weekly SimonB - 52 challenge (2021) Weeks 48 to 52 catch-up!

Very fitting use of the theme.
 
Perfect timing for the theme - and a lovely deep red on the roses.
 
As others have said - great choice for a subject. Very dramatic colour works really well against the background. Simple and straightforward. Great stuff.
 
Rock - Not sure how I missed this earlier. Very clever using the vase. It has worked nicely to give the shot that red hue.
Tall - I think I would have gone with your 4th image, but can see why you would want to do something different from the expected norm of a low perspective looking upwards (y)
Snappers - Free weeks are often the hardest because you aren't constricted. I agree with the choice of the swans over the robin. Just wishing the swans would have created the classic heart shape (as I'm commenting on the 14th ;) )
Pair - Lovely Valentines day shot.
 
Pair
Nice roses. I like the composition, but think you could lose a bit off of the right.
 
Nicely lit - I often find bright reds can be difficult to expose - even in nature!
 
Snappers Choice
Nice shots, would have liked the swan head to have the water completely behind it, with your camera would need to be higher shooting down or the swans moved closer to the bottom edge. Spotting the robin in amongst the branches was well done, they definitely don't get the posing message.

Pair
Nice detail on the flowers, not sure if it looks better cropped from the right and in portrait format
 
robj20 said:
Very fitting use of the theme.
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Shugpug said:
Perfect timing for the theme - and a lovely deep red on the roses.
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Harlequin565 said:
As others have said - great choice for a subject. Very dramatic colour works really well against the background. Simple and straightforward. Great stuff.
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SimonH said:
Lovely shot and topical too
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Thanks guys :)

d00d said:
Nice pair.

Are they artificial?
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Thank you for admiring my pair, yep they're a pair of fakes! I'm too tight to buy real roses! I used lightroom to soften the fabric side of things

LC2 said:
Rock - Not sure how I missed this earlier. Very clever using the vase. It has worked nicely to give the shot that red hue.
Tall - I think I would have gone with your 4th image, but can see why you would want to do something different from the expected norm of a low perspective looking upwards (y)
Snappers - Free weeks are often the hardest because you aren't constricted. I agree with the choice of the swans over the robin. Just wishing the swans would have created the classic heart shape (as I'm commenting on the 14th ;) )
Pair - Lovely Valentines day shot.
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Thanks for your comments, I agree about the swans but they were ignoring my pleas of forming a heart shape. In fact they barely moved at all.

Nostromo said:
Pair
Nice roses. I like the composition, but think you could lose a bit off of the right.
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Fair enough (y) I was keeping the rule of thirds in mind but I see what you mean. I'll have a play in photoshop later :)

HelenC said:
Nicely lit - I often find bright reds can be difficult to expose - even in nature!
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Lightroom helped me out a lot there!

StuartPearson said:
Snappers Choice
Nice shots, would have liked the swan head to have the water completely behind it, with your camera would need to be higher shooting down or the swans moved closer to the bottom edge. Spotting the robin in amongst the branches was well done, they definitely don't get the posing message.

Pair
Nice detail on the flowers, not sure if it looks better cropped from the right and in portrait format
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The swans were difficult models to say the least! I was in a fairly perilous position as it was, I didn't fancy joining them. The robin I believe has a nest in there as I see him most times I walk past the hedge. Luckily for me he was there and we had unusually sunny day

Thanks for all the comments and critiques I really appreciate them all, I'm really enjoying using the camera more and thinking of ways to match the themes. Roll on next Thursday!
 
My submission for this week was quite tricky given that I had a rather grumpy model. He wasn’t harmed of course but I don’t think he was impressed with his kingdom! Oh well circle of life and all that.

I was thankful my camera was already in burst mode as he only stayed still for about 2 seconds before wriggling away.

Here are my best two from the lot, I quite like how he is looking down the lens with such disdain!


Film Pic 1 by Simon Brown


Flim pic 2 by Simon Brown
 
Haha good take on the theme! Grumpy Simba :D
 
Love it, got this one instantly. Took me ages to come up with an idea, and I just couldn't think of a way of making it very photogenic.
 
Hah. New one on me, had to Google it with help from previous posters. The cat looks like he is figuring out how best to murder you.
 
