So, who feels like a challenge to keep the little grey cells working?

[ucci]

First point. I am not even sure if I am allowed to do this. But being a 'senile, geriatric, street urchin, ' "boldness be my friend," as someone once muttered.Or did I read it? No doubt the 'CIC Heavies ' will descend on me like the proverbial 'ton of bricks' if they deem me to have been 'naughty.' No matter. Anyway...

I was doing something rather dangerous and rather silly the other day. I was watching a training photo video on You Tube put up by a professional photographer. And it was all about composing shots. And the author proposed the following exercise. One had to frame and take shots with a fixed focus and no post processing cropping was allowed. Only a tad of colour tweaking, if needed, was allowed. The aim was to make you really 'see' what was in your view finder before taking the shot. The object of the exercise was to improve your skills at composing a shot.

Okay, I had a squillion failures and one or two successes. But it was a good learning experience. Anyway I pass on this thought for those mad enough, and with enough time to waste, like me, who might want to have a go at it.
And here are three of my efforts which I felt could possibly slip under the radar, bypassing the infamous cropping tool


Self portrait of a huge nut?


The expression ' He/she has 'kicked the bucket' in reference to the recently deceased is a pretty well known phrase. We know how they deal with these recently deceased. But have you ever wondered what they do with all these buckets which have been kicked? Well here you go!


Easter Island re-visited?

[chauncey]

As a fellow senile, geriatric, dimwitted cohort...I can only compose viewing the image on my monitor.
Cel l'est vie.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

As a fellow, senile geriatric, dimwitted ....wait, what was the question?

[ucci]

As a fellow, senile geriatric, dimwitted ....wait, what was the question?

A question? What question? Who asked a question? Wasn't me, as far as I can recall.

[pnodrog]

If you ignore the colour adjustment allowed isn't that a bit like what we tried to do in the good old day's?

Anyway not a bad effort.

[ajohnw]

I like 1 but not sure about the other 2 as now I am posting I can't remember what they looked like.

Could it be that only 1 made any impression at all on me?

John
-

[NorthernFocus]

I'd compliment your shots but if you're going to forget that quickly I won't bother.

[chauncey]

Ken, it sometimes happens around here...ya ask a sincere question and some A-hole
hijacks the thread and away we go.

[Whistletown Wilds]

#1 needs no help,tells a story

[Texas Dave]

I counted 54 buckets but I don't see a dent in a one. ...they LIVE!!!!

[Manfred M]

Ken - what you went through is an excellent exercise in getting you to think and see photographically.

I remember being on a landscape photography course that had a first assignment that was even more restrictive; SOOC, prime lens PLUS the subject matter had to be a tree stump. We had to produce 4 or 5 images that were both compositionally and technically good. Needless to say I (and probably most of the class) cursed the instructor, but we did as we were told and ended up getting a lot out of the course.

Even now, a number of years later, when I feel creatively challenged I will pick a subject, prime lens and force myself to work a subject. The creative juices really start flowing again for me when I do that.