Photo Challenge 8 – Texture

This was a fun theme, and for mine, the hardest part of shooting this was trying to nail it down to one image. There are so many textures one could shoot.  The other thing this challenge did was make me realise how much I need a macro lens. In the end I had to crop my final choice as I simply couldn’t focus closely enough to compose it totally in camera.  Not the best way to end up with the result I wanted.  A confusing result from this challenge was the difficulty a couple of the other challenge participants had in shooting a suitable image by the deadline. Whilst I believe that I could take 60 quality shots on this theme within 60 minutes, others see the world around them very differently. I suppose it simply illustrates how uniquely each of our minds work.  I hope this particular challenge also helps some of us find a different way to look at our surroundings as fuel for photography.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

After a few of days of moping around the house reflecting on our horrific fire disaster, I realised that the texture of my own 3-day growth was waiting to be shot. After all, it’s at least as interesting as the study materials I’ve been staring at. So, being the very lazy photographer that I am, I grabbed my 350D with the 50mm 1.8 lens, shuffled into the bathroom and took a couple of snaps into the mirror, with careless guesswork being my means of determining a focal point (obviously I couldn’t look through the viewfinder). After shooting three images whilst trying to stifle yawns, I chose the last and dialed down the saturation a little.  The unnatural yellow you get from down-lights lends it some character, and all I really had to do was crop closely and fiddle with the curves to improve contrast.  To shoot this properly, I should have waited until daylight, used my 30D and the 70-200 USM 2.8 lens on a tripod, with a remote control and me sitting next to a window.  As I said, I’m lazy and that was way too much work. Hence this quick and dirty, hand-held marvel with my toy SLR.

ISO 200, F4.0, 1/30

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

This Ao Dai is my favorite souvenir from my travels. I took this for the photo challenge to show the texture of the fabric and the embroidery. I love the details on the dress – the stitches along the edges, the colorful thread used, and the satin on the collar. This beautiful softness is offered to you for your viewing pleasure. Shot with my Canon 400D on a 50mm lens.F1.8 1/40 shot in natural light.

My thoughts: I love this photo. I love the Ao Dai (pronounced “Ow Yay” in the south and “Ow Zhay” in the north) – Joepi has immortalised her stunning garment just beautifully. I love the collar as much as I do the design, the composition is very good, and the image is so sharp I feel like I could reach out and touch it. This photograph successfully transfers the feeling of texture from my eyes to my fingers.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I’ve struggled with this one for the last two weeks trying to come up with a concept I would enjoy shooting. The main problem I had is that to me texture is something you feel, not something you take photographs of! I’ve had this silly pun in the back of my mind for at least a week, and as I haven’t been able to come up with any better ideas I decided to shoot it. I fed the shot through some of the interesting texture effects in Paintshop Pro to give the smooth wood and wall a far more textured feel. I think I’ve surprised myself by actually coming up with an interesting photo and not just a silly pun, but here it is: Textchair!

My thoughts: Mat said it himself. This was a bit of a cheat on his behalf (so was mine last week), but in fact there is texture everywhere in this image, the most obvious being in the post-processing. However, the chair has texture in the grain and feel of the wood, as does the floor it sits on and the plaster of the wall behind it. I for one, have ignored his play on words and thought immediately of how smooth the polished chair feels in the hand as you follow the bumps, grooves and stretches of timber shaped by the lathe. No matter what the purpose of the image, it’s actually quite an interesting one to look at.

Ken’s submission

Nope, it’s not an error – there are two images for Ken. Read on, then make your comments as necessary.

