weekly Nat's Photo52 *2012* Week 51 Negative added 25 Dec

Small – Great shot. Sharp where it needs to be and I like the inclusion of the hand

Straight – Nice and colourful abstract image

Letter – I like this. The tones have been well handled.

Contrast – A nice picture of a cat but it’s not shouting contrast to me. Sorry
 
Letter - a good idea and well taken!

Contrast - as others have said it doesn't shout contrast but that doesn't matter as its a lovely photo of your cat!

I wouldn't worry about doing lots of flower shots as they are all so good and fit the themes!:):)
 
Hi Nathalie


what a great shot of your cat & what a great looking fella he is...beautiful coloring ....on theme....maybe maybe not but with an image like that who cares :)

Liking the detail & colors in your letter shot as well...simple but effective (y)
 
Small: Excellent shot, good DOF.

Straight: Love the clarity of this shot. Very good.

Letter: Excellent, simple but very effective. I like it a lot.

Contrast: Really like the lighting on the lovely tones on the fur. I could look at this all day.
 
Letter, excellent detail and DOF. It sure fits the theme ;)

Contrast... lovely shot of the cat, and with the bright background, which is almost harsh, you've got a couple of contrasts... light and dark, harsh and soft (ok that might be a stretch ;)). Looks almost high key... would that take the PP to make it high key ??
 
More great work Nat!

Small is lovely, and I can't believe how sharp you've got it "double hand held"!

Straight is a nice interpretation, and a lovely abstract shot. Throwing it out of focus works well.

Letter; I really love the tones. Can I see the complete alphabet please!

Contrast, I see the theme in there, and it's a very nice picture regardless. I like the exposure you've chosen.
 

Week 31 - Mineral by C Fredriksson, on Flickr
1/640sec f11.0 60mm ISO200

Rock salt.

I tried a few different things this week, though they were all with the same subject. I started out with macro shots against bright and colourful backgrounds, but something about the colour and the light just did not do it for me... Then I played around with backlighting, which forced me to learn how to use the flash off camera (woot!). It was interesting and produced something completely different, but again, I did not particularly like it. As you can see, in the end I settled for something very simple. Rock salt on a piece of card, using natural light. The salt crystals looked better lit by the sun than they did using flash (but then, it could just be that I'm doing it wrong!).
 
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Your perserverence (sp) paid off Nathalie, the natural light has held the detail in the rocksalt and shadows good work.
It presents a quite minimalist photograph which is bang on theme. iain
 

Untitled by C Fredriksson, on Flickr

Re-Shoot: Symmetry

Some of you may have seen this on Flickr. I took it a while ago, after the re-shoot was drawn in Week 25, but couldn't decide whether to use it or not. Symmetry wasn't my weakest / worst photo in the challenge and there were others that clearly could do with being re-shot... But since I have this, and I feel it is an improvement over the old submission, I am going to use it.

It was the sun shape of the flower bud that first caught my eye. Although it is much less colourful (mostly green) the background is also less distracting. The theme is natural symmetry again, though strictly speaking this is probably less symmetrical than the butterfly... But I still feel it's a better photo for the theme.
 
Hi Nathalie, I agree with Iain about the light helping to pick out the detail in the rock salt.
I like the minimalist look to it but I'm not sure on white back ground, I'm looking on my phone and it looks just a little grey but would it be too bright if it was pure white :thinking:

Symmetry re-shoot, nice composition and colour. I particularly like the two leaves going corner to corner(y)
 
Letter - nice textures and tones, simple but delivers.

Contrast - lovely looking cat. I think I see contrast!

Mineral - I know its salt but looks like massive rocks! Nice shot, especially when you remember how small salt is and how much detail is here.
 
mineral rock salt perhaps a bit more dof
symmetry is a great shot looks like a strange sun
 
Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Mineral - the card wasn't white (light blue, was experimenting with different colours), which is why it's come out grey in the mono conversion.

I keep telling myself I need to pick some black card up...

