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

Scots_quine said:
Loved the lighting on the jazz shot Gareth. Addition of a couple of joss sticks to add the smoky touch might have helped but a cracking shot as it stands.
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Thank you kindly Joan!(y)
Actually I did use some 'Smoke-in-a-Can' stuff behind me, to give a bit of 'atmosphere'....maybe I should have used more in front of me too - it perhaps just looks like it's part of the background!

-Oy- said:
Nice bit o'Sax :)

Biased here as my youngest plays Alto and Soprano in a professional big band :)
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Thanks Dave, most appreciated!(y)
Wow....you're a musical bunch, you '-Oy-'s!:D

Leebert said:
You've posted yet another belter Gareth! Love the shot, love the lighting and the BG works perfectly with the blue complimenting the colour of the sax. Very well thought out and executed. :clap:
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Thank you very much Lee!(y)
I thought that the blue might have worked well with the sax, plus it's a 'jazz' colour isn't it?!:LOL:

seaodyssey said:
Yet another Great Shot Gareth, Love the background colour and the shine on the saxaphone. Top Notch

Pete
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Thank you Pete, very kind of you to say, most appreciated!!(y)
I took quite a few shots (unsurprisingly!:LOL:) and I picked that one precisely for that little bit of glint on the sax....glad you like it!
 
LC2 said:
Okay, so it's totally your fault I have Gerry Raferty's Baker Street and Hazel O'Connor's Will You lined up on You Tube !!!!
Your photos always come out so vibrant, I love it :)
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Many thanks Tim, always appreciate your positive comments!(y)
I don't mind taking the blame Tim...both great tracks, with some great sax!

Oh, and did you know that it's Bob Holness playing the sax on 'Baker Street'?!:LOL:

(Not really...it's another one of those ridiculous internet myths!!):LOL:
 
Week 49 - Below - Long Exposure Technique

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So, you know how they say that artists who intentionally break the rules to create something of perceived low quality for artistic or comedic effect?
Remember Les Dawson playing the piano poorly?

Well this image isn't like that!!:D

It is quite frankly an image that is well below average...or below par...which ever way you like.
Just a bit of fun, trying to remember how to take a bad photo!
I didn't really have to practice much for this one....I got the hang of it very quickly indeed!:LOL:
Oh, and it conforms to the bi-monthly technique too....it's over-exposed, so it technically counts as a long exposure....right?!:LOL:

WARNING!
Poor quality photography skills are shown in the following image.
If you feel faint or light-headed, then you must stop looking at it immediately, and have a lie down!


TP-52-2019 wk-49 - Below by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Remember those annoying stickers you used to get on your photos from a one-hour photolab?
I should hope not, considering that we're all highly skilled here!!;)
Nevertheless, I used to apply those things when I worked at a Kodak one-hour photolab many years ago!
The stories I could tell you of the photos I had to look through and grade!:eek:
One time the police had to become involved....but that's for another time!!:D


...as always, thanks for looking folks.:)
 
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Dave70D said:
If I`m right Les was an expert piano player ?
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Exactly!

It takes an expert piano player to play it badly for comedic effect!

I wish I could say the same for my photography....which is just bad!!:LOL:

Dave70D said:
Loving your take on the below par theme (y)
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Many thanks Dave!(y)
 
Hi Gareth

Can rely on you coming up with such a different take on a theme, must have taken days to think it up. Well done, well executed.

Pete
 
CliveH said:
Very clever, I hope your styles and skill are an influence on all of us! Cheers.
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Thank you Clive, very kind of you to say!
I hope you're wrong though!:LOL: I really really do!!!:LOL:

seaodyssey said:
Hi Gareth

Can rely on you coming up with such a different take on a theme, must have taken days to think it up. Well done, well executed.

Pete
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Many thanks Pete, for the kind comments!
My whole 'photography' career has been leading up (down?) to this image!:LOL:
 
Nice take on the theme Gareth, I like that idea.
 
