weekly blakesters 52 for 2013 Finally Complete! Last 3 weeks added

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

Oh Boy, I Love the first, it would make a great postcard. The second is good too and the third made me burst out laughing. Great submission Iain.

 

[blakester]

Oh Boy, I Love the first, it would make a great postcard. The second is good too and the third made me burst out laughing. Great submission Iain.

Thanks Brian, my preference is #2 of the set but the others do have different appeal to me. Glad there is something there you like too.

 

[foggy4ever]

Kind...of magic...it's a.....kind of want to break into a Queen song now. Clever photo trickery, as already mentioned background isn't ideal but great overall effect.

Vertical, sometimes too much isn't always a good thing. Great variety of land marks but all looks just a little to compact/crowded plus the bland skies don't do the subjects justice.

I really like the second one but you are just a tad off being dead centre.

The third is just

 

[sworks]

Can't pick one, all are brilliant

 

[posiview]

I'm sure I've seen #2 before Do like this one. The lines, angles and perspective work for me.

#3 very odd but works well. Pity the feet couldn't be a tad to the right, under the body.

#1, yeah, London I've seen panel 1 a few other times, not in yours though. A lot of thought has been pit into this one with 1 and 5, 2 and 4 going well together and 3 finishing it off. Pity the sky wasn't playing but doesn't really distract.

Good show and 3 too boot

Cheers.

 

[Dark Knight]

Hi Iain

Sorry buddy... looks like I haven't popped in here for a bit either

Value - Not sure on the positioning, but love the angle and the background colours of the cobbles and flags, nice clear text and very original for the theme

(now if only somebody had captured you on the memorial

Greed - Very imaginative, nicely set up, I like the shadows created by the lighting - Nice One

Angles - Wow... those colours are great, very effective angle too - should be a poster

Reflection of Light & On Reflection - What can I say but excellent

Rustic - Lovely grain there... didn't notice the match at first

Kind - Of Magic, very well set up Iain (would like to see how- trade secret), would have liked a yellower banana though

Vertical - LMAO at Welsh Guard

My pic of the 3 is the first set - Nelson is on the ****, other than that, I'm tired and need to get to bed

Seriously, a cracking set of images there, the London Eye would have fitted better if 'End On' but that's being picky

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Allan.H]

Out of the three number 2 for me, the first one suffers from the dullness of the weather the sky in them all is rather grey and flat, really like the left and the right image good perspective
The third is funny to look at, the stairs are excellent nice exposure and composition

 

[overbez]

Great shots of london - taken well to fit in with the theme, and arranged and presented to further strengthen said theme. shame about the sky, but that's not your fault, as Brian said - could easily be a postcard.

Stairs - not for me.

The welsh guard is great - novel and interesting, shot itself looks technically perfect - arranged as a trio for interesting effect - not sure it really still fits the theme though?
Was it a single shot split up or 3 separate ones combined together afterwards?

 

[blakester]

Kind...of magic...it's a.....kind of want to break into a Queen song now. Clever photo trickery, as already mentioned background isn't ideal but great overall effect.

Vertical, sometimes too much isn't always a good thing. Great variety of land marks but all looks just a little to compact/crowded plus the bland skies don't do the subjects justice.

I really like the second one but you are just a tad off being dead centre.

The third is just

Cheers f4e
I see what you mean about it being a little crowded, I played with different compositions and ended with this one, as I wanted it an odd number. 5 frames seemed most suitable, there wasn't enough in 3 frames for me. Compromise eh?

Can't pick one, all are brilliant

Thanks Mark

I'm sure I've seen #2 before Do like this one. The lines, angles and perspective work for me.

#3 very odd but works well. Pity the feet couldn't be a tad to the right, under the body.

#1, yeah, London I've seen panel 1 a few other times, not in yours though. A lot of thought has been pit into this one with 1 and 5, 2 and 4 going well together and 3 finishing it off. Pity the sky wasn't playing but doesn't really distract.