************

So, it's back to operation catch-up again;

For Time, I would have LOVED to do star trails, but I know this is not going to happen within the forseeable future, so I've got to go with a back-up idea instead. As long as this works, it should be done and dusted by the end of today.

Dark - I'm still thinking about this. I have three ideas, none of which I have got around to trying yet.

Body - For the first idea that came to mind, I'd need an athletic male or female model, which of course I do not have access to, so it's back to the drawing board.
 
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Hi

Why not take part in our annual TP Day coming up soon 9th September,as part of your 52, Where you take a photo on that day and post it on the forum, then all the Photos are made into a slideshow, Click the logo for more details, it's lots of fun to be a part of it(y)
 
Sorry it's brief - I'm lagging behind again! :(

Letter - As you say very literal (but I think that's a good thing) and the colours and texture are great.
Contrast - Not sure that it screams contrast, but there's definitely some there. Gorgeous cat! I know what you mean about using lots of cat shots, I have the same concern :)
Mineral - Nice to see salt on a white background, makes it look very clean and the lighting has given you lovely shadows.
 

Week 32 - Dark by C Fredriksson, on Flickr
1/200sec f3.5 60mm ISO200

Blueberry macro. Looking at the end result it's a bit of a stretch, but the idea was dark colour (dark blue). I used a dark backdrop (kitchen counter) and underexposed on purpose.

After all the comments I've had suggesting I try for a bit more DoF, I did shoot this at f11 too. But, as you can tell, the frame I picked for this weeks submission was not one of them. There was more detail, but rather than adding to the photo, I just found it distracting... Perhaps it is just me being obsessed with super shallow DoF :p Anyway, this was shot at f3.5.
 

Week 33 - Time by C Fredriksson, on Flickr
1/200sec f3.5 60mm ISO200

Clock face.

Very literal and oh so boring. I was going to shoot a sundial, which granted would ALSO have been very literal, but I think maybe a little more interesting. The plan was to do this last weekend - and then the weather got in the way (why does this always seem to happen?!).

So. This was shot at exactly the same settings as the blueberry photo... Meaning I was too lazy to even change the aperture, or try another lens. :bonk: Feel free to give me a kick up the backside. I need to try much harder.
 
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Blueberry shot is really good love the little orange dot you can see in the fruit the shallow dof works with this and there is nothing wrong with time either, you are very self critical :nono: I thought I was bad
 
Hi Nathalie, seem to have missed a load of weeks so a few comments to catch up.
Abstract – very powerful simplistic shot, good take on theme
Symmetry – Good use of DOF. Would consider cloning out flower on left.
Moody – Great shot and looks like Chester zoo is a photographers dream if this is the type of angle you can get.
Joy – Lovely clean shot and love the DOF and background.
Contrast – Beautiful cat and know the problems of getting the right shot with these animals. Not sure about the contrast between eye and fur, but black and white contrast in fur definitely works.
Mineral – works for me and on theme. Natural light has produced sharpness and shadow. Maybe the WB needs adjusting to give the white background.
Dark – another good use of tight DOF and bang on theme.
Time – OK so a lazy shot but works just fine, even the hand position make this powerful. A bit grey on the left spoils the effect, again WB or curve adjustment needed.
 
Mineral: Great shot. Really like it.

Reshoot: That's really well shot and the DOF brings the subject out well.

Dark: Great shot. Again, good use of DOF

Time: A great capture of the theme that works really well.
 
Thanks for the feedback!

fazer said:
Mineral – works for me and on theme. Natural light has produced sharpness and shadow. Maybe the WB needs adjusting to give the white background.

Time – OK so a lazy shot but works just fine, even the hand position make this powerful. A bit grey on the left spoils the effect, again WB or curve adjustment needed.
Click to expand...
Mineral was shot on a blue piece of card, which is why the background is grey rather than white in the mono conversion.

Time, I've adjusted the whites. Any better?
 
Mineral – A nice take on the theme. I like the composition as well.

