PROJECT 52 Bunty Plumchip

[Bunty Plumchip]

Newbie coming in a few weeks into the project.
Hoping to practise what I have learned so far reading the fora and tutorials and carry on trying to improve all aspects of capturing a good image.


This is Patrington Church 21st Jan 2012

[whited3]

Carolyn,

Welcome

First comment is the image need to be straightened. Second is the sky being washed out; in this case you could blend this image with one that was underexposed to bring back the sky.

[JPS]

Hi Carolyn,
welcome to CiC.
I agree with Mark, your picture could do with being straightened, something easily done in PP. What PP program are you using?

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thanks Mark- I have yet to learn how to blend in a new sky, I don't have access to Photoshop unfortunately.
I uploaded the canted version of the shot, so here is the corrected one, still with the boring sky though. :-)

[Bunty Plumchip]

Hi Carolyn,
welcome to CiC.
I agree with Mark, your picture could do with being straightened, something easily done in PP. What PP program are you using?

Thanks John
I just have Picasa and Picnik. although I will have to find something to replace Picnik, obviously. Looks like I shall have to save up for Photoshop or Photomatix- people seem to mostly use those as far as I can make out.
I uploaded the unedited version by mistake- hopefully I will get used to the forum tools and format eventually

[JPS]

Carolyn,
have you heard of GIMP. This is a free editing program, you can download from the web. Just type GIMP into Google and it pops up with their web address. A lot of the members of CiC use it, might be worth a try, as it's free you have nothing to lose.

[Wendy Stanford]

Welcome Carolyn,
I think the edited version maybe slightly over done, I like the framing of the church, and the placement on the side rather than the centre, the sky is a problem,
What were your settings. Hope to see more, well done

[Bunty Plumchip]

Slip sliding away
WW2 Pill box dropping into the sea due to coastal erosion on the Holderness coast.





I don't really like this, but was experimenting with PP and it is an example of a learning curve, I suppose, which is what the projectc is all about.

Exig Data
Fuj FinepixS6500
1/220S
14.0mm (66mm)
f3.6
ISO 100

[Bunty Plumchip]

Welcome Carolyn,
I think the edited version maybe slightly over done, I like the framing of the church, and the placement on the side rather than the centre, the sky is a problem,
What were your settings. Hope to see more, well done

Thanks Wendy, I did some more experimenting with the sky and ended up with something very different, so the feedback was very helpful. I liked the green-ness of the stonework soaring u among the trees as it it itself was also organic. That effect is spoiled in the over-working I think. It is all good- to think about the image and work out how to enhance it to say what I envisaged. I am only a beginner , so all comments are welcome.
the data
Nikon 70S
28mm
1/160s
f7.1

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Carolyn,

I agree with Wendy's comments about your image a bit over cooked. I prefer the colours in your first version - the sky could just use a little bit of saturation to bring up the blues. Great composition though.

On your options for post processsing programs, you might want to consider Lightroom as well. It's fairly easy to use and there are good video tutorials on Adobe's website - along with a 30 day trial.

I think with your second image, I'm not sure the colour you've chosen for the monochrome finish works with the scene. I think a straight B&W conversion would suit it better.

[Wendy Stanford]

I like the composition of the shot,, I like the different lines, the horizon, the track leading through the shot, the gully and the lines of the box, Perhaps a little crop of the sky, B&W would possibly be better than the monochrome,

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thank you Wendy and Mal.
I raised the temperatuure because I wasn't sure if the straight b&w looked too flat, less a brooding monument to the threat of invasion and more a toddler tantrum.
I will try it with less sky- maybe that is what bothers me about it. have snapped this pill box many times in many lights and have always failed to get an image which reflects what I want it to say.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I like the B&W much better and I like what you're trying to achieve. There's something about the photo that isn't quite balanced though - I think that's probably what's bothering you.

I personally think you need more sky. There's something about those diagonal lines that are really powerful I think - especially with the pill box on that angle. Just the way this photo is framed, I don't think the lines are being used to their full potential.

I'm going to ponder on it for a day or so I'm sure others will be forthcoming in their thoughts.

[Bunty Plumchip]

No 3 Old wasp nest.




Exif data
Camera Nikon D70s
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 46 mm
Focal Length 46.2 mm
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[FrankMi]

Beautiful, but to me very unusual. I've never seen a wasp nest with colours like that. Fascinating! Any idea what kind of wasp makes the nest?

[Bunty Plumchip]

Beautiful, but to me very unusual. I've never seen a wasp nest with colours like that. Fascinating! Any idea what kind of wasp makes the nest?

Thanks for looking, Frank. I shot the nest blind- it was in the loft of our village hall, which was the village school from 1862 to 1961- no one had been up there in over 50 years, we reckon. It was completely dark, I located the nest with a penlight and more or less just held the camera through the trapdoor as steadily as I could while balancing on a stack of chairs and shot in the general direction, adjusting aim according to resulting image on screen. When we took the nest down it was (fortunately) long empty and the texture like paper. I have never seen one like this, or as big, so I looked up about wasp nests it said that they chew all sorts of wood and detritis to make the pulp, and sometimes the nests reflect those colours if printed paper and cardboard or anythign wth colour has been processed. I am not sure what kind of wasp, but we are a very rural coastal village in Holderness East Yorkshire England. I have only seen the common wasp in any numbers here.


This image is a result of increased saturation in PP , and I was amazed at the effect, so that is what I went with. In all honesty, I did not know where to begin with the PP so experimented around a bit.

This is the original image, cropped but not otherwise messed with

[FrankMi]

A rare find indeed! Thank you for posting!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

That's a great piece creative post processing, not to mention a great shot considering the conditions and lengths you went to to take the photo. My first reaction was "That's a wasp nest? We don't have anything that colourful over here!" It certainly came out and really grabbed me so well done is all I can say

[kezmal]

Wow great photo. And shooting blind as well, amazing. I dont know that I'd want to run into the wasps that built it though

[Ryogenetic]

Carolyn that is a wonderful shot, It almost looks like a unraveled ball of yarn.

Ryo