Ken says:

I set out to photograph some familiar rock formations along the coast for this weeks challenge. However, as i was getting into the processing, I kept glancing up at a postcard I’ve previously printed and pinned on my wall. It was from a set of the very first photos when I began getting back into photography in August 2004. I had just bought a Nikon D70 kit with an 18-70 f3.5 lens. The lens was terribly slow but still very sharp. This is a small alley near the Prahan Market on a very wet day. My original goal was to shoot the whole alley which was lined with plenty of graffiti along the walls. My favourite of the set ended up being this shot for its simplicity and texture. The addition of the sepia improved the contrast and mood.
…..whilst digging the alley photo out of the archive I have come across another which also fits very well with the challenge. I will let Stephen decide if two photos would be appropriate. This was a crab net on the docks in Port Fairy. I was travelling back from Adelaide and stopped in Port Fairy to spend the night. I was delighted to come across this old net on the dock. It lends itself well to being black and white as there is little contrast in the colour shot with the rust blending in with the background dock

My thoughts: I know sometimes we have a lot on our plate, so I’m OK with archival shots every now and then – this time Ken submitted two from his archive. One I’ve seen before and absolutely love, but I initially picked just one – the crab pot because it’s new to me.   Then I saw how much Ken wrote, and I know he doesn’t like putting pen to paper so much. I didn’t want to edit his submission, so here you are – two images.  As I said, they’re both awesome images, but I’m concerned about starting a trend in shot selection, so let’s hear your feedback first.

I use the word challenge because I want people to think about the theme for the best part of 2 weeks and actually get out there and shoot a new image.  Another part of the challenge is to be able to select and edit – I know how hard that is for me, and Ken’s got a lot more good stuff coming out of his camera than I do.   Ken, I know your busy, but am I going to have to pick you up and take you away from the house, camera in hand, a couple of hours a month?  Actually it would do me some good and get me some Vitamin Sun.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

I’ve always been a texture enthusiast. Yes, I’m that kind of nutcase who goes shooting for textures every so often, especially during the rainy season – don’t ask me why as I can ramble on that for hours.

Looking back on my previous photo database, I could discern that every other image I took had been strewn with layers of textures ranging from fur to parched paper. Unluckily, most of them were merely experimental and not prone to be ever displayed in public. For what it’s worth, I’ve got a reputation to uphold.

For this shot, the aperture was at 9.0 and the shutter at 1/160 setting focal up to 55mm on me amid pine trees on a bright sunny day of Sunday.

My thoughts: Well, the timing on this is perfect – Survivor series 18 started yesterday, and it’s set in Brazil.  Katy looks like one of the competitors after a tough immunity challenge.  And if it wasn’t for the strap of her singlet I could imagine she is the wild woman of Borneo running and hiding in the forest whilst trying to remain a myth.  I’m glad someone photographed a pine tree. They are about the most enduring memory of texture I have from childhood. Most country schoolyards had them, I think.  One thing I’d really prefer to see here is a sharp crispness of the tree, as that is actually what my eye is drawn to. I suspect it was there in the original, but might have been lost in post-processing? Katy – any thoughts on that?

Next Challenge

It’s time to give Katy a go. She came up with a real doozy and I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this exactly.  The theme is “Seven Deadly Sins“.
For those of you not up with sinning, and I sure as hell (oops) am not, here’s what they’re said to be:

1. lust
2. gluttony
3. greed
4. sloth
5. wrath
6. envy
7. pride

Personally, I can’t see anything wrong with any of them.

Now, I’m not going to ask you to submit seven photos, nor am I going to spread this out over 14 weeks.  So, you have two choices.  You may either shoot one image that encompasses all seven, or you may pick your favourite sin and make it happen in a glorious 2D photograph.

IMPORTANT – I hate censorship as much as the next person, however this blog is read by people of all ages and I’m not quite ready to introduce password-protection or adults-only sections.  So, if you just can’t help yourself, send those images to me separately for private evaluation, but I can only publish the PG – M rated shots.

PLEASE submit your images by just after sunset on Sunday March 1st (Australian Eastern Standard Time for you internationals).
Most importantly – have fun shooting!

Photo Challenge 5 – Christmas

Sorry for the delay in this one, folks. Xmas tends to throw things into disarray.

