Project 52 by Letrow

[Geoff F]

The first one is certainly a classic shot.

[Letrow]

Yes it is Geoff. I would love though, to make some more photos of that old man. He is a beauty, the way he looks, with that bend in his back and all. I am not sure he would appreciate it though and besides this was a quick shot from the water, when we were passing his house, so in all likelihood I won't be able to find him again.

[Donald]

The first one is certainly a classic shot.

I certainly agree with that. A scene captured at the perfect moment - when all the elements are in balance and harmony.

[Letrow]

I certainly agree with that. A scene captured at the perfect moment - when all the elements are in balance and harmony.

Thanks Donald. Dutch cows with their specific colouring seem to go well in a lot of shots.

[Geoff F]

From that angle they look more like young bullocks to me.

An interesting use of perspective.

[Letrow]

From that angle they look more like young bullocks to me.

An interesting use of perspective.

I used the 12-24mm on it's widest setting for this one.

[Letrow]

A few Dutch mills









As you can see, it is difficult to point the camera somewhere without having a mill in sight.

[Donald]

As you can see, it is difficult to point the camera somewhere without having a mill in sight.

Or two!

I think that image is excellent. The second mill, more muted in tone, serves as a perfect balance to the mill closer to us. The reflected light on the roof of the building adds a 'sparkle' to the image that would have been absent had the roof not been picking up that light. And then the tree way off in the distance at the right hand side gives our eye the target to take us to the back of the scene and off into the distance.

I think the whole image works very well.

[Letrow]

Or two!

I think that image is excellent. The second mill, more muted in tone, serves as a perfect balance to the mill closer to us. The reflected light on the roof of the building adds a 'sparkle' to the image that would have been absent had the roof not been picking up that light. And then the tree way off in the distance at the right hand side gives our eye the target to take us to the back of the scene and off into the distance.

I think the whole image works very well.

Thank you Donald. I like this shot for the same reasons you just described. All these shots were done from the water and it is surprising to see that your perspective on scenes changes that much, as compared to being on land.

[Letrow]

Now, the real project 52 for this week (October 1) is the mill project above. The photos in this post (Monument Valley sunrise) are done for comparison purposes, in response to Geoff F's project 52.

So, you are warned!!!

Ok, different foregrounds in terms of lighting. I am not sure about the exact timing of the shots, but I do remember varying strongly, to see what worked best (darker or lighter)

First two dark foregrounds:




A bit lighter now:



and the lightest of the bunch:



Difficult to choose from...

[FrankMi]

Now, the real project 52 for this week (October 1) is the mill project above. The photos in this post (Monument Valley sunrise) are done for comparison purposes, in response to Geoff F's project 52.

So, you are warned!!!

Ok, different foregrounds in terms of lighting. I am not sure about the exact timing of the shots, but I do remember varying strongly, to see what worked best (darker or lighter)

and the lightest of the bunch:



Difficult to choose from...

Hi Peter, I like this version very much as it has strong compositional elements and given the prominence of the foreground, some much needed detail. I find that silhouettes don't often work very well if they are too massive. I had a play with it but won't post the results to your P52 thread unless you want me to.

To me you have three subjects competing for attention, the left butte, the sunset and the right butte, and then there is the bright red sun flair.

In playing with subject elements, I cropped the image from the highest point on the left butte to the highest point on the right butte and cloned out the sun flair which concentrated the view on the sunset lit valley and used the buttes as a distinctive frame. I then set the landscape ratio to 16:9 based on these two end points with the sun at about 65% of the way down from the top.

I hope this give you some ideas for alternative views.

[Letrow]

Hi Peter, I like this version very much as it has strong compositional elements and given the prominence of the foreground, some much needed detail. I find that silhouettes don't often work very well if they are too massive. I had a play with it but won't post the results to your P52 thread unless you want me to.

To me you have three subjects competing for attention, the left butte, the sunset and the right butte, and then there is the bright red sun flair.

In playing with subject elements, I cropped the image from the highest point on the left butte to the highest point on the right butte and cloned out the sun flair which concentrated the view on the sunset lit valley and used the buttes as a distinctive frame. I then set the landscape ratio to 16:9 based on these two end points with the sun at about 65% of the way down from the top.

I hope this give you some ideas for alternative views.

Frank, thank you for the comments. I am curious about what you did to the photo, so I have PM-ed you about that. This post was meant more as an illustration to what I said in Geoff's project 52 though and not as a weekly contribution for my project 52, so I want to limit the Monument Valley posts to the above.

[Geoff F]

I think that it mostly comes down to the amount of solid black; as Donald has mentioned in my Project 52 thread.

With these solid black areas, I would try to reduce the amount slightly.

I think the last one works because there is sufficient variation in shape and texture in the dark area. If it was just plain grass or earth/tarmac etc it wouldn't work so well.

The second windmill image is certainly the best of the bunch for me, as Donald said.

But the first would have come close if you had turned the mill around so the sails were facing into the scene.

All good though.

[Letrow]

This week I have tried a B&W conversion. This photo was taken on a summer's day, but the subject is entirely in shadow, so the lighting was a bit of a challenge. I have adjusted levels, curves (slightly) and hue saturation in the original.
After this I have cropped out a bit of sky corner right and right side and created a new layer with the cropped out area.

After this I have selected the horse and changed it's white balance subtly with grey point. I created a new layer and with channels have tried to find a B&W combination that worked for me. I did ad a bit of grain, but I could have used more. In the end result I don't really notice it anymore.

[Geoff F]

Another interesting camera angle.

A pity about the top fence rail being so close to the horse's eye but at least it is above the eye. I think I would clone out that bit of foliage which appears to be growing out of the other eye.

But, a good result from challenging conditions.

[Letrow]

Raindrops on a window, photographed with a macro lens and pp-ed in Gimp

[FrankMi]

Hi Peter, to me this is a very interesting juxtaposition of very sharp detail and very soft source for that detail within the drops of water. Nice vision to have seen this!

[Letrow]

Thanks Frank, it is a fun experiment. Difficult to focus on, but doable. The problem is light of course, but the fact that the drops are translucent helps you there. I did not use flash because of the reflections.

[Donald]

My very first reaction before reading what this actually is, was to think it was shards of broken glass being dropped.

It's the combination of colour, tone and light, along with the exceptional clarity brought out in the image, that makes it one hat you have to stop and look at. The background colour and light is, in my view, just perfect for the foreground subject.

[Letrow]

Thanks Donald. It took a bit of experimenting to get it like I wanted it. Actually, I should try it again. Have to clean the windows first though, I can actually see some dirt on them, so shame on me for not cleaning them properly



This is another one from the same batch, a bit closer than the first one, but with different colours due to the angle of shooting.

I think I can recognize the African continent and Italy in this one.