Project 52 by Gregj1763 (Greg)

[gregj1763]

Thanks for the links Mal, will check them out and work on the photo to correct what you have pointed out.
Cheers Greg

[gregj1763]

26th February was our wedding anniversary and I bought Cindy an eternity ring so I thought I would try my hand at photographing jewellery.
Not easy as it turns out, had many dud shots but these are three that we liked.
Trying to get even lighting was the biggest problem. I had the rings on a black glass top table with daylight coming in a window from the left and used an off camera flash to light the darker side of the rings. The first shot I used a silver reflector to light the darker side which I thought worked quite well.
Focus was also a problem. My camera has live view and I can zoom in when composing the shots to check focus but still had problems.
The second photo of just the eternity ring is my favourite. I think it is the sharpest and I will always remember Cindy's face when she opened the box.
Other than that there was a bit of cropping, sharpening and cloning out of the kids breakfast crumbs.
Cheers Greg.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

You forgot to post a photo of the expression on you're wife's face when she opened the box I can certainly see how the lighting would be a challenge. That second photo I think is great. There's something to the left of the ring - a few smudges of some sort that can be cloned out pretty easily but the sharpness of both the ring and the reflection are fantastic.

The third one has a lot of potential as well I think. The black reflection is absorbing some of the light but perhaps some selective exposure increasing would bring out the reflections a touch more. I think the second one also needs a slight clockwise rotation - the ring sitting flat on the table looks like it's on a bit of a lean.

Well done Greg - on the photos and on making your wife a very happy woman

[gregj1763]

Thanks once more for your c&c Ma. As always will work on the photo's re your advice.
I did take a couple of shots of Cindy opening the box on my compact camera, but under threat of death or at the very least having to endure severe physical pain I'm not allowed to post them.
Cheers Greg

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I did take a couple of shots of Cindy opening the box on my compact camera, but under threat of death or at the very least having to endure severe physical pain I'm not allowed to post them.
Cheers Greg

Come on - if I can get Kerry to agree to let me post her boudoir shots on here surely you can use that as an argument to convince your wife - it's all in the spirit of learning

[ScoutR]

Beautiful Rings and shots Greg. The second and third are my picks. Great job, I can imagine how difficult it would be to light these

Wendy

[gregj1763]

Thanks Wendy, I was happy with results and they generated a wave of comments from Cindy's friends when I posted them on Facebook.
She enjoyed showing them off.

[gregj1763]

I have been looking at Bills project 52 shots, re the toothbrush in particular and was impressed with how much effort goes into setting a shot up.
So I thought this week I would try to produce a photo that required a bit more effort on my part.
I saw this article on the net and I know it has been done to death, but I thought I could manage it with the the equipment I have.
http://www.wonderfulphotos.com/articles/macro/matches/
I had the match set in some polystyrene, the black backdrop was a stereo speaker, flash and camera were set on tripods and I used a silver reflector on the right as per tutorial.
Wireless remote was used to take the shots.
Photos 1 & 2 I thought were ok, I liked the smoke patterns. 3 was my favourite and even though the match illuminated the backdrop I quite liked the effect it produced and it was the closest to the photo in the tutorial so I felt I had achieved what I set out to do.







I guess next week might have to be the water droplet shot.
Cheers Greg

[Goldcoastgolfer]

These look pretty good to me Greg. I think the standout is the second one - a real focus on the match head and the flame itself - the first one is a close second for similar reasons.

[Geoff F]

Yes, all good, excellent exposure.

I think I might have used damp sand to hold the match instead of inflammable polystyrene, but it appears to have worked out OK.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Geoff &Mal for the comments and upon reflection I think your right with the pick of the photo,s Mal.
The clarity is certainly better than in the third shot.
Cheers Greg

[Ricco]

Greg, I think yourself and myself are thinking a little too alike. I had a go at smoke last week, water this week and was going to have a go at matches in a coming week. That might have to wait for now.....

One thing I tried with the smoke is to invert colors. It took the black background to white. Would be interested to see how the matches went in a similar style.

Otherwise, you have done pretty well with the shots. Well done

[gregj1763]

Hi all,
Been a bit tied up with work and haven't been able to post anything, but got away for the weekend for a little quiet time.
Guess where I was









PS, I might be an Aussie and I was wrapped how well Webber and Riccardo went but I have been a McLaren fan since the days of Prost and Senna.
Button was in a class of his own and a deserved winner.
Cheers Greg

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Looks like you had a blast, Greg I remember flying those PC-9s once!

[gregj1763]

Sorry all, falling behind a bit. Work and life has been frantic of late but managed to get a couple of shot in a woolshed we are working on at the moment.
Thought B&W suited the photo's mood best.





Highlights are a bit over the top in both photo's but in the first one I thought it looked a bit like it showed the way out.
Anyway, best I could do
Cheers Greg

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I think the highlights are fine in both photos - I don't find them overpowering and in the context of the monotone finish I think they help to give a full range of tones from dark to light.

Great photos - for me they portray of mood of something lost - something that was great in a time gone by that's now gone to waste. The first one for me is on a slightly odd angle - I think it's downward perspective that makes some of the lines not quite vertical or horizontal. The second one for me though is has some great lines which help guide your eye from the foreground all the way to the back. Depth of field is spot on - it captures a lot of detail which keeps you engrossed in the photo.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Mal,
I see what you mean with the first photo, perhaps a slight clockwise rotation will improve it.
These are still working woolsheds, but in between the shearing periods they are practically abandoned.
Glad you didnt think the highlights were overpowering unlike the smell of the place
Cheers Greg

[gregj1763]

Colour or B&W

[Wendy Stanford]

Hi Greg, Colour for me, I like the angle, good focus on the eyes, good skin tone and lighting, well done

[Donald]

Greg

Sorry I haven't been in commenting up to now. I'd go with the colour one on Week 12.

Regarding the week 11 shots, are you on the business end of one of these clipping during shearing, or are you able to photograph it? Now, that would be absolutely brilliant subject material.