I was just about to press “Publish” after writing that we’re “Ken-less” again this challenge. He’s stuck somewhere in the Canadian boonies with sporadic Internet access (and probably no electricity, telephone, food or water and fending off grizzly bears).  However just as I hovered over the button I received Ken’s submission.   We also have Katy from Brazil submitting her first photo, so I have five images to share with you this time.

First, some housekeeping – Katy has given me a little bio to publish.

“First of, I have to confess that photography has taken over my life. I’ve always loved taking pictures. Passion that flourished when I was a little girl with a Zenit 12XP.

So now let’s talk about my work. I take self-portraits mostly – as you might have noticed on Flickr – because I get complete satisfaction being able to express myself thru art along with the fact that I am the only model I have. Shooting myself allows me to have full control and I also have a lot of fun doing it. It is, beyond doubt,  a challenge I enjoy taking on for two main reasons: it allows me to grow as an artist and as a person myself – I used to hate having my picture taken because I don’t really think I’m very photogenic. 

Photography to me is a package. There is so much to it from setting up the shot to taking the image, and the processing – I tend to use editing software on most of my photos, though I try not to overuse it, unless I’m doing more illustrative work, which I love.

Please feel free to criticise, praise, or comment on any of my pics either here or on Flickr. 

Thanks for your time and, of course, for taking me aboard.”

Thank you Katy – now, on to our photos.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts: Xmas in Australia is represented by warm weather, blue and cloudy skies, simple cold meat or roast feasts, christmas pudding, quaffable Australian beer and the cricket on the telly. Here’s the chimney Santa tried to slip down this year in a typical suburban Melbourne dwelling. As long as he doesn’t break the aerial on the way down he’s always welcome.  Just wish he’d take some of the children back with him to work as elves through the year.

Shot on my Panasonic FZ18 with some Photoshop curves and mask magic applied to bring the chimney back out of the shadows. 

Joepi’s submission

Joepi says:

There are several things that can depict a Filipino Christmas. There’s the Belen which is a diorama of the Nativity scene; the Simbang Gabi (Night Mass) which is a 4am mass several days before Christmas; vendors selling Puto Bumbong and Bibingka - made with rice sugar and coconut sold after the mass; and lastly my favorite: Christmas Lanterns or the Parol which depict the star that shone the way to Bethlehem. Parols are made from whatever material you can find at home as long as in the end it forms a star! Of course, if you’re lazy and have had your share of Parol making as a kid (like I did with my dad!), you can actually go out and buy yourself one. This photo is one of the first corners in Manila that sold the more extravagant lanterns. It was always a sign that Christmas is in Manila (which typically starts in September) when these stalls are put up and the nights are lit with blinking stars.

This photo was taken on the 23rd of December – Christmas is already in full swing in Manila, but this hopeful is still waiting to sell more of his merchandise. Now I know I need more help in the whole shooting at night department, so I apologize ahead of time for the noise. This was shot at a very high ISO 1600 at f1.8. Somebody tell me how to get better photos of alternately blinking lights at night without using flash! It was drizzling too, so I was in quite a rush!

Oh and Merry Christmas to you Steve, Mat, Ken and Katy! Cheers!

My thoughts: Xmas in the Philippines sounds like madness. Just like every other aspect of it.  Good madness, mind you.  Love to have experienced it.  Re shooting this better than you already did – ask Ken.  I think you did fine.  A little fill flash, if you can work out how to do it on that cam, might have helped.  And cropping more tightly would stop me from straining my eyes to see the detail. 

Ken’s submission

Ken says:

Technically this shot is all wrong. I had no flash and only the Christmas lights to illuminate Cameron. I also had to push the ISO all the wait up to H1 (1600 i think). 50 mm lens at f1.4.  This is straight out of the camera as I have no editing tools in Canada. Actually, I have no decent pc even to open the files. Thankfully I found an late night Walmart to buy a USB cable.

