I'm Just Sayin

2021 Photo Critique Group

Challenge: Chair
Photo by Judith Baker Montano

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Judith says:

The weather changed rapidly on Sunday with cold overcast skies and a covering of fog. I had an idea about a lone chair set in unusual places and decided to scout out local area for my picture and got no further than the Town Lakes! I love mid-century Crossley Griffith chairs, because they remind me of my grandma Adeline Shantze and over the years, I have purchased a vintage assortment for the yard. I decided on the red chair and loaded it into the back of my car. I got up to the lakes around 3:00 p.m. and the fog was socked in. I must have been a sight, hiking from the road down to the iced over lake with a red metal chair slung over my shoulder, camera bag dangling off one elbow. Thank goodness for the weather and the Sunday afternoon football game, because no one was at the lake . I hauled the chair to the edge of the lake and then used it as a prop to walk out onto the ice. It reminded me of early days when I learned to ice skate using an old kitchen chair. Most Canadian kids can skate as soon as they can walk and it is quite common to see bundled up toddlers skating along, mostly on their ankles, just as happy as can be.

52 Week Challenge Class

Challenge: Long Depth
Photo by Barbara Chatelaine

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Barbara says:

This was bittersweet. I worked hard all week, and convinced myself to take a relaxing afternoon to take a photo of the Oaks and Oak Alley. Going to a plantation is a bittersweet experience to begin with. Then, you have to deal with ELEMENTS which has no concious or reasoning, and PEOPLE that do have concious and reasoning. These folks in the photo saw my set up, then decided to have a 20 minute CONVERSATION in my shot, all while looking at me. I sat there and waited. They walked away, then the cloud cover came, and I just felt so defeated. 

2021 Smart Phone Challenges

Challenge: Look Down
Photo by Mandella Edwards

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Mandella says:

Out for a walk we came across this frozen puddle with beautiful striations in the ice and a few hopeful blades of grass.

Ricky's Challenge Photos:

Challenge: Look Down
from the 2021 Smart Phone Challenges

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Ricky says:

I put my camera up against the bottom of the shelf in my pantry so it shot straight down on the cans below. I was pleasantly surprised with the repeated circles. This was edited in Prisma using one of the filters. I think it was called airplane.

Challenge: Chair
from the 2021 Photo Critique Group

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Ricky says:

This chair was hauled out of a alley next to a trash dumpster somewhere around 1980. In the 90s, my dad took it and refinished it and re-wove the seat. I liked the 'me and my shadow' feel for this. I went to Topaz 2 just to see what might help since is was mostly black and white and lifeless. I was surprised at this filter that made the nice purple and blue - so i went with it. The bit of wall texture added interest for me too.

Music of the Spheres by Ricky Tims, 46 inches square 
Click on quilt for full view.

 TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Choose your own difficulty. Click the 9-patch grid to change number of pieces. Click the circle arrow to make the puzzle pieces rotating instead of stable orientation. Also, there are tips under the "?" on the upper right of the puzzle. If you'd like a full screen version, click the button below. Have fun!

Critique Group

Challenge: Flat Lay
Photo by Donna Beals

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Donna says:

First Cup of the Day: I imagine that many coffee lovers feel like this with their first cup in the morning! For this photo, clay was used to position the creamer and the cup onto the tile pieces used for the background. I used a tripod that allowed me to shoot directly down which was infinitely helpful for setting up. Though it was planned to be a square crop when I began this photo, I found it was difficult to eyeball what would crop well. It took multiple set up changes to get there. The idea for this photo while surfing the net to understand flatlay photography. One site showed examples of using this type of photography to tell a story.

52 Week Challenge Class

Challenge: Windows
Photo by Kim Sanders George

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Kim says:

Thanks-giving Square Chapel stained glass windows. This is the ceiling of the chapel but I had to lie on the floor with a wide angle lens to capture all the windows!