Good show and 3 too boot

Cheers.

Thanks Andy,
Yes you have seen #2 before but from a different perspective. This was down looking up, one before opposite.
Yes, it was a shame about the sky but it was one of those grey days

Hi Iain

Sorry buddy... looks like I haven't popped in here for a bit either

Value - Not sure on the positioning, but love the angle and the background colours of the cobbles and flags, nice clear text and very original for the theme

(now if only somebody had captured you on the memorial

Greed - Very imaginative, nicely set up, I like the shadows created by the lighting - Nice One

Angles - Wow... those colours are great, very effective angle too - should be a poster

Reflection of Light & On Reflection - What can I say but excellent

Rustic - Lovely grain there... didn't notice the match at first

Kind - Of Magic, very well set up Iain (would like to see how- trade secret), would have liked a yellower banana though

Vertical - LMAO at Welsh Guard

My pic of the 3 is the first set - Nelson is on the ****, other than that, I'm tired and need to get to bed

Seriously, a cracking set of images there, the London Eye would have fitted better if 'End On' but that's being picky
Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Cheers Dean

No real secret to the banana shot, I placed a wooden skewer through the banana and supported it on either side by resting it on top of two small glasses. Glasses so as not to introduce any shadow or such. The glasses were easily cropped out, the skewer, a little clone tool work seen that go.

I did take a side on shot of the London Eye but didn't use it in the end, I opted for the straight on one to add a little interest in the middle of the frame.

Out of the three number 2 for me, the first one suffers from the dullness of the weather the sky in them all is rather grey and flat, really like the left and the right image good perspective
The third is funny to look at, the stairs are excellent nice exposure and composition

Thanks Allan
The weather wasn't my friend the other day.

Great shots of london - taken well to fit in with the theme, and arranged and presented to further strengthen said theme. shame about the sky, but that's not your fault, as Brian said - could easily be a postcard.

Stairs - not for me.

The welsh guard is great - novel and interesting, shot itself looks technically perfect - arranged as a trio for interesting effect - not sure it really still fits the theme though?
Was it a single shot split up or 3 separate ones combined together afterwards?

Thanks Graham
Excuse my use of the crowbar on the Guard
My thinking was Guardsman, straight up and down.
No it was taken from various images, I think it would probably work better if it were from one image but I couldn't get a shot straight on to the Guard to use.

good luck!

Thankyou Jounpla

 

[michael23]

I like the flight of stairs Iain, but my pic of the bunch is the welsh guard, I like the way you have split it in to the 3 parts.

 

[blakester]

I like the flight of stairs Iain, but my pic of the bunch is the welsh guard, I like the way you have split it in to the 3 parts.

Thanks Michael, I wanted to take it away from a straightforward image of the guard.
The parts weren't taken from the same image, I think it would work better if I had one image to work with but it wasn't possible.

 

[superpippo]

Hi Iain

Vertical - #1 - an unusual and interesting 5 -tych. I like the idea and it nearly works but for me, there are some differences in the shots which detract. All of them have clear sky except for #1, some appear to be mono whilst others appear coloured, altho I accept that they may all be the same treatment, and the light in the sky is uneven. good individual shots tho an dpartic like pov on 1,4,5

#2 is on theme and clear and the mono works

#3 is my pick. Very clear crisp images, super colour and an excellent idea. I like the way that the rifle and bayonet line up and it would have been exceptional if the red trouser piping lined up too. Also I think that it is better that the shots are different because this gives the feeling of the thme in that we expect all guardsmen to be vertical whereas the same shot with the tryptych treatment would perhaps just look like a chopped up shpt.

 

[blondie606]

Morning matey.....apologies for not popping in sooner ...I totally know where you're coming from wit the work malarky....roll on June

Kind of Magic.....if thats one of your Post & be Dammed images god help me.....great trickery , great pp...nicely muted bg that still fits with the fruit as gives the feel of being in the kitchen , like the focus as is... not 100% on the desat look...bit more yellow maybe ?

