Studio Shot: Broken III

[Loose Canon]

I think #4's the ticket Mike.

Maybe once the resuscitation is over, I wonder about the double horizon?

[Mike Buckley]

I wonder about the double horizon [in Photo #4]?

You wonder? That was a really nice way to put it. I actually have no idea how that happened other than knowing that the fix indicates that it had to have been the result of operator error. I changed the photo. Thanks for pointing out the problem.

[Mike Buckley]

Though personally I would like to see a minuscule amount of tonal gradation in the black tabletop, so it's not a solid black.

I really like your idea, Matt. Thanks for suggesting it!

Please explain how you came to think of it and what you intended the overall result to be other than the change of tonality. The reason I like it is that the gradient makes the image seem to be more three-dimensional but I wonder what you were thinking.

By the way, this is exactly what I like about this place called CiC. This image is clearly one of my best photos and I thought I had taken it as far as I could. Yet Matt appears and immediately suggests an idea that in my mind takes the image to another level.



Photo #5

[Bobobird]

I am getting lost in all this techie stuff.

The latest looks even more like a broken egg shell that looks a bit like the north of Australia.

Next project. I even have a title for you "Calcium".

[Mike Buckley]

Go to your room, Bobo.

[FootLoose]

#5 even better. Well done for keeping at it Mike.

[FootLoose]

PS The way I see it, it is almost a perfect outline of Australia

[Loose Canon]

Well, yeah… I guess I wondered!

You have always been nice to me and helped me.

I guess I wondered if I might ever be able to return the favor!

The shot of the Australian Map is happening Mike. I really like it and where you are going with it!

No wonder about that!

Well done man!

[billm]

Wow I love all versions

[Mike Buckley]

Your overlay of the map is absolutely fabulous, Greg. Even my wife says that it's remarkable. (When she says something is "interesting," that's not at all a good indication.) Even though I had looked at a map, I didn't see the strong similarity that you have now brought to our attention.

Bobo will be completely stricken to realize that my light bulb (he still thinks it's an egg shell) not only looks like the north of Australia, but also the west, east and south. The only thing that we can hope for his survival at least as we know him is that he has the proper meds handy.

[FootLoose]

Lol, Mike. I probably have the advanatage of having seen many stylised versions of the map used in various advertisements and corporate logos over my 60 years. (for example, many see it as a corgi's head.) That is to say, I am accustomed to seeing the place in distorted forms. Either that or I am just a bit kooky.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I really like your idea, Matt. Thanks for suggesting it! ... Yet Matt appears and immediately suggests an idea that in my mind takes the image to another level.

Golly, Mike, you're making me blush Thanks for the nice comment. It is my pleasure to suggest possible improvements to others, whenever I am able to do so- not to mention the fact that other people help me so much, yourself included.

Please explain how you came to think of it and what you intended the overall result to be other than the change of tonality. The reason I like it is that the gradient makes the image seem to be more three-dimensional but I wonder what you were thinking.

Sure thing. When I looked at the b/w version prior to this rework, the edge of the table contrasted too much with the bg, in my view. The sharp edge/contrast was distracting to me and I felt it did not work with the beautiful, soft tones of the rest of the photo; as well, the black area was too "heavy," if that makes sense. Thus, I figured a possible solution would be to reduce the contrast via the gradient. I had not thought about the 3D effect or any other side effects of the change, only the reduction in contrast. This version looks nearly identical to the one I did roughly.

One last point that I need to draw your attention to, being the extremely detail oriented person that I am (a curse, and a blessing, at the same time, I suppose)- To the right and left of the bulb, at the edge of the table, there are small dips where the edge drops down between the bulb and table. I hate pointing out stuff like that (nitpicking, if you will), but I know you don't mind hearing it, so I thought I'd let you know that I saw it.

Aside from that, I'd say this is a phenomenal work of art, and one of my favorite of your pieces.

[Mike Buckley]

Your explanation of how you came to think of the gradient makes perfect sense.

To the right and left of the bulb, at the edge of the table, there are small dips where the edge drops down between the bulb and table.

I'm not following you at all. Feel free to mark the areas of the photo that you're describing. We won't hold it against you if your markings aren't as artistic as Greg's map.

[Bobobird]

Now that Greg has done an overlay, I can see where the gradients came from. Cool...

"posted from my room"

[FlyingSquirrel]

Here is the nitpicky thing I was mentioning...

[Mike Buckley]

Now I feel bad about my wise crack allowing for the possibility that you might not provide artistic markings.

You have very good eyes! I don't think I would ever have seen those dips. I'm reasonably confident that they were caused when I applied Gaussian Blur to the horizon to give the effect of rendering it more out of focus. I probably didn't get the brush close enough to the light bulb when I did that, erring on the side of not blurring the light bulb.

I'll fix that later this week. Thanks!

[Mike Buckley]

Yep, it was the Gaussian Blur not applied close enough to the egg shell, umm, the light bulb , that created the appearance of the two dips. That's now fixed though I didn't upload the corrected file to this thread.

Thanks again, Matt!

[pinakibaidya]

Mike very nice idea for a project. Your 1st image is very nice but 3rd one looks stunning due to beautiful colour combinations. Very good abstract photography.

[Mike Buckley]

Glad you like #3, Pinaki. That's actually my least favorite of the bunch, but it's great that all of us have different tastes.

It's especially interesting that you described it (or perhaps you were describing the group of photos) as abstract photography. On the one hand, there is a bit too much realism for me to think of them in the abstract. On the other hand, if you took the time to follow the thread, you realize that some people think of the black-and-white photo as a light bulb (which it is), as an egg shell, or as a map of Australia. In that context, it's very difficult for me to argue with you that it's not an abstract.

Seriously, labels are entirely unimportant to me, so whether or not people call the series or an individual photo an abstract, I'm completely comfortable.