weekly Snipet's Photo52: Week 12 - USED JOKER (Added To 1st Page)

Thank you guys for all your comments so far, please find this weeks theme 'Win' on page 1 with the rest of my shots.
 
Very good Win shot Gareth, I didn't realise you were "Fast Company" you learn something new every day. :D
 
Cheers for the lovely comments guys, but I must admit I have no idea what you mean by "Fast Company". It's either me being dumb, or you showing your age Alby :LOL:
 
Ahh, now I understand. I love playing poker me, used to be quite good to but not played in a fair old while now :(
 
Hi Gareth, just dropping in here for the first time.

Secure, very clever.

Industry has superb DOF and composition.

Handmade, how cute and small is that little frog? The 5p really adds to the scale(y)

Money - Don't we all wish we had a stack like that lying around? Preferably real though! Good lighting here.

Win - another perfectly black background. How do you achieve that? Do you tweak in PP or get it as shot? I can tweak, but all tips for less pp the better!

I have to say its very clever how you've kept all your photos on page one! I wish everyone had done that, it makes it easier to catch up on new threads (y)
 
Money is brilliant it is a pretty tidy photograph of a 5p but using it to scale the frog which is just tiny. :clap:

I'm liking win, DOF tight in on the cards really nice, simple and spot on theme.
 
The goblin said:
Hi Gareth, just dropping in here for the first time.

Secure, very clever.

Industry has superb DOF and composition.

Handmade, how cute and small is that little frog? The 5p really adds to the scale(y)

Money - Don't we all wish we had a stack like that lying around? Preferably real though! Good lighting here.

Win - another perfectly black background. How do you achieve that? Do you tweak in PP or get it as shot? I can tweak, but all tips for less pp the better!

I have to say its very clever how you've kept all your photos on page one! I wish everyone had done that, it makes it easier to catch up on new threads (y)
Click to expand...

Thanks for popping into my thread Marsha, and glad you like my shots so far. As for the black background;
  • I simply use the back of a table mat thats fairly black to start off with,
  • Try and make the shot ever so slightly to bright in camera, but only very slightly,
  • When opening in raw just raise the 'Blacks' by 1-3 stops and then tweak the 'Contrast' to get the black as dark as possible,
  • I would then adjust the exposure and everything else to make the rest of the shot correct,
  • If this lightens the blacks back up noticeably I go into Photoshop. A brush size of 150 with a feather of between 65-80%, and using complete black I've found works best around the edges of things (Raise the feather if you use a smaller brush),
  • Then just simply colour in the rest, and Ta-Da.

DrRusty said:
Money is brilliant it is a pretty tidy photograph of a 5p but using it to scale the frog which is just tiny. :clap:

I'm liking win, DOF tight in on the cards really nice, simple and spot on theme.
Click to expand...

Was good fun folding the frog, brought back good old memories. The 5p was a last minute decision and glad everyone agree's that it works in the shot.
 
Snipet said:
As for the black background;
[*]I simply use the back of a table mat thats fairly black to start off with,
[*]Try and make the shot ever so slightly to bright in camera, but only very slightly,
[*]When opening in raw just raise the 'Blacks' by 1-3 stops and then tweak the 'Contrast' to get the black as dark as possible,
[*]I would then adjust the exposure and everything else to make the rest of the shot correct,
[*]If this lightens the blacks back up noticeably I go into Photoshop. A brush size of 150 with a feather of between 65-80%, and using complete black I've found works best around the edges of things (Raise the feather if you use a smaller brush),
[*]Then just simply colour in the rest, and Ta-Da.
Click to expand...
It amazes me how people do it differently! So many ways to skin a cat in photography.

Thanks for posting this.
 
Cheers for the comments guys (And marsha to), Glad you're all liking the shots so far. Hopefully I can keep them coming steadily for the rest of the year. 10% done, 90% to go.
 
ChickenDipa said:
Great 'win' shot, had had a similar idea but I dont think it would have come out as nice. Great angle and good choice with the black background.
Click to expand...

I did have a play with alot of different angle, lighting, DOF's and card placements, took nearly an hour and over 80 shots total before finally deciding on this one, so was a bit of work to get this final image.
And it had to be a black background for me, the contrast between it and the cards suits it perfectly I think. Was going to go for a B&W conversion on the whole picture, but I do like the blue lines peeking in from the border of face cards .
 
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Win is a cracker. Well composed and exposed. Just the cliped A, but the DOF is spot on and leads the eye to the A.

Shiny, nice watch: detail, focus, shiny...(y) 10 past 2 would be nice.

Cheers.
 
big fan of steam punk and all things mechanical so this really appeals to me, love the crop too
 
That's a wonderful shot for shiny. Fantastic composition, lighting and focus.
 
Excellent detail in there with the nice shiny gold on a black background. The crop works well for me and the hands work well within the crop. Agree about the strap at the top thou.

I think you are having the same problem as me in seeing the different contrasts on the black background. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Thanks for the comments guys, I did try a crop with out the strap showing at the top of the shot. But it just seemed to make the right hand side really tight against the winder of the watch, and I do think the dead space adds to the picture. Plus there is a part of me that likes the strap there to show that it is a wrist watch and not a pocket watch.
 
A well lit and focussed photograph Gareth (y)
It has lovely colour tones too. I could see this in a magazine advert, it has that sort of feel to it. Well done all round. Iain
 
Cheers Iain and Peter, must admit that this is probably my favourite shot so far in the challenge. Closely followed by my 'Win' shot.
 
Hi Gareth

Shiny - beautiful photo. Very clear and good colour rendition.

I also thought that the strap at the top was distracting, particularly with the good depth of black background that you have achieve in other shots. But I agree with you that it is part of the context - perhaps if it could have been a bit more obvious that it is the strap rather thatn some shadow at the top?

As a matter of info, what lens and at what focal length did you use?
 
superpippo said:
Hi Gareth

Shiny - beautiful photo. Very clear and good colour rendition.

I also thought that the strap at the top was distracting, particularly with the good depth of black background that you have achieve in other shots. But I agree with you that it is part of the context - perhaps if it could have been a bit more obvious that it is the strap rather thatn some shadow at the top?

As a matter of info, what lens and at what focal length did you use?
Click to expand...

I unfortunately used a different background this time to the one I usually use for my black background shots, and I couldn't get rid of the texture on it hence the very dark state of the strap and background.
I also had to darken it more than I would have liked to, to create a contrast on the internals of the watch as the glare on the front glass seemed to take alot of the detail away.

Lens wise, I used my trusted Sigma 105mm. I do usually use one of my smaller Kenko tubes on my macro shots but on this one I think I used the larger of the three to get a bit closer.
 
Hi Gareth,

It seems I've got a lot of catching up to do, but rather than commenting on all your photos I'll focus on some of your most recent:

Handmade - A different take, but still very much on theme. The DOF is just right for me, and the coin makes me appreciate just how tiny the frog is.

Win - Again; lovely DOF, nice clean background and of course, bang on theme.

Shiny - That's a very interesting and pretty watch. Shiny for sure.

I like most of your entries so far and it's obvious you have a high standard. The only bit of criticism I have to offer is, maybe try and vary your backgrounds a little? Having said that, the black does work well.
 
Thanks for the comments and feedback guys and girls, must admit that this weeks theme has stumped me at the moment though :thinking::help:
 
Sorry guys and girls, no picture for the magical theme.
I'll try again on this weeks theme for something to post.
 
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