PROJECT 52 Bunty Plumchip

[Bunty Plumchip]

Carolyn - I have to confess to liking the original. I think there is a lovely tonal range across the image and a serenity and calmness about it that imparts a nice atmosphere. The heavily processed versions are, what I would call, more in-your-face and less in keeping with the subject.

Thanks Donald, I like it too, although I thought others may think the image too soft and the lighting all wrong. There is nothing harsh, nothing grand and especially nothing 'in yer face' in our lttle village church that quietly moulders away.
I would, in a serious edit, like to perhaps reduce the glare on the keyboard lid and bring up the grain and warmth of the wood there just a little, but not as much as it has come out on the side that is in the foreground. Thank you for your perception- Iti s a lovely serene spot in which to sit- I was on stag for our Village photo exhibitions for the Jubilee that we put in the church, and was able to sit round this corner and keep watch while people wandered around the displays.

[Bunty Plumchip]

[Bunty Plumchip]

Did some more work on this one taking suggestions from CiC'ers on board. Still need to fiddle with the error on the sky around the tower though, or start again and not make the pp error in the first place. Mistakes are there to be learned from.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Learning how to use different settings. Read the Camera manual again and I think I almost understood some of it this time. Practising manual mode (mostly) then exploring some FX.

This is not my usual subject matter really- I spent more time trying to get this right with the camera than I would ave with the paint brush, so that , for me, is a landmark in this photography journey, as opposed to snapshots to use for other art.

I know these have issues - the hotspots for one- I shall be trying to learn how to avoid them or correct them now I can see what they actually are. I wanted to have a softer focus though, although it has turned out more mushy than soft in some places.
I think this week has been something of a watershed - a bit like the transition from buying ready made hanging baskets to growing my own plants from seed and assembling the baskets. Patience and study and practice. Sticking at it ...

[Geoff F]

Depending on your light source, hotspots can be tricky to avoid in many situations. And under exposing to prevent them can take everything else too far into the dark, with a subsequent loss of detail.

But, a few brighter spots can sometimes help to lift what would otherwise be a rather dull scene.

I think you have coped well with these shots. The only real problem is with #2.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Depending on your light source, hotspots can be tricky to avoid in many situations. And under exposing to prevent them can take everything else too far into the dark, with a subsequent loss of detail.

But, a few brighter spots can sometimes help to lift what would otherwise be a rather dull scene.

I think you have coped well with these shots. The only real problem is with #2.

Thanks Geoff- I tried lots of different combinations of ISO , shutter speed and aperture . Important thing was the learning curve. I took about 100 shots and rejected all but 12. This was in natural light in the sun room, but sometimes there was strong sun and then it went almost black with stair rod rain, so plenty of practice with adjustments.

[FrankMi]

One thing to be mindful of Carolyn, is that if there is text in an image, the first thing the typical viewer's mind wants to do is read the text to the exclusion of the rest of the image. Usually they will then look at the image only to have their attention return to the text. This is one of the reasons why watermarks can be so devastating to an image.

In this case I can't understand the text but then I spent way too much time trying to figure out what language was used.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thanks, Frank.

I have noticed quite often that signatures and watermarks can be very distracting, and personally I wouuld keep away from any kind of text like that. In this instance I was going for the text printed on the curtain being part of the story - the foxgloves in the bottles looked as if they were communicating, and the randomness of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon , old French and illuumitaed capitals etc seemed like it was 'their language' . Daft I suppose. Perhaps I was trying too hard here.

[FrankMi]

Perhaps I was trying too hard here.

I don't think we can ever try too hard provided we keep on trying to improve. I get many failures and now know of a lot of things that don't work as well as I would have hoped! LOL!

They say that experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted but in this case I think you are making progress toward developing your own style and that sometime takes time to perfect.

What do you think? Hotspots aside, which one is your favorite in this set? What would you like to see improved compositionally?

[Bunty Plumchip]

I don't think we can ever try too hard provided we keep on trying to improve. I get many failures and now know of a lot of things that don't work as well as I would have hoped! LOL!

They say that experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted but in this case I think you are making progress toward developing your own style and that sometime takes time to perfect.


What do you think? Hotspots aside, which one is your favorite in this set? What would you like to see improved compositionally?

Thanks again, Frank. I really wanted to capture the way that the two foxgloves (that had been broken down in the heavy rain and wind we have been getting here) had twisted into suuch a position that as well as having wonderful curving shapes looked as if they were 'talking' to each other. Compositionally, that is what I was after. The colours were quuite delicate, and I am always heavy handed with colour, so to keep the shades subtle was something of a challenge for me also. I think I like what I was trying to do with #2 but coming bac to it this week, I see it needs toning down.

With any for of creatvity we can only try and sometimes it will work and sometimes doesn't but next time will be better. It''s what drives us, I guess.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Practising and trying to build confidence in not using pre-set camera programmes at the moment. Deciding on which combinations of aperture and shutter speed with manual focusing mode-actually trying to really understand aperture and shutter speed and ISO rather than just thinking that I know what they are and that's that. 1st grade stuff for everyone else, know, but we all have to start somewhere.
Also having a go with more adventurous PP. Not quite got there yet, but will keep on trying (but probably not with these particular shots. They are not exactly exciting, but I will take away what I learned making them to new ones, I think...







I think this may need a crop, but all the ones I tried looked unbalanced. Maybe been staring at it too long.