Vertical...Stairs for me everytime......I spent a while trying to find similar round my way but failed miserably...... & I hate crit'ing your shots cos they're so darn good BUT....I would be tempted to crop the lhs & bottom slightly...probably my OCD playing up :bonk:

The 5 shots combined is great thinking...all work really wel for me , appear to be slightly desat'd which aso works...the only one I can't get to grips with is the London Eye but can't quite put my finger on why

See you in june matey ...not long to go now thankfully

 

[blakester]

Hi Iain

Vertical - #1 - an unusual and interesting 5 -tych. I like the idea and it nearly works but for me, there are some differences in the shots which detract. All of them have clear sky except for #1, some appear to be mono whilst others appear coloured, altho I accept that they may all be the same treatment, and the light in the sky is uneven. good individual shots tho an dpartic like pov on 1,4,5

#2 is on theme and clear and the mono works

#3 is my pick. Very clear crisp images, super colour and an excellent idea. I like the way that the rifle and bayonet line up and it would have been exceptional if the red trouser piping lined up too. Also I think that it is better that the shots are different because this gives the feeling of the thme in that we expect all guardsmen to be vertical whereas the same shot with the tryptych treatment would perhaps just look like a chopped up shpt.

Thanks Alan,
The London landmarks image are all colour, it was such a grey day that some of them look B&W. This would work better in better weather I think. Maybe a plain blue sky behind to concentrate the viewers eye

Lining up the trouser piping on the guardsman is a good shout, I might have another play with the images to see if I can line everything up. Cheers

Morning matey.....apologies for not popping in sooner ...I totally know where you're coming from wit the work malarky....roll on June

Kind of Magic.....if thats one of your Post & be Dammed images god help me.....great trickery , great pp...nicely muted bg that still fits with the fruit as gives the feel of being in the kitchen , like the focus as is... not 100% on the desat look...bit more yellow maybe ?

Vertical...Stairs for me everytime......I spent a while trying to find similar round my way but failed miserably...... & I hate crit'ing your shots cos they're so darn good BUT....I would be tempted to crop the lhs & bottom slightly...probably my OCD playing up :bonk:

The 5 shots combined is great thinking...all work really wel for me , appear to be slightly desat'd which aso works...the only one I can't get to grips with is the London Eye but can't quite put my finger on why

See you in june matey ...not long to go now thankfully

Thanks Lynne, no apologies necessary for not looking in, I have been really slack at commenting on others threads and don't expect comments on my thread. I try to keep up to date, in the hope that work will ease up to give me some downtime

Yes, I am looking forward to June too, I need to get my backside in gear and do a bit of research on the area to make a few suggestions.

 

[NickD]

All good stuff!

Can't co wrong with the landmarks... Particularly like the low angle on the One New Change and Tower Bridge shots, sets them apart from the standards.

The staircase is nicely done, and the conversion really suits.

The Welsh Guard has it by a mile for me though, great idea and beautifully done!

 

[blakester]

All good stuff!

Can't co wrong with the landmarks... Particularly like the low angle on the One New Change and Tower Bridge shots, sets them apart from the standards.

The staircase is nicely done, and the conversion really suits.

The Welsh Guard has it by a mile for me though, great idea and beautifully done!

Thanks Nick
I was pleased with my haul of photographs from that day.
The Welsh Guard one has had various "reviews" so far, making people laugh was an unexpected opinion

 

[landerson07]

I love your photos, always original and nail the theme every time! How long have you been into photography?

I've made a list of all the previous weeks and might try joining in if I can catch up.

 

[blakester]

I love your photos, always original and nail the theme every time! How long have you been into photography?

I've made a list of all the previous weeks and might try joining in if I can catch up.

