weekly Tango 32's 2014 52 challenge Week 39 -44 added

Hi, as above really DoF needs to be bigger and I am not to keen on the BG you have obviously changed it or something
 
Week 29 Skill

For skill I have gone for the Wife making a hunting cake for a customer its all hand made and edible

advice needed - the left hand corner was the cooker, I have used the healing brush to copy a section of the work top and then cloned over the cooker but I its gone white and I cant work out why or how to fix had this issue quite a few times in the past can any one advise please?

skill by Craigw1978, on Flickr
 
Hi Craig mate, what a fab looking cake, all credit to your wife for that... the little fox is great, as well as the sticks and stones, but that piped grass is awesome. That's a real skill.

As far as the shot goes, given the 'real-life' setting you've done really well too, the composition and the fact we can see the concentration on her face, well done for getting the eye in shot too. Blacks and whites and skin tone looks good too.

Only crit would be the scissors and things on the window sill to have cleared away first.

On the cloning issue, first thing I'd check would be the blend mode for the clone tool, if this is set to lighten, or one of the dodge settings it could lighten the area. (Suggested as you said it's happened before). Or more simply, have you managed to pick up some of the apron (sampled from under her elbow?), and then "smudged that around" at a low opacity? Remember, the source point for the clone tool moves as you paint to a different area, it follows the tool if you like).

Use Normal as the general setting unless you have a real need to use one of the others. (Darken is great for removing white dust spots from a dark surface, as it only changes pixels that are lighter than the sampled ones).

QkWpJVv.jpg


TBH if you'd not mentioned it, it looks a bit like a highlight from a window on the worksurface. :)
 
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Hiya Craig, Skill, well done to your wife, loads of skill there (y) Edit looks a lot better (y), like Graham, I noticed the pink handle scissors on the left

Good idea for half, woody on a zip wire (y) ...possibly a little more dof , if you'd have had the rope further from the wall on the right and a smaller aperture, the wall would be more oof :)
 
Craig - some good shots there. The skill on show in the cake shot is amazing! The photos (and particularly the edit) are good takes. Lighting could perhaps be improved to lessen the shadows, but difficult to set up without "losing the moment" I'd guess.

Half is just great - super humour, nice use of shallow DOF and the brickwork adds rather than detracts for me. Lighting is subtle but effective. Well done!
 
HI Craig


Skill.....I really admire folk who can create cakes like that..looks amazing so big :clap:(y) to your good lady for having that skill . Your edited version minus the scissors looks much better , agree with Grahams comments re the concentration & getting the eye in shot (y)

Half...good to see Mr Wood getting in to your shots.....helpful little soul ain't he (y) I like the shot as it is but woold like a little more light on Mr Wood to make him pop a little more ?
 
Skill: I'm impressed by your wifes cake making / decorating skills and also your cloning skills. You've done a good job on the window sill and cooker clone - really nice to see you getting more adventurous with PS. Composition works well too and shows off the cake nicely

Half: Cool idea....I can see some creative thinking going on there. I especially like the way you've positioned the feet. Agree with Lynne re more light on Woody...I think a reflector (or some tinfoil) reflected back on him would do the trick (y)
 
Hi, fantastic cake skills,so spot on for the theme (y)
half as mentioned above a little more light but you have posed him really well
 
Skill - liking the take on the theme, I can only imagine the skill that goes into decorating a cake like that. I like the edited version with the cloning adjustments, good work.

Half - fun idea for the theme nicely done.
 
Hi Craig, what a talented wife you have!
Skill....cake icing a real skill when done to that standard, you did a great job on the cloning too, well done to both of you :clap::clap:
Half...Like Lynne i think woody could do with a bit more light, a fun idea well executed :)
 
hmmm .. gonna have to think about the cake pic. I like it very much, professional cakemaking , clean, healthy, colourful but -dare I say- a bit clinical?

I'd be inclined to crop it severely top & right, zooming in on the cake, her hands & eyes ... but I can be a bit reckless ...
 
Hi Craig like your take on skill bang on there you need a steady hand to ice a cake with plenty of thought and imagination. Prefer your edited version too.

