Monthly Shooting Assignment: January/February 2013 "Unusual Shapes"

[nsouto]

Hi folks. Profuse apologies for the delay in getting this one going.
As a meek excuse: the festive season has been absolutely hectic and I've had very little sleep in the last week or so.

It's always a bit of a stretch with me to come up with a theme for our usual assignments.
Mostly because the folks in the Northern hemisphere are in a season that is completely opposite ours.

All sunny and warm here, while it's freezing cold for the Northerners. Makes it hard to pick a subject that is not affected by the "climate change"!
(sorry, couldn't stop myself!)

Anyways, here goes: "Unusual Shapes".

It should be ideal for the B&W aficionados, as well as leaving it wide open for the colour heads(!).
And the subjects can be found outdoors, indoors. Or just about anywhere!

So, go for it folks! Surprise us all with your "eye" for the unusual, weird object, shade, contour or silhouette.

That sort of thing. Make it really unusual: don't just grab the first "S" you see - go for a full word!

Can the forum owner please make it sticky for the period? I've got no clue how to do it.

I'll be posting a couple to get everyone in the mood and then will sit back and watch the proceedings!

:munch:

 

[barbara ann]

Well, my thinking cap is on, both cameras loaded. One with B&W, the other with color. This will definitely have to be an indoor shoot as it is freezing here. We shall see what "develops" ! LOL

 

[ArtO]

Interesting subject. Hopefully I'll find something worthwhile to enter this round.

 

[StoneNYC]

Can I post something I have already shot? I have an unusual shape you might all recognize

No seriously not what you are probably thinking based on that sentence structure... But does it have to be new?

Also, can we submit more than one?


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bertus]

sticky guidelines

[Here you can find it in the sticky guidelines: (thread 4th nov 2012) And if you have more than one: yes post it, welcom and Good Luck!
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


QUOTE=StoneNYC;1442387]Can I post something I have already shot? I have an unusual shape you might all recognize

No seriously not what you are probably thinking based on that sentence structure... But does it have to be new?

Also, can we submit more than one?


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

 

[nsouto]

Yeah, by all means. We try to go for new shots.
But if you have one already in stock that is appropriate, then go for it.
And add more taken now!

 

[StoneNYC]

Great! So I read about the "monthly shooting assignment" upload as a subscriber, but it doesn't say what I'm supposed to do to show the image here, so I'll attempt a link.

I'll try and shoot something new, but in the mean time... no one can argue that the Experience Music Project in Seattle Washington is most certainly an unusual shape... I only have one image scanned and I'm leaving for a trip so not much time, I'll upload the one I have

Please feel free to use the link and comment on the image (I like comments good or bad) even if you can see the image below it's good to have some response under the image in my gallery too

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I think the link works... not sure ... ugh... here...

 

[Bertus]

Unusual shapes

I have some uploads to the MSA unusual shapes, but I am not sure if this fits in this topic, I only found them a little strange.

 

[StoneNYC]

I have some uploads to the MSA unusual shapes, but I am not sure if this fits in this topic, I only found them a little strange.

Give it a try, can't hurt


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[edcculus]

This is my first submission to the MSA. This is a tree I came upon on a walk in a local park. I'm calling it Old Man Willow. Although its not a willow tree, it looks a lot how Tolkien describes the roots of the great tree that swallows up the hobbits in Bombadil's Forest.

I finished the print on this picture a few days ago and scanned it in. Basically a straight scan other than getting the levels correct and applying Unsharp Masking in Photoshop. I still have a bit of work with getting the sky burned in better, but I'm fairly pleased so far. Hope you enjoy.

Nikon F2/HP5+
Printed 8X10 on Ilford Multigrade RC

Old Man Willow.

 

[StoneNYC]

This is my first submission to the MSA. This is a tree I came upon on a walk in a local park. I'm calling it Old Man Willow. Although its not a willow tree, it looks a lot how Tolkien describes the roots of the great tree that swallows up the hobbits in Bombadil's Forest.

I finished the print on this picture a few days ago and scanned it in. Basically a straight scan other than getting the levels correct and applying Unsharp Masking in Photoshop. I still have a bit of work with getting the sky burned in better, but I'm fairly pleased so far. Hope you enjoy.

