47: 2 drunk 2 focus

Nikolai

David TO and me had some beer at the bar in a local Bucca Di Beppo when it stroke me as a perfect opportunity to get a picture for a self-portrait challenge (Michiel, Sid - you guys know my drinking habits:-).
It was a bit dark, and we both had trouble to get the proper focus via the mirror (I only had a cheap lenses w/o metering scale), when David suggested to go "artistic" and do focus on the bottles, leaving the face purposefully blurred.
I liked this way of thinking - and here is the result (I blurred the face even in PP more to emphasize the "drunk" idea):



Just in case - we were not THAT drunk: here is a face-sharp version (David, looks like triangulation idea worked after all - never trust the LCD!):



I radial blurred the bottles to get attention to the face in this case..

Paraphrasing AW - "It's always about the drinks":-)

Cheers!:1drink

SnapHappy

Vanilla Vodka & Cranberry or a neat Beam (drool.love them all..)

I like the 2nd shot a lot, the blurring really draws the eye in perfectly. The only thing that I would suggest if you could re shoot. Would be to get a clean shot without the other guy in the background or alternatively shoot with lots of people in the background, and maybe get the barman to rearrange the bottles on the lower shelf. But thats me just being picky.
I like how you have composed the shot with the shelf splitting the picture 50/50.

Nikolai

Are you suggesting...

SnapHappy wrote:

Vanilla Vodka & Cranberry or a neat Beam (drool.love them all..)

I like the 2nd shot a lot, the blurring really draws the eye in perfectly. The only thing that I would suggest if you could re shoot. Would be to get a clean shot without the other guy in the background or alternatively shoot with lots of people in the background, and maybe get the barman to rearrange the bottles on the lower shelf. But thats me just being picky.
I like how you have composed the shot with the shelf splitting the picture 50/50.

.. to replace the 1st one with the 2d and change the title to "Never 2 drunk 2 focus"?

I could easily "retouch" David out of the picture:-), but since he played an important part in the whole thing I didn't have a heart to do it..:-)

Rearranging the bottles on the shelf would be an issue - they have all that chianti there on purpose..

Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

Cheers!

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

I could easily "retouch" David out of the picture:-), but since he played an important part in the whole thing I didn't have a heart to do it..:-)

Go ahead, Nik. I don't add anything to it.

Looks good!

Nikolai

Which one you think is better?

DavidTO wrote:

Go ahead, Nik. I don't add anything to it.
Looks good!

For the chalenge, I mean: #1 (blurred face) or #2 (blurred bottles)?

Thanks!

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

For the chalenge, I mean: #1 (blurred face) or #2 (blurred bottles)?

Thanks!

#2, I think. It IS a self-portrait. And it's good to see your face.

Nikolai

Thanks, man!

DavidTO wrote:

#2, I think. It IS a self-portrait. And it's good to see your face.

I'm glad we managed to got it sharp after all:-)

Nikolai

Howz dat?
New title: Never 2 drunk 2 focus!

DavidTO

You might try for a more neutral, balanced color.

erich6

Nice shots Nik. I like the radial blur effect shot. Great combination...alcohol and photography...one that I like for sure! (See my avatar description).

Cheers,

Erich

Nikolai

Version 3: balanced

DavidTO wrote:

You might try for a more neutral, balanced color.

Does this one look balanced?

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

Does this one look balanced?

Yep.

Nikolai

Thanks!

DavidTO wrote:

Yep.

Will use this one then:-)

Cheers!

limbik

Hey! Glad to see the benefits from the cheap remote trigger paid off!
Good "shots"! Cheers! :booze

Nikolai

No, man!

limbik wrote:

Hey! Glad to see the benefits from the cheap remote trigger paid off! Good "shots"! Cheers! :booze

100% handheld!:):
Thanks anyway!

limbik

Nikolai wrote:

100% handheld!:):
Thanks anyway!

Nah, I was referrig to the "beer funds"

Nikolai

Oh, I see:-)

limbik wrote:

Nah, I was referrig to the "beer funds"

David paid, he's such a nice guy:-)

ktb53

first picture
I think you may have already decided but I liked the first picture first where you were blurry, I felt the different liqour bottles really left a lot to pique peoples intrest, I would crop out the guy on the right though. Just my 2 cents. - Ken

Nikolai

Ken,

ktb53 wrote:

I think you may have already decided but I liked the first picture first where you were blurry, I felt the different liquor bottles really left a lot to pique peoples interest, I would crop out the guy on the right though. Just my 2 cents. - Ken

Thanks for the comment! It was a fun idea (especially WHILE consuming some of the depicted beverages in a reasonably large volumes:-), but after I got sober next morning:-) I decided the the "self-portrait" challenge theme means "portrait of self", not "portrait of what I like to drink, and, oh, BTW, can you guess who's that blurred guy in the mirror?"
So, again, I appreciate the sentiment, but it looks like #2 is going to be my choice for the challenge.
Cheers!