[FrankMi]

Thanks again, Frank. I really wanted to capture the way that the two foxgloves (that had been broken down in the heavy rain and wind we have been getting here) had twisted into suuch a position that as well as having wonderful curving shapes looked as if they were 'talking' to each other. Compositionally, that is what I was after. The colours were quuite delicate, and I am always heavy handed with colour, so to keep the shades subtle was something of a challenge for me also. I think I like what I was trying to do with #2 but coming bac to it this week, I see it needs toning down.

With any for of creatvity we can only try and sometimes it will work and sometimes doesn't but next time will be better. It''s what drives us, I guess.

From what you are trying to achieve my feeling is that you are very close to your goal.

Sometimes we need to put an image out of sight for a while (sometimes less than a minute will do) and when we return to it, note where your eyes take you. If it is not the subject you intended to communicate then there is something in the image that needs adjustment.

In this image, the bright blue bottles may grab your attention before the Foxglove does. If you want the Foxglove to be the subject, experiment with the composition a bit until it speaks to you. For example, try looking at the first image by simply positioning the blue bottles below the bottom edge of the monitor so that are not seen. The Foxglove should be the first thing to grab your attention.

I realize that this is exactly what you did in images 3-5, but with a much tighter crop. The idea is to experiment a bit and provide yourself with a number of options that you can choose what you like best from.

I don't want to overwhelm you with too many suggestions but this might help:

In choosing the main subject, consider what the viewer’s eye is drawn to, specifically for this image it would include:

• Large, dominant elements before smaller elements
• Bright objects over dark objects
• Areas of high contrast over areas of low contrast
• Saturated (vibrant) colours over bland (unsaturated) colours

When you have conflicting elements such as something very large and something small but bright in the same image, try to get an acceptable balance in the composition between size and color.

It takes a bit of practice but hopefully these thoughts will achieve the 'feeling' you are looking for.

Hope this helps!

[Geoff F]

With that last photo, Carolyn, I suppose the only alternative would be to crop to a different size ratio; maybe 5 x 4.

Crop the left side by where the hedge starts to get higher and the right side wherever it falls. I wouldn't want to reduce the height.

That would concentrate the scene tighter on the gardeners; although I fear it may lose the sense of space which you currently have.

I assume the man on the right is kneeling down - not standing in a hole and still digging!

A good shot.

Is your white balance a little off with the first image? The grass looks about right but I wonder if that sky is too extreme?

And where did you find sunshine?

[Bunty Plumchip]

With that last photo, Carolyn, I suppose the only alternative would be to crop to a different size ratio; maybe 5 x 4.

Crop the left side by where the hedge starts to get higher and the right side wherever it falls. I wouldn't want to reduce the height.

That would concentrate the scene tighter on the gardeners; although I fear it may lose the sense of space which you currently have.

I assume the man on the right is kneeling down - not standing in a hole and still digging!

A good shot.

Is your white balance a little off with the first image? The grass looks about right but I wonder if that sky is too extreme?

And where did you find sunshine?

Thanks Geoff-
The frst is an attempt also at creating an HDR merge. First time I have tried it from three separate exposures etc... when it came together I have no idea where the shades in the cloud came from as there were (as far as I can remember) no grey clouds at the time, and the green cast to the sky was another surprise, but I left it as I thought it gave a kind of retro feel. When I look at it next week I will probably hate it.

This is the scene where I think I got it about right, apart from the actual composition, although white balance is set to automatic. I haven't dared fiddle wth that yet.



I chuckled- the man on the right often keeps digging when he should really just stop, so perhaps it was a subconscious statement when I composed the shot but yes he is kneeling to dig up some of his potatoes for our tea. Ours are not as far on as his. Much of our stuff is all behind and some has not even happened at all yet. We have our own little micro-climate out here on the South Holderness coast- we say it is always sunshine in Holmpton. when you see the weather map, although we have had some dramatic storms this week the wind has been warm and the sun strong between the downpours. I wish our coastscape was and interesting to photograph as yours. though.

I did try a similar crop to the one you suggest, and it did put too much importance on the gardeners, for the atmosphere I wanted.


Once again. thanks for taking the time to look and help, I appreciate it.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Haven't been taking many photos lately, and certanly nothing worth keeping - took the camera out this morning and got this view of Paull on the Humber Estuary. There is something about it that I pleased me, but i am not sure what that is as it is still too fresh out.

[Geoff F]

A nice mix of residential and industrial elements in that photo, Carolyn. And good exposure.

I was wondering about a little crop from the foreground to concentrate more on the buildings, but can't really find anything which works better than what you already have.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thanks again for the encouragement, Geoff.

[Bunty Plumchip]

To keep continuity- a snap I took of one of the twins juust before she crashed. Should really have got the one of her falling off, but that would have been too cruel, even for me.

[Bunty Plumchip]

More adjustment...

[Geoff F]

Some good 'period' shots there, Carolyn.

You clearly struggled by having to shoot into a bright sky and with pale canvas behind you.

I can just see some slight softness around the hat in the top left corner but I'm not really sure what to suggest here. You have attempted a very tricky bit of adjustment.

Sometimes, I find you have to finish with a small slightly harder edged clone brush to get in close and keep sharpness.

Another trick which I have used is to temporarily increase the contrast on a duplicate layer before drawing a selection then delete the layer so your selection drops down onto the intended subject.

Then you can have a sharp protective edge to clone against. Or remove and replace the 'offending area' with a fill or a piece cut from elsewhere.

Experts make all this seem so easy; but I'm all too well aware of how difficult it actually is in reality.