Smart Phone Class

Challenge: Looking Up
Photo by Judy Mendelssohn

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Judy says:

Looking up at my utility room roof. Waiting for the landlord to replace it.

Ricky's challenge photos:

Challenge: Looking Up
Smart Phone Challenge

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Ricky says:

In the iPhone I used the live feature, and then I used that to create the long exposure. The phone was on the top of my head, and I was shooting up to the ceiling of my great room and the chandelier. I had to do a slight edit to rotate it so that the edges were aligned.

Challenge: Flat Lay
Critique Group

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Ricky says:

Well - this was certainly unexpected. But it proves the point that I teach.... get busy doing...and something will happen. I went digging in house - migrated to the studio, and found the two embroidery hoops. I had no idea what I might create. But, glasses? Ok, maybe. And snooping in my storage closet, a mop. hair! I'm not sure now what led me to my Granny's button tin, and was also surprised that I used 90% of the container. I started laying things on my table to test things out. Didn't have a nose - but seriously, my little video-cam was laying right there within arms reach. Eyes? Coasters for drinks. Mouth? hmmm. I walked all over looking for something - and it dawned on me I had this little butter tray pottery I made - and poured some cinnamon disks into it. There ya go. My very unexpected Flat Lay.--and oh yes, the beauty mark!

Click any image for full size view. 

Smooth Sailing by Ricky Tims

The antique quilt you see (above left), was given to me by my long-time friend, Susan. It was hand pieced by her grandmother. I loved how some of the sails went in different directions. I'm sure that was not intentional, but it created whimsy. When I recreated the pattern to make my own rendition of the quilt, I intentionally had various triangles of the sails going in the "the wrong" direction to mimic that whimsical feature in my quilt. I like the quirky element of ship sails gone wrong. Do you prefer this "purposeful wrong orientation" or would you make them all as they should be?

TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Choose your own difficulty. Click the 9-patch grid to change number of pieces. Click the circle arrow to make the puzzle pieces rotating instead of stable orientation. Also, there are tips under the "?" on the upper right of the puzzle. If you'd like a full screen version, click the button below. Have fun!

Critique Group

Challenge: Long Exposure
Photo by Wendy Bennett

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Wendy says:

I set up my camera using timer mode to allow me enough time to get on my bike and start spinning. I varied my spin speeds to try to capture both my legs while showing the rotation of the pedals as a blur. I use my road bike on a trainer indoors in the winter. I had fun with sliders in LR and erased a lightswitch and outlet using PS.

52 Week Challenge Class

Challenge: Line
Photo by Allen Etheridge

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Allen says:

Winter weighed in this week. On Tuesday we had a clear day with many contrails which was what I wanted. Several cloudy days followed and finally another clear day with NO CONTRAILS. I decided to shoot a white car under a blue sky. This is the hood of my wife's Camry.

Smart Phone Class

Challenge: Morning Mood
Photo by Michelle Pearson

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Michelle says:

Peaceful early morning cuppa. It’s the gift I give myself every
day!

Ricky's challenge photos:

Challenge: Long Exposure
Critique Group

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Ricky says:

I truly failed at this challenge. I tried several options including night sky. I futzed and edited my top three choices and didn't really like any of them. I disilke seeing the gate in this shot - (tunnel vision, not paying attention). I painted Cordelia with a flashlight and painted the walls with the light to create the streaks. In the end, I chose this, because...it's 30 seconds - yes! Shot in the dark with one red light bulb and a flashlight. Cordelia was very amused at what I was doing and essentially didn't budge for the entire exposure - that was my ultimate deciding factor.

Challenge: Morning Mood
Smart Phone Challenge

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Ricky says:

Recently I’ve been watching the light appear from outside the bedroom window. I am letting myself stay under the warm covers, snuggled with the pups and just watch the world wake up too. I love watching the color change as the minutes pass. This was edited in BeCasso app. It’s one of the oil painting filters. Then I use the regular phone adjustments to bring it to life.