2015 Project 52, firstquarter by Carolyn (Bunty Plumchip)

[Bunty Plumchip]

#1 Adjusted to lift sky detail.

[mknittle]

Very nice Carolyn, I always find this type of thing interesting

[FrankMi]

Hi Carolyn, although the sky is slightly better in the first image, I like the second image best because of the reflections and more interesting shapes to explore. I did notice a dust bunny on the sky and a white halo on the top of the building surfaces at the sky line. You may be able to pick up more detail in the sky if this is a RAW image.

Given that this image has a higher then normal exposure range, did you, perchance, take any bracketed exposures of this view?

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thanks Frank- I did not shoot in RAW as RAW seems a bit iffy on my camera. It is a while since I tried it, so perhaps I should revisit. I did not bracket, but did fiddle around in GIMP. I have taken things apart and cleaned up, Thanks- I hadn't noticed the bunny, just thought it was my lap top screen until I saw it on my tablet as well.

[FrankMi]

Thanks Frank- I did not shoot in RAW as RAW seems a bit iffy on my camera. It is a while since I tried it, so perhaps I should revisit. I did not bracket, but did fiddle around in GIMP. I have taken things apart and cleaned up, Thanks- I hadn't noticed the bunny, just thought it was my lap top screen until I saw it on my tablet as well.

If you are just starting to learn Gimp, this is a great image to practice on as it has the potential to bring out improvements that might just surprise you. I'd play with lightening up some of the dark areas that may have interesting detail. If you have Dodge and Burn tools in Gimp, you could try to selectively lighten (Dodge) some areas that you want the viewer's eye to notice.

If you darken the sky a bit more to bring out some of the detail there, you may want to try the Burn tool on just the lightest part of the reflection to get it to match the sky. Always make sure to work from a copy so that you can easily switch back and forth between the before and after to see if you like the change. If you don't, just undo the change and try a different approach.
If you do, then save that version and try some additional changes.

[Bunty Plumchip]

WEEK 3


This week has been a challenge of trying to work out how to best photograph the wide open spaces and big skies landscapes of where I live. Although the light is glorious, it is not always easy to capture. At least for me, so I keep on trying. The other difficulty is that there are no a lot of features, few verticals. It is a horizontal land and seascape, so deciding on reference points is a problem. Here are some where I was experimenting on a walk along the Humber Estuary side of the Spurn peninsula on a very cold bright day. Any comments, C&C most welcome

[Bunty Plumchip]

Oh no! that blob is still there- I thought I had cleaned it all up!

[Shadowman]

I'm forever getting dust bunnies on my equipment. Nicely captured series. Nice popping colors in your week 3 entries.

[Geoff F]

For me, Carolyn, in the first image the figure is slightly too close to the foreground; and in the next two it is fractionally too distant. The same applies to the last photo.

Only very slightly though.

[Bunty Plumchip]

For me, Carolyn, in the first image the figure is slightly too close to the foreground; and in the next two it is fractionally too distant. The same applies to the last photo.

Only very slightly though.

Thanks Geoff- it is all part of the challenge for me to try to balance the composition by eye and then translating it through the lens. I'll get there one day! There was something I liked about the first one, but felt the figure was just that bit too close. I will have a closer look at others I took and see if the figure is better even if other elements are not.

I see I posted the wrong version of #3- I thought I had deleted that edit with the halo- difficult working on the tablet this evening.


Thanks Shadowman- I need to hunt it down wherever it is hiding! It is quite a subtle palette out there, and I am working on the PP to make the most of the tones that the midday sun brought out on a winters day.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Wasn't sure about decentring the figure as reference point to show more of the scenery- if it works or not.

[Brownbear]

Hi Carolyn,

I adore this last image for the beauty of the scene (beautifully captured), and the inclusion of the man and his dogs gives a special feel to the image. (sense of place) I don't any experience to share with this type of photography but the placement of the man and the dog works for me.

[mknittle]

the last one works best for me Carolyn, very nice

[IzzieK]

Mine too Carolyn...the last one is very good. It has all the elements of a good shot to me...because it shows the layout of the land and the water and the inclusion of the human and two legged animal helps a lot.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Thank you for the help on this , Izzie, Mark and Christina - I'm glad I threw in the last one now.

[Geoff F]

The trouble with that last shot, Carolyn, is that the figure is facing the wrong way.

It doesn't matter that much, except being slightly distracting from the wider scene. If he had been looking towards the sea, and his dogs doing the same, you would have a truly perfect photo there.

[Bunty Plumchip]

WEEK 4

Bit of a problem this week- took the camera apart to clean up the dust bunny, thought it all sorted, then horror of horrors, the pictures came out with mucky marks all over them, like a soot storm. Turned out to be the filter which seems to have had a mishap between being cleaned and being put back on the camera, and I didn't notice. Also GIMP keeps crashing and I suspect it of causing some computer problems so I have uninstalled it for the time being, so do not have an editing program that dodges and burns or does curves, layers etc atm, so dependent on Picasa's limitations. Excuses excuses.

These shots taken on another Sunday walk along the Humber Estuary but at another village, Skeffling. Not so bright, but not too dull either, so the sky is a bit more interesting. Still working on the big sky , field and water theme with the special light caused by the sea and the river wrapping around the flat fields of the Spurn peninsula in Holderness, East Yorkshire.










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[FrankMi]

Oh my, Carolyn! Attack of the zombie dust bunnys, particularly in the last image.

I like the third one in week 4 best but it might benefit from about half as much sky being included. That would take the horizon off the center where horizons rarely work well and eliminate most of the dust bunnies.

It might be worth while to drop in at the local camera shop and get there opinion on the best way to deal with the bunnies.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Oh my, Carolyn! Attack of the zombie dust bunnys, particularly in the last image.

I like the third one in week 4 best but it might benefit from about half as much sky being included. That would take the horizon off the center where horizons rarely work well and eliminate most of the dust bunnies.

It might be worth while to drop in at the local camera shop and get there opinion on the best way to deal with the bunnies.

Thanks Frank- I think it may be solved- they are actually on the filter I have on the lens. I am not sure if I actually need this filter anyway, but it does protect the lens. I panicked when I saw what had happened, how it had been made so much worse, then took the filter off and photographed a sheet of white paper, and that seemed to be okay.

[FrankMi]

Thanks Frank- I think it may be solved- they are actually on the filter I have on the lens. I am not sure if I actually need this filter anyway, but it does protect the lens. I panicked when I saw what had happened, how it had been made so much worse, then took the filter off and photographed a sheet of white paper, and that seemed to be okay.

Great! There are two schools of thought on protecting the lens and some folks are very firm on their opinions. I prefer to not use a filter just for protection as anything you put between the lens and the subject degrades the image. I do use filters for specific reasons, most commonly for cutting glare.

I haven't damaged a lens in over 50 years but having said that, it'll likely happen this week now that I've opened my big mouth!