Project 52 by Andrew Del Net (Andrew76)

[Andrew76]

Hi everyone. I know I'm quite late to get started on this project, but better late than never, right? At first I didn't think I'd have time to post a photo every week, and keep up with everyone, but I've come to realize that I think I should.

I've come to a point in my photography journey where my shots have become very inconsistent, and I'm not happy with that. I've tried to reason and rationalize why that is, and the only reason I consistently come up with is that I've proceeded too quickly through my learning curve, and although it's fine to read lots of books, and posts on forums, there is no substitution for actually doing, and doing, and doing, and doing. So, my resolution for this project is to re-visit the basics.

I hope that you will be patient with me, during my 'wax on, wax off' journey, because when I say "basic", I mean BASIC. I would really like to re-visit everything that I may have 'skipped' over in my rush to move from little green rectangle to M shooting.

I am going to start my project (week 1 for me), with a study on aperture, and depth of field. See you soon!

[Donald]

Good on you Andrew.

I hope you are able to feel that the really good thing about this is your development of critical awareness and an ability to stand back and analyse where you're at and what the likely factors are in determining how you will progress from here. Well done.

I look forward to being part of the ongoing journey via this thread as it evolves and grows.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Welcome to Project 52 Andrew - it's great to see someone with a set of goals in mind and I'm looking forward to seeing your first post. If i can offer one suggestion regarding finding your eye again - focus on shooting things that your are passionate about. That might help you get a clearer vision of the photos that you're trying to create and by doing so, help you in delivering more consistent results that you're happier with.

[Andrew76]

Thanks for the advice, and encouragement gentlemen! Well, here's my attempt for week 1. I took about 80 shots, but liked this one the best. In my search to learn a little bit more (or if nothing else, at least pound it into my head), about DoF, and Aperture settings, I used a 50mm 1.4 lens. I already knew the basics - wide aperture (low f number) = shallow depth of field, and vice versa. What I had fun playing with though, and probably where I learned the most was moving the distance of focus nearer and farther away from the camera. This lesson, although very basic to most of you, really helped to reinforce to me that aperture is NOT the only determining factor in creating a desired depth of field. Lens focal length, and focusing distance are all equal parts of the 'triangle'. Thanks for viewing! Visit next week for my study on shutter speeds!

[FrankMi]

Nicely done, Andrew. I like the fact that you didn't just show the DoF range but presented an appealing subject as well.

[Andrew76]

Thanks Frank. It was a great experience, I've already started on next week's project, and I think this was a good route for me to take. To take a step back and go over some points that were 'rushed'. Thanks again for taking the time to look, and comment!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Andrew,

Art and Education, you have started well.

Looking forward to next week already.

I have now linked this from the P52 Index thread, along with several other recent starters, but if I missed anyone, please do drop me a PM - just like Andrew had to

Cheers,

[Andrew76]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the help too - I didn't mean to bother you!

[Andrew76]

Well, this week was a little more challenging. Maybe not, but I sure learned more. To start with, I was a little disappointed that shooting in TV didn't work. I had it all planned in my head that since I was going to study shutter speeds this week, that I would, of course set my camera to TV. However, that was not the case. Shooting inside, with low light, and strobes, the camera forced a wide open aperture when I set the shutter to 1/1000. Since I wanted most of my shot in focus, my plans soon changed. So, off to shoot in M. I played around with lighting for a little while (until I got frustrated, and decided that even though I wasn't entirely satisfied, it was good enough considering lighting was not the focus of this week's study). Then I played around with my subject. Went through an entire grapefruit, which I later ate, so not to worry. But also, about a liter of soda water - what a mess.

I managed to remember to set my strobes to HSS, and went from there. After getting my timing down on the shutter release, I managed to pull off a few shots. Although I would have preferred to get more of a 'splash' effect, rather than a 'wall' of water, this was my best one. I know the grapefruit piece is not lit the best, so I may try again, but I'm fairly happy with what I got. Please let me know what you think.

Tune in next week for part II on the study of shutter speeds, this time, slow.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Andrew,

I think with your week 1 shot not only did you get the DOF, subject composition, and perspective done well but you've also lit the photo very well too. Really good job on that shot.

I can't see your second photo though - it doesn't seem to have linked through properly.

[Andrew76]

Thanks Mal, it's showing on my computer, any suggestions on how I may fix that? Just re-load it?

Thanks for the critique on week 1, as well!!

[Donald]

Thanks Mal, it's showing on my computer, any suggestions on how I may fix that? Just re-load it?

I'm seeing it okay.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Andrew,

Remember when I said

Art and Education, you have started well.

Looking forward to next week already.

Well, you certainly didn't take it easy, did you?

... and it hasn't disappointed me, well done.

You did a good job analysing too, so nothing to add beyond "keep up the good work"

Cheers,

[Andrew76]

Wow! Thanks Dave, that's some nice feedback to hear! I really am learning quite a bit from this, and enjoying it too! When else can you throw a half a bottle of soda all over the dining room and say 'it's for art'!?!?

Thanks again for your time!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I can see it now Andrew and honestly I think that's a fantastic shot. The fact that the grapefruit isn't brightly lit helps to keep your focus on the 'wall of water' as you put it. What you do see is the grapefruit well lit behind behind the wall of water which is much more interesting I think than the standard grapefruit due to it looking more abstract. It really is a great photo and one that would do well as a poster or a product shot.

If I was going to get super picky, there's a curl of a leaf or something at the bottom of the grapefruit - bottom right, and I would have like to have seen just a touch more space on the left so we could see 100% of the water.

It really is a fantastic shot though - I might have to try and do that one day.

[FrankMi]

Hi Andrew! Your Week 2 image is WAY beyond my skill level but I can really appreciate and enjoy what you have accomplished!

[Andrew76]

You guys are too kind! I appreciate it though. Mal, that little curl is actually a water droplet that found its way down the edge of the grapefruit. I thought about removing it too, but my wife thought it looked 'cool'.

Frank, I'm honored by kind words, but I don't believe that image is better than anything you've shared with us. Thanks though!

[FrankMi]

Frank, I'm honored by kind words, but I don't believe that image is better than anything you've shared with us.

That's the great thing about the folks on this forum, Andrew. I may have developed a skill in one area just as you have in another. It's not that one skill is better than another but rather that we all have something we can share and I'm thankful that we can all learn from each other's postings and techniques. Thank you for posting!

[Wendy Stanford]

Hi Andrew, you are off to a flying start, week 1, I like the DOF experiement, the eye is drawn immediatley to the coloured domino, which is in focus, I do find the mark on the surface to the right a little distracting to the reflections though.
Week 2, you have done very well with the fast shutter speed, perhaps a little more space around the the splash on the left. Nice colours reflected in the glass and water, the dark grapefruit looks ok, doesn't become the focus, look forward to the slow shutter speed experiement.

[Andrew76]

Slow shutter speeds. My biggest difficulty this week was trying to find a suitable subject. I'm afraid I may have failed. I tried desperately to create something eye catching without the typical car lights/waterfall type compositions. In the end, time was my enemy and at the end of the week, my creativity failed me, and a ferris wheel was my last ditch effort.

As for the learning portion of my experiment, that was still fairly successful, I practiced taking photos of several different rides at the local fair, and played around with different apertures to match shutter speeds to get a proper exposure. ISO always set to 100. I would like to practice some more with slow shutter exposures, but I'm afraid I have to admit, they're neither my forte, nor do I really appreciate these kind of photos. Maybe it will be best if I just avoid them!! Please let me know what you think, your comments are always appreciated!!

Please join me next week for part 1 of a 4 part study on basic composition!