CHAT THREAD for the weekend competition 28th & 29th November 2009 - theme" GLASS"

[chris-p]

Congrats to H! One question - how did you get the bulb element to glow?!

As for C&C...

Above:
Delamanda - Through the Looking Glass
It took me a while to realise what this shot was about. I finally dawned on me (through no fault of Delamanda I must add - just me being brain addled today) what the point was. It's an intelligent shot and cleverly processed and I like the tones. All round I like it.

Below:
Oggalily - Glass of Bubbles
Fancy flash technique aside (I'll come back to it) this is something I thought of trying myself for this comp. I tried and tried but failed to get a decent shot so a resounding thumbs up to Oggalily on getting it to work. The reason both this and my attempt at dark field failed is because a lack of flash and this is something thats been put to excellent use here.
DoF is perfect, there is loads of detail and it's nicely exposed. I would like to see less reflection of the flash in the glass but this is the inherent challenge of this competition. The only thing I would have done differently would be to have the glass more full. That way you would see the champagne itself as well as the bubbles.
Having said that it's my second favourite shot this week after H's light bulb. Well done!!

[HinFrance]

Crystal Ball – BeauxReflets. This is rather a cool shot IMO, through the semi mirrored ball. A clever idea, and well done. The only bit that detracts a little for me is the strong light on the top front of the ball itself.

Neon Ice – Ronbpix. Attractive colours. You have me foxed as to how you did this. Very good result if a little too tightly cropped at the sides for my taste. Super first entry, got my vote from a tight choice of my preferences which included Delamanda, SieSmith, and Bob's. Keep them coming.

Thanks all who voted for mine. Like many of the other entries it was done in a rush and fitted in around the increasing domestic demands at this time of year.

I shall post a topic for the coming weekend tomorrow sometime.

[Delamanda]

Well I didn't vote for the above or below - I thought Jinky needed a break from the stresses of setting up threads and Chris-p's image brought back too many unpleasant school memories. Notwithstanding, I like both images and under different circumstances would have voted for either.

Daisies: I like the reflections, composition and the vivid green on the stems, which works well on the black background.

Chris-p: I like the colouring, the DOF and the shadows. I also like the rather jaunty angle at which the glasses have been laid on the book.

For the bonus points: Well it's differentiation and there's a factorial N in there, but beyond that, I can't remember anything about this - I don't think I could differentiate anything these days and certainly not with a slide rule (or was it tables?).

Del

[ronbpix]

Originally Posted by HinFrance

Neon Ice – Ronbpix. Attractive colours. You have me foxed as to how you did this. Very good result if a little too tightly cropped at the sides for my taste. Super first entry, got my vote from a tight choice of my preferences which included Delamanda, SieSmith, and Bob's. Keep them coming.

Thank you very much for the vote. I had another shot of that which is not tightly cropped but not as good as the one I posted. I would have satisfied your curiosity if I won. I made a promise to myself that if I win, I would tell the full details of the shoot. Maybe if I can get enough request, I'll give out the full details.

[HinFrance]

Originally Posted by chris-p

Congrats to H! One question - how did you get the bulb element to glow?!

Just a simple dimmer switch wired into the circuit. It was actually one I took of a standard lamp when I fitted it with CFLs - you can't dim (most) CFLs so it was of no use there.

[jinky]

Great win by a margin H - great shot and cleverly put together which got my vote.
Up and below reviews:

Bob - nice low light shot but just lacked a bit of edge definition for me and those couple of highlights dominated a little too much. Nice idea though and a very nice glass too. Sincerely hope you drank the contents promptly! Mine probably isn`t a daisy Bob. They were long stemmed daisy like flowers in a bunch my wife had got from a friend at the weekend.

Del- Unlike Chrisp I don`t get the meaning here - must be me being thick.Is the view the same but clearer through the mirror - hard to tell for me. Nice tones in the mirror but reflections in the window detract a little.

Looking forward to the weekend topic and more entries again. Well done all some really nice entries and like H would liek to know the how done bit on neon ice pic ronbpix - come on this is a caring, sharing community

[ronbpix]

Originally Posted by jinky

Looking forward to the weekend topic and more entries again. Well done all some really nice entries and like H would liek to know the how done bit on neon ice pic ronbpix - come on this is a caring, sharing community

hahaha. okey here it goes.



Camera setting/info:
Camera: Canon 450D
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f2.8
Shutter speed: 20 seconds
Aperture: 16
ISO:100

Other equipment used:
a tripod
2 glasses
2 430exII flash guns
and 2 balloons (blue and red)

Flash gun settings:
Zoom: 105mm
Power: 1/32

Cutout 1/4 of the bottom part of the balloons to fit them on the 2 flash guns. Instant DIY colored gel. This was shot in our kitchen. I have set the aperture to F/16 so as not to see the background when the flash guns fire. Take note, the background are white tiles and some spice bottles on the side. Started by switching the lights off. Pressed the shoot button on the camera and I have 20 seconds to fire the flash guns(using the flash's test button and facing the camera). Fire the flash with the red balloon first 2 times(bottom then top). Then the one with the blue balloon.

For post processing, it was just an increase in vibrance and blacks in Adobe Camera Raw

Actually, I was surprised of the outcome. Even though the flash guns were fired at different intervals, the color of the two gel mixed producing a violet color on the edge of the glass.

Hope you were able to understand my "simple" tutorial. Hope this would help all of you.

[jinky]

Nice one ronbpicx - thanks for sharing. :-)

[ronbpix]

Originally Posted by jinky

Nice one ronbpicx - thanks for sharing. :-)

You're welcome.


Ron B

Clever stuff - and a cool pic