Thanks for your kind comments.
I have been into photography around 10years, more seriously probably about 5 years.
You could join in straight away with this weeks theme and catch up on previous weeks as and when you can.

 

[blakester]

Week 20 - Pattern
Another London photowalk before work this week which yielded a few options.
I have chosen one for my submission but post the others for comparison.

Your C&C welcome as always.


Kings Cross by iain blake, on Flickr

 

[blakester]

The others.......


Window Light by iain blake, on Flickr


Curvature by iain blake, on Flickr


Stairlight by iain blake, on Flickr

 

[overbez]

what a fantastic structure - well picked for this weeks theme. Imagine it must be pretty hard to get a bad picture of it.

Think you made the right choice with your first one. Absolutely 100% bang on central, and symmetrical. Perfect the way the diagonal crosses intersect the old windows behind.

Teeny tiny niggle is the (very) slight barrel distortion noticable in the bottom row of windowsills - can be corrected by filter > distort > lens correction. (and then lens distortion to about +4), but tbh I'm not sure i prefer it with that correction or not.

Processing suits the subject, the slightly desaturated(?) look of the bricks in the building working great.

Curvature works best of the others for me, but looks like a wider lens would benefit.

 

[Allie]

Wow lovely shots Iain, #1 is my favourite.

 

[blakester]

what a fantastic structure - well picked for this weeks theme. Imagine it must be pretty hard to get a bad picture of it.

Think you made the right choice with your first one. Absolutely 100% bang on central, and symmetrical. Perfect the way the diagonal crosses intersect the old windows behind.

Teeny tiny niggle is the (very) slight barrel distortion noticable in the bottom row of windowsills - can be corrected by filter > distort > lens correction. (and then lens distortion to about +4), but tbh I'm not sure i prefer it with that correction or not.

Processing suits the subject, the slightly desaturated(?) look of the bricks in the building working great.

Curvature works best of the others for me, but looks like a wider lens would benefit.

Thanks Graham
Yes, it is a very photogenic subject, I agree.
I did correct the barrel distortion but held it there, I agree I could take it a little bit further.
Yes, a wider lens is on my wish list but will have to remain there for the time being, I have expensive champagne taste on a lemonade budget

Wow lovely shots Iain, #1 is my favourite.

Thanks Allie
As said to Graham, it is a very photogenic subject.

 

[posiview]

Hi, must be great to live in London...

#1 is a cracker. Very ll composed and cracking symmetry. Nice and sharp as well.

I did a quick crop to exclude the left and right windows and also worked for me. Really focused attention on the hatch.

I'll look at RH others later.

Cheers.

 

[mercurius]

For me Curvature and Stairlight work best: Curvature because it's so sinuous and well shot; Stairight because I love the simplicity of the white building against the roof (what a great space Great Court is - and how frustratingly difficult to get a decent picture out of it!). Good work!

 

[blakester]

Hi, must be great to live in London...

#1 is a cracker. Very ll composed and cracking symmetry. Nice and sharp as well.

I did a quick crop to exclude the left and right windows and also worked for me. Really focused attention on the hatch.

I'll look at RH others later.

Cheers.

Thanks Andy,
I considered cropping but didn't want to lose any from the semi-circle top part but do understand what you mean

For me Curvature and Stairlight work best: Curvature because it's so sinuous and well shot; Stairight because I love the simplicity of the white building against the roof (what a great space Great Court is - and how frustratingly difficult to get a decent picture out of it!). Good work!

Thank you
Yes, the Great Court is a fantastic space to be. I wandered around for quite a while shooting from various angles. I think going during the week helped as there was less people around and less waiting to get a clear shot of the stairs

 

[Dark Knight]

What a cracking set Iain

I bet that was a tough choice choosing, maybe that's what I need to do, get up 1/2 hour early on the odd morning and set off at 6:00 to get some shot, very inspiring mate

 

[cowboy]

Agreed with everyone, very good shot.