Re-Shoot – A gorgeous shot. The vivid colours and subject just shout a class image.

Dark – Another great photo. The positioning, use of the dark tones and DoF are spot on.

Time – No need to apologise for not changing anything from the last photo. There’s nothing one with this one at all. Your use of shooting just a small section of this clock really works well.
 
Dark - Gorgeous shot. Love the tones, beautiful deep colour too, and the crop is perfect.
Time - Another stunner. Really crisp, excellent colour and tone again, and nice framing. The only thing that irks me ever so slightly is that the hand is touching the 9 - I think I'd have preferred a little space between them. Very minor criticism though.
 
Hi Nathalie


Love your Dark image....I'm also a fan of really shallow DOF & think it works just great here , lovely muted colors with just a splash of orange/red to bring it alive....love it :clap:

Time....wonderfully simple idea but very effective , just a hint of shadow under the hand , great whites..., great stuff (y)
 
Ooh and I've just spotted Symmetry. That is a thing of beauty. I do love your flower shots - you manage to bring out the textures so well that I can imagine how it feels to touch them. That wonderful purple looks like soft corduroy, I'm having visions of a jacket like that to snuggle up in during Autumn, or maybe a skirt, or... ooh boots and a matching handbag! You see what your textures do to me?! :LOL:
 
Hi Nathalie

I am quite some way behind, sorry

Letter - beautiful. Good colour, tones, texture and focus giving perspective.
Contrast - a liilte off theme, but not a lot as there is some contrast in the stripes of the coat. Lovely pale eyes and a super portrait
Mineral - a little lacking in impact I feel

Symmetry - the opposite of mineral in that it has lots of impact, lovely colours, good comp and bang on theme:clap:
Dark - another good shot. Good deep colours and the small orange centre gives me the thought of a volcano about to erupt. On theme:clap:
Time - excellent, simple, smashing crop, subtle shadow of the hand. (y)
 
Mineral, nicely shot and lit, and it is mineral, but... not so sure for me
Symmetry, I really like it, good separation, good comp, not so sure on the symmetry though.
Dark, Excellent, very dark, and on theme... Blueberries are also yummy
Time, Simple, yet very well executed, and fits the theme well. Have you tried using a longer exposure and capturing the second hand moving ?
 
Dead body in colour.

This dead bee was still hanging onto the flower where it died. That it is dead is not as obvious as I would have liked, but to get a more side on angle I had to stand where I was blocking the sunlight (I did try - it did not work). Anyway, what I wanted wasn't just a photo of a dead bug - I wanted something colourful and kind of pretty.

I know it does not shout "dead body", or even just "body" for that matter, but considering how much I struggled to come up with ideas for this theme, I'm just thankful that I've got anything at all.

Edit: link removed
 
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Hi Nathalie - colourful as you say. I like the way that the colours all come from the same part of the palette and yet there is definition of the elements. Perhaps a little too shallow a dof for my taste as it is not obviously a body, but certainly a head. I think that it might suit better if it was rotated 90 counter clockwise.
 

Week 35 - Reshoot: Flight by C Fredriksson, on Flickr
1/1000sec f3.2 60mm ISO640

I wasn't happy with my previous Flight entry, for a number of reasons. The main thing being I did not manage to actually capture the bumblebee in flight, but also, the sharpness was questionable and I did not like the colours at all. So today I tried again... and for me, this is a definite improvement. I think it says "flight" more than the other one, it is sharper and colours are much more pleasing on the eye. If the top part of the flower hadn't been so hideous, it would have been nice to have it in the frame too.

My original Flight entry was taken with the 300mm to give me more reach, but this was taken with the 60mm (so much for using another lens) on manual focus. I spent about two hours chasing the poor bees and ended up with a grand total of three in-flight and in focus shots. The compositions were very different but I preferred this.
 
Your Body shot isn't showing for me. It says it's a private page.

Reshoot - Fantastic capture to get the bee in flight. The colours and composition are spot on as well.
 
