weekly GarethB's 52 challenge for 2019 - Week 51 & 52 - CHRISTMASSY & OUTTAKES - FINISHED!

Ganton Gunner said:
very nice capture love the colours and definitely a open mic :)
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Thank you Peter, I debated whether to put my ugly mug in it....gurning like an idiot....but then it wouldn't have been 'open'....and no-one should have to look at that!!:LOL:

Dave70D said:
Well as long as we all keep beating you, then I will gladly comment on your great takes on theme. Open Mic is a great one, and for me the 2nd is the better out of the three, a really well thought out and taken image again Gareth and the lighting and smoke make it a cracker.
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Thank you very much Dave for your very kind words!!
I must have shot about five or six images so far, to be pipped at the post by others....I even went into that 'outside' that they have now...and shot a few quaint looking shops around Norwich, with open signs....then I remembered that I have an uncle Michael and it just fell into place!!!:LOL:

IanD said:
That's great Gareth. Very good detail on that mic and as for the colours, wow! Lovely stuff
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Thank you most kindly Ian.
I wondered if I should have put the 'dead cat' over it...glad I didn't now, the detail in the mesh works quite well.

aliengrove said:
Great take on the theme, and very well executed, love the colours. Of the different shots, I actually like 4 the most.
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Thank you Jon, kind words, most appreciated.
I like that shot too, the mic stand lends itself well to portrait mode, and the glow of the lights works quite well.
I shot a couple without smoke, and the lens flare is spectacular...but the smoke adds a nice 'gig' style atmosphere.
 
Clean, Really like the composition and the shadow grounds the image nicely.
Open, just love the colours on this shot, well controlled exposure.
 
Nice bright image I like it though I prefer the cloned out Stand version,

"smoke in a can" you are the man who has everything :wideyed:
 
I love how you seem to be able to produce something out of the ordinary of most themes.
This works really well and fair play for having all these props about !!! :)

it really does have the feel of a small, open mic venue.
Leave the stands in, it helps sell what you're aiming for.
 
Bearair said:
Clean, Really like the composition and the shadow grounds the image nicely.
Open, just love the colours on this shot, well controlled exposure.
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Thank you Roger, I really appreciate your positive comments.(y)

Allan.H said:
Nice bright image I like it though I prefer the cloned out Stand version,

"smoke in a can" you are the man who has everything :wideyed:
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Many thanks Allan.(y)
The smoke-in-a-can was just luck really!:D
But I'm sure there's a lot of us toggers that are compulsive hoarders too....just can't throw anything away....you never know when it might be a useful prop!!

BobBCN said:
Great colours! I think you were right to leave the stands in the shot. Atmospheric!
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Thank you Bob, for your kind comments.(y)
Yes indeed, I wanted the feel of a real venue, so I left them in for the final image that I posted.

susiejb said:
That is a really eye catching shot Gareth, I really like it, if I had to choose I'd say the last one but they all look great.
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Thank you most kindly Susie, I appreciate your positive comments, glad you like them.(y)

LC2 said:
I love how you seem to be able to produce something out of the ordinary of most themes.
This works really well and fair play for having all these props about !!! :)

it really does have the feel of a small, open mic venue.
Leave the stands in, it helps sell what you're aiming for.
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Gosh!! Thanks so much Tim! Exceedingly kind of you to say so!
That's exactly the feel I was going for. I'm glad you like it....it's reassuring that this is how it looks to others....it can be hard to be objective when you're on your own, shooting an empty mic stand against a black sheet hung from the curtain rail with a couple of flashes and a tin of smoke!!
Oh heck!....did I just ruin the illusion!?:LOL:
 
It's all about those colours - I like it :)
 
Liking the colours on Open, well done.
I'm interested in doing more low light concert/gig type images though don't quite get what I want.
I'm using a 70D and wonder if the iso performance is part of my issue, albeit a very small part
 
Nice creative take on the theme! Loads of atmosphere and impact, and those colours are spectacular. I think I prefer the one without the light stands as it looks a bit cleaner, but all of them are brilliant.
 
Chenti said:
Liking the colours on Open, well done.
I'm interested in doing more low light concert/gig type images though don't quite get what I want.
I'm using a 70D and wonder if the iso performance is part of my issue, albeit a very small part
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Thanks @Chenti I appreciate your positive comments.(y)
I know what you mean, I'm aware of similar, minor limitations with my Canon....I believe they share the same 20MP sensor.
When it comes to photographing actual events, I'm a complete novice...but I can appreciate that it must be very difficult when you have very little control over the lighting etc.
I'm sure you'll get the results you want soon enough...the 70D is an excellent camera.