Nikon F2/HP5+
Printed 8X10 on Ilford Multigrade RC

Old Man Willow.

I like this, if you crop it square and follow the line of the larger vine on the right to eliminate the sky it would look like stone snakes or something, very cool


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hgernhardt]

Now to give this thing a go…

Both of the images below were shot on Holga 400, f/22 at 1/200 sec in my Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16. The negatives were printed on Fomaspeed Variant 311 at 4¾" square and scanned using the office multifunction flatbed at 600dpi.


Springtime in Winter


Stepping Lightly

Funky angles mean funky contortions.

 

[nsouto]

Heh! Nice work, Henry!

 

[barbara ann]

edcculus: Really nifty image! Nice work...

 

[hgernhardt]

Another Go

Same film and paper as before, different day. If I recall correctly, I shot this one at 1/200 set to f/11. I didn't take notes. It was slightly cloudy, I was compensating for a dark subject, and I don't own a light meter. Sunny sixteen rule all the way, baby. The street sign is a bit dodgy.


Town Line

 

[Noons]

Less than one week to go, folks.
Let's have some more up there in the galleries!

 

[nsouto]

Sorry for the late post, folks. My PC imploded in early Feb and it's taken me a while to get everything back working on a new mobo, as well as update all the drivers for scanners and other gear from the XPPro version to the Win7Pro one...

Anyways, almost back to normal now, only one or two pieces of software left to install.

Was hoping for a few more entrants but the ones we got are enough to give me trouble picking a winner, so let me get started in finding who is running the next assignment.

edcculus: first time entry, but that Old Man Willow shot is fantastic! A slight change of the crop as suggested by StoneNYC would likely push it even higher. I spend a lot of time in a local reserve and the number of weird natural shapes I see there always surprises me!

hgernhardt: lovely set of shots. I really wonder what that metallic thing in Springtime in Winter is? Farm implement/attachment? Intriguing angle and image! If you can't see Henry's thumbnails, click on their area and the Flickr image will show.

Bertus: love those factory shots. As a kid I lived once near a clay factory, complete with huge brick-wall ovens that looked very much like those buildings. We used to go inside the ovens and play - when they were not operating, of course! It was our "mines of Moria" setting. Your images sprung up all those memories!

Barbara Ann: lovely set of shots. The fern is just one of those weird adaptations, isn't it? And that soccer ball is incredibly nice and it nearly took out the assignment! It is indeed a very unusual sight and a hard shot to get in colour!

StoneNYC: only one shot, but it's a cracker! Love that building, and the range of colours and shapes.
Would love to give the original a spin in my scanners to get rid of that Kodachrome colour cast. But as is, it is indeed a great shot and bang on the theme.


So, I have to pick a winner... Hard task, indeed!

Old Man Willow, the soccer ball, the weird building, the factory, the farm thing, they all are great shots!

But the rules say one has to be given a go, so, StoneNYC - your weird building gets it:

good luck picking a subject for the next assignment and picking a winner as well!

Roll-on, March-April assignment!

This was one of the hardest to pick a winner. Thanks heaps to all who got entries in, you are all winners in my mind!

 

[StoneNYC]

Hey guys... are there any rules for me as the winner? I don't want to pick something I"m not allowed to pick (because I'm tempted to pick nudes as the subject) LOL

 

[StoneNYC]

Also I just wanted to say thanks to the OP/Judge, I'm super excited as some of those images were pretty darn cool and I never win anything so I'm happy haha. (PS in the sticky from 2009 it says the winner got a roll of Velvia 50... I want some!!) haha I'm kidding of course (or am I?)

 

[Bertus]

Good choice Noons, congratulations StoneNYC!

 

[StoneNYC]

Good choice Noons, congratulations StoneNYC!

Thank you Bertus!

 

[StoneNYC]

This is the new assignment FYI

I was told after that more main stream images are preferred, but I already made the post so let's say this is a challenge to break out of the mainstream and challenge you to try something new?

Anyway here...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[edcculus]

Congrats Stone!