weekly *sarah* TP52 2014 step and nature added

[Delta Skies]

Ending - The Droste effect has been well used to fit the theme. The fact that this is heart shaped also adds to fitting it in

Positive - Nice clean image. Maybe a little more light on the right hand petal would have added to the image

Time - Very crisp and sharp even the reflections in the tea help this image. It's been well lit as the subtle shadows help to ground the subject.

 

[mr.si]

Hi Sarah, all I'm going to say is 3 fantastic shots. My favourite is Positive, such a beautiful flower.

 

[susiejb]

Hi Sarah....just catching up and loving the last three additions to your thread......you always seem to do something that makes me wish that I had done it all absolutely spot on for me.

 

[Nortdog]

very nice clean image, nice background colour and I think the lighting works very well

 

[posiview]

Time, lighting works well here, nice and even. Well composed and lovely muted colours.

I wasn't sure about the addition of the flowers, but came back to it and yip, like it.

Cheers.

 

[overbez]

well sarah- I've been back to "Never ending love" and I still can;t see the joins - great job once again on that

time for tea is delightful, delicate cup and saucer, delicate biscuits on the side and delicate flowers with it too. Bet any builders watching would love to come and work in your house.... "3 sugas please love".

The lighting on this suits the subject really well too, lovely and soft.. Wondering if a touch more DOF would have helped, just to keep all the leaves in focus?

 

[Suvv]

Great colours and composition for Time - good sharp detail as well.

 

[superpippo]

Hi Sarah

Time - clean, clear, on theme, lovely subtle colours and lighting. Good reflection in the tea. Great choice of b/g. Very impressive and calming

 

[blakester]

Hi Sarah, well done you on sticking with it
Ending, wonderful, really draws the viewer in.
Time, good work on a still life scene, well lit and composed, maybe a closer crop but thats a minor observation

 

[The goblin]

Hi Sarah, sorry this year seems to be zipping by and ages since I last dropped in!

Bubble, WOW I was convinced that that was photoshop trickery, an amazing job and you have more patience than me!
Smoke, wow, more patience! I think I have to choose number three purely for the amount of work involved! The colours are lovely and vibrant, the splash of green really adds interest.
Mineral, not sure on this one, it looks like bones or something. Lovely detail and lighting all the same!
Sense, I've seen quite a few doggy noses for this theme Good composition. There seems to be a hint of purple in the highlights, maybe reflecting off something?
Ending, ooo how did you do that? Great idea and it would make a great card for valentines day!
Positive, beautiful flower and great composition. The background is a little on the bland side, maybe a little texture overlay to give it a little something?
Time, another beautiful shot, you certainly have the knack for flowers I think the back ground suits it perfectly but again I'd think about playing with some textures! Have you seen this she does amazing things with textures!

Well done for sticking with the 52, we'll drag you out of any lulls

 

[*Sarah*]

I like your never ending heart, the way the subject helps to frame itself is very pleasing.

I feel your flower should either be cropped a little closer or a little wider to get rid of/include the leaf at the top.

Your cup and flowers is beautiful

Thank you Mark, i've put closer cropped one on flickr!

Hi Sarah, Ending just amazing
Positive what a lovely flower
Time ... could just do with that now looks yummy
Pls don't leave us

Thank you Judi, I'm doing my best to keep up and am determined not to give up!

 

[*Sarah*]

After seeing your lovely time picture, I've just told the wife to make me one. After one of those looks only a wife can do, I'm now on my way to make us both one

Thank you Andy, I was lucky my son made that one for me - though it went cold before I could drink it!

Hi Sarah

Really like the 'Never ending Love' - think it needs a tad of noise reduction one way or another, other than that, love the Green against the brown and of course the ever decreasing size - very clever

Positive - Great light on the flower head, I'd like to see more on the stem too... The colours, composition and DoF make a very nice image still

Thanks Dean, I'll look at going back to the neverending love shot and improve the noise!

Great image Sarah, composition, biscuits and the added flowers work well .....not a lover of the bg colour but I guess white wouldn't work, you'd loose the contrast with the cup

P.S..... that tea looks a bit wishy washy

Thank you Phil, I've taken lots of shots with white or black backgrounds so decided to try something different, the white looked a bit harsh for a relaxing pic that I was aiming for!

 

[*Sarah*]

Nice and sharp. Flowers with tea, that would be one classy tea shop.

Thank you Martin!

Time for tea, very nice composition and very nice photo

Thank you Colin

Ending - Love this effect and looks great on the heart. Good choice of BG colour works really well

Positive - Another nice flower shot agree with whats been said regarding the Crop.

Time - Great composition and again good use of BG colour I do agree with Phil re the wishy washy T though

Thank you Michael, I'll blame my son for making the tea!!

 

[*Sarah*]

Ending - very good idea, I love the colours and the way the composition draws the eye in to the depth of the picture.