Osprey Whisperer

Hey Nikolai, I thought I'd reciprocate with some comments..thoughts. I see you have already entered an image in the "challenge". Guess not much to add at this point. Best of luck.


BMP

Nikolai

I can always change it

Bird Man Photographer wrote:

Hey Nikolai, I thought I'd reciprocate with some comments..thoughts. I see you have already entered an image in the "challenge". Guess not much to add at this point. Best of luck.


BMP

Actually, already changed it from the "blurred face" version to the "blurred bottles" one :-)
So - fire away!

luke_church

Don't try this with an F828
That hologram AF can really dazzle...

Nick picture, and nice to 'meet' you Nik.

Cheers,

Luke

Nikolai

We tried 828, too..

luke_church wrote:

That hologram AF can really dazzle...

Nick picture, and nice to 'meet' you Nik.

Cheers,

Luke

While we didn't get much help focusing-wise (as you can see, there is a lot of distracting details in this picture), it was simply too dark for it, so we got blurred shots anyway..

Thanks for the comment!

Cheers!

luke_church

Nikolai wrote:

(as you can see, there is a lot of distracting details in this picture)

. That could be entertainingly taken the wrong way

Cheers,

Luke

Nikolai

Totally different try
Looking at all the brilliant entries and samples, I'm starting to contemplate some other possibilities for the challenge..

What do you guys think about this idea:



Can it be a contender, or shall I dump this one and think of something else?

Thanks!

PS. Thanks to PeterGar fro making this shot possible!

Nikolai

Anybody?

Nikolai wrote:

Looking at all the brilliant entries and samples, I'm starting to contemplate some other possibilities for the challenge..

What do you guys think about this idea:



Can it be a contender, or shall I dump this one and think of something else?

Thanks!

PS. Thanks to PeterGar fro making this shot possible!

Is this a "no go"?

SnapHappy

Nikolai wrote:

Is this a "no go"?

Whilst i like the idea the photo just doesn't seem to be pleasant on the eye. Too much OOF that makes my eyes strain if try to look at anything else but the middle. But you have to realize that I know very little and am a complete noob to the whole thing.
If you were to stick with this I would definitely lose the green thing to the side.
I still like your original entry as well.

Nikolai

Thanks Darren!

SnapHappy wrote:

Whilst i like the idea the photo just doesn't seem to be pleasant on the eye. Too much OOF that makes my eyes strain if try to look at anything else but the middle. But you have to realize that I know very little and am a complete noob to the whole thing.
If you were to stick with this I would definitely lose the green thing to the side.
I still like your original entry as well.

Appreciate your feedback!

Need to think/shoot better, I guess..

Flyinggina

Gotta agree with Darren. Your new try is based on an interesting idea, but the result just doesn't work. :cry And I can't think for the moment how you could make it work. I actually like your entry (reflection in the bar mirror) a lot. It tells the viewer something about you (or how you see yourself) and you are, after all, the subject of the portrait. Still, I have to agree that the examples Andy shared are truly outstanding photos and I haven't an idea in my head that would come anywhere near them for impact. Good luck!

Va

Nikolai

Thanks, Va!

Flyinggina wrote:

Gotta agree with Darren. Your new try is based on an interesting idea, but the result just doesn't work. :cry And I can't think for the moment how you could make it work. I actually like your entry (reflection in the bar mirror) a lot. It tells the viewer something about you (or how you see yourself) and you are, after all, the subject of the portrait. Still, I have to agree that the examples Andy shared are truly outstanding photos and I haven't an idea in my head that would come anywhere near them for impact. Good luck!

Va

Yeah, by no means I was thinking of this as of ready to go, it was purely a scratch material, idea-tester..

Thank you for your comments! And yes, those samples are magnificent..

Cheers!

Nikolai

Brand new idea: Man on the Moon
After looking of all the samples and the recent entries I understood that I need something more original than "shot in the mirror".

So here's my new submission: Man on the Moon



It was a full moon tonight, so I decided to give my 20D and Tamron 70-300 "a shot":-). It took me a few attempts to get the moon (raw, on a tripod, with remote), then I quickly "shot myself" and merged both in PS CS2 (including its new Warp tool).

Enjoy moonlight shooting!