#69 Two Options for Ordinary

StueveShots

Two ordinary things around my house. Does either one work? Any C&C??

Glass of Water



Ol' Red Rooster

lizzard_nyc

The first does not work for me, it's hard to tell what the subject is made more confusing by the cocacola logo on the glass.
Now your second one is worlds away better and works for the theme.

StueveShots

Thanks for looking, Liz! What you've said about number 1 makes sense to me. I haven't had any time to actually think through what I could do for this contest...I just saw the glass of water (after taking pics of the chickens who were out wandering during an unusually warm day) and thought, "Well, that's pretty ordinary."

I wish the day had been even better for the rooster shots...but I'm glad you think they fit the theme. So let's see...I have several shots I caught of the big guy. Let me know if any of these are better than the one I've already posted:

Guard Duty




Rooster



Barn Yard



'Course it may be that chickens are just not interesting enough...even "ordinary" chickens like this! (It's taken me years to appreciate our chickens...)

konomaniac

lizzard_nyc wrote: »

The first does not work for me, it's hard to tell what the subject is made more confusing by the cocacola logo on the glass.
Now your second one is worlds away better and works for the theme.

Maybe the glass would work with a bottle of coke (or pepsi ) behind it.
Of the barnyard shots, I like the original. While it may be ordinary in your back yard, it would certainly be unique in mine - keep your title obscure and let people pick for themselves :giggle

lkbart

I really like the first Ol' Red Rooster. The colors are so vibrant & the clarity is great.

StueveShots

konomaniac wrote: »

Maybe the glass would work with a bottle of coke (or pepsi ) behind it.
Of the barnyard shots, I like the original. While it may be ordinary in your back yard, it would certainly be unique in mine - keep your title obscure and let people pick for themselves :giggle

You know, the funny thing is that we don't drink Coke or Pepsi in our family...never cared for cola. I haven't the slightest idea where that glass came from!

I like your idea about the rooster. Thanks for commenting!

StueveShots

lkbart wrote: »

I really like the first Ol' Red Rooster. The colors are so vibrant & the clarity is great.

Thanks, lkbart. The dirty little secret is that I'm kind of scared of the roosters...so I was thrilled (and proud) to have gotten so close!

I'm going to wander around my property a bit and see if some other idea comes to mind for the contest...but if not, at least I know I've got something to submit.

lizzard_nyc

I agree that a rooster is not the norm for me either, but I can see it fitting the "ordinary" theme.

For me the original rooster is still the best shot, his feathers look so soft!
Of the second offering I like second shot best.
The first one looks like a psycho rooster coming for you.

StueveShots

lizzard_nyc wrote: »

The first one looks like a psycho rooster coming for you.

That's why he scares me!

One job of the rooster is to be the watchdog for the hens...but this big guy happens to be pretty friendly. At least that's what my sons say!

Got to tell you, though...the eggs are so worth it!

billseye

Ok, here's my 2 cents...

Love the conversion processing in #1, but would have to agree that the subject is missing something.

The roosters are a wonderful series, I can see why you might be less than enamored with them. The combination of sharp focus and softness in some feather details throughout is really nice.

In the first one, I'm a bit distracted by the crop at the bottom that masks the feet. I like the second one but there's an odd horizon thing going on between the tilted horizon at the fence and the tree trunk on the right that looks pretty vertical as is. If the horizon was level, the tree would skew way to the right.

The background in top third of the last one is pretty dsitracting, too. For my money (that earlier 2 cents I mentioned) the third one is the best, although the structure directly behind the rooster is a bit distracting, too. Could you clone it out?

Overall the technical quality and exposure control in all the images is really very good. It's just the background distraction of the roosters that keeps them from being spectacular.

kdotaylor

I like the middle one. Great colors in these.

oldtown_dreamer

pretty intimidating to comment after Bill.

of the rooster series, i love the feathers and the detail of the original shot. of the 2nd round, i'm intrigued by #1, but i think i'd like to see it cropped closer to the rooster and hens so that they are the main focus and the details of his coloring and watchfulness are displayed more prominently.

(love the chicken's too, they look so fluffy and soft)

StueveShots

Thank you, all! Very helpful comments.

Bill, you comment about the feet in number 1 is very good. You can't actually see his feet because they are so deep in the grass, but I can crop it so that there is more foreground and the viewer can tell that.

As to the horizon thing...I agree. I was laying on the ground when he started up...which scared me. I wanted to try to leave the resultant tilted horizon to see if it would add some energy to the shot. The tree does mess that up, though. The tree does lean sharply right. Most of our trees are a bit drunken in their posture...we have constant winds out here. Plays havoc with any shots I try to take in our yard!

I did think that if I use the middle one that I'd clone out the play structure. Just didn't know yet if it was worth the time.

Thanks for taking the time, Bill. More than two cents worth and much appreciated.

Kdotaylor...thanks! I love the color too, which is why I decided to try the shots.

Old town dreamer...I might try your closer crop!