That's a really clever take on the theme, if I'd thought of it, I'd have hundreds to choose from!
 
LC2 said:
I'll let you have the technique as it was 5secs... /rolls eyes...
Okay, so it is fun :)
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Thanks Tim!(y)
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much praise for this shot, but it was fun getting all the mistakes in there!

rick448 said:
Nice take on the theme Gareth, I like that idea.
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Many thanks Rick!(y)
Just don't copy my idea!!:ROFLMAO:

Allan.H said:
I like your thinking, unusual take on the theme and all the better for it
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Thank you kindly Allan!(y)
You know, it's quite difficult to 'accidentally' get your thumb in the way, on a big lumpy old DSLR....I had to use my finger instead!!:LOL:

mdpF2 said:
That's a really clever take on the theme, if I'd thought of it, I'd have hundreds to choose from!
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:LOL::LOL::LOL:

Thanks Mark, most appreciated!(y)
 
Week 50 -Snappers Choice - Long Exposure Technique

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I thought I'd do a proper job for the technique this week, rather than that 'dogs dinner' of a photo that I did last week!:LOL:
(I didn't go above 2 seconds though....so not a hugely long exposure)
I was playing around with some LEDs and a motor, and cobbled together a spinning thing to create a kind of light trail, spinning thing.
It turned out much better than I had expected!

This first one is taken with the camera locked off on a tripod...


TP-52-2019 wk-50 - Snappers Choice 2 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

These next two were taken whilst panning the camera quite briskly...some creative cropping too, but not much else.
The colours are pretty much straight out of camera!


TP-52-2019 wk-50 - Snappers Choice 3 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


TP-52-2019 wk-50 - Snappers Choice 1 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

And finally, for those who are interested, this is what the setup looked like...with the lights on!
Here, I used a flash set to low power to freeze the motion of the propeller blades, but you can still see the movement of the LEDs since I was at a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second.


TP-52-2019 wk-50 - Snappers Choice 4 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

I used a high speed motor and a cheap plastic propeller blade, with a MOSFET speed control to get the speed all the way down.
Then I simply stuck the LEDs onto some CR2032 coin cells with gaffer tape, then stuck them to the blades.
You can see that even at relatively low speeds the gaffer tape that I used to attach the LEDs is coming loose...quite a lot of force there.


...as always, thanks for looking folks.:)
 
You have captured a nice set of long exposure shots there, Gareth. You have put in a lot of thoughts setting it all up. :clap:

I like the first one the most for the simplicity and minimalist however I would like to see more breathing space at the top and bottom and maybe a square crop to balance it up.
 
Hi Gareth
Brilliant shot for Below. Perfect for the theme. Sadly, I remember those stickers oh too well. :eek:
That’s an absolute belter of a set for your snappers choice. It reminds me of flying model helicopters in the dark. Your creativity knows no bounds. Excellent
:clap::clap:
 
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Dave70D said:
Dogs dinners are nice :D All the images are very nicely taken with beautiful colours, can`t really pick a favourite as all are great and nice one for putting up the How you did it :clap::clap:
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Thanks Dave, most appreciated!(y)

rpn said:
You have captured a nice set of long exposure shots there, Gareth. You have put in a lot of thoughts setting it all up. :clap:

I like the first one the most for the simplicity and minimalist however I would like to see more breathing space at the top and bottom and maybe a square crop to balance it up.
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Many thanks Stan.(y)
You're right...it does look a little tight...I didn't frame it too well, so I had to crop it at the top to even it up...I should have just added a black border to give it more space.:facepalm:

Like this...

