dss 28 - c&c

karlabbott

#1:



#2:



#3:




Thoughts?

dnie

I like #1 the best.

MarkR

I like #1 and #2, but I think a few darts in there (it's a dartboard, right?) would help break up the pattern and add some visual interest. Especially if it looked like a close game.

Alternately, tape a picture to the board and pepper it with holes and call it "The Ex" or "The Boss" or whatever. Just a thot.

karlabbott

Here's one with a few darts added:

richtersl

The last one is nice! Would it be possible to reshoot it so that the "6" and the "10" fit into the frame?

Katmitchell

richtersl wrote:

The last one is nice! Would it be possible to reshoot it so that the "6" and the "10" fit into the frame?

.. With Linda..


Also, nice add with the darts... especially since they have squares on them..

Question.. Did you hand hold this shot?
I am seeing some blur around the darts..

Kat

The Curious Camel

Just a ditto of what has been said.

travelways

I really like your last one with the darts, and I agree with Linda suggestion too.

- also if you can re-soot it, maybe you can get the bottom of middle circle entirely into the frame too...

Very nice and clever idea

karlabbott

Thanks for all the feedback!

I will definitely try to reshoot it tonight.

I actually did this on the tripod, but since the exposure is 30 seconds, it's possible that the darts moved a little. Especially since there is a fan pointed in that general direction. I'll have to pick a different spot to take the shot.

whiterice

Brilliant idea! Can't wait to see your retake shots.

Katmitchell

karlabbott wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback!

I will definitely try to reshoot it tonight.

I actually did this on the tripod, but since the exposure is 30 seconds, it's possible that the darts moved a little. Especially since there is a fan pointed in that general direction. I'll have to pick a different spot to take the shot.

yeah a lot can happen in 30 seconds..probably was the fan blowing on the darts...

Be sure when you re-shoot to keep the DOF deep so that we get a nice sharp shot of those checkers too.. they really help with the theme coupled with those circles..

nice work..

Kat

bf2015

Looks really cool. I was wondering, and I'm not sure if it would work...have you tried to shoot straight on and have the dart "fins" completely square so that they look like square cross-hairs?

karlabbott

bf2015 wrote:

Looks really cool. I was wondering, and I'm not sure if it would work...have you tried to shoot straight on and have the dart "fins" completely square so that they look like square cross-hairs?

That's an interesting point -- I may give that a go, but as these fins are some type of thick paper/plastic material, they will be a bit harder to set perfectly straight.

Here are the results of my reshoot tonight:

#4:



#5:



Thoughts?

Katmitchell

Hey Karl

Sorry about the delay in response to the reshoot.. The threads have been so busy that I cannot keep up with all of them and some are getting buried... I usually do not have this problem because I have it set to email me anytime there is activity on one I have posted on, but my email notification is not working every time..

Anywho...... this is my take on it..

I am not sure what it is,,, but there does not seem to be good focus in the middle around those darts still..... Thing is, I can't tell if it is my eyes playing tricks on me because of all the repeating circles.. haha.. what aperture are you shooting at if ya don't mind me asking?

Also,,, I have to say with all honesty. I liked your original post best, the original one with the darts added post.. I know we suggested open it up to show the 6 and 10, but I think you opened it up and backed away before the shoot too and that changed the composition and perspective that was so pleasing.. I also really favored the way you positioned the darts in that one too, you may want to cut down a dart or two so there are not so many..

Do you have time to re-shoot? if so, I would shoot for the composition in the original,, but that's just my humble opinion..
Others may disagree completely...

Maybe try one more re-shoot if ya have time.. you might also try a (full shot or close up shot) with one in the bulls eye dead center too..

For some reason, I get the feeling that this is one of those subjects that looks deceptively easy to shoot but in reality it is actually a difficult capture..

Kat


There was just something very pleasing with the way you nailed the perspective in this shot and the placement of the darts too...thumb

travelways

Hi Karl,

Your darts shots have definitely lot of potential.

Personally I would go with #5 altered a little, maybe like this:



* Please note that I squished it down a little, cropped a little and filled the upper right corner (white) with blue

karlabbott

Thank you both for the feedback. I still like the one that Kat mentions the best. It was shot at f/22. My two entries from Monday night were shot at f/16 (#5) and f/32 (the one with the black background).

One thing about the composition that Kat mentions vs the newer ones is that they have the same number of darts, but the older one is more pleasing to the eye. I suspect that this is due to the large number of triangles formed between the darts in the pattern on the older one. Our eyes love to explore patterns, and they aren't as prominent in the newer shots.

I've wondered about the lighting in the newer shots too -- and about the focus on the darts. At f/22, you have very shallow dof, but then again i didn't set the hyperfocal distance (just let af do its thing) and perhaps that's where the lack of sharpness is coming in. That said, the distance between the end of the darts and the board isn't all that large and so I'm not sure just how much of a difference I would see in setting the hyperfocal distance.

What I really wanted to achieve was a close up view in which you can see the tiny holes for the darts very well and still get a bit of the bigger picture and still have the darts in view. Due to the length of the darts, that has made it almost impossible to compose as tightly as I would like while maintaining focus and good composition throughout.

With regards to the lighting, I may try moving the dart board outside and seeing what type of side lighting I can naturally get in the early evening. It definitely deserves a reshoot (or more touching up of the one before). I'll probably get around to that tonight.

Any other comments would be much appreciated as I'll definitely take them into consideration.

Kinkajou

I'm going to be the weirdo here - I still like #1 the best. It packs quite a punch and I like that it takes a second or two to figure out what it is. I like the circle dead-on and think that it really lets you know that the subject is 'circle' (or geometric, at least) and not 'dartboard'.

I do agree with bf2015, it might be interesting to keep the shot straight on with a few darts in it (maybe 2 or 3, not so many that they distract from the point of the image), and I would use the same crop that you did for #1.

Thanks for sharing!

karlabbott

Reshoot
Here are the results of my latest reshoot.

A1:



A2:



Thoughts?

Katmitchell

Nice Karl..

I like them both.. I don't see that slight blur anymore down in the darts... Much cleaner.thumb

I like the way A1 leans and opens up the detail of the squares on the darts,

However, I really like the star burst effect on A2.... They look like they are shooting out at ya.. I also like the processing on A2 better because the black areas are black and not purplish.

Kat

karlabbott

I'll call this A3, but it's A1 with the proper levels applied. I opened up my work and realized I skipped my usual levels adjust step

Katmitchell

Now I am liking A3 better... wow that made a difference,,

I think it is stronger because of the way it shows off the squares and those number circles too...

I vote for A3

You pulled this re-shoot off nicely Karl thumb

Kat

richtersl

Katmitchell wrote:

Now I am liking A3 better... wow that made a difference,,

I think it is stronger because of the way it shows off the squares and those number circles too...

I vote for A3

You pulled this re-shoot off nicely Karl thumb

Kat

NikonsandVstroms

I like A3 but want to see you get in there even more like the close crop of # 2, looks like you're on the right track with this idea