#48 - What am I? (Congrats Colin)

On behalf of PatrickH this is assignment 48: What am I?

Sometimes the shots that at first glance leave you wondering exactly what you are looking at can be fun and interesting, something in the abstract that leaves you pondering the image just a bit longer.

For this assignment I am looking for images that have some quality that confuses the viewer. Macros are an obvious choice here, but there are many other creative ways to accomplish this. From something out of place, to playing with light, distortion, motion blur, or processing, let your imagination run.

The following photos have been selected as finalists:

Name: M_Six
Motivation: Interesting entry. The transition between the rough area and the color is puzzling; although I'm sure the small drops are a clue. The different textures are what held my interest.

http://bimmermail.com/UK2012/bath-abstract01.jpg



Name: Colin500
Motivation: It seems that we have light and water with this one, but I have absolutely no idea how to replicate it (laser pointer and long exposure perhaps). It’s a great abstract image, especially in black and white.

http://community.the-digital-picture...0&d=1360568838



Name: Joel Eade
Motivation: Confused indeed! I was glad to see some folks get creative with processing. Lots of small details made this one fun to pore over.

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....36680768-5.jpg



Name: CLS
Motivation: I love the lighting and composition here, but this one was selected because for me it really nailed the theme. At first glance it seemed easily identifiable, but honestly I’m still not sure what body part this is. Well done.

http://community.the-digital-picture...5&d=1361549798

• The poll will be opened for 3 days
• Good luck!

I had some fun on my blog with this type of subject material last year. It is a challenge. Looking forward to some awesome entries. For now, this is my entry.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...1_10_11512.jpg

Step off here and you'll be stepping into some serious history. http://bimmermail.com/UK2012/bath-abstract01.jpg

I took this last April, I was testing out the 24-105L when I first bought it. I know what it is, but lets see if you can tell from the photo. Flickr caused some of the sharpness to go away but here it is:
(Click to see it larger)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8232/8...3d4e3f64_k.jpg

Attachment 1689

Great, I've got just the thing for this assignment, even if not hard to guess -- had to skip "seeing red" because of my preference for B&W ;-)

5D2, 24-70, 70mm, 1sec, f/20, ISO 100; PP is a slight crop, b&w, some contrast, and I had to reduce the jpeg quality for this down-sized version to fit the max file size.

Attachment 1690

Colin, that looks like it could be ice?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photog82

Colin, that looks like it could be ice?

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It could be, or it could not ;-)

Here is an easy one, at least to people who visit this site ;)

Attachment 1695

Taken with MP-E 65mm.

Here is a harder one.

Early last year I was finally able to talk my boss into letting my buy some new gear for macro work on small components. These were the first images I took after unwrapping the T3i and 65mm MP-E.


Attachment 1696

T3i, 65mm MP-E (I want to say it was at 5X), 25.0 sec at f/16, ISO 400.

Attachment 1697

T3i, 65mm MP-W (I don't recall the magnification), 8 sec at f/16, ISO 400

It has been a while since I have put up a picture here. I am wanting to get my camera out more so I will be completing my assignments. Here is one that I posted back in the break a rule assignment but I think it fits this assignment perfectly.

Attachment 1700

Canon XSi with 18-55mm IS, 1/6 sec, f22, ISO 100. The picture is a group of trees. I turned the camera from portrait to landscape and zoomed from 18 to 55 during the exposure.

My entry is an attempt to confuse or hide the original subject via post processing.......

http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio....36680768-5.jpg

Here ya go!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8...f13a7595_b.jpg

This will be my entry. Yes, I know ...it's a wing! But, for you birders out there...what bird is it?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8...415a7c0b_z.jpg
What_Is_It by Denise Trocio ( www.dtrociophotography.com), on Flickr

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

This will be my entry. Yes, I know ...it's a wing! But, for you birders out there...what bird is it?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8...415a7c0b_z.jpg
What_Is_It by Denise Trocio ( www.dtrociophotography.com), on Flickr

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I'm guessing it is a Robin, or an Oriole?

Dave.

Maybe a female Red Winged Black Bird?
Kind of a wild guess.

immature male red wing black bird.

Pat, you are correct ...it is a female red-winged blackbird. Although, now you have me wondering if it is an immature male BK.

Anyway, I am changing my entry and entering this to be judged instead. Not because you fellas guessed the wing, I just think it looks cooler! Although, it is easy to tell what it is too I think!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8...103773a5_c.jpg
IMG_4521_3D by Denise Trocio ( www.dtrociophotography.com), on Flickr

Just a reminder: Only 2 days left!

Well, I went through all of my Macro shots and tried cropping something weird out of them, and couldn't find anything that I liked (I have a good idea for a shot if i get time to take it though).
So instead, i'm going for a very very old one, taken with my 8mp p&s in 2008, but just Gimped this morning up to a bit better quality...

http://croubie.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-4RW7Trp-L.jpg

My idea for this assignment turned out like this.

Attachment 1715

There are some really puzzling shots entered for this assignment. Here's my entry:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8372/8...8612c1b7_c.jpg
What is it? by Andrew Stringer, on Flickr

Edit: Click the image to find out!

Great shots everyone! The entryperiod has ended already so we'll be going to select the finalists. Good luck all!

Fun shots everyone. This will be difficult...

The finalists have been selected and the poll is now opened. Good luck guys!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cls

My idea for this assignment turned out like this. Attachment 1715

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I'm thinking neck, collarbone, and part of a chin/beard?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M_Six

I'm thinking neck, collarbone, and part of a chin/beard?

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And I think you're thinking good ;-).

Maybe not too easy to recognize at a first look, but if you lean your head 90° to the right I would say it's more or less obvious.

Congrats Colin! As curious as I am I'd like to know what your photo is about now;)

Wow, and thanks everybody! This was an interesting round!

I can now admit that my picture was more or less the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong equipment ;-)

What I had wanted to do: Some "standard" long-exposure waterfalls.

What actually happened: The stream was completely flat, there weren't any waterfalls, and it was around noon with nary a cloud in sight, so my 6-stop ND wasn't really up to the task (can't remember whether I stuck the CPL on, too).

However at f/22 I did manage to get 1 second without over-exposing, the shot was obtained after pointing the lens straight down. The light trails are simply all the reflections of the sun on the surface of the stream, 100% natural!

I was quite surprised myself when I saw the result...

Congratulations Colin! I remember I was really close to selecting that very shot for the poll in the water assignment, but then it ended up just otside the playoffs. (By the way I tried the "recipe" that you actually revealed back then, but my attempts didn't turn out that cool.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cls

Congratulations Colin! I remember I was really close to selecting that very shot for the poll in the water assignment, but then it ended up just otside the playoffs. (By the way I tried the "recipe" that you actually revealed back then, but my attempts didn't turn out that cool.)

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Oops, I had already forgotten about the "Water" assignment! Anyhow, I suppose the movement of the water just has to fit together with the exposure time, and I was lucky that it did...

Congrats!

Kudos, Colin. Well done.

Thanks for the explanation(again aperently:o) Colin!

Thanks again, everyone, and thanks to Sheiky for the coordination ... now for the next round ;-)

A belated congrats Colin, very cool shot!

-P