weekly The Ian W 52 mkII (2017) - Weeks 6, 7 & 8 added

Well I like the vignette it sort of reminds me of looking through a prison cell door, adds to the atmosphere of oppression. IMHO

Ties in perfectly with the look I was after then, thanks! :)

Liking gagging order a lot Ian but I'm not too sure about the model :p The vignette draws the eye nicely to the face (y)

Haha thanks a bunch, Jill! ;)

Great take on the theme. :plus1:

Nice theme and nicely exposed

Thanks both, always nice to know I've done something right!

i like it, i like the theme, much more original than lining a bunch of stuff up (like i did)

Nothing wrong with 'lining stuff up' so to speak. I mean, it must be popular for a reason :)

Had to chuckle at your submission Ian.
You've got the selfie sharp on the eyes, which can't be easy. (y)

One of may takes I must admit! Thanks for commenting, Tim :)

What an excellent idea ....not easy to think of something different for the theme, I like the vignette too, it frames your face really well.

Much appreciated, Susie. Another tick for the vignette then!
 
week 1 hahaha I like this a fun take on the theme, I hope it didnt hurt puling that tape of :D, as the image itself goes it is nicely exposed just not sure on the dark vignetting for this image.

Thanks, Mandy. I'm determined to think outside the box with the themes this year as last year went a bit stale I think and didn't keep me stimulated enough (all my own fault tbf as I found myself just going through the motions a bit). Thankfully the tape didn't hurt coming off either, though I was thankful I didn't use anything stronger than masking tape!

Another cross for the vignette, too ;)
 
Aren't gagging orders for footballers and celebrities that have been a little naughty? so are you an Elton John or a Ryan Giggs :D

Fun shot (y)
 
Struggled to come up with something original this week as despite having a few ideas, they just didn't work out for me (so may be a re-shoot on the cards for this one). As many others have spotted and submitted already, it is indeed a cat's life. Our Mia looks so comfortable every night, I certainly wouldn't mind coming back as a cat in my next life!


A Cat's Life
by Ian Williams, on Flickr

Thanks

Ian
 
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thats a lovely picture of your cat, nice focus and good PP,, would take a little off the bottom maybe and the ears a bit close to the left a square crop would be good, but its just personal opinion of course
 
thats a lovely picture of your cat, nice focus and good PP,, would take a little off the bottom maybe and the ears a bit close to the left a square crop would be good, but its just personal opinion of course
Thanks Allan. Agreed on the ear, but I'd just missed keeping it horizontal and had to rotate slightly which brought the ear to the edge. I just couldn't leave it squint and did toy with a square crop also.

Thanks for stopping by.
 
Beautiful shot of Mia ... looks so soft and comfy. Lovely soft tones.
 
I'm with Allan and the gang too Ian, cropped to square would improve it no end.
This is a shot where the shallow DoF has worked against you, the lack of any detail in the oof foreground renders it redundant.
I don't mind that her right ear is on the edge, but to balance it I would have cropped the top of the photo down to her left ear too.
 
Always love a resting kitty shot, probably a little too much space below but the narrow Dof is fine for me. (y)
 
Lovely in black and white Ian, like the idea of a square crop on it too.

I'm with Allan on the crop but you captured those gorgeous eyes beautifully :)

Beautiful shot of Mia ... looks so soft and comfy. Lovely soft tones.

A nice comfortable cat nap, agree with Allan :)

I'm with Allan and the gang too Ian, cropped to square would improve it no end.
This is a shot where the shallow DoF has worked against you, the lack of any detail in the oof foreground renders it redundant.
I don't mind that her right ear is on the edge, but to balance it I would have cropped the top of the photo down to her left ear too.

Always love a resting kitty shot, probably a little too much space below but the narrow Dof is fine for me. (y)

Fair to say the general consensus is that the square crop would improve the shot. As such (and against my better judgement to re-post a shot), here she is :)


A Cat's Life (squared)
by Ian Williams, on Flickr
 
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The weather and a fellow TP member who shall not be named were against me this week for what I thought was going to be an original shot of a Highland cow. Alas, it was not to be. I didn't fancy posting yet another cat picture (sorry, Mia) so resorted to one of two other 'hairy' things I had in mind.....myself (no selfies this time, you're in luck) or my actual chosen subject this week, the humble Kiwi (fruit). Comments and criticism welcome as always.

My favourite of the two shots taken:

Kiwi I
by Ian Williams, on Flickr

Probably the more relevant of the two as the hairs are actually shown (rather than implied):

Kiwi II
by Ian Williams, on Flickr

Thanks

Ian
 
the first one, the lights better on the surface of the cut fruit and I like the shadow,
I see what you mean about the second one but you are right to favour the first
 
Nice cat ... Generally my fave crop is letterboxy, then square, then portrait orientation ... I like looking along a photo.

Hairy ... Yes, the first is more pleasing on the eye, maybe the first with a small aperture to get the hairy skin in focus would work best. o_O
 
I'm with @susiejb - you definitely get a greater sense of hairiness with the upturned kiwi in the second - I quite like the effect of looking past the oof front half.
 
Great cat portrait, I like the light and the B&W conversion. However, the OOF foreground doesn't work for me, not even in the square crop version.

I prefer #1 of the kiwi fruit shot, nice lighting and I like the more subtle display of hairiness, with the focus on the front half.
 
I'm with @susiejb - you definitely get a greater sense of hairiness with the upturned kiwi in the second - I quite like the effect of looking past the oof front half.

Same here - but - a slightly tighter crop on the top would have lost the detracting bit of background.

Love the first image as a standalone tho - has a real fuit zing feel to it.
 
