weekly SimonB - 52 challenge (2021) Weeks 48 to 52 catch-up!

Patience, thy name is Lego; good luck with that. As Harlequin says, it has been nicely framed by the table top.
 
I hope the cat doesn't eat any of it! I don't see the difference between doing something like this or a jigsaw. Never too old for either! We'll expect to see the finished article - I hope there is a suitable theme you can squeeze it into.

I agree about the right amount of space around your model bits.

Regarding CID on your phone - so obvious when you know, isn't it?! Thanks for answering that one :)
 
Harlequin565 said:
Completely agree! My brother was the technical lego fan and I long remember the pain of standing on bits left lying around :)

Great photo with just the right amount of space around the outside.
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ShinySideUp said:
Patience, thy name is Lego; good luck with that. As Harlequin says, it has been nicely framed by the table top.
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Bebop said:
I hope the cat doesn't eat any of it! I don't see the difference between doing something like this or a jigsaw. Never too old for either! We'll expect to see the finished article - I hope there is a suitable theme you can squeeze it into.

I agree about the right amount of space around your model bits.

Regarding CID on your phone - so obvious when you know, isn't it?! Thanks for answering that one :)
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Thanks for the comments guys :D
 
This is a picture I've had in mind for artificial to include the tech. for negative space, so hopefully this meets the requirements for it. I couldn't quite decide which picture I liked best but in the end I plumped for the one I uploaded to the main thread as I feel it was just a little simpler.

Quite a strange feeling to be walking round at night with camera in hand taking pictures of street lights I must have looked stranger than I already do!


Street Lamp by Simon Brown


Street Lamp 2 by Simon Brown

Cheers
 
Fab shot for both theme and tech.
 
Toys
I think you could have gone in a bit closer, there's a little too much table top for me. I do like the bright, colourful Lego pieces and how you've arranged them and that you've included the box.
 
Artificial
For me you've picked the right one, like you say it's a simpler shot.
 
I like this one. Simple and effective as Allan says. It also gets my imagination going (I've been taking pictures of bins-as-aliens recently - don't judge me!). Very HG Wells or John Wyndham.
 
Definitely the one you have chosen. Simple but works and ticks all the boxes.
 
Toys
It is framed well, my mind tried making shapes out of the way the pieces are lying. I wonder if you could have had a representation of the motorbike shape without building anything?

Artificial
You can certainly appear to be up to strange activities in pursuit of photography. The alignment of the lamp post and the look of the sky definitely make your chosen one my preferred image of the two.
 
There's something in the second shot that doesn't work for me at all, which is odd as it's not so far away from the first, which is bang on! Just goes to show how small vaiations can change how something is perceived.
 
Thanks for all the comments on my previous pictures everyone they're always appreciated. It been a very busy few weeks for me and I'm determined to catch up now. I was stumped by the pattern theme for a while and then one week goes past and then another one. Then before you know it you’re six weeks behind!

So allow me to catch up!

Week 21 Patterns

I struggled to come up with an idea for this one but once I sat down and I spotted my Rubik’s cube. I’ve never been good at solving them, I know there’s a “Pattern” to do it but I gave it a go and still no joy. Took a few go’s to get a shot I was happy with but I’m pleased with the end result.


Whats the pattern? by Simon Brown

Week 22 Up Close

I had day out at Chester Zoo to hopefully get some inspiration for my missing themes. It was a good excuse to bring the camera and test the macro lens. I saw this croc relaxing on the surface of the water. I was able to get plenty of pictures and this one stuck out the most for me. It needed a bit of work to correct the lighting issues but overall I like the focus on the eye!


Snap by Simon Brown

Week 23 Personal

This theme came quite quickly to me (for once!) and I immediately thought of personal effects. So here are my personal effects! I went for black and white in an attempt of being creative as I felt that the picture worked better this way than in colour.


Personal effects by Simon Brown

Week 24 Green

Well I was always going to find something green at Chester Zoo! I spotted this rather smug looking lizard. It was quite tricky to get a decent shot as when you start taking a few pictures of something intently other people seem to want to crowd around you. The lighting was tricky along with trying to avoid the reflections on the glass. Don’t know if a polarizing filter would have helped here as I left it at home!


