weekly XenosElaine's 52s Thread - Support added

Phil-D said:
Pigs might fly! .....And a load of old balls!..:LOL:.........two excellent ideas for what I thought was a tricky theme :)

The focus on the pig looks spot on, good detail and well lit, looks like flash? and used well :clap:

Your pp'ing skill are well in front of mine, I wouldn't know where to start, adding a blue bg. You've managed to get a subtle blend of a lighter colour blue below, it certainly looks like sky, well done :clap:

Not too sure if the balls look soft ( oh, errr missus :D) or not, focus could be slightly right on the racket and the dof could be the cause :)
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Thanks Phil. Yes, the pig was dangling from the stair banister where there's not a lot of light, so I was forced to use flash. Now that I've actually got over my dislike of flash, I intend to experiment with Blondie's suggestion of wrapping tissue around it to diffuse the light. The sky bg took me well over an hour to paint in, so I'm glad you like it :hug:

With the balls, I used a really shallow dof, focussing dead centre on the top ball, so I can't work out why the racquets seem sharper than the balls, unless it just that they have much sharper edges to start with :confused:
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi, pigs might fly works for me and you have done a great job with the BG a bit more space round it would be a crit but thats a bit nit picky really
load of old balls is a great idea too and the focus looks fine to me
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Thanks Allan. There was a lot more bg to start with, but I cropped most of it out to avoid spending any longer painting in the sky :D
 
Dark Knight said:
Excellent news... Added you to the 2015 sheet :exit:

Nonsense - Haaaaa what a couple of good idea's, love the pig shot, really well lit, the sky background works really well too with such a pink girl, good one (y)

As fore the Balls, fuzzy ones at that :LOL:
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Thanks DK, s'pose if I'm on the spreadsheet............ :rolleyes:

Have to admit to a bit of colour enhancement with the pig! Bought her from a charity shop for a quid the previous afternoon and she was very well loved - aka grubby - so rather than giving her a good wash and having to wait for her to dry out, I went down the pp road instead :oops: :$
 
Delta Skies said:
#1 for me by a long way. The exposure is great and the upturned ears make it look like it's flying LOL
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Thanks Peter. The pig's ears came with handy wires inside the edges, so it was easy to pull them into shape - unlike the arms which had to be pinned back with safety pins, but I did apologise to her for the temporary distress and no permanent scars were left :D
 
Looks like a sky to me, looks like a flying pig too :clap:

Not sure about #2

OMG ... you're doing 2015!!!

I've said to myself more than once that I'm quitting at the end of '14. But, as the one who got you into this mess to begin with, I guess I'd better sign up for '15 too. :eek:
 
that pigs awesome, :LOL: really looks like you've shot it against a lovely blue sky.

Looking back - if that was "painted in" rather than being a sky shot you;ve overlayed the pig on, then its even better. :)

load of old hairy balls is a great interpretation, nice arrangement and top down POV, but overshadowed by the pig in the sky for me.
 
d00d said:
Looks like a sky to me, looks like a flying pig too :clap:

Not sure about #2

OMG ... you're doing 2015!!!

I've said to myself more than once that I'm quitting at the end of '14. But, as the one who got you into this mess to begin with, I guess I'd better sign up for '15 too. :eek:
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(y)
 
overbez said:
that pigs awesome, :LOL: really looks like you've shot it against a lovely blue sky.

Looking back - if that was "painted in" rather than being a sky shot you;ve overlayed the pig on, then its even better. :)

load of old hairy balls is a great interpretation, nice arrangement and top down POV, but overshadowed by the pig in the sky for me.
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Thanks Graham. Learning how to use layers to make composite shots is one of the things I want to try and do next year. I'm sure it would have saved me a lot of time instead of having to painstakingly blend the colour of the sky for this shot :eek:
 
Hiya Elaine... delighted to hear you'll be doing the 2015 :) It's so much more fun with familiar faces...