Carl Hall said:
Nice creative take on the theme! Loads of atmosphere and impact, and those colours are spectacular. I think I prefer the one without the light stands as it looks a bit cleaner, but all of them are brilliant.
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Thank you kindly Carl, most appreciated.
The one without the stands does indeed look cleaner...I was really torn as to which one I posted in the main thread...but I went for a bit more 'realism' in the end...though I understand the stands might look a tiny bit distracting.
Thanks for looking and commenting Carl.:)
 
Another well composed shot. Colours are great and love the smoke effect. I prefer the one without the light stands :D
 
chrispp said:
Colours, like a lot of the others great. The idea is spot on and the composition well done
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Thanks for taking the time to comment Chris, most appreciated.(y)

Missycat said:
Another well composed shot. Colours are great and love the smoke effect. I prefer the one without the light stands :D
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Thank you for your positive comment Georgina.(y)

It looks like the 'without stand' group are beating the 'with stand' group!
Surely the 'with stands' can withstand the 'without stands'!!:giggle:
 
Manxmaid said:
Excellent image, Gareth - I love the idea, the colour and the smoke effect. It's interesting to see the other options you considered but I think your first choice is spot on so I'm with the 'with stands' group :)
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Thank you Andrea, I had been playing around with 'content aware fill', and as we all know it can be a bit hit-n-miss, but on this occasion, it worked tremendously well with removing the stands and replacing with smoke.
So, that's another point for the 'with stands'!....not that I'm keeping score!!:giggle:
 
Very colourful great take on the theme and great colours I think leaving the stands in sets the scene better
 
minx said:
Very colourful great take on the theme and great colours I think leaving the stands in sets the scene better
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Thank you kindly Alison, most appreciated!(y)

Looks like it's a draw then....4 points for each - the 'no preference' group wins however, with 6!
A lot has been learned here....but above all, I've learned that perhaps I have way too much free time!!:giggle:
 
Week 4 - Distant.

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Really had a hard time with this theme, but managed to cobble something together today.

It's Literature from the distant past.

(Sorry about the banding, I tried to get rid of it but couldn't without badly affecting the image....not sure why it's there, must be a processing thing!)


TP-52-2019 wk-4 Distant by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Thanks for looking folks.:)
 
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Dave70D said:
The man strikes AGAIN :cool: That is a really great thought out shot Gareth, not fussed about the banding as the whole scene just say class (y)(y)
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Thank you Dave, you're very kind.
The banding isn't too intrusive, but you know how it is....the flaws in your own images stand out like a sore thumb!:giggle:

chrispp said:
Well the theme is spot on. I agree with Dave so well thought out. I even like the crop.
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Thanks Chris, most appreciated!
I shot a couple in landscape mode, but I couldn't frame it without getting the radiator in!...which detracted somewhat from the mood!:LOL:
It's amazing how little clear wall space one has when you really need it!!
 
very nice, everything well laid out what's not to like, I think we are all too critical of our own work sometimes
 
Allan.H said:
very nice, everything well laid out what's not to like, I think we are all too critical of our own work sometimes
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Thanks Allan, appreciate your comment.
I wasn't happy with the colour either....spent ages fiddling with saturation.
I dropped some colour out of the books and the open pages - they looked too yellow, but I think I might have taken it a bit too far!
I suppose I should learn how to let go!!:giggle:
 
Clever interpretation, great composition, like the colours as well:) there is some interesting talk about banding on the Olympus OMD owners thread Gareth.
 
BobBCN said:
Well-cobbled I'd say! And a great interpretation for theme.
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Thank you Bob, most appreciated!(y)

LC2 said:
I don't see anything to worry about really Gareth, it's a good interpretation of the theme and well executed. Colours seem fine, it should have the warm feel.
Did you shoot raw or jpg?
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Thank you for the positive comments Tim.(y)
I shoot in RAW, then convert to DNG for processing...my software predates my camera!
I had a curious issue with this image though, when I imported it into Photoshop after performing some tweaks in Adobe Camera Raw, it kept resizing it much smaller.
I managed to get a full resolution image eventually, but it's a bit of a mystery!

