2021 Octoberfest - Clix Pix (Connie) - Player - Sony A1 with 20mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.2, 135mm f/1.8 ------ DAY 31! HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

[Phil K]

Very good with the dreamy effect

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, West, Gordon and John! And Phil, whose response I just saw! By the time I got around to processing and finishing up with this image I was ready to just stop and be done with the whole thing! On one of my other versions I had indeed done a tighter crop, but somehow it didn't look right. This image definitely has issues and flaws but I had already spent so much time with shooting and then trying to edit the resulting images, none of which were pleasing me, that I finally just threw in the towel and said enough is enough. It's not as though I were trying to enter this in a juried show, where perfection in every detail counts.... I just had to let go of this, put the camera and lenses away for the day and move on.

I had already spent a significant amount of time on this whole thing and even though I had tried shooting something else -- anything, just a quickie -- to just toss into today's mix and call it "done," by that time I was so frustrated that nothing was working and I knew it was time to stop. I revisited the images, arbitrarily selected one similar to those with which I had struggled earlier and said, "whatever, this is going to be Day 11's entry," and that was that.

Now I remember why I eventually gave up on that 365 Day Project I had started here years ago..... Thankfully this is only a month, and we've only got, what, 20 days left?!!!

 

[Dexbana]

Kind of looks like a pinhole image. More than anything it is a very artistic use of light and color.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thank you, Paul! Now that you mention it, this does look kind of like a pinhole image -- hadn't thought about that! I was trying for something artistic but felt that I still was missing the mark. The subject was difficult to shoot because it was several flowers positioned behind and magnified in a large glass ball......and on top of that I wanted more blur so shot wide-open in order to get an even dreamier, mystical effect..... Lighting wasn't cooperating with me, though -- neither the natural light (which wasn't very strong and was distinctly dull) and the artificial light, which both of which sources insisted upon reflecting in the glass ball. Sigh..... Anyway, I chose a challenge for which neither the elements nor I were quite ready today, I think!

 

[Commodorefirst]

I love this image, love the blur, right up me alley: https://wadedowdy.zenfolio.com/p862432127#h3d20875b

 

[warth man]

Day 11: I had an idea for one more use of those poor tired flowers..... and this turned out to be more challenging than I had expected! Spent way, way too much time on it and I'm still not thrilled with what I managed to get. Better natural lighting would have helped, that's for sure! This didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped but I don't have the editing skills to correct the light glare -- I tried on a similar image and made a right royal mess of it! -- so this is it, this is what you get:

View attachment 1690939

That's different Connie but very effective. Nice.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thank you, Wade and Ron! Yep, Wade, that's my kind of thing, too -- I love colorful abstracts! Yours is really cool! With this one, the high reflectivity of the glass ball was giving me issues, thought, and then I finally thought, well, just live with it, I guess it adds to the interesting overall blur and surreal effect.

 

[Clix Pix]

Day 12 turned out to be surprisingly, a quick and easy shoot after yesterday's struggle! I looked out the sliding glass door and lo and behold, across the lake were the guys working on the asphalt trail on that side, digging it up! Wow, that looks like back-breaking work....... It's cool and cloudy again today, so that's easier on them than the bright hot sun would have been. Anyway, I grabbed the camera, quickly mounted the 135mm and ran out to the deck and got to work:

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[LyndeeLoo]

Love how you captured the reflections in the water; nice!

 

[Phil K]

Yes it is a nice one.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thank you, Lyndee and Phil...... Yes, although cloudy, the air was clear and the water was relatively calm this morning, which was a bonus! Unfortunately now it is misting and the weather is not as favorable for either the workers or the photographer -- they're still over there soldiering valiantly away, though.

 

[Pa]

Seems like they would figure a way to use some of that machinery to dig it up.

Good documentary shot of the project.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, Jim! Indeed they have now brought a second machine into the scene and the orange machine, which apparently switched attachments, is now lifting larger pieces of the broken-up asphalt and transporting it over to the bigger vehicle and depositing it into that white machine's "bucket." I've been having fun watching this and snagging the occasional photo.....

 

[Palouse]

You and Bob (Bohdan) should write a book and the art of shooting the outside from inside a house.

 

[Clix Pix]

Actually this morning's shot was from my deck -- outdoors! The image of the flower that I posted a few days ago was shot from inside, though, through the sliding glass door -- primarily because I forgot to open the door -- and also I did one using my kitchen window for light and backdrop...... Sometimes I use the master bedroom window, too, depending upon the situation, time of day (afternoon is when the light is best in there), and what I want to shoot.

My computer workstation is in the living room and sits adjacent to the sliding glass door and deck so I can enjoy the view year-round. Comes in handy when the birds are doing something interesting on the lake or in a situation such as today's. I always keep the RX10 IV "bridge" camera with fixed lens sitting on a nearby table to grab when there's some exciting action going on and I can just grab it and turn it on as I'm running out to the deck. When there's a little more time and less urgency, such as today, I mount a lens to the A1 (usually the 100-400mm, but of course the 135mm works well for this too) and head out there to shoot. Sometimes I set the tripod up out on the deck when I'm using the 200-600mm. At the moment I've got the camera with the 135mm still mounted, on the dining room table, ready to pick up and use again if there is more interesting action going on across the lake....... I'm thinking I'll swap lenses and stick the 100-400mm on, get closer to the action now.

 

[warth man]

At least they are maintaining it. Always a good sign.

 

[acnomad]

Something a little different

Nice abstraction. My first five guesses (at a minimum) would have been wrong.

I had an idea for one more use of those poor tired flowers..... and this turned out to be more challenging than I had expected

Good effort. Even if it was not what you had intended, the result is still interesting.

guys working on the asphalt trail

Should have told them about @kilofoxtrott ’s project a couple days ago!

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, Andy and Ron! Actually, this project should have been done a year ago, as the asphalt path was getting rather hazardous for walking on -- tree roots were causing the asphalt to heave up and it would've been all too easy for someone to trip and have a serious fall. Thankfully that never happened, we all were just very careful! It is SO nice to have a smooth, safe path now!

And, yes, Andy, I kept thinking about Klaus and his project and how he could've have benefitted from their vehicles and several men to do the labor! I swapped out lenses and spent some more time this afternoon shooting and it was really fascinating to watch it through the 100-400mm lens. Took a bunch of shots but haven't reviewed or processed them yet. They won't be applicable to this project, of course, being shot with a different lens than I'm using for this, but maybe if I have an interesting group of them to pull together I'll create a thread.....

 

[catalyst]

I hope they'll be able to put down the new track before the weather turns!

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, Eric! Yes, the guys are still out there now laying and smoothing out the dirt foundation and I suspect that tomorrow or the next day they'll be putting down the new asphalt. They're more than halfway done now with the project, actually -- they did our half last week and it's really nice. Our weather is supposed to stay fairly warm and dry over the next few days, which will help considerably! We probably won't begin to feel any really chilly weather until towards the end of the month, or maybe not even until early November. Fine with me!