Darkslinger's 52 Week Challenge - 2023

nog · 10 Mar 2023

Cracked the theme this week

Think you picked the right one, like the light on the reflective floor and focus on the crack, the others make up a good set.

StuartPearson · 15 Mar 2023

Getting a catch-up on some comments!

Snappers Choice - I like the artistic effect of the multi image marker the best, but all are worthy.

Knob(s) - The simpler more graphic style in the mono conversion does work well with the vase pattern.

Letters - All of the images are great, each with their own qualities. Pic 1 does make me wonder the reason for it. I like the mono merged one, it was great timing.

Kitchen - I do like the "embrace" of the metal forks in the first image. Personally not convinced about the inclusion of the plastic fork, the contrast seems too jarring.

Broken - An interesting collection of images, your chosen one is my favourite however I like how "intentional or not" the cracks flow from image 3 to 4. At least that how it appears viewed on an iPad.

Darkslinger · 15 Mar 2023

HelenC said:
An interesting take on the theme and a good set of options. However, I'm with you on the chosen shot - the offset person with the central door makes a great composition.

Thanks Helen

SimonH said:
Great idea Bill. All good, but your chosen one is spot on for me. Very nicely composed and shot.

Thank you Simon

Adamcski said:
Good theme and with the state of the roads around here, you could have had any number of images to choose from.

I don't know about the roads where you are Adam, but the weather here certainly takes a toll.

nog said:
Cracked the theme this week
Think you picked the right one, like the light on the reflective floor and focus on the crack, the others make up a good set.

Thanks Keith, I had some other shots of the same subject with people in them but I think that it took away from the subject.

StuartPearson said:
Getting a catch-up on some comments!

Snappers Choice - I like the artistic effect of the multi image marker the best, but all are worthy.

Knob(s) - The simpler more graphic style in the mono conversion does work well with the vase pattern.

Letters - All of the images are great, each with their own qualities. Pic 1 does make me wonder the reason for it. I like the mono merged one, it was great timing.

Kitchen - I do like the "embrace" of the metal forks in the first image. Personally not convinced about the inclusion of the plastic fork, the contrast seems too jarring.

Broken - An interesting collection of images, your chosen one is my favourite however I like how "intentional or not" the cracks flow from image 3 to 4. At least that how it appears viewed on an iPad.

Thanks for the comments Stuart.

Darkslinger · 15 Mar 2023

Week #10 - Broken

I was struggling with this one. Sometimes I find the easiest themes to be the most difficult for some reason.

I had to drive up to Kamloops for work so my time was short but I saw this as I was walking back to the hotel.

Full of smoke...

HelenC · 16 Mar 2023

That's a sight you don't see much of these days! The smoke has an ethereal quality - well captured.

Peter123 · 16 Mar 2023

Good spot Bill.
And different thought process (to mine) makes it interesting.

overbez · 18 Mar 2023

That probably is broken if that much smoke is coming out!

Not completely sure what we're looking at though? The smoke has come out really nicely in the image though.

Darkslinger · 19 Mar 2023

HelenC said:
That's a sight you don't see much of these days! The smoke has an ethereal quality - well captured.

LOL, wasn't anything that I had expected to see! Lucky 'cause I was struggling with this one...

Peter123 said:
Good spot Bill.
And different thought process (to mine) makes it interesting.

Thanks Peter, not so much a different thought process as just a lucky find

overbez said:
That probably is broken if that much smoke is coming out!

Not completely sure what we're looking at though? The smoke has come out really nicely in the image though.

LOL (again), it's the container that smokers put their butts in...I guess that there was either too many cigarettes in it and they caught fire or someone added some paper? Either way it was definitely eye-catching.

overbez · 19 Mar 2023

Haha. I see it now you say. Looks like with the opening at the bottom you'd get a good draft going.

Can just imagine a full fire engine turning up to deal with it!