This is Cameron’s first Christmas and I loved spending every minute with him.  He didn’t cry when sitting on Santa’s lap and enjoyed the tearing of Christmas wrapping paper to discover his  new toys

My thoughts:  Should have bought a Canon, Ken  But seriously, not-so-little-anymore Cameron in his Santa suit looks very cute and very warm in what must be a chilling Canadian winter.  This photo looks like it could have been taken in any Australian home on Xmas morning, and I doubt there are too many differences between us other than the weather.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

Thinking of my concept for Christmas wasn’t a struggle at all.  First, I really love the whole Christmassy atmosphere all around the globe. Second, Santa has always been my favourite Xmas character of all – as for many others.

Cheer up, y’all! We, the Santa Katies, have something for you. All you have to do is drop us a line or give us a call, and “we’ll bring your shopping to you”!

Well, it may sound a bit harsh, but that’s exactly the idea of what Xmas has become to me. Nobody, broadly speaking, can be bothered getting off their seats and actually getting outside to buy something meaningful – as Christmas itself should be- to the ones they love.

That was my very brief description. Hope you work out the rest.

This picture was taken with my Sony DSC-W55. Yeah, still haven’t purchased a decent camera! I did some kind of Photoshoppery to that image: Multiplicity or Clone Shot, which most of you have heard about. It is a simple process of taking two or three images of oneself in different areas of the same frame (ideally mount your camera on a tripod) and layering each figure into one frame on PS using the pen tool and moving layers into the master composite.

My thoughts: Katy, this is an absolutely perfect start to your contribution to our little club.  Having also seen some of your other shots, I like the way you think your ideas through to every little detail of the composition – possibly something the rest of us don’t do quite to this extent. The shadow on the wall & the props really add story elements, and of course the stockings are a real attention grabber as well as a talking point.  This is an image full of conversation starters, and I think your style will add yet another level of balance to our group. I’ll chat to you offline about cloning/multiplicity, as I don’t know how to use PS to that extent yet, and am interested.  I was thinking of creating a collage but didn’t know how to use PS to make a professional one, so had to choose one image.  You might be able to help me skill up in that area.  Once again, welcome.  I just hope the boys in our club are going to be able to objectively critique your images.

Mat’s submission

Mat says:

Christmas often seems to be about family and food. As my family are
all on the other side of the planet, here’s the food that I enjoyed on
this Christmas Day.

My thoughts: I saved the best for last.  I absolutely adore this image. I could see it up on my wall. Great presentation of simple, yet telling images. Even the mobile phone in the breakfast composition helps to tell the story.  For some strange reason I think that baked beans “meal” is being eaten off a placemat on your polished floorboards!  Well done, Mat.

Next challenge

Time to do something a little different.  Well, not really that different. I’m just going to turn over the choice of themes to you guys.  BUT – to give you all time to send me suitable themes, the next challenge has been chosen by one of our readers, Veena Rusli.  V is the Bureau Chief of Berita Harian (Wikipedia is your friend) in Sabah, Malaysia. She’s a top journo in other words. So to have her as one of my regular readers is an honour. Mind you, she seems to be more interested in words than images, but you can’t win ‘em all.

So, V has suggested “Temptation”, and I’ve gone with it because I know it will challenge some of you in a new way.  Please have your submissions in by Sunday 18th January.

Photo Challenge 4 – Transition

I’m impressed! I honestly didn’t think the gang could keep it together for this many challenges, but to all of our credit we’re still moving forward. Not only that, but we’re expanding our numbers.  As of next challenge I am very pleased to announce a new contributor – Katiane Goes.

Katy lives in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil.  Katy is a teacher, and a beach lover who lives 1300 km from the nearest beach.  She has an excellent photo collection on Flickr which I invite you to go check out now. Welcome aboard, Katy!

Transition can mean so many things to so many people. And therein lies the fun of asking four very different people to apply their creativity to this theme.