Carl Hall said:
Love this. Great composition and clever interpretation of the theme. Colours are great too. One of my favourite for the week I think
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Thank you Carl, very kind of you to say so!(y)

Bearair said:
Clever interpretation, great composition, like the colours as well:) there is some interesting talk about banding on the Olympus OMD owners thread Gareth.
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Thanks for your positive comments Roger, very much appreciated.(y)
I'm sure banding is the bane of many camera systems, might pop in and have a read of it - thanks for the heads up Roger....I suppose it always comes down to processing for JPEGs - so much image information is lost!
Until there is some kind of super-duper, lossless, massively compressed RAW technology, I guess we're stuck with JPEGs for web publishing at least!
 
I was originally thinking this should be in black and white to give the distant/old literature and old look but then when I looked a few more times and saw Tim's comment about the warmth, I got it - what a great image this is
 
susiejb said:
That’s a really super image for the theme Gareth I like it a lot, composition is spot on, really well done :clap:
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Thank you most kindly Susie, your positive comment is very much appreciated!(y)

Ganton Gunner said:
very nice image and well set out.
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Thank you Peter, most appreciated.(y)

IanD said:
I was originally thinking this should be in black and white to give the distant/old literature and old look but then when I looked a few more times and saw Tim's comment about the warmth, I got it - what a great image this is
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Thank you so much Ian, very kind comments.(y)
I toyed with the idea of using a sepia filter for the aged look, but it just didn't look right.
But I did desaturate the books quite a bit....maybe a little too much - they almost look B&W!

Manxmaid said:
I've nothing different to add, Gareth, as it's all been said above! It's a great choice of props and arrangement to give a serene and warm image, and the use of a candle with those old books does hint strongly at the distant past. Spot on :clap:
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Thank you Andrea, for your kind, supportive comments!(y)
The candles were a matching pair, borrowed from my Mum, who wasn't very happy that I had lit one!! Since now they don't match!!
Looks like I'll be on the lookout for another one....or probably two....doubt I'll find a single one that matches exactly!!:giggle:
 
Wow Gareth, what a great start.

New: Great bokeh makes for a very striking and innovative image.
Clean: Very cool, I love this sort of thing. It's in a similar vein to my 'open' shot with the cans: mono and full of shadow and texture although I really like the reflection of the light source on the surface and it's super sharp. (Sharp! Did anyone else make that joke?)
Open: I really love this, one of my favourites so far. It's atmospheric and colourful, well composed and nicely detailed. Plus it's a clever interpretation of the theme.
Distant: There's nothing wrong with it but to be totally honest this one doesn't grab me quite the same. It might be the plain background, or perhaps it's altogether just a more subdued shot?

This is clearly a thread to watch so I look forward to finding out what's to come.
 
nickbee said:
Wow Gareth, what a great start.

New: Great bokeh makes for a very striking and innovative image.
Clean: Very cool, I love this sort of thing. It's in a similar vein to my 'open' shot with the cans: mono and full of shadow and texture although I really like the reflection of the light source on the surface and it's super sharp. (Sharp! Did anyone else make that joke?)
Open: I really love this, one of my favourites so far. It's atmospheric and colourful, well composed and nicely detailed. Plus it's a clever interpretation of the theme.
Distant: There's nothing wrong with it but to be totally honest this one doesn't grab me quite the same. It might be the plain background, or perhaps it's altogether just a more subdued shot?

This is clearly a thread to watch so I look forward to finding out what's to come.
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Thank you very much for such positive feedback Nick, most appreciated!
If I remember correctly, you are indeed the first to make the 'sharp' joke!! Well done!!:giggle:
 
Week 5 - Cold

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No snow round our way, so struggled again.
I took a lot of images of this setup....but couldn't really get anything I was very happy with.
I think these two are fine (imo!) but I can't help feeling there's something lacking.

Anyway....without further ado, I give you....

'Revenge is a dish best served cold!'


TP-52-2019 wk-5 - Cold 1 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

I wanted to use the reflection in the tile I was using, but I just couldn't get it to work, so I ended up boosting it in post!
Not my best work, but I think it is passable.

For this next one I thought I'd use a bit of smoke....I do like smoke!!:giggle:
(Actually, it's vapour from my vaping device....it looked better in my opinion!)

Personally I prefer the second one, but you can see what I mean about the reflections....non-existent!


TP-52-2019 wk-5 - Cold 2 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Thanks for looking folks!:)
 
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In the first one I think you are right there's something missing but the second one is spot on (y) I don't think it needs the reflection, very clever idea too
 
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