TP-52-2019 wk-50 - Snappers Choice 5b.jpg

CliveH said:
Hi Gareth, really like these especially the panned shots.:clap:
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Thank you kindly Clive!(y)

Leebert said:
Hi Gareth
Brilliant shot for Below. Perfect for the theme. Sadly, I remember those stickers oh too well. :eek:
That’s an absolute belter of a set for your snappers choice. It reminds me of flying model helicopters in the dark. Your creativity knows no bounds. Excellent
:clap::clap:
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Thanks so much Lee, very kind of you to say!(y)

Scots_quine said:
Some fabulous shots Gareth. Very impressive. Well done you.
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Many thanks Joan, very much appreciated!(y)

Allan.H said:
Very well done technique and exposure wise but it does nowt for me, sorry :coat:
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Thanks for comment Allan.
No need to say sorry my friend, I appreciate the time taken to comment!(y)
 
Hi Gareth

Good technique and an inventive mind again, I can't wait till I retire and have the time to go out and play around with bits and bobs like you do.
Just as well the gaffer tape held on. The panning worked well.

Pete
 
Great imaginative shot Gareth :)
 
LC2 said:
I liked your main thread shot, looking like intermingling spiro-graphs and even moreso when I saw how you did it.
Very Clever and some great colour imo.
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Thanks Tim(y)....oh yeah, spiro-graphs, I remember them...I never owned one unfortunately, but I always found them fascinating.
I knew there had to be some kind of subliminal thing going on with this image!!:LOL:

seaodyssey said:
Hi Gareth

Good technique and an inventive mind again, I can't wait till I retire and have the time to go out and play around with bits and bobs like you do.
Just as well the gaffer tape held on. The panning worked well.

Pete
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Thank you kindly Pete, most appreciated!(y)
What you don't see is all the teeth-gnashing and hair pulling that I do when it all goes south!!:LOL:
One of the LEDs flew off at quite some velocity at one point...wish I'd captured that, but sadly I didn't!:facepalm:

rick448 said:
Great imaginative shot Gareth :)
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Thanks Rick, for looking and commenting, always appreciated!(y)
 
Week 51 & 52 - Christmassy & Outtakes

FINISHED!:banana:

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Here are my two images that will round off my 52 challenge for 2019!
I have to say that I've had a terrific time, and while I've found some of the themes a bit tricky, it's been tremendous fun and I've learned a great deal through viewing all the high quality, inspirational images from everyone here!
A big thank you to all the 52ers, you're all superstars in my book!:)
(Bit grovelly that...but I've had a few!!):LOL:

First up: Christsmassy:


TP-52-2019 wk-51 - Christmassy by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Bit of an ICM, long exposure thing going on here (it's my tiny Christmas tree :LOL: )...with a festive feel naturally...
(Actually I was a bit tipsy when I shot this! :LOL:)

And now onto Outtakes:


TP-52-2019 wk-52 - Outtake by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

As with a lot of us, I don't keep the really ropey images, I usually delete them straight out of the camera, but I thought I might learn something from this.
It was my first attempt at light trails (shot about a year ago), and I was getting a feel for the settings.
As you can see, I was way off....1/5th of a second?...what was I thinking?!:facepalm:
And I was way too early for the classic 'blue hour' shot too!

What a mess!!:LOL:

Oh well...I did learn something - wait for blue hour, and bring a flask of hot beverage!:LOL:


...as always, thanks for looking folks, and I hope everyone has a terrific Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!:)
 
A great way to finish off Gareth, Chrstmassy is a great image and the out-take is nice too. well done for finishing and thanks for being one of those who have inspired me.
 
Hi Gareth,
Christmassy - It does look festive with those colours, and playing with ICM is fun isn't it.
Out-Takes - Well, we all start somewhere. Funnily enough I have some on film that look a bit like that, thought taken in the forests during one of the Lombard RAC Rallys. I had frozen the car with flash, but I assume it must have been 1st curtain sync as the lights extended out of the front of the car. I liked the effect, but obviously had no idea it was going to turn out like that (and forums like this didn't exist back in the late 80s - so no reading up) until the film had been processed.
 
Conrats on Completing your 52 Gareth.

I always look forward to seeing your entries, apart from your dismal outtake :p:D:p:D:p:D

Pete
 
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