Darkslinger · 23 Mar 2023

Week #11 - Patterns

A couple from my trip to Kamloops. It was the patterns in the frozen lakes that caught my eye. My images don't really do the landscape justice;

The day after I got back (Saturday) I took the dogs to a local park and found some small patterns that I liked.

This leaf hanging from a tree with the light shining through:

The skeleton of another leaf:

And this abandoned snail shell:

Allan.H · 23 Mar 2023

A good set but the skeletal leaf really stands out

nog · 23 Mar 2023

Very nice set, the first and the skeletal leaf for me. Was the building a barn or a house

Cloudforest · 23 Mar 2023

It's the leaf one for me too Bill. Lovely dof.

Peter123 · 23 Mar 2023

Skeletal leaf is the one Bill.
Ideal for B/W conversion.

-Oy- · 23 Mar 2023

Lovely set Bill

overbez · 24 Mar 2023

Really enjoy the photos of your area Bill. The frozen lakes in the sunlight are wonderful.

The 'macro' shots all appeal for their own reasons. I would take the skeleton leaf but (and I know this is harsh) for the bright spot lower left.

The shell is great and my pick, blurred fg and bg, lovely green and the brown in the shell echoed in the far BG.

SimonH · 26 Mar 2023

Great shots as always Bill. Love the chosen shot.

Darkslinger · 26 Mar 2023

nog said:
Very nice set, the first and the skeletal leaf for me. Was the building a barn or a house

Thanks Keith, that one is of the barn. This image might put things in context with the farm house on the left.

Darkslinger · 26 Mar 2023

Allan.H said:
A good set but the skeletal leaf really stands out

Thanks Allan.

Cloudforest said:
It's the leaf one for me too Bill. Lovely dof.

Thank you Pete

Peter123 said:
Skeletal leaf is the one Bill.
Ideal for B/W conversion.

Thanks Peter, I didn't claim it for my tech though as I used a green tinge on it.

-Oy- said:
Lovely set Bill

Thanks Dave.

overbez said:
Really enjoy the photos of your area Bill. The frozen lakes in the sunlight are wonderful.

The 'macro' shots all appeal for their own reasons. I would take the skeleton leaf but (and I know this is harsh) for the bright spot lower left.

The shell is great and my pick, blurred fg and bg, lovely green and the brown in the shell echoed in the far BG.

Not harsh at all Graham, you're completely correct. I usually shoot these types of subjects in situ, so I am good with these types of imperfections that often end up in the shot but I understand how they can be a little off-putting...all good

That being said, I found the snail shell on a very muddy path and did move it to a moss covered log...

SimonH said:
Great shots as always Bill. Love the chosen shot.

Thanks for the kind words Simon!

Darkslinger · 26 Mar 2023

Week #12 - Tunnel

Luckily I got to go downtown yesterday and found a couple of spots where I could take some shots that I thing fulfill the remit. The first was along Hastings Street where a building was being built. The construction company had built some temporary protection to keep pedestrians from being hit by any falling debris. What I call "Sidewalk Tunnels"...

And then there is the spot on Cordova Street where the oncoming traffic chooses to go down into the the underground tunnel or splits off and bypasses it to stay on the surface. There is a good space above the tunnel entrance that allows one to look down on traffic going into and coming out of the tunnel:

I also play around with some ICM and rather liked how this one turned out:

Back home I did some more playing around and took the fourth shot and combined it with one of the ICM shots, just for fun (still needs some work)....

Disney93 · 26 Mar 2023

I really like the one you chose. Its a very good action shot and the added black and white technique adds to the atmosphere of the picture. Great work!

SimonH · 26 Mar 2023

Another cracking set Bill. You're chosen one is spot on for both theme and tech.

Allan.H · 26 Mar 2023

I agree another good set the first one stands out for me nice colour, exposure and composition

Darkslinger · 27 Mar 2023

Disney93 said:
I really like the one you chose. Its a very good action shot and the added black and white technique adds to the atmosphere of the picture. Great work!

