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

I've missed a few of your entries.

Vice - coffee and cake, a winner for me, but agree the cake needs to be in focus too.

Soft - Just gorgeous!

Pride - what a gorgeous cat. In the absence of a pride of lions or other large kitty, this is a perfect substitute! He definitely has a proud look about himself too! His eyes are just stunning, they really draw you in, I also love the detail like the tufts of fur on his ears(y)
I like both versions but the orange blanket is a bit too bright! I'd say the colour of Oskar makes this a perfect shot for some Sc, but it's the kind that would be very subtle!
 
Wow, what a stunning cat! He's almost monochrome anyway, so the B&W works for me, but it is a shame to lose his incredible eye colour, and even his nose. That said, even though I just LOVE orange, it had to go in this case, so maybe this is one of those rare occasions when a bit of selective colouring is justified?
 
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Nathalie said:
OMG. Orange boxer shorts? :eek:
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And what, pray tell, is wrong with orange boxer shorts? :bat:

Well, except that after several washes they've gone more salmon than orange, which is never a good look!!!
 
Wow, he looks sssoooo comfy :D

Well composed and some nice contrast. Eye contact, I feel, would have spoilt this because as it is he looks like he's in a dreamy world of his own.

I don't mind the dark paws but find the dark upper right a tad distracting.

Good show (y)
 
Edit: B&W is my final pick!

posiview said:
Wow, he looks sssoooo comfy :D

Well composed and some nice contrast. Eye contact, I feel, would have spoilt this because as it is he looks like he's in a dreamy world of his own.

I don't mind the dark paws but find the dark upper right a tad distracting.

Good show (y)
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Thanks, Andy. The dark area at the top is his black sister, Ashli, having a nap!
 
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Hi , sorry but missed some of yours and trying to catch up

Vice - good composition, like the choice of colours for the cup and the cake. Good lighting. As others have said more dof, partic on the choc topping.

Entrance - fair enough but as you say it is a door.

Soft - Excellent shot. Soft in terms of the subject and the way that you have composed and shot it.(y) Good lighting, just the right amount of detail and looks well in mono.

Pride - Good composition being slightly off centre and great expression on the face. I prefer the colour as the cat looks better with the colour of eyes and mouth showing and the orange blanket is a good contrast and, as it is a single block colour, i think that it complements the scene.
 
Hi Nathalie

choices choices........I quite like the full color one...great splash of color & the out stretched claw & expression work so well . Having said that I also like the SC verions...beautiful delicate color in nose & eye's....great looking kitty as well...very proud :clap:
 
Nathalie said:
So what's the verdict, folks? Mono, colour or SC?
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A full colour mono one with selective colour on the blue bits for me please!

Seriously, I think either he original mono, or a close crop on his face in full colour. The SC doesn't work as well as I thought it might.
 
oh dear I've been missing yours! I love vice and pride (the colour version), entrance is on theme but I would have liked a wider shot. Soft is also on theme and I can see that you have deliberately made the shot soft so well done :clap:

apparently in the old Hollywood pics the photographer used to put a silk stocking over his lens to get that soft look, some used to put Vaseline around the edge :)
 
Soft - I like your last moggy image, the colour of the soft blanket also really looks good against the grey fur. Sharp eyes, nice depth of field. It's a really pleasing image.

Nick
 
I can't believe the weather has been rubbish ALL week! I've got two shots in mind for Short but I've just not been able to capture them. Flight will probably be the obvious in-flight bird photo for me, but for that I need the weather to cooperate too. *Sigh*
 
Hi Nathalie.
Sorry its been so long catching up. Magical, entrance and vice are all good shots and on theme. Others have commented so I will leave it at that. I think soft with the rose is lovely and dont mind DOF at all, it adds to the composition. Conversion to BW also excellent.
Pride I would go for the mono, but the colour has the benefit of those eyes and I dont think SC of just eyes would work. Just shows how difficult photography can be.
 
Vice – Nice shot. The crop works well

Entrance – Definitely on theme and the B&W suits the subject

Soft – I usually like B&W shots to cover the full range of tones from black right through to white. This doesn’t tick that box but I have to say I really really like it. It is shouting soft and the pp you’ve given it is spot on. It’s maybe one of my favourites in the 52 let alone for this theme. Well done.

Pride – I was liking the B&W until I saw the colour version. The colour of the blanket and the eyes of the cat make it stand out for me
 
Thanks for the feedback, people. :)

I'm still in this thing. I've got my Short photo done, just need to post it here. I know what I want to do for Authority (should not be weather dependent, thankfully) and I should have that done by tomorrow. Flight turned out more difficult than I expected. Weather's not been cooperating and photographing small birds in flight is not exactly easy. We shall see if I can do this or not -- I might have to resort to a back-up idea.

Delta Skies said:
It’s maybe one of my favourites in the 52 let alone for this theme. Well done.
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Wow - thank you so much, Peter!
 