I like the idea of Mr Wood and he is on theme but I think he could have been more prominent in the frame and I might have had a more shallow dof.
 
Hi Craig ...super skill shot and well done with the cloning, although I do agree with d00d that a closer crop would really emphasise the concentration...also well done to your wife ... I'm sure her cake making skills are very much in demand.

I love the Mr Wood shot...what a great idea ...very unique :)
 
Phil-D said:
Hiya Craig, Skill, well done to your wife, loads of skill there (y) Edit looks a lot better (y), like Graham, I noticed the pink handle scissors on the left

Good idea for half, woody on a zip wire (y) ...possibly a little more dof , if you'd have had the rope further from the wall on the right and a smaller aperture, the wall would be more oof :)
Click to expand...
pjm1 said:
Craig - some good shots there. The skill on show in the cake shot is amazing! The photos (and particularly the edit) are good takes. Lighting could perhaps be improved to lessen the shadows, but difficult to set up without "losing the moment" I'd guess.

Half is just great - super humour, nice use of shallow DOF and the brickwork adds rather than detracts for me. Lighting is subtle but effective. Well done!
Click to expand...
blondie606 said:
HI Craig


Skill.....I really admire folk who can create cakes like that..looks amazing so big :clap:(y) to your good lady for having that skill . Your edited version minus the scissors looks much better , agree with Grahams comments re the concentration & getting the eye in shot (y)

Half...good to see Mr Wood getting in to your shots.....helpful little soul ain't he (y) I like the shot as it is but woold like a little more light on Mr Wood to make him pop a little more ?
Click to expand...
JasonGlyn said:
Skill: I'm impressed by your wifes cake making / decorating skills and also your cloning skills. You've done a good job on the window sill and cooker clone - really nice to see you getting more adventurous with PS. Composition works well too and shows off the cake nicely

Half: Cool idea....I can see some creative thinking going on there. I especially like the way you've positioned the feet. Agree with Lynne re more light on Woody...I think a reflector (or some tinfoil) reflected back on him would do the trick (y)
Click to expand...
alsjazzera said:
Hi, fantastic cake skills,so spot on for the theme (y)
half as mentioned above a little more light but you have posed him really well
Click to expand...
Pinkbikerbabe said:
Skill - liking the take on the theme, I can only imagine the skill that goes into decorating a cake like that. I like the edited version with the cloning adjustments, good work.

Half - fun idea for the theme nicely done.
Click to expand...
Judi said:
Hi Craig, what a talented wife you have!
Skill....cake icing a real skill when done to that standard, you did a great job on the cloning too, well done to both of you :clap::clap:
Half...Like Lynne i think woody could do with a bit more light, a fun idea well executed :)
Click to expand...
Crtm said:
Hi Craig like your take on skill bang on there you need a steady hand to ice a cake with plenty of thought and imagination. Prefer your edited version too.

I like the idea of Mr Wood and he is on theme but I think he could have been more prominent in the frame and I might have had a more shallow dof.
Click to expand...
susiejb said:
Hi Craig ...super skill shot and well done with the cloning, although I do agree with d00d that a closer crop would really emphasise the concentration...also well done to your wife ... I'm sure her cake making skills are very much in demand.

I love the Mr Wood shot...what a great idea ...very unique :)
Click to expand...


Thanks all for commenting - wife is really pleased with your lovely comments on her cake making skills and mr wood is going to get more light :)
 
week 31 added - took a detour on the way home from work to a local church as I was really struggling for idea's while wandering hopelessly camera in hand hoping for some divine inspiration I spot this Bee keeping type thingy from the 1800's - needed to do a bit of cloning again to remove the power lines and lampposts hopefully its not as noticeable this week

ag 1 by Craigw1978, on Flickr
 
Hi, not sure the angle is right with it perhaps a more straight on view, you have done a good job with the cloning (y)
 
Yeah, the angle caught my eye as well.

Looks a little flat to me and I might have been tempted to get in closer for a more abstract feel.

Chests.
 
