Nickbee's 2024 52 - Week 36: Tools (including catchup)

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nickbee

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Despite starting four 52s, I've only finished once. Will 2024 be the year I complete my second? Does anyone care? Watch this space and find out.
 
Week 1 - Close To Home (SOOC)

Week 1 - Close To Home by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I went out the morning after the storms unsuccessfully trying to find a fallen tree or something. Landscapes are not my forte but I liked the sun reflecting off the road as I walked back home. I considered turning this B&W and emphasising the contrast however the golden morning light was too pretty not to include.
 
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Week 2 - Hard

Week 2 - Hard by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

Oh how original, nails. I prefer high key but I no longer have time for all that flash nonsense.
 
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Week 3 - Soft


soft by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I'm not ticking boxes for originality here. After toying with a NSFW diptych to fulfil the hard and soft topics in one swoop, I went with this altogether more wholesome picture of my cat. Shot using a 50mm lens on a crop sensor at 1/5 of a second, using a cushion for stability.
 
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Nicely done catching up, all work well for the themes. Your cat is absolutely gorgeous, well composed and lit definitely my favourite shot so far.
 
BobBCN said:
Three good shots to get you up to date. Close to home is a splendid capture.
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Thanks Just need to stay up-to-date now

RyanB said:
Nicely done catching up, all work well for the themes. Your cat is absolutely gorgeous, well composed and lit definitely my favourite shot so far.
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He's a handsome beast and he knows it. He was lying some lovely natural light, I had to take my chance!

seaodyssey said:
Cat, very cute and soft, but they have very sharp claws.
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As I find out every time I try to groom him :oops: :$

nog said:
Great shot of the cat and love the composition
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Thank you. I originally included a lot of carpet in the foreground (which was also soft) but he fitted so nicely into a square.

SimonH said:
Great cat shot!
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Thanks! It'll be hard to resist including him too often.
 
splash by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

The weekend's "water" shoot didn't turn out quite as I'd planned but I'm putting this one here in case I don't manage to produce anything better by Thusday!
 
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Soft. That's a stunning cat shot. They eyes have it!
Water: Looks like fun even if it didn't work out as you wanted.
 
Week 4 - Water


splash by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I wanted to take a shot through glass, so it looked like water was being sprayed onto the lens/screen but I struggled to get the shot I wanted - generally when the water hit the glass it just obliterated the view of anything behind it. I think I needed a much bigger pane than the picture frame I used. Despite not getting what I wanted, as @HelenC said, this shot does at least convey the fun my daughter and I had trying, so I've stuck with it for this week.

Honourable mention to the shots below which I thought about using as a triptych, but they lack a bit of excitement.

squirt by nickbrotherston, on Flickr
 
It's tricky trying to get the "water on lens" effect using a pane of glass but this is a good attempt. You usually have to be quick. as the water will start trickling down.. Maybe a horizontal set up? Of course, your daughter would get soaked in the process!!
 
I agree with you about the excitement factor, but for me the triptych has something.
 
The Cat shot is beautiful, as I started scrolling down I thought you had posted it sideways, but soon realised my error.
I like the single shot for water it has more energy than the triptych
 
BobBCN said:
It's tricky trying to get the "water on lens" effect using a pane of glass but this is a good attempt. You usually have to be quick. as the water will start trickling down.. Maybe a horizontal set up? Of course, your daughter would get soaked in the process!!
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A great suggestion but I should probably wait until it's warmer before I get her too wet.

Boots said:
I agree with you about the excitement factor, but for me the triptych has something.
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I'm glad you like it, it took me ages to figure out how to display them like that.

SimonH said:
Very neatly done. Love the triptych, but first one is fab
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Thank you! I was hesitant to use these but they got a better reaction than I anticipated.

Minx said:
The Cat shot is beautiful, as I started scrolling down I thought you had posted it sideways, but soon realised my error.
I like the single shot for water it has more energy than the triptych
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Yes the carpet was supposed to be 50% of the softness but the cat stole the show! As for the energy, she was having a great time squirting water at Daddy,
 
Week 5 - Snapper's Choice
Week 5 - Choice by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

My original idea was a bit ambitious and I ran out of time but I'll keep it in my back pocket for a future choice week. Realising today was Wednesday I just decided to go for something nice and colourful. The sun came out and I noticed these daffodils had nice droplets, so moved them into the sun and fired off a few simple shots (200 2.8L, my fave). Shooting was easy but my problem was cropping it. No-one in my household like the version where I cropped out the pot but I think the blue is a bit distracting. I tried to darken it to a navy but my limited photo editing skills didn't allow me to blend it with the undarkened part convincingly. Nevertheless, here it is.
 
