CHAT - Weekend comp 24-26 Dec - GLITTER GLEAM SPARKLE SHINE

[Semaj]

Well done muckyboy on your win, for me it was between you & HinFrance and I voted for HinFrance. That wee bit of sensor / lens dirt on the left at the top third kept catching my eye and that swayed my vote but otherwise perfect.

Jim.

[Muckyboy]

Firstly thank you to everyone who voted this week and in particular those who voted for mine - I'm chuffed to bits so thank you!
As always criticism is all spot-on and constructive so thanks for that too!

I'm mulling (no Christmas pun intended) some ideas over and will post up the topic in the chat thread as required tomorrow am. Entries thread will be done tomorrow night

Originally Posted by DigiDiva

Will someone explain the above and belows please, so I can join in?

DigiDiva - In order to encourage constructive criticism everyone is asked to review the photo above and below theirs in the entry thread. Just your thoughts and opinions on what you liked or why you didn't - it is always good to find out how other people see your entry. Feel free to add comments on any others you liked or otherwise.

Sometimes Bodsao does a critique on all entries which is always good for starting a bit of creative chat!

Originally Posted by Semaj

Well done muckyboy on your win, for me it was between you & HinFrance and I voted for HinFrance. That wee bit of sensor / lens dirt on the left at the top third kept catching my eye and that swayed my vote but otherwise perfect.

If it's what I think it is - it's actually a screw in the wall where I took down my sisters graduation photo. I couldn't PS it as it was on the line of one of the starburst effects and my PS abilities are limited so I chanced leaving it in. Ironically if I'd got the starburst bang on horizontal as Cutter pointed out I wouldn't have had the problem!! I have gone off and found out how to do it now so another lesson learned!


Before I forget - Above and belows

Above - Christmas Crown
Oggalily - you make me jealous every week. Jealous of you ready and willing modelling crew and jealous of your ability to capture beautiful portraits of them. How do you get them to act naturally in front of the camera? Any nieces / nephews / cousins I have ever encountered go mad at the sight of a camera. Lovely shot as ever and I loved the richness of the shine in the crown. Almost got my vote and was in my final three.

Below - Wedding Rings
This was one of a few possible subjects that I test-shot but couldn't get it to work as well as this so well done. I liked the overall composition but two things bothered me about the starburst effects. I thought they were almost too sharp and I would have expected the stones rather than the metal to create the sparkle. Still made my shortlist though....

Michael got my vote for Sparkle because I liked the composition and felt that it ticked the most boxes in terms of combining the elements of Glitter, Gleam, Sparkle and Shine. Also Liked H's Tree Present mainly for the lighting.

Conratulations Muckyboy on your win. However, with so many star bursts, it felt like I was veiwing through large tears in my eyes that were shutting out the whole depth in view. My vote going for Howard's, Tree Present, with the good use of lighting to hold my interest.

Above, Baffled's, Baubles; Nice sharpness but the overall 'wall of rouge' took away much of the depth of interest that is obviously there. That said, I liked the warmth.

Below, DD's, All that Glitters; Nice work and lovely depth of field. My only critism being the hazy light diffusion drew my eyes away from the sharp detail and the effect of compositionaly chopping in two, also did not quite work for me.

JMO, so please do not take offence - Definately a star studded show, and I have to admit my second choice this week was Christmas Crown.

Well done to all who squeezed in the time to enter. Here's to 2011; may you all enjoy a prosperous and photographicaly rewarding year ahead.

[DigiDiva]

Now I know about above and below, here we go, though I still don't feel confident enough to comment on others photo's..........

Above - Sunkissed Satsuma - Felt this would have been better with more fruit, maybe 2 or 3 satsumas, for more varietyand extra gleam.

Below- Sparkling on the tree - This caught my eye, fitted the brief and got my vote. Loved the simplicity of the silver againt the dark background.

Glad I have started to become involved in the weekend comps - learning lots and managing to pull in the odd vote so I must be improving.

Bring on the next subject Muckyboy.

Thank you for your critique DD . I totally agree my effort was a bit boring.

As to the commenting on others work (even if it is just personal opinion to preference), it is nothing to worry about; more importantly, it is a good process towards fine tuning a self critical approach to advance your skills with camera and processing. The never ending learning curve

[HinFrance]

It was good to see that so many managed to get an entry in during such a busy time. Really good to have you back in action jinky

I was flattered to get so many votes – thanks chaps and chapesses.

Above: jinky – Sparkling on the Tree – does what it says on the tin. You said that you enjoyed the PP, so I'm guessing that the starbursts are added – good job.

Below: highlandscenics – Note Perfect. You've got the lighting bang on and the completely black background is a perfect counterpoint. Well done.

Mark (Cutter) got my vote this week. I like the composition and the purple.

Looking forward to this weekend's challenge – although once again the weekend promises to be full of social eventing . .

[wavemachine]

l post up the topic in the chat thread as required tomorrow am.

Come on Muckboy it is now PM and I am sat here with my camera gear on!!!

Only joking

[Baffled]

Like DD I don't feel comfortable in commenting on other people's photograph in a critical way.

Above Snowshine, I thought this was a good landscape photograph. however, it didn't do the Glitter, gleam, sparkle, shine thing for me. I envy you that veiw from your bathroom though.

Below Satsuma, I liked the sharp focus of this Photo but like DD I thought that the one satsuma ,on its own, was a bit stark. Personally, I thought that with a few more fruits, in the shot, you might have created more depth of field.

My vote went to Harold for his "Tree Present" I thought that this photograph had it all. Sharpness in the foreground; great depth of field and the light was really good. A great shot.

I've just seen this weeks challenge.

____________
John

[DigiDiva]

When I look out my bathroom window, I see a huge chimney were unpleasant hospital waste is burned.........must take a pic some time, for a weekend comp with the title "Most hideous view from bathroom window"!

[Muckyboy]

Originally Posted by DigiDiva

When I look out my bathroom window, I see a huge chimney were unpleasant hospital waste is burned.........must take a pic some time, for a weekend comp with the title "Most hideous view from bathroom window"!

I knew there was something else I'd had in mind for this weekend! I forgot about hideous alternatives to the bathroom mirror! When you win this weeks DD you can choose it for next week!

For those who haven't noticed the "CHAT" and "ENTRIES" thread are now up for this weekend. Sorry Baffled - it was up at about 12:45 - couldn't find a decent 3G signal and was forced to do it from the mobile so...