I quite like the second one in the additional set as well but the one you chose just pips it

 

[HWest]

For vertical, I'm really torn between the stairwell and that lovely triptych of the guardsman. I like them both so much I'd have real trouble choosing between them. Can you have two?

Love the pattern shots; really interesting to see the different angles.

 

[blakester]

What a cracking set Iain

I bet that was a tough choice choosing, maybe that's what I need to do, get up 1/2 hour early on the odd morning and set off at 6:00 to get some shot, very inspiring mate

Thanks Dean
I think it is worth it just to get a different perspective on things

Agreed with everyone, very good shot.

I quite like the second one in the additional set as well but the one you chose just pips it

Thanks Mark
I too like the second one but went with my choice as it had symmetry and perhaps was more on theme because of it IYSWIM

For vertical, I'm really torn between the stairwell and that lovely triptych of the guardsman. I like them both so much I'd have real trouble choosing between them. Can you have two?

Love the pattern shots; really interesting to see the different angles.

Thanks Tony
I opted for the stairwell in the end

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

I think you chose the right one. (the others are good but that one is best in my eyes)

Another excellent submission Iain, well done.

 

[blakester]

I think you chose the right one. (the others are good but that one is best in my eyes)

Another excellent submission Iain, well done.

Thanks Brian
I enjoyed this weeks theme, I must admit.

 

[blondie606]

hi matey

Pattern....all fab in there own ways but Kingscross & Stairlight.....just superb

Kingscross.....wonderfully framed with a touch of desat/HDR maybe ?Whichever it is it sets the image off perfectly

Stairlight....you really get drawn in the image ,beautiful light , subtle shades of difference with the splash of gold just lifting it....wonderful wonderful

 

[The goblin]

Hi Iain, I think all the pattern shots are excellent. The detail in the brickwork in number one just gives an extra depth and lovely contrast

I have to say that curvature is my favourite though, the detail is AMAZING!

 

[blakester]

hi matey

Pattern....all fab in there own ways but Kingscross & Stairlight.....just superb

Kingscross.....wonderfully framed with a touch of desat/HDR maybe ?Whichever it is it sets the image off perfectly

Stairlight....you really get drawn in the image ,beautiful light , subtle shades of difference with the splash of gold just lifting it....wonderful wonderful

Hi Lynne
Thank you so much for your comments,

Kings Cross is HDR initially then I desaturated it in photoshop.

Stairlight, I really like and as mentioned was considered for the theme but I didn't think it was as much on theme as my choice.

Hi Iain, I think all the pattern shots are excellent. The detail in the brickwork in number one just gives an extra depth and lovely contrast

I have to say that curvature is my favourite though, the detail is AMAZING!

Hi Marsha
Many thanks to you too for your kind comments.
Kings Cross is definately worth a visit if we have another meet/photowalk?

 

[blakester]

Week 21 - Movement
I took a little trip down to Southend on Sea, Essex for this weeks theme.
As seems to have been the way recently, I have come away with a few that I considered for the theme.
I have chosen this one as my submission.

Your C&C welcome as always.


Full Spin by iain blake, on Flickr

 

[blakester]

The others considered.


Night Drive by iain blake, on Flickr


Into The Light by iain blake, on Flickr


Fairground Attraction by iain blake, on Flickr

 

[Allan.H]

Hi Iain?
its interesting I will give you that, what is it you where shooting through?
Its a very bright image but it works quite fascinating to look at

 

[blakester]

Hi Iain?
its interesting I will give you that, what is it you where shooting through?
Its a very bright image but it works quite fascinating to look at

Hi Allan,
Thanks for commenting.
It is a crystal ball sat on a fence post above the fairground at Southend on Sea.
The image has been rotated through 180deg.

 

[foggy4ever]

Pattern, the first you have chosen I like because of the symmetry and contrast between the structure and the building in the background but I do like Curvature quite a lot too because of the angle its shot at.



Curvature wins by a nose