Not easy being green by Simon Brown

Hope you enjoyed my selection of pictures! Hopefully I’ll be able to snap a couple more soon and get up to date. I’m looking forward to the looking down theme as I plan to use my drone but it is currently being repaired after a swimming accident. Who knew drones couldn’t swim!
 
Nice set! I particularly like the Rubik's cube and Personal shots
 
Patterns: The blurring works well.

Up close: Eerie shot, reminds me of the eye of the dragon in The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug.

Personal: Certainly apt, perhaps add a COVID mask to make a full list of all the things you have to take with you now.

Green: Don't think a filter would have been needed, I certainly can't see any untoward reflections; lovely, sharp image.
 
Catch up
A good set of images in your catch up. I do like the Rubik's cube shot, nice use of motion.
 
ecniv said:
I second that, Some very nice shots there
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Thank you :)

ShinySideUp said:
Patterns: The blurring works well.

Up close: Eerie shot, reminds me of the eye of the dragon in The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug.

Personal: Certainly apt, perhaps add a COVID mask to make a full list of all the things you have to take with you now.

Green: Don't think a filter would have been needed, I certainly can't see any untoward reflections; lovely, sharp image.
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Thanks for your comments, Green came out really well after a bit of tweaking. It was hard to capture with the reflections but struck lucky with this one.

Nostromo said:
Catch up
A good set of images in your catch up. I do like the Rubik's cube shot, nice use of motion.
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Thanks, it was fun to do as well! Still haven't solved it!
 
So I’m still playing catch up, this is my take on week 25 – snappers choice. I decided that I would revisit my week one submission for fruit all see if I could improve on what I took back then. I read and hopefully took on board all the advice that you all gave me, regarding technique, composition and colours.

Since week one I have been able to purchase a separate flash and a better tripod that doesn’t need mole grips to make it work!

So here is the picture that everyone at the time favoured for week one.


Splash-3 by Simon Brown

and with having a bit of spare time tonight and a very, very patient wife to assist me in these endeavours. I have taken two pictures that I’m pretty happy with although it was a struggle to pick just one. I think I prefer bad apples as the water is just a bit more dramatic.


Adams Apples by Simon Brown


Bad Apples by Simon Brown

So 25 weeks in (for me) and just want to say thanks for reigniting my interest in this hobby again and I’ll try my best to comment on all your pictures as I feel bad for not commenting.

Cheers
 
So another mass upload from me, which should now bring me up to date finally! I can only blame my tardiness and the good weather.

Week 26 – Looking down, this was a theme I was really hoping would turn to put my drone into good use. However I had unfortunately managed to drown it a number of weeks ago and the courier has since lost the replacement so I am submitting an older photo that I took a while ago. I like both of these photos but I’m more drawn to Lake View because of all the vibrant colours. Rivington Tower was interesting as well due to the shape of the paths. It also needed a lot of editing as it was a very busy day and the people were distracting.


Lake View by Simon Brown



Rivington Tower by Simon Brown

Week 27 – Indigenous, I remember spotting a small frog in the garden when I was mowing (missed it thankfully) and I was able to find it again when I returned with the camera. I have to say it wasn’t easy getting a shot with this one. Every time I lined up the camera he hopped off somewhere else. I was also taking pictures of some flowers for the plant theme and as luck would have it this bee landed as I was taking the pictures. A much easier model to work with and they came back for more pictures too!


Jump! by Simon Brown


Busy Bee by Simon Brown

Week 28 – Plants, I wanted a good excuse to put the macro lens to work. I took a few pictures of the flowers in the garden and I was quite pleased with this one. It needed a bit work in lightroom due to some unwanted shadow cast.


Soaking the sun by Simon Brown

So that’s me all caught up! It took a while and I’m glad to be back in the swing of things again too.

Cheers.
 
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Great set of catch up shots. Plant is my favourite.. a very pleasing composition.
 