Week 17 - Short by C Fredriksson, on Flickr

1/4000 sec f1.8 50mm ISO200

Short Life.

Okay, I *know* I said I wanted to try and use a different lens and more depth of field - but as you can see, for this I did not.

I went for a walk in the cemetery early this morning. When I saw this headstone, I knew I'd found my shot... I was uncomfortable taking pictures at all in this place - I felt like a trespasser - and was being really careful where I put my feet when looking to find an angle that worked... I took a few frames of the entire headstone, but did not want to include the full name of the little boy or the rest of his family laid to rest in the same spot, so I settled for a cropped close-up.

I like the condition of the headstone; that the letters are peeling off, as it suits the theme. I know it's not processed to look sad -- I wanted it subtle, and the peeling V in "ELEVEN" is what does it for me.

After I got home and looked at the photos, I think I would have liked to see what a lower PoV and a plane of focus aligned with the bottom row, with focus dropping off towards the top of the frame, would have looked like... I'll be passing the cemetery again on Monday for work and if I can just remember to pack my gear, I will give it another go.

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


Week 18 - Flight by C Fredriksson, on Flickr

1/800sec f4.0 300mm ISO200

Plan B: Bumblebee in Flight (plan A was a bird in flight but it didn't work out).

Not quite the in-flight I had in mind, but I did try... In fact, today was day number two of trying to catch one of these in flight with a decent composition and backdrop. I would much have preferred the blue flowers they had at the gardens I visited yesterday, but there was only one bumblebee around that I could find and it was apparently too cold to move at all (it was FREEZING) - it was just sitting there, not doing anything.

This was taken with the 300mm because I needed more reach than the 60mm could offer but still wanted a nice OOF background. The lens did surprisingly well focusing on a small subject like this but focus is not 100% where I wanted it to be. This is the main reason why I've cropped it the way I have.

I feel the yellows are maybe a bit overpowering, even if they do complement the bumblebee's orange/yellow colour. And like I mentioned before, what I was after was the bee in mid-air -- not a photo of it landing on the flower. Again, with more time, I'm sure I could get what I wanted but I'm not going to spend another two days on this shot! I need to move on to next week's theme.
 
Short – It works well. A very poignant image.

Flight - I like the cropping on this one. Whilst the bee isn't in full flight the motion blur on the wings gives it a feel of flight.
 
Short and flight are really good pics i really likje the thinking behind short and thr blur of the bees wings give it the feeling of flight
 
Hi

Short - good idea and spot. i like the texture on the subject and the monotone. I see what you mean about a lower pov and you might be rigth to try it.

Flight - To me there is enough blur in the wings to suggest flight and I disagree with you about the yellow colours - to me they give spring feel to the pic. A well executed shot.
 
Hi Nathalie,

I think short is a great (but sad) idea for the theme. It's a nice POV and the peeling letters adds detail and texture. I do think a greater DOF is needed though so you can read all the letters in shot, after all it is about his sadly short life not just the date he passed:thinking:

I love your flight shot. Don't tell DK though he may hurt you:bat:
mtjhome said:
Thanks for posting the shutter speed for flight = 1/800th - still nowhere near stopping the motion of the bee's wings.
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Crazy isn't it, it makes you wonder what speed would freeze their wings in flight, not that you'd want to do that!
 
Both excellent Nathalie, short works very well, and I like the DOF, it fits the theme perfectly. Flight, this is just plain hard... and you've done a great job on it, amazing how fast those wings beat.
 

Week 19 - Authority by C Fredriksson, on Flickr
1/200sec f5.6 50mm ISO400

I'm not feeling inspired at all at the moment -- I have way too many other things going on -- but this is my take on Authority. I'm not going to bother analysing it, simply move on to next week and hope I can find something that fills me with a bit of excitement.
 
Don't do yourself down. I like this. Probably a niggle but I'm wondering if it would be improved if the van was facing into the space. One of those photographic rules to break though.
 
Authority - I like it, good depth of field with the van out slightly out of focus. I think the border works too!

Nick
 
Short; what can I say, it's wonderful!

Flight; what can I say, it's wonderful!

Authority; what can I say, it's wonderful! Almost; I'm not keen on the toy like look of the van, but that's just a matter of taste I think :)
 
Southdowns said:
Short; what can I say, it's wonderful!

Flight; what can I say, it's wonderful!

Authority; what can I say, it's wonderful! Almost; I'm not keen on the toy like look of the van, but that's just a matter of taste I think :)
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Oi! I know I'm falling behind again but don't mock me! :nono: ;)

No work this weekend and weather's supposed to be amazing, so I should be able to catch up.
 
:) I didn't mean to mock you, more mocking how difficult it is to crit pictures that have nothing wrong with them!

Anyway, keep up at the back girl. You do know that once you fall 4 weeks behind, your camera is confiscated and sent down to Hampshire for safe keeping until you say sorry, right?
 
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