few attempts and got a bit too close on one occasion). Also worth noting that gelatine makes wonderful bubbles as they are still there some hours after making them!!

It was really good fun to do and messing around with lighting angles etc. was enjoyable, as was getting the dark field setup just right. It's still not quite perfect (there's a touch of light spill at the top of the image, although I quite like it) but I do think combining dark field (or light field) with other techniques is always going to lead to compromises - at least given the limits of my knowledge.

Hopefully you've enjoyed looking and reading and I'm happy to share setup info etc. if anyone's keen to know more. I did clean up the image in post - made the glass a bit blacker etc., but for a change I was actually quite happy with SOOC as a starting point.

Cheers


Week 10: Spiky by Paul M, on Flickr

 

[Carl Ayling]

Hi Paul. No question about theme compliance - forks are definitely spiky. I didn't realise that gelantin was such a useful bubble generator so learnt something there. Image-wise, Yep works for me, particularly that coloured grid reflected in the bubbles. Applaud your creativity and experimentation

 

[pjm1]

Hi Paul. No question about theme compliance - forks are definitely spiky. I didn't realise that gelantin was such a useful bubble generator so learnt something there. Image-wise, Yep works for me, particularly that coloured grid reflected in the bubbles. Applaud your creativity and experimentation

Thanks Carl I'll be honest and say whilst the image might not be hugely exciting (and, yes, yet another setup shot from me) I enjoyed playing around with the lighting so much, I'm pretty ambivalent about whether the image works! For me, it was one of those, "wow, I think I got it" moments when I chimped and saw I'd got that light edge around the bubbles. Pleasure from simple things and all that

 

[Cobra]

Blimey that was some write up Paul,
and an interesting link too.

Although totally different from the crowd, I'd say its on theme

 

[pjm1]

Blimey that was some write up Paul,
and an interesting link too.

Although totally different from the crowd, I'd say its on theme

Thanks Chris - and glad it's passed the shoehorn test! To be honest, I find writing about my setup reinforced in my own mind what I've done and why. I'm happy to admit I'm learning all this stuff for the first time and although I've given myself a fair bit of practice with these setup shots, each one is a new challenge. If my writeups help people see what I've done then great, likewise if someone can suggest how to improve the setup next time then even better! It's all part of the fun. Oh, and I like waffling

 

[Allan.H]

Hi Paul, its on theme and its a good idea, but I think the most important thing is that you have learnt something its good to play around with things as in the future you have an idea of what will work for you or not as the case maybe, I find it frustrating sometimes but always fun in a weird way

 

[pjm1]

Hi Paul, its on theme and its a good idea, but I think the most important thing is that you have learnt something its good to play around with things as in the future you have an idea of what will work for you or not as the case maybe, I find it frustrating sometimes but always fun in a weird way

I couldn't agree more, Allan... thanks for commenting and for the encouragement. I'm still a kid at heart so enjoy playing As you say, even when it doesn't quite work it's still good fun to try...

 

[sparrow]

A really interesting image and write up, such a clever set up

 

[pjm1]

A really interesting image and write up, such a clever set up

Thanks Liz Glad you enjoyed it... I found it amazing to see this amount of colour from what was a completely monochrome set of subjects: bubbly water, a fork, some glass and a black backdrop!

 

[LC2]

That's one hell of a write up and very interesting to understand your thoughts and how you achieved the shot.
I must say the result was defo worth the effort you put in, it's a great image.

 

[Minx]

Spiky - I really like the bubbles thank you for sharing your technique great picture

 

[pjm1]

That's one hell of a write up and very interesting to understand your thoughts and how you achieved the shot.
I must say the result was defo worth the effort you put in, it's a great image.

Thanks Tim I do go on a bit, don't I? Glad it worked for you - effort wasn't huge as I was having fun!

Spiky - I really like the bubbles thank you for sharing your technique great picture

Thanks Minx - I decided I wanted to do a bubble shot so squeezed them in alongside something spiky let's call it a bubble horn instead of shoe horn!

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Nice write up, would have benefitted from a pull back shot to show your actual set up (and would have required fewer words [emoji6])

I like the idea of the image, the fork looks oof though which is a bit odd as the bubbles seem sharp enough... Nice reflections.

 

[pjm1]

Nice write up, would have benefitted from a pull back shot to show your actual set up (and would have required fewer words [emoji6])

I like the idea of the image, the fork looks oof though which is a bit odd as the bubbles seem sharp enough... Nice reflections.

Thanks Brian... a pullback shot is a very good idea so easy to have done as well, so I'll look to do that in future. Fewer words is something I always aspire to and fail at everytime... so your suggestion might be the answer here

Funnily enough, the reflections I was less sure about but I'm pleased they worked for you. Definitely in focus as far as the tines are concerned - the 100% crop below is full-on pixel-peeping but they are sharp to the single pixel width to my eyes. Behind the bubble they are slightly softer but that's probably because of the optical distortion?

Thanks as always for commenting as it's always good to get opinion on things. We don't all like the same thing and I'm actually surprised this garnered as much positive feedback as it did!

 

[DowntonMini]

Great image for Spiky Paul nicely lit and great detail and colours. The close up shot is incredable.

 

[pjm1]

Great image for Spiky Paul nicely lit and great detail and colours. The close up shot is incredable.

Thanks Mark! The lens I used was my sharp macro one this time so I had no excuses

 

[cargo]

Well Paul. That is a cool looking image for sure. I want to make large bubble now The black feild lighting sounds good fun to try. I think I good while back I did the wine bottle thing with just the s***e edges showing (I think that is Dark field) could be wrong though.
Anyway great image for me, I'm off to look at the link you provided.

Gaz

Ps: I like set up shots as you have to think about stuff !

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Thanks Brian... a pullback shot is a very good idea so easy to have done as well, so I'll look to do that in future. Fewer words is something I always aspire to and fail at everytime... so your suggestion might be the answer here

Funnily enough, the reflections I was less sure about but I'm pleased they worked for you. Definitely in focus as far as the tines are concerned - the 100% crop below is full-on pixel-peeping but they are sharp to the single pixel width to my eyes. Behind the bubble they are slightly softer but that's probably because of the optical distortion?

Thanks as always for commenting as it's always good to get opinion on things. We don't all like the same thing and I'm actually surprised this garnered as much positive feedback as it did!

Maybe I've read your reply in the wrong voice, but I hope I didn't come across too negative, i want you to know that I admire your hard work and submission for this weeks theme. So please understand that It wasn't meant to be a criticism, just an observation, I think it's the reflections that made the fork look oof? Your 100% crop shows that the fork IS for sure in focus it just Looks a bit blurry at the normal viewing size.
Keep up the good work, I'd like to do some of this light field dark field stuff myself soon, it's been ages since I read that book, another read with my "since acquired" knowledge and equipment would do me the world of good I reckon.

 

[WMD]

Spiky - Superb shot - I love it! Interesting (& bang on theme) subject, executed really well - spot on!
Only crit from me is the background is a little distracting (area above the fork) - but that's a real reach, it's a quality shot!