I really like your pig shot. Great idea and very well executed - you've cheered us all up by showing us a lovely (even if faked!) blue sky... something all too rare at this time of year. The technicals of the pig capture are spot on so a good job there as well. I also really like the gradient on the background which makes it seem a lot more realistic than flat colour. Very well done! (y)

Re: the second nonsense shot, I think the single thing which would make this jump out more is upping the exposure by a stop and a half (or so). It's a funny one, because I always find underexposed shots look "dirty" (for want of a better word) which in a way suits the image of old balls, but I find the overriding feeling is wanting to see it brighter, nevertheless.

I bet if you look back over your last half a dozen shots or so and compare them with your first half a dozen, you'll be pleased with how this challenge is developing your skills. I know I feel that way when I'm looking at my 52 so far. Well done for (nearly) completing and keep it up for next year! :clap:
 
Thanks for looking and commenting Paul and Susie, much appreciated.

Nearly there now - Week 51! I love collecting watches and every time we go on holiday to the Far East, I spend far too much time haggling over prices with the street market stallholders - so this one is nowhere near as extravagant as it appears at first glance (probably cost me about a tenner :oops: :$ ) but hey ho it looks the part :p I've got a grandson arriving in a couple of hours for a 3-day stay, so I was a bit pushed for time. I know the focus isn't quite sharp enough on the logo and the edges look a bit iffy due to rushing the bg, so I could possibly have done better if I'd had longer to work on it, but I'm afraid this will have to do.

sblaj4.jpg
 
It certainly will do Elaine :clap:

Excellent white bg, so much so it blends into the page on my screen, love the dof, stops the image looking flat (y).....:thinking:....I also think the 'soft' look around the edges really works for the image, makes it look a bit dreamy, which something extravagant can be (y)

You should have said it was intentional ;):D
 
Dreamy, soft extravagance ...

You've done well Elaine ... nicely placed in the frame ... nice shadow ...

Merry Christmas.
 
Hey Elaine :)

That will do very nicely, looks nice and sharp, bright and in focus on my lappy, liking the wide crop but would personally prefer the bottom tighter and a bit more up top, other than that the twinkle of the gems is good and the background isn't bad either (y)
 
Hi, Extravagant I like the blurred aspect too, needs a little clockwise turn but nice image for the theme (y)
 
Phil-D said:
It certainly will do Elaine :clap:

Excellent white bg, so much so it blends into the page on my screen, love the dof, stops the image looking flat (y).....:thinking:....I also think the 'soft' look around the edges really works for the image, makes it look a bit dreamy, which something extravagant can be (y)

You should have said it was intentional ;):D
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Ha ha, yes Phil - exactly how it was meant to look :p
 
susiejb said:
Hi Elaine ...I agree with Phil there, I think the soft edges complement the shot...it looks very extravagant ...even it it was only a tenner, plenty of sparkle in those diamonds :)

Have fun with the grandson and have a lovely Christmas :)
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Thanks Susie and the same to you and yours :)
 
d00d said:
Dreamy, soft extravagance ...

You've done well Elaine ... nicely placed in the frame ... nice shadow ...

Merry Christmas.
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Thanks d00d, Merry Christmas to you too :)
 
Dark Knight said:
Hey Elaine :)

That will do very nicely, looks nice and sharp, bright and in focus on my lappy, liking the wide crop but would personally prefer the bottom tighter and a bit more up top, other than that the twinkle of the gems is good and the background isn't bad either (y)
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Thanks DK. ".......would personally prefer the bottom tighter and a bit more up top" That's exactly what I said to OH when I told him to go to the gym more often and buy a new miracle hair restorer :naughty:
 
alsjazzera said:
Hi, Extravagant I like the blurred aspect too, needs a little clockwise turn but nice image for the theme (y)
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Thanks Alan, now there's a thing. You're right that the bracelet is slightly skewed ccw, but if you look closely, the watch face leans ever so slightly the other way o_O I suppose that's one reason people pay the extra few grand for the real thing, so that everything's perfectly aligned :D
 
Hi Elaine... a good shot :) Well-handled lighting for a difficult subject (having loads of little lights would work well for the "diamonds" around the face but not so well on the polished face and/or glass front).