Steve’s submission:

My thoughts: I’m not sure I should go first this time, as I don’t think my photo is really indicative of my style, nor a particularly good shot.  However, it does show the constant cyclic transition that nature experiences. In this case an old tree comes to a possibly untimely demise at the hands of farmers, but way below the eyeline, as yet unnoticed, the tree’s offspring raises it’s youthful head ready to take up the challenge of survival.  Shot on the Canon 30D, 45mm, F22, 1/50, ISO 100. Primarily processed in Lightroom 2.1 and all the really tough stuff cleaned in Photoshop CS3.

Mat’s Submission:

My thoughts: Mat, this is a fantastic idea.  I really love what you’ve come up with.  Next step for you is to build your technical skills to allow you to present the very best version of your ideas that you can. Ken is the post-processing master, so go drop in on him unannounced, with a bottle of wine of course, and get him to give you the works. Your photos will love you for it, and the less creative of us (i.e. me) will be bowing in deference.

Mat says: I struggled to come up with an idea for this one. I had some thoughts about sunsets or nature scenes where one landscape transitioned into another one, eg grass to beach to sea, or field to freeway, or parkland to car park – but the very wet Melbourne weather this weekend made me somewhat disinclined to venture into the great outdoors.

So I ended up deciding that with every tick of the clock we are transitioning from one time into another. I used a 5 second exposure to capture 5 ticks in a fairly gloomy room, then I massaged the result with some of the filters in Lightroom and Paintshop Pro to give it a slightly more abstract and grainy feel. I wanted an old fashioned look which is offset by the word QUARTZ showing it is actually a modern clock – hence indicating a transition from the old clock-work world to our modern electronic one.

Ken’s Submission:

My thoughts: I think Ken might still be having trouble with my Aussie accent, because he’s given us “trainsition” instead. This image had me believing the trains were both moving, making me wonder how on earth he took the shot. I love the character and details in Ken’s images, so even when I’m through thinking about the life analogy delivered by the passing trains, I can analyse the rails and stones to see what I can find in there.

Ken says: I must say…I have struggled with this week’s theme!  I understand why Stephen chose it, but once again I did not want to entertain the obvious and therefore set out to find something left of field. 

Whilst shooting the various images to compile this particular shot, U2’s Running to Stand Still was drifting through my head. For me, this week at least, transition is a train wreck in the making… We sometimes struggle to transcend without tearing down everything and beginning again. With all our optimism we set out with the lesson previously learnt in an attempt to make the transition to a better, happier life… Our problem is that we never really apply what was learnt and fall desperately back onto the same ol’ twisted tracks. All the while it seems that everyone else is on the fast train…passing us by…getting somewhere… anywhere….or maybe we are all just running to stand still?

U2 – Running to Stand Still (first verse)

And so she woke up

Woke up from where she was lying still
Said I gotta do something about where we’re going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain
Maybe run from the darkness in the night

This was shot with my trusted Nikon D2X, Nikon 28-35mm f2.8 lens. (shot at f8 at about 1/300 , ISO 200) 

Joepi’s Submission:

My thoughts: I left the best for last. This is the most tangible and definable transition of all, and Joepi’s presentation of herself in this collage is a little self-deprecating, a trait Aussies love.  I’ll leave it to Joepi to explain the story behind the image.

Joepi says: I had no plans of actually sending this,but I did put the collage together for the challenge just for the giggles.

The transition from drab to fab is every girly-girl’s favorite activity. And every woman goes through these transitions at least once in their lifetime, others do it too often, others too little and most, like me, do it for fun (especially if it’s a free make over!) 

Next challenge:

The next challenge will be a little different but the theme is a tad obvious – “Christmas”.

This time I am not looking for abstract images or unusual interpretations, but rather something that represents your personal impression of or experience with this particular event.

“Christmas” should be submitted by Sunday December 28

I’d also like each of you (including Katy) to submit a theme idea, and I’ll randomly use one for each of the upcoming four challenges.