You judged the focal point nicely on the cat photo. It would have been better if whatever's in the foreground had been removed completely, although the square crop definitely improves things.

I like the first kiwi photo. The hairs are still very visible aboud the edge of the slice. The reflections on the cut bit in the second photo are a little distracting.
 
Hairy #2 for me Ian. I like looking past the oof face of the fruit in front to the hairy background and I love the lighting too with the twinkling on the cut surface (y)
 
Needs to be a closer shot to be more on theme but a good shot on it's own, second the foreground oof and reflections are a bit distracting as it takes my eye away from the hairs you focused on.
 
Lovely kitty cat. I do prefer the square crop, really makes you just focus on her:)

Torn over the kiwi too. I do prefer the first one but it doesn't really show the hairiness but personally not sure about the out of focus kiwi at the front tho it does show the hairs very well :confused:
 
Comfort - I got to agree the square crop of your cat works best, its a very pleasing shot to look at.

Hairy - I like the second image better for composition, but i think it would be better if we just had a good close up of the hairy part of the Kiwi.
 
I agree with your selection of shot, the green in focus works better.
The second, closer, shot would work well as one of them thar focus stacking composites that some on here are damn good at.
 
the first one, the lights better on the surface of the cut fruit and I like the shadow,
I see what you mean about the second one but you are right to favour the first

Thanks, Allan. My thoughts exactly.

Visually I think the first is more pleasing on the eye, but for the theme I like the 'hairy' outside of the fruit in the second one, that's a really nice capture of the cut fruit section in the first one.

Thank you, Susie. I definitely agree the second is a better match for the theme, but the first definitely looks better to the eye.

Nice cat ... Generally my fave crop is letterboxy, then square, then portrait orientation ... I like looking along a photo.

Hairy ... Yes, the first is more pleasing on the eye, maybe the first with a small aperture to get the hairy skin in focus would work best. o_O

I know what you mean about the orientation of a photo. That's generally my preferred view also. I used a couple of extension tubes to get the detail on the Kiwi shots so was a royal pain in the ass to get the focus where I wanted it. Would like another go with better light and on a tripod as these were all hand held.

I'm with @susiejb - you definitely get a greater sense of hairiness with the upturned kiwi in the second - I quite like the effect of looking past the oof front half.

Thanks, Carl. I think you're definitely in the minority, but can appreciate what you're saying hence I posted the second shot at all.

Two good shots, like the second showing the hairy back, nice lighting :)

Thanks, Dave :)

Great cat portrait, I like the light and the B&W conversion. However, the OOF foreground doesn't work for me, not even in the square crop version.

I prefer #1 of the kiwi fruit shot, nice lighting and I like the more subtle display of hairiness, with the focus on the front half.

Thanks for the comments. I'm a sucker for a shallow DoF, sometimes to my own detriment. Lighting was pretty poor so shot wide open resulting in the shallow DoF in this case.

I think the highlights in the second are too engaging to let your eyes travel on - but I do like them!

What can I say, you're certainly not alone in being distracted by shiny, pretty things :D

Same here - but - a slightly tighter crop on the top would have lost the detracting bit of background.

Love the first image as a standalone tho - has a real fuit zing feel to it.

Thanks very much for the comment. Totally see where you're coming from re: losing the distracting BG at the top, too.

You judged the focal point nicely on the cat photo. It would have been better if whatever's in the foreground had been removed completely, although the square crop definitely improves things.

I like the first kiwi photo. The hairs are still very visible aboud the edge of the slice. The reflections on the cut bit in the second photo are a little distracting.

Thanks for the comments, Nick. All worthy of note.

Hairy #2 for me Ian. I like looking past the oof face of the fruit in front to the hairy background and I love the lighting too with the twinkling on the cut surface (y)

Thanks, Jill. Glad you like it, even if you do disagree with me I won't argue with you in the slightest :)

Needs to be a closer shot to be more on theme but a good shot on it's own, second the foreground oof and reflections are a bit distracting as it takes my eye away from the hairs you focused on.

I see what you mean. As above, this was with extension tubes on a non-macro lens and was handheld. Not so easy! Would love to give a proper macro lens a go.

Lovely kitty cat. I do prefer the square crop, really makes you just focus on her:)

Torn over the kiwi too. I do prefer the first one but it doesn't really show the hairiness but personally not sure about the out of focus kiwi at the front tho it does show the hairs very well :confused:

Agreed re: the kiwi. The square crop certainly looks better on the cat. You'd almost think she was a placid kitty whereas she actually is a wee witch :D

Hmmm, well, I'm not keen on the green kiwi, and would prefer just the hairy section.

Cheers and nowt wrong with selfies :)

I did take a hairy shot only on the kiwi, but just didn't look right and found it really quite boring tbh. Perhaps poor lighting or perhaps just a lack of detail through my lens selection / hand held shots.

Comfort - I got to agree the square crop of your cat works best, its a very pleasing shot to look at.

Hairy - I like the second image better for composition, but i think it would be better if we just had a good close up of the hairy part of the Kiwi.

Thanks for commenting :)

I agree with your selection of shot, the green in focus works better.
The second, closer, shot would work well as one of them thar focus stacking composites that some on here are damn good at.

Definitely. I just don't have the patience or know how to do any kind of focus stacking. I'll leave it to them thar professionals I think :)
 
Already a little behind and struggled for something to go with Smooth. My prop is on its way for Week 5 but in the mean time, here's my evening's work which I thought (or hoped) tied in nicely with Smooth (yes, you'll just have to take my word for it):


Cognac ONA
by Ian Williams, on Flickr

Thanks

Ian
 
Works for me! The DOF is just right, focussing attention on the text but leaving enough of the background identifiable, and the B&W looks good too. Could be an advert.
 
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