Thanks Sophie, it is a place that I've shot before. I was lucky to get a white truck drive through.

SimonH said:
Another cracking set Bill. You're chosen one is spot on for both theme and tech.

Thank you Simon.

Allan.H said:
I agree another good set the first one stands out for me nice colour, exposure and composition

Thanks Allan, I like these "sidewalk tunnels" especially at night (I just couldn't make it out there after dark)

-Oy- · 27 Mar 2023

Super duper set Bill

Darkslinger · 27 Mar 2023

-Oy- said:
Super duper set Bill

Thanks Dave.

nog · 27 Mar 2023

Great set again, lots of action in the B&W, colour set for me though as think those yellow lines in the middle of the road add to it

Peter123 · 29 Mar 2023

Good set Bill. The second appeals to most for this topic.

overbez · 29 Mar 2023

great set again. #2 and #3 appeal most to me.

2 for the warmth from the lights, with the dampness and the puddles on the floor. Plenty to look at with the graffitti and the CCTV camera, but the tunnel itself pulls your gaze to the person in orange at the end.

and 3 for the movement, and the cityscape beyond

Cloudforest · 30 Mar 2023

Good set again Bill. I like the one you’ve chosen. Black and white suits the subject and I like the movement.

FlyPhot · 30 Mar 2023

I like number 2 best out of all of them as it has good detail and plenty of interest. I have to admit to not liking ICM at all (the genre just doesn't do it for me i'm afraid)

HelenC · 30 Mar 2023

Patterns - some nice images but your chosen shot stands out.
Tunnel - a really good set of images. Personally I rather like the ICM images - something that is harder than it looks to get right! Well done.

Darkslinger · 6 Apr 2023

nog said:
Great set again, lots of action in the B&W, colour set for me though as think those yellow lines in the middle of the road add to it

Thanks Keith, I almost used that one but more for the red of the break lights...

Peter123 said:
Good set Bill. The second appeals to most for this topic.

Thanks Peter

overbez said:
great set again. #2 and #3 appeal most to me.

2 for the warmth from the lights, with the dampness and the puddles on the floor. Plenty to look at with the graffitti and the CCTV camera, but the tunnel itself pulls your gaze to the person in orange at the end.

and 3 for the movement, and the cityscape beyond

Thank you Graham, I appreciate the comments.

Cloudforest said:
Good set again Bill. I like the one you’ve chosen. Black and white suits the subject and I like the movement.

Thanks Pete.

FlyPhot said:
I like number 2 best out of all of them as it has good detail and plenty of interest. I have to admit to not liking ICM at all (the genre just doesn't do it for me i'm afraid)

Thanks Jim, yes, I know that it's not for everyone, just something I enjoy playing around with.

HelenC said:
Patterns - some nice images but your chosen shot stands out.
Tunnel - a really good set of images. Personally I rather like the ICM images - something that is harder than it looks to get right! Well done.

Thank you Helen.

Darkslinger · 6 Apr 2023

Week #13 - Spring

I always find the topics involving seasons and holidays the hardest for some reason, maybe there's just too much to choose from.

I wanted to do a multi-exposure of one of the cherry trees that bloom so beautifully in the Spring but I couldn't find one in full bloom yet so I had to settle for some "parking lot" trees that hadn't quite reached their full potential...

16 images of 12 different different trees in a Costco parking lot, blended in PS

Peter123 · 6 Apr 2023

Excellent technique again Bill.
You’ve even captured the yellow parking lines!

FlyPhot · 6 Apr 2023

Nice effect and captures the season nicely

Cloudforest · 6 Apr 2023

That's a terrific multiple exposure Bill. I like the way the colours have been portayed.

nog · 6 Apr 2023

Great picture again Bill, gives the tree a lovely delicate look

HelenC · 6 Apr 2023

I love this.. such softness while not losing the subject. Great image.

SimonH · 6 Apr 2023

Clever stuff again from you Bill. Works nicely.