Technically, I really like - as do others, it seems - your choice of DOF which is spot on. Your white background is absolutely immaculate (to the point where I think it migh have been painted on a touch ;) - but that's ok!) Basically all looks really super. Not being able to look at a larger version, I can't tell if the writing on the face is absolutely spot on in focus, but that would be a minor point for me either way, really.

Very well done (definitely on theme!) and I look forward to your week 52 shot! (y)
 
extravagant, nooo, £10 seems quite reasonable to me. :)

colour comes through well, you've got a nice sparkle comeing off the gems around the face, which itself looks lovely and flat and non-reflective.

And of course set to completley the correct time. :)
 
pjm1 said:
Hi Elaine... a good shot :) Well-handled lighting for a difficult subject (havloads of little lights would work well for the "diamonds" around the face but not so well on the polished face and/or glass front).

Technically, I really like - as do others, it seems - your choice of DOF which is spot on. Your white background is absolutely immaculate (to the point where I think it migh have been painted on a touch ;) - but that's ok!) Basically all looks really super. Not being able to look at a larger version, I can't tell if the writing on the face is absolutely spot on in focus, but that would be a minor point for me either way, really.

Very well done (definitely on theme!) and I look forward to your week 52 shot! (y)
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Thanks Paul. Yes, the lighting was a bit problematic, I used a tissue wrapped flash, so as not to light the glass face up too much and a small handheld LED just to throw a little extra light on the diamonds. The bg's ALL painted in - there was far too much shadow to leave it as was :D
 
blondie606 said:
Hi Elaine

Flying pig for me as well , very impressed at the painted sky :)

Extravagant....like that ,really well lit , lovely DOF ,at this size everything looks sharp as required & a shadow to ground it (y) Agree a little more room at the top would be nice
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Thanks Lynne. I haven't had time to do any feedback for a couple of weeks, but I noticed you got your watch in just before me and I think your sharpness of focus if far superior to mine :)
 
overbez said:
extravagant, nooo, £10 seems quite reasonable to me. :)

colour comes through well, you've got a nice sparkle comeing off the gems around the face, which itself looks lovely and flat and non-reflective.

And of course set to completley the correct time. :)
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Thanks Graham. Took me several goes of pulling out the adjuster knob to get the second hand pointing at exactly half past and I didn't notice until after I'd posted that the minute hand had gone just beyond 10 past :rolleyes:
 
posiview said:
Rolex Quartz :LOL::LOL::LOL:

It's a nice, clean photograph, you mentioned the slightly OOF text, but overall it fits the theme and is well composed.

Cheers.
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Cheers Andy :)
 
Last one of the year :banana: As it's still Christmas, here's something I quite like to do at this time of year -

Sup Port

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Well done Elaine, super out of the box thinking... Inspired. :)

Tbh with that link to the theme you could have gotten away with posting any old tat... But this is a really rather pleasing image. Lifted massively by the oof greenery in the foreground. Purposeful crop of the top of the bottle works.

Well done on making it through.. It's been a pleasure following your thread with many different ideas for the themes. And gorgeous photos from far off lands on your (many) holidays. :)
 
Hi Elaine

Extravagant - must agree with others that the soft edges really works foe the theme. Nice golden glow and perhaps slightly off upright - but then perhaps you had started your sup port shot? :rolleyes:

Support - like the Christmassy feel with the green and holly berries. Light a bit difficult on the decanter and I might have been tempted to go for just the bottle and the glass. Good end to your year.

Happy New Year
 
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Hi Elaine, well done for getting all the way to the end, nice play on words to finish too

Have a good new year (y)
 
Great play on words Elaine, love it :LOL:

Well done on finishing and with a super image (y)

Happy New Year, atb best for 2015, good look with next years '52 :)
 
Many thanks to everyone for all your comments and feedback. Happy New Year to all!
 
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