Time - lovely colours, lighting and sharpness. Like the composition too.

Thank you!

Hi Sarah, well done you on sticking with it
Ending, wonderful, really draws the viewer in.
Time, good work on a still life scene, well lit and composed, maybe a closer crop but thats a minor observation

Thank you Iain, I'll look at a tighter crop - i originally was going to put a texture on to the background but it didnt work out as planned!

 

[*Sarah*]

Hi Sarah, sorry this year seems to be zipping by and ages since I last dropped in!

Bubble, WOW I was convinced that that was photoshop trickery, an amazing job and you have more patience than me!
Smoke, wow, more patience! I think I have to choose number three purely for the amount of work involved! The colours are lovely and vibrant, the splash of green really adds interest.
Mineral, not sure on this one, it looks like bones or something. Lovely detail and lighting all the same!
Sense, I've seen quite a few doggy noses for this theme Good composition. There seems to be a hint of purple in the highlights, maybe reflecting off something?
Ending, ooo how did you do that? Great idea and it would make a great card for valentines day!
Positive, beautiful flower and great composition. The background is a little on the bland side, maybe a little texture overlay to give it a little something?
Time, another beautiful shot, you certainly have the knack for flowers I think the back ground suits it perfectly but again I'd think about playing with some textures! Have you seen this she does amazing things with textures!

Well done for sticking with the 52, we'll drag you out of any lulls

Thank you Marsha for your massive catch up!! something I think I'll be spending the rest of the week doing!! I've been following Sarah for a while on facebook and recently treated myself to her book! She does some fantastic work and it has encouraged me to try textures - I've got a few on flickr Flowers are something I enjoy taking and its a good excuse to buy some every week!!

 

[*Sarah*]

Ending - The Droste effect has been well used to fit the theme. The fact that this is heart shaped also adds to fitting it in

Positive - Nice clean image. Maybe a little more light on the right hand petal would have added to the image

Time - Very crisp and sharp even the reflections in the tea help this image. It's been well lit as the subtle shadows help to ground the subject.

Thank you Peter!

Hi Sarah, all I'm going to say is 3 fantastic shots. My favourite is Positive, such a beautiful flower.

Thank you simon, it is a lovely flower!

Hi Sarah....just catching up and loving the last three additions to your thread......you always seem to do something that makes me wish that I had done it all absolutely spot on for me.

Thank you Susie!

 

[*Sarah*]

very nice clean image, nice background colour and I think the lighting works very well

Thank you Adam!

Time, lighting works well here, nice and even. Well composed and lovely muted colours.

I wasn't sure about the addition of the flowers, but came back to it and yip, like it.

Cheers.

Thank you Andy, I tried it without the flowers at the beginning but it looked a bit too plain for me and couldn't decide what else to add to it, so it was out into the garden and raid the flowers!!

well sarah- I've been back to "Never ending love" and I still can;t see the joins - great job once again on that

time for tea is delightful, delicate cup and saucer, delicate biscuits on the side and delicate flowers with it too. Bet any builders watching would love to come and work in your house.... "3 sugas please love".

The lighting on this suits the subject really well too, lovely and soft.. Wondering if a touch more DOF would have helped, just to keep all the leaves in focus?

Thank you Graham, I've had a quick look at my other shots and they all have a shallow dof, I'll keep it in mind if I reshoot though - I'm going through a bit of a shallow dof thing at the moment but I can sometimes take it too far!!

 

[*Sarah*]

Great colours and composition for Time - good sharp detail as well.

Thank you Kev!

Hi Sarah

Time - clean, clear, on theme, lovely subtle colours and lighting. Good reflection in the tea. Great choice of b/g. Very impressive and calming

Thank you Alan!

 

[*Sarah*]

Couldn't decide between these two this week for swirl!!

#1

Shell bw by *sarah*., on Flickr

#2 rose swirls

rose swirls by *sarah*., on Flickr

Both converted to bw and added a little tone to the rose pic!

 

[Pinkbikerbabe]

Swirl - both fit the theme nicely, both have good composition. I think the first one has the edge for me I like the detail in the shell. The second image looks a tiny bit noisy to me and I am not so sure about the added tone. Two great efforts all the same

 

[d00d]

 

[susiejb]

Hi Sarah.....The first one is really swirly and textured, but visually it's the second one for me .....love the softness of the shot.....what colour was it originally ?

 

[The goblin]

Thank you Marsha for your massive catch up!! something I think I'll be spending the rest of the week doing!! I've been following Sarah for a while on facebook and recently treated myself to her book! She does some fantastic work and it has encouraged me to try textures - I've got a few on flickr Flowers are something I enjoy taking and its a good excuse to buy some every week!!

Oh what's her book like?

One thing that's missing out here is flowers! Don't get me wrong there are plenty, just not the sort you grow in your house! They've all got bloody vicious spikes on!!!

