2016 Project 52, 1st Quarter by Janis

Images look really nice Janis,

Thanks, Mark.

Clean edges for Geoff, and a different crop for Binnur.

[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1479/...d8f733a6_h.jpg_DSC8057 - Version 3 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

My mother didn't recognize the dish, so it's a bit of a mystery to me now where it came from.

Looking good now, Janis.

It looks better :)

Thanks, Geoff and Binnur. I value your opinions.

Week 6

Conceived on Saturday, and shot and mostly processed on Sunday, so I am going to call it week 6. These are two shots of a single carved whalebone vertebra. The whalebone is sitting on black foamcore against a black background and is lit by two SB700s at full power, each in a softbox at a 45 degree angle to the camera. Image shot in high-speed sync mode to eliminate ambient light. Both shot at f/14 with Nikkor 70-200 mm f/4 from about 8 feet away.

I think these could be better and welcome suggestions for alternative lighting setups and PP. I am thinking about trying again using focus stacking.

#1
[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1603/...880794eb_h.jpg_DSC8135 - Version 2[/IMG]


#2
[IMG]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1584/...4fe63220_h.jpg_DSC8138 - Version 2[/IMG]

Hi Janis, compositionally the second shot looks better and more understandable. I like it, you seem to have captured the details of your subject well :) IMO it looks as if it is floating in the air as there is no noticeable table top. But I'm not experienced in setting up scenes and lighting as I don't shoot indoors:o So, Mike and others might be more helpful.

This is remarkable, Janis. The Shawl is beautiful but the presentation on the white model against a white background is very effective and well executed. Brilliant!

The only thing that is needed is for this object to jump. :eek: It is an interesting object, in some culture a whale bone is considered a talisman. I prefer the second image too and it looks like a bird....on both the pp is very good -- it entice one to study it closely...Good job, here Janis...

Thanks, Neville! It took a bit of work to get there, but I was pleased with the end result.

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

Hi Janis, compositionally the second shot looks better and more understandable.

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I get that. I should maybe try some different perspectives with the head on shot.

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I like it, you seem to have captured the details of your subject well

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Actually, I would like to bring more depth out of the incisions. I know it can be done in PP, but I am wondering whether it can also be done with the lighting, given all the various angles. It was not as straightforward a shoot as I was thinking it would be.

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IMO it looks as if it is floating in the air as there is no noticeable table top.

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Yes, I don't like a seam in the background, so I pulled the foamcore down in PP. But it would be better to have a sloping background with a smooth transition from black to grey.

Thanks for the feedback, Binnur; much appreciated.

Looks good as shown, nothing to prevent you from experimenting further. I like when I can get a concept, setup put together rather quickly.

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Originally Posted by IzzieK

The only thing that is needed is for this object to jump. :eek: It is an interesting object, in some culture a whale bone is considered a talisman. I prefer the second image too and it looks like a bird....on both the pp is very good -- it entice one to study it closely...Good job, here Janis...

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Thanks, Izzie. It is indeed an interesting object and I wish I knew more about it--what kind of whale it came from, how old it is, who carved it. A friend who roams the north left it here for me to store until she was ready to claim it. I need to track her down and find out if she is ready yet, but I thought I should shoot it while it was still in my possession.

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Looks good as shown, nothing to prevent you from experimenting further. I like when I can get a concept, setup put together rather quickly.

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Thanks, John. Experiment is what I will have to do. Broke down the makeshift studio so as to entertain a friend for dinner Sunday night, but it shouldn't take long to set up again. Trouble is, I have visions of mounting tracks in the ceiling for overhead lights that I can position every which way, racks on the walls on which to hang backgrounds... lightboxes... :eek: I gotta stop that right now.

Caught a couple of bad viruses in January and February that knocked me for a loop and it took me a while to recover. I didn't do a lot of shooting in the past few months and what I did I have only just got around to processing in the last few days. These are some of the best from the first quarter.

A walk in one of our urban forests in March produced these:

#1
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/...c5f4d1bc_o.jpg

#2
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/...7928e9e4_o.jpg

I threw open the side door on a lovely warm day in March to see this:

#3
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7681/...9ecd1f37_o.jpg

A few days later, I was at the lake, where I caught this:

#4
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/...b4d89e9e_o.jpg

I love the shape of this tree that stands above one of the beaches. It is impossible to get a clear shot of the entire length of it, so this time I opted for a partial silhouette.

#5
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/...a66b893d_o.jpg

A week later, the snow was all but gone from the park in my neighbourhood and the creek was running clear.

#6
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7779/...e18b28c5_o.jpg

To be continued in my Second Quarter thread...

Hi Janis :) I'm glad that you are healthy and in good condition now. A very nice set. I think #4 is a very good candidate for a B&W conversion and may be same for #3. #5 has a painterly look and I like it. #6 is an enjoyable scene.

Great set Janis. Excellent use of simple subject matter. Clearly your creativity and skill were not affected by your set-backs in January/February.

Great new images!!!! :)

Thanks, Binnur, Neville and Nandakumar. Where the colour photos are concerned, I delved a bit deeper into ColorEfex Pro than I have every gone before, so they have contributed to my learning. I also think #3 might be a good candidate for b&w, Binnur, but for both #3 and #4, it was the colour of the scene that attracted me. I don't think I have done either justice (the one capturing brilliant contrast, the other the moodiness of flatter, mixed light), so might have to work on them both some more.