Great colours! I tried to get a similar pic but the daffodils that have come out already looked a bit sorry for themselves
I like the blue pot, I think without it you'd risk it looking like it was missing something/taken too high from the ground
 
BobBCN said:
The crop looks fine to me. And the droplets are a nice touch. Up to date and on track!!
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cptnm said:
Great colours! I tried to get a similar pic but the daffodils that have come out already looked a bit sorry for themselves
I like the blue pot, I think without it you'd risk it looking like it was missing something/taken too high from the ground
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Thanks both :)
 
Week 6 - Neat & Tidy


Week 6 - Neat & Tidy by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I had a great many ideas for this and then realised that most of them involved actually tidying up and even as someone who once got naked for the 52, that's just asking too much. The shoe rack was colourful, easy to make tidy and right beside the front door so light was easy. I trimmed the edges slightly, but otherwise this would be SOOC.
 
Like that
Very tidy and also gives me an idea for the filthy theme this week- our boot/wellington storage
 
Snappers: I like the blue - with the background colour it has a mediterranean feel to the colour
Neat and tidy: impressive... wish my shoe rack looked that clean and tidy.
 
seaodyssey said:
I picked something already tidy also
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Work smarter, not harder :cool:

nog said:
Like that
Very tidy and also gives me an idea for the filthy theme this week- our boot/wellington storage
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Thank you! In hindsight a pair of muddy boots would have been an easy option.

HelenC said:
Snappers: I like the blue - with the background colour it has a mediterranean feel to the colour
Neat and tidy: impressive... wish my shoe rack looked that clean and tidy.
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Thanks. I think I was the only person who questioned the blue, but I've been convinced it's better.

BobBCN said:
Works well. The image itself is neat, well-balanced. The door is to the left I guess.
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No, to the right! :LOL: If you look at the reflections on the black shoes in the middle row you can just about make out the door. Thank you, glad you liked it.

SimonH said:
We could do with a shoe rack.....

Nicely done...
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They do help keep the hallway neat. Thank you.

cptnm said:
Nicely framed, and as others have said it gives me a good idea haha
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Thank you. I haven't checked this week's entries yet but I'm anticipating lots of muddy shoes!
 
Week 7 - Filthy


Week 7 - Filthy by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I was skiing in the French Alps all week and was hoping for a theme that would play into that, so filthy wasn't really what I had hoped for. I had my camera with me on the slopes most days, but there wasn't even much mud despite it being a poor year for snow. Although ski resorts are generally pretty well-kept, the toilets are often horrible so it it seemed like the obvious solution. It's hard to do that tastefully, but this pile of paper on a messy floor was the perfect chance. I think it somehow stands out more because the room itself is so new. Taken on a phone camera because I'm not willing to walk into a busy public toilet with an SLR, with a bit of processing on the phone app, It's tall and thin, but so is a cubicle.
 
Filthy indeed, but compared to some of the bars I frequent .....
You are right btw - a modern loo like that should be spotless.
 
In my experience loos in French ski resorts can be *much* worse. I especially detest the "place feet here, and here, and squat" ones.

But, for the theme, it works just fine.
 
Eeeergh!
 
Very fitting, though I'm sure not the highlight picture of your trip!
 
BobBCN said:
Filthy indeed, but compared to some of the bars I frequent .....
You are right btw - a modern loo like that should be spotless.
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I don't understand why this works as an advert for those bars, but it kinda does...

Boots said:
In my experience loos in French ski resorts can be *much* worse. I especially detest the "place feet here, and here, and squat" ones.

But, for the theme, it works just fine.
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You're absolutely right: this one was restaurant-adjacent so a little better than most!

-Oy- said:
Eeeergh!
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Thank you.

cptnm said:
Very fitting, though I'm sure not the highlight picture of your trip!
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Happily not, I had a great week!
 
Week 8 - Whole


8 - Whole by nickbrotherston, on Flickr

I took a few shots that fitted the theme perfectly well, like some wholemeal bread or a whole set of Harry Potter books, but nothing that really popped and certainly nothing original. It was relatively last minute that I realised I just put a whole tank of petrol in my car (I'm not a millionaire or anything, honest). Intending to take a shot of the fuel gauge only because it was original, I inadvertently left my finger on the button long enough to take a final picture as I moved the camera and the outcome is somehow one of the worst and best photos of my 52 so far.
 
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The fuel gauge is very good. As I see it, you have the "whole tank full" idea but also an idea of speed with the blur. So it kinda works that way, albeit inadvertently.

I once took some night shots of a village and a full moon. Wasn't happy so started playing around with bulb. In one I just moved the camera up and down and created a kind of abstract. I named it "Puigcerda and the Moon" but initially thought "Jackson Pollock Move Over" would be cool!!
 
I really like that fuel shot! Sometimes the surprise effects just work :)
 
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