Well done for a really nice set of images, and for catching up. For me the frog is the pick of the bunch (but mainly because I love the faces frogs seem to pull, they amuse me)
 
Nice catch up.
Bee on Clematis for me.
 
Looking down
I agree with you, the first shot has a lot more impact.

Indigenous
I'm a little torn between the two, I do like the little frog, but it's a bit cluttered. The Bee in the flower is a lot clearer.

Plant
Really like this, live the pp. It has a feel of early morning/evening sun.
 
Good catch up really like the first "looking down" shot and "plant"
 
Hi Simon,

Looking Down - !!!! argh. (closes eyes and scrolls past - I really don't like heights and that sets me off !!!)
Indigenous - Frog/toad over the bug for me.
Plant - Nice composition and use of colour vs the off white.
 
HelenC said:
Great set of catch up shots. Plant is my favourite.. a very pleasing composition.
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FlyPhot said:
Well done for a really nice set of images, and for catching up. For me the frog is the pick of the bunch (but mainly because I love the faces frogs seem to pull, they amuse me)
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Cobra said:
Nice catch up.
Bee on Clematis for me.
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Nostromo said:
Looking down
I agree with you, the first shot has a lot more impact.

Indigenous
I'm a little torn between the two, I do like the little frog, but it's a bit cluttered. The Bee in the flower is a lot clearer.

Plant
Really like this, live the pp. It has a feel of early morning/evening sun.
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Allan.H said:
Good catch up really like the first "looking down" shot and "plant"
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LC2 said:
Hi Simon,

Looking Down - !!!! argh. (closes eyes and scrolls past - I really don't like heights and that sets me off !!!)
Indigenous - Frog/toad over the bug for me.
Plant - Nice composition and use of colour vs the off white.
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments, its good to be back on track.
 
I was originally going with the idea of someone being dominated or oppressed but I didn’t quite know how to capture that. Thankfully my cats were chasing each other around the garden and although I’m not completely happy with the pictures, I hope I have caught this through their play.

The white cat constantly tries to be boss but eventually the tabby gets fed up and reminds her whose boss. Ultimately this doesn’t always work in his favour. It wasn’t the easiest to capture given how fast they were moving. I perhaps needed a faster shutter speed for the second picture “Rocky” as the tabby isn’t in focus. Any Ideas?


In Charge by Simon Brown


Rocky by Simon Brown

Cheers
 
Love #2, the smack to the mouth. it's the kind of thing our two cats do too.
I think the slight motion blur actually helps tell the story. Too fast and it would have been frozen without a hint of action.
 
#1 would be my choice... such a familiar submissive posture. Fits the theme nicely.
 
LC2 said:
Love #2, the smack to the mouth. it's the kind of thing our two cats do too.
I think the slight motion blur actually helps tell the story. Too fast and it would have been frozen without a hint of action.
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HelenC said:
#1 would be my choice... such a familiar submissive posture. Fits the theme nicely.
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Thanks for the comments, such a shame I can't pose them!
 
Dominating
Both work, but I am edging more towards the second shot. Great action.
 
I had to be proactive this week as my rota in work wouldn’t have allowed me to get my picture submitted on time. I have never tried taking HDR photos before so I was looking forward to the challenge. I learnt more about my camera too as it is unable to take a HDR picture but I could be set up to do auto exposure bracketing on burst mode.

So I set off to the local woods nearby with an aim of getting a picture of the trees with a path running through the middle, in a vague attempt of adding mystery to the scene! I used Lightroom to merge the three pictures together and just tweaked them slightly.

This is the picture I ended up with for HDR technique, my only concern is that perhaps it is a little too vivid but when I went to adjust it but it ended up looking flat. Still it was what I had in mind when I set off.


Leading Path by Simon Brown

I also had my drone with me too and I had a quick play with that as it also had AEB built in. I am quite surprised how much HDR can improve the image and how easy it can be to go too far.


Woods by the Seaside by Simon Brown

Cheers
 
Snapper choice

It looks like a good hdr. Nothing looks to be over done, the colours look how I imagined they looked when you took the picture.
 
Nicely done HDR Simon!
 
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