Hi Craig
Rich - all has been said - but I am not a lover of these dragon thingies :exit:
Skill - lots has been said re details with which i agree and it could have been improved but overall this is a cracking shot for the theme. It portrays good skills at work, real concentration, detail in the hands and cake, excellent skin tones. And overall and importantly it does not look at all posed. Well done(y)
Half - like the idea and agree with others re light on model. But good pose and b/g and dof on rope. Concrete blocks at op jar a little
Architectural - good subject and on theme but in my view a difficult shot to get right.- if there is a right. With this type of subject i want to capture the whole but it often means including stuff at the side and top with which i am not happy - but to crop often loses details., e.g the finials on the top.
 
Interesting structure, nice POV ... I think that's how I would have approached it.

If it's in the grounds of a church, could it have been for keeping urns of ashes? Just a thought. They may have had individually designed name plaques fitted in place.
 
Hi Craig like the idea but I think I would have gone in close and picked out some of the detail, there is plenty of it to choose from. I don't like what you have done to the sky perhaps thats because of the amount of cloning you had to do. It's a beekeeping bole as honey was used to sweeten things before refined sugar cane was introduced and beeswax was required to make candles.
 
Hi Craig. Architecture... interesting take (architectural detail) although as Carol suggests, perhaps closer in on the detail would be stronger?

Good job on the cloning, the sky looks slightly odd/digital and there's also some CA top left (my current favourite spot, especially with WA and zoom lenses!)

I actually quite like the angle and with a tweak on exposure and/or contrast (perhaps even a B&W conversion) I think it might pop a lot more.
 
superpippo said:
Hi Craig
Rich - all has been said - but I am not a lover of these dragon thingies :exit:
Skill - lots has been said re details with which i agree and it could have been improved but overall this is a cracking shot for the theme. It portrays good skills at work, real concentration, detail in the hands and cake, excellent skin tones. And overall and importantly it does not look at all posed. Well done(y)
Half - like the idea and agree with others re light on model. But good pose and b/g and dof on rope. Concrete blocks at op jar a little
Architectural - good subject and on theme but in my view a difficult shot to get right.- if there is a right. With this type of subject i want to capture the whole but it often means including stuff at the side and top with which i am not happy - but to crop often loses details., e.g the finials on the top.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate
 
Crtm said:
Hi Craig like the idea but I think I would have gone in close and picked out some of the detail, there is plenty of it to choose from. I don't like what you have done to the sky perhaps thats because of the amount of cloning you had to do. It's a beekeeping bole as honey was used to sweeten things before refined sugar cane was introduced and beeswax was required to make candles.
Click to expand...

Thanks for popping along and commenting Carol
 
pjm1 said:
Hi Craig. Architecture... interesting take (architectural detail) although as Carol suggests, perhaps closer in on the detail would be stronger?

Good job on the cloning, the sky looks slightly odd/digital and there's also some CA top left (my current favourite spot, especially with WA and zoom lenses!)

I actually quite like the angle and with a tweak on exposure and/or contrast (perhaps even a B&W conversion) I think it might pop a lot more.
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul tbh had not considered a Bw conversion but now you have mentioned it
 
It's a cracker! Sorry :coat:

Nice solid background and just the right light and angle to be able to see a hint of the yolk left inside. I can't make my mind up about the darker patches on the shell - on the one hand they are a little distracting, on the other hand they help to enhance the texture, so I can't decide whether they're a good thing or a bad thing :confused:
 
Hi, your link is not working from flickr, besides that I saw a similar pic on flickr the other day, would have liked to see the whole word and for the whole thing to be a little cleaner, the egg is very grubby.
other than that it needs a base really as it looks like its floating in mid air, don't mean to sound harsh its a nice idea
 
Hi Craig

I like the egg disappearing into the background - it's a neat effect. I do, however, agree with Allan that the egg could be cleaner. I also think it could do with a stop or so of exposure - it looks very dark to me, which I realise is part "mood" but I think would still benefit from a lift.

It was a real tough week - at least Sharp ought to be easier for us all!!
 
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