 

[Allan.H]

Hi both good shots for the theme but I think prefer the rose its a very delicate image

 

[posiview]

Oh, yeah. Two good ones. The shell is one of the best I've seen. Square crop works well and the fall off is just right. Nice placement on the sand.

The flower is another good one. Nice swirls and the processing suits it...that said, maybe a little less grain.

Nice one.

Cheers.

 

[Richard Gill]

Prefer the flower one and like the simplicity of the shot, might be a bit soft. Shell looks great too with good focus

 

[Tango32]

a vote for you shell shot from me nice detail in there and a gritty look i likes it

 

[Delta Skies]

Swirl #1 - I like the focus on the shell and the background looks almost stormy

Swirl #2 - This has a classy feel to it with the hi-key effect you've given it. I agree, maybe a tad too much noise of this one but I still like it

 

[andy0306]

The shell gets my vote, although the rose is also a nice shot and both are spot on theme

 

[overbez]

the rose swirl has a lovely milky feel to it, soft and velvety almost, contrast with the hard sharpness of the shell, love the BG on that one, and very well lit to bring out the details in the swirls inside the main spiral of the shell.

 

[ShinySideUp]

The second image looks like the inside of some body-part -- add a bit of slime and blood and it could be a tumour! ( I have a very fervent imagination)

The shell for me. I like to detail and the monochrome -- nice photograph.

 

[Judi]

I like both but on balance the rose is the one i like the best beautiful creamy colours

 

[blondie606]

Hi Sarah


normally I'd go for your flower shot but this week the Shell wins by a country mile.....great DOF , slight angle to the shell , amazing detail & well lit

The Rose , whilst beautifully soft just doesn't have enough to hold my interest...maybe to dream like ?

 

[blakester]

Another vote here for #1 Sarah, the shell just edges it over the rose.
Wonderful detail, both the square crop and the mono conversion suit the subject. Good work

 

[beckyboy1]

Really like the shell shot. The composition is bang on as is the the DOF.

 

[*Sarah*]

Swirl - both fit the theme nicely, both have good composition. I think the first one has the edge for me I like the detail in the shell. The second image looks a tiny bit noisy to me and I am not so sure about the added tone. Two great efforts all the same

Thank you!

Thank you

Hi Sarah.....The first one is really swirly and textured, but visually it's the second one for me .....love the softness of the shot.....what colour was it originally ?

Thank you, the rose was a lovely soft yellow colour, when I get chance I'll try and edit some of them and put them on flickr

 

[*Sarah*]

Oh what's her book like?

One thing that's missing out here is flowers! Don't get me wrong there are plenty, just not the sort you grow in your house! They've all got bloody vicious spikes on!!!

Her book is great Marsha though you can see just as much on her facebook/website. I noticed that shes doing some workshops this year but they're all sold out!

Hi both good shots for the theme but I think prefer the rose its a very delicate image

Thank you Allan!

Oh, yeah. Two good ones. The shell is one of the best I've seen. Square crop works well and the fall off is just right. Nice placement on the sand.

The flower is another good one. Nice swirls and the processing suits it...that said, maybe a little less grain.

Nice one.

Cheers.

Thanks Andy, I'll try editing the rose with less grain!

 

[*Sarah*]

Prefer the flower one and like the simplicity of the shot, might be a bit soft. Shell looks great too with good focus

Thank you!

a vote for you shell shot from me nice detail in there and a gritty look i likes it

Thank you!

Swirl #1 - I like the focus on the shell and the background looks almost stormy

Swirl #2 - This has a classy feel to it with the hi-key effect you've given it. I agree, maybe a tad too much noise of this one but I still like it

Thank you Peter!

 

[*Sarah*]

The shell gets my vote, although the rose is also a nice shot and both are spot on theme

Thank you Andy

the rose swirl has a lovely milky feel to it, soft and velvety almost, contrast with the hard sharpness of the shell, love the BG on that one, and very well lit to bring out the details in the swirls inside the main spiral of the shell.

Thank you Graham, the shell was taken inside, in a tray full of sand, I built the sand up behind the shell for the background. I tried using natural light but it was too soft so I ended up lighting it with a small Metz LED light that I bought recently!

 

[*Sarah*]

The second image looks like the inside of some body-part -- add a bit of slime and blood and it could be a tumour! ( I have a very fervent imagination)

The shell for me. I like to detail and the monochrome -- nice photograph.

Thank you Martin!

I like both but on balance the rose is the one i like the best beautiful creamy colours

Thank you Judi

Hi Sarah


normally I'd go for your flower shot but this week the Shell wins by a country mile.....great DOF , slight angle to the shell , amazing detail & well lit

The Rose , whilst beautifully soft just doesn't have enough to hold my interest...maybe to dream like ?

Thank you Lynne, I used a small Metz led light that I picked up at the photo show. It cost about £40 and is good fun to use, you can see what you are lighting straight away which is helpful!