Him it's been a while since I was here :thinking:

Letter, nice contrast, textures and detail. Slightly closer for me and there's a tiny OOF bit on the lower part of the S, few stray fibres as well.

Contrast is an absolute cracker :clap: the white and black around the edges frames the cat nicely. It has a real hi key feel to it and I like it.

Mineral, well composed and nice detail; I'm liking the shadows. It's a tad grey, which is a problem I had.

Symmetry, nice flower, but I feel central would work better. Loving the green OOF BG!

Dark, blooming heck, it's like a scene out of Alien :runaway: Screams a subtle dark to me and the orange really sets it off.

Time, wow you're in a right roll here. The graphic, minimal feel works really well. Well exposed blacks and whites. Wonder what a tiny separation between the hand and the 9 would look like :thinking:

Body, not the best, but on theme and nice and bright colours.

Reshoot of Flight, nice. Panorama was a cracking choice. Nice movement in the wings and sharp body.

Body #2 much better.Liking how the fur (?) is matted. The yellow top left draws my eye a tad.

Overall, cracking show :clap:
 
jgs001 said:
Mineral, nicely shot and lit, and it is mineral, but... not so sure for me
Symmetry, I really like it, good separation, good comp, not so sure on the symmetry though.
Dark, Excellent, very dark, and on theme... Blueberries are also yummy
Time, Simple, yet very well executed, and fits the theme well. Have you tried using a longer exposure and capturing the second hand moving ?
Click to expand...
Mineral for me, too, is very blah. It's a candidate for re-shoot if I can come up with another idea that works.

Symmetry I'm personally very happy with, both for the theme and as a picture. I do however appreciate the feedback, even if in this case I don't agree with you ;)

Time; A long exposure is an interesting idea, but I did not try it. It would have had to be a very long exposure indeed to capture the movement of the "hour" hand.

superpippo said:
Hi Nathalie - colourful as you say. I like the way that the colours all come from the same part of the palette and yet there is definition of the elements. Perhaps a little too shallow a dof for my taste as it is not obviously a body, but certainly a head. I think that it might suit better if it was rotated 90 counter clockwise.
Click to expand...
I hear you -- it was already a very loose interpretation of "body" (ie, dead) and when you can't really tell that it's dead, the whole idea fails. I tried rotating it, but it just looked wrong... Possibly because I've spent too much time looking at the original version. I'm going to go with my alternative shot instead.

posiview said:
Him it's been a while since I was here :thinking:

Letter, nice contrast, textures and detail. Slightly closer for me and there's a tiny OOF bit on the lower part of the S, few stray fibres as well.

Contrast is an absolute cracker :clap: the white and black around the edges frames the cat nicely. It has a real hi key feel to it and I like it.

Mineral, well composed and nice detail; I'm liking the shadows. It's a tad grey, which is a problem I had.

Symmetry, nice flower, but I feel central would work better. Loving the green OOF BG!

Dark, blooming heck, it's like a scene out of Alien :runaway: Screams a subtle dark to me and the orange really sets it off.

Time, wow you're in a right roll here. The graphic, minimal feel works really well. Well exposed blacks and whites. Wonder what a tiny separation between the hand and the 9 would look like :thinking:

Body, not the best, but on theme and nice and bright colours.

Reshoot of Flight, nice. Panorama was a cracking choice. Nice movement in the wings and sharp body.

Body #2 much better.Liking how the fur (?) is matted. The yellow top left draws my eye a tad.

Overall, cracking show :clap:
Click to expand...
Mineral, the background was bound to turn out grey, as it was a blue piece of card. :( If I'd known when I shot it that I was going to go down the mono conversion route, I would have done it on white or black card instead. As for the salt crystals, there's already a few small spots with blown highlights and when I mucked around with it in PP I couldn't get it to look any whiter without losing more detail.

Contrast, I'm glad you like it. I think most people did not see "contrast".

Body #2, I think this will have to be my entry then... as much as I prefer the other one due to the colours, it's too off theme.
 
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