Boots said:
That is, indeed, one grumpy cat... sorry, lion cub!
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-Oy- said:
Haha good take on the theme! Grumpy Simba :D
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Yep haha thats my take on the Lion King (y)

robj20 said:
Love it, got this one instantly. Took me ages to come up with an idea, and I just couldn't think of a way of making it very photogenic.
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The Lion King was the film that immediately came to mind as its my wife's favorite movie, so I knew she would help posing the cat

Harlequin565 said:
Hah. New one on me, had to Google it with help from previous posters. The cat looks like he is figuring out how best to murder you.
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vanishedbob said:
Hilarious. The Cat looks about to rip your face off.
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We were rewarded/punished for our efforts later that night when two dead mice were dropped by the cat flap, perhaps it was a warning?
 
This made me laugh.. my cat would look just as hacked off if I did that to him. Mind you, at 9.7kg I doubt I could lift him like that with two hands, never mind one!
 
Film
Well, he certainly doesn't look impressed.
Good interpretation of the film.
 
HelenC said:
This made me laugh.. my cat would look just as hacked off if I did that to him. Mind you, at 9.7kg I doubt I could lift him like that with two hands, never mind one!
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Wow I think I would struggle too! He's actually being held up with two hands its just behind his back. Still think he's unimpressed to this day.

Nostromo said:
Film
Well, he certainly doesn't look impressed.
Good interpretation of the film.
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Thanks (y)
 
So here is a picture of me and my better half that we took on our walk this morning. She has been my biggest supporter and motivator over the years. I can’t wait to marry her this year after our wedding was postponed last year. It needed some work in Lightroom to get the look I wanted as the original picture was overly bright.


Two Halves by Simon Brown

The shot wasn’t the easiest to setup given that the tripod is very much on its last legs needing a pair of mole grips to get it working. I had also left the wrong tripod adapter on the camera which required some MacGuyvering to get it to say still on the tripod. Clean mask I can assure you!


Setup by Simon Brown

Hope you like the picture all comments and critique are welcome.

Cheers
 
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Nice image. Your fiancé is far more patient than my wife, she would have been over the horizon by the time I even got the tripod out of the bag.
 
Boots said:
Nice image. Your fiancé is far more patient than my wife, she would have been over the horizon by the time I even got the tripod out of the bag.
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susiejb said:
What a great idea for the theme and well done to you both for having the patience to fiddle about setting it up, composition is spot on.
I hope your wedding plans all work out well this year.
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Thank you, I wonder how long the patience will last after a couple of more years of these projects :ROFLMAO:
 
A nice idea that's simple and effective, and will perhaps be a shot from your 52 that you will want to keep!

Good luck with your upcoming nuptials. I hope you both have a happy life together.
 
I like that a lot. The halves idea is reinforced by the fact that there's almost a symmetry to it too.
 
Harlequin565 said:
A nice idea that's simple and effective, and will perhaps be a shot from your 52 that you will want to keep!

Good luck with your upcoming nuptials. I hope you both have a happy life together.
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Thank you, we have our fingers crossed that the restrictions are delayed. I am quite tempted to have this one printed out.

NickD said:
I like that a lot. The halves idea is reinforced by the fact that there's almost a symmetry to it too.
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I hadn't noticed that, I was focusing on making sure the crop and colour levels looked right with the hands.

d00d said:
The other half ... excellent.
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Aye but the better half?
 
Half
The mask is the new gaffa tape.
Good shot of the holding hands.
 
Definitely one to keep, was it a conscious decision to have the ring visible or just the way your hands clasped? Your necessary mod for the camera tripod was a sign of the times for sure.
 
Nostromo said:
Half
The mask is the new gaffa tape.
Good shot of the holding hands.
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I always like to find a bodge!

StuartPearson said:
Definitely one to keep, was it a conscious decision to have the ring visible or just the way your hands clasped? Your necessary mod for the camera tripod was a sign of the times for sure.
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LC2 said:
Works nicely. I do like that the ring is prominent.
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The ring being on show was by accident really, it stole the show from the other pictures I took.
 
This is a picture I’ve wanted to take for a while and I took both my camera and my drone with me. I wanted to capture the suns reflection off the sand or water obviously for this week’s theme. However I was quite aware that once the sun starts setting I wouldn’t have much opportunity to move around to get the best angle.

This is where I feel that the drone came into its own, as I was able to “move” my camera around the scene quite quickly to see where it worked best. I noticed that height wasn’t the aim here as the reflections worked best when I was at eye level.

I ran the picture through Lightroom to adjust the levels and then through Photoshop as there was an annoying amount of dust spots on the picture.

Anyway I hope you all like the picture and that it fits the theme for this week!


Pier by Simon Brown
 
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Lovely shot with a well placed Sun. I assume it had just been raining very heavily becasue that surely can't be the sea at Southport :D
 
Nice restful image for reflection, perfect placement of the sun too.
 
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