What caught your eye? - Week 3

[PopsPhotos]

What caught your eye - Week 3
This is an exercise in going from the "hmmm, that might be nice" to "That's what I wanted."

What I'd like to see posted in this thread is 2 shots. First, an immediate shot of what caught your eye that said, "That might make a picture." The key word is "immediate." Raise the camera and take the shot as soon as you see the potential.

Second, the final composition, angle, exposure, distance, and all that, that makes you happy with the picture.

This is what Bill Belknap used to call, "Photograph to Picture" exercise.

First and second weeks were great. Thank you all for your contributions. I'm learning from this, too.

Pops

[wilgk]

Hi Pops
just a quick ?
is this the same again for week 3 as week 2?
I'm easily confused & a trifle old, but it reads the same in the week 2 and week 3 threads?
If you could let us know please
cheers
k

[PopsPhotos]

I don't have power to make a sticky and I wanted to encourage a different pair each week. That is what my students will be tasked to do. This is week 3. Week 4 will be the last one. Then I have to go back to school and put what I've learned from you folks to use.

Pops

[wilgk]

Understood

[ScoutR]

Spider webs - I kept walking into them so I took a shot.



I liked the dew drops on the webs, so I tried a bit closer with a different angle and ended up with this



Wendy

[PopsPhotos]

That is gorgeous, Wendy. I particularly like that you changed cameras. I've done that at times. Take a quicky with the Canon SD750 to see it is worth unlimbering the big Nikon.

Thank you.

Pops

[ScoutR]

Thanks Pops. Taking both cameras is not something I really want to do all the time as I like to travel light, but it sure comes in handy. I tried taking some close ups with the Lumix but I had to get so close I was breaking the webs and getting the lens full of spatters.

Wendy

[PopsPhotos]

"OMG! Spider on my nose!!!! (don't breathe, don't breathe...Ah CRUD!)"

Sound familiar?

Pops

[wilgk]

Not to me it don't!
You crazy people shouldn't go getting your nose close enough to those critters

[ScoutR]

I'm with you Kay. These webs were empty - some of the ones I ran into weren't though I don't think any of our spiders in this area are too dangerous though.

Wendy

[Shadowman]

"OMG! Spider on my nose!!!! (don't breathe, don't breathe...Ah CRUD!)"

Sound familiar?

Pops

There’s a spider in my room
There’s a spider in my room

And then a voice above my head
Said if that spider were made dead
I’d better grow some fins ’cause
It would make it easier to swim

I don’t like spiders and snakes
The way they crawl, the way they shake
If a spider gets killed how does that make it rain
How could I be the one to blame

Lyrics to Barenaked Ladies "spider in my room"

[Shadowman]

A little history on the scene. About twenty years ago, the area you are looking at was public access, there was a small boat launch, small beach area, and places for hot rodders to showcase their cars, meet girls, and basically live life as teenagers normally do. Then developers came in, built condominiums, made the area private and changed the weekend habits of about 10,000 teenagers. There were public disputes, town hall meetings, and protests but the developers eventually got their way.

As a young adult at the time of the dispute, I didn't see the need to fight city hall, as their are always other venues available to make yourself noticeable, so I basically stopped visiting the area until recently.

When I visit the area now, I remember what was and what it has become. I guess for some of those former teenagers holding on to the past comes at a cost for future party goers.

[PopsPhotos]

A very nice shot, John. Your post processing is pretty subtle, but very effective. Thank you.

I remember some of those "hangin' out" days. I didn't get to do much of it, because I was always working. What little I did was all the more enjoyable because of that, I think.

Pops

[wilgk]

This week - I invited myself along on the Bean Counter's walk with the dog & to see if I could stumble on something suitable.

Image a) - the nice view near where we live that was once farmland - but is being eaten up for residential land, I thought was a suitable subject.



I wanted to show this, so moved to a new aspect and included the skeletons of the house frames to further 'tell the story'.

The final image would have been improved more with better post processing to bring out more of the tones captured in the raw file.

[Shadowman]

A very nice shot, John. Your post processing is pretty subtle, but very effective. Thank you.

I remember some of those "hangin' out" days. I didn't get to do much of it, because I was always working. What little I did was all the more enjoyable because of that, I think.

Pops

Pops,

Thanks for the comments. I would love to share images of how the area used to look but I wasn't into photography then.

[ScoutR]

I would love to share images of how the area used to look but I wasn't into photography then.

Hi John: Funny you should mention this. In my wanderings around the countryside, and in town for that matter, I find many areas where I wish I had shots of how it used to be and find myself waxing nostalgic and wondering about the definition of progress.

Thanks for posting and for the history
Wendy

[ScoutR]

This week - I invited myself along on the Bean Counter's walk with the dog & to see if I could stumble on something suitable.

Image a) - the nice view near where we live that was once farmland - but is being eaten up for residential land, I thought was a suitable subject.



I wanted to show this, so moved to a new aspect and included the skeletons of the house frames to further 'tell the story'.

The final image would have been improved more with better post processing to bring out more of the tones captured in the raw file.

Nice job Kay: The way you have framed the countryside with the new houses is not only an excellent shot but a great way to tell the story. One of my pet peeves in my area is the urban sprawl onto prime farmland.
I've tried various way to try and show this and tell the story in a photo, but none have been as effective as the shot in your post. I am going to have to give this a try. Most of mine are from the farmland looking into the housing developments. I think the other way around is much more effective.

I like the fact that you and John (shadowman) have posted along the same lines. So called progress and how to express my feelings about it with photos is something I've been pondering for awhile.

Wendy

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John: Funny you should mention this. In my wanderings around the countryside, and in town for that matter, I find many areas where I wish I had shots of how it used to be and find myself waxing nostalgic and wondering about the definition of progress.

Let that be a prompt for all of us - get out and shoot it now - or in ten years time we'll still be thinking the same thing!

[Wirefox]

I suffer from exactly the same photographic nostalgia attacks. I used to play on the derelict Navy camps and the Risley Ordnance Factory (once the biggest derelict site in Europe) when I was a nipper. Thinking back the photo opportunities were second to none. Mind you I was more interested in my Webley and Scott air pistol and my collection of sheath knives at the age of nine...but still...to travel back in time with todays camera.

Footnote: I wonder how many kids these days get to be a decent pistol shot and know how to hone a hunting knife at the age of nine...My son did bring home a cap gun from a fair. It was bright blue plastic with a red stopper in the end. I guess the idea was to prevent him becoming a target for an over zealous armed response unit....sad times

So Dave is absolutely right, we need to record as much as we can.

Steve

[Dave Humphries]

That takes me back - my Dad gave/lent me his old army knife to go on a Scout camp with.

As I recall, it was wet and I was homesick (for a week), but not as sick as I felt when we realised I had lost it. We went back and I scoured the camp looking for it, but it was never seen again

My Dad was very good about it, I think he realised I was 'beating myself up' enough about it without needing a telling off. I don't know if he ever 'forgave' me (not that he ever showed any outward sign of being mad about it), but I haven't. To this day, it has made me very careful with other people's things, especially if a replacement cannot be bought.