SIENA - New presentation

[Lakelandlass]

Whilst in Florence we decided to take the 1.5 hour bus ride to visit Siena, the centre of which is a World Heritage Site, and to see the famous Piazza del Campo and the beautiful Cathedral of Siena, especially its richly decorated interior.

With grateful thanks to Bill Hines, the presentation can be downloaded from www.beechbrook.com/pte

Maureen

[Ken Cox]

MAUREEN

another winner

craftsmanship of the church is remakable

ken

http://beechbrook.com/pte/

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Maureen

Downloaded & kept your presentation.

I sense you were a little rushed when taking some of the shots, with tops of buildings missing. Re the show itself great music, however it finished a little abrubtly, whether this was natural I'm not sure. Also the middle sequance of pictures didn't give me enough time to absorb the pictures.

My memories of Sienna are the horse race & flag juggling which seemed to make the TV news each year.

Only 9/10 this time for me.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Lakelandlass]

Hi Maureen

Downloaded & kept your presentation.

I sense you were a little rushed when taking some of the shots, with tops of buildings missing. Re the show itself great music, however it finished a little abrubtly, whether this was natural I'm not sure. Also the middle sequance of pictures didn't give me enough time to absorb the pictures.

My memories of Sienna are the horse race & flag juggling which seemed to make the TV news each year.

Only 9/10 this time for me.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

Oh dear, Eric! 9/10! Must try to do better.

Seriously though, I take on board your criticisms, especially about the music ending somewhat abruptly, so it's back to the drawing board with that one. However, as regards missing tops of buildings off, the campaniles are extremely tall and unless one is using an ultra wide-angle lens, it is pretty difficult to get everything in the frame, especially when cutting it down to 16:10 format for an a/v.

If you had tried using keyboard control you would have been able to absorb the pictures in the middle sequence.

Thanks for comments, always appreciated.

Maureen

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Maureen

I didn't use the keyboard control as it would have spoiled the enjoyment I was experiencing from the show. Maybe next time I go back to it. I know what you mean about aspect ratio & tall buildings. If I have to use portrait mode I now use a back slide without much detail maybe blurred a little & superimpose the portrait shot on that, which I think you did on one of your shows titles.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[cottage]

As always Maureen, superb ! Tack sharp, perfect exposures, great lighting. On and on I could go. Thanks for sharing your image skills once again. All of us on the forum look forward to your journeys, because we knew once you return, we'll all get to experience your travels through your great photography and slideshows. Looking forward to your next holiday.

Bill

[BootZilla]

Maureen -

I echo Bill's comments re; Sharpness, colors and exposures. However, for me, I found the music a little out of place but still, a great sequence. Did you use a tripod for some of the shots in the cathedrals or were you using high ISO?

Greg

[Lakelandlass]

Maureen -

I echo Bill's comments re; Sharpness, colors and exposures. However, for me, I found the music a little out of place but still, a great sequence. Did you use a tripod for some of the shots in the cathedrals or were you using high ISO?

Greg

Thanks to Ken, Eric and Bill for your comments.

Greg - No, I didn't use a tripod but used ISOs of 800 and 500. No doubt I was leaning on something, though. Thank you for commenting.

Maureen

[David Porter]

Hi Maureen,

So many great shots in such a short visit to Siena, how do you do it? Just one shot with the tower chopped off could have been missed out but the shot of the Piazza with couples seated in the foreground was just classic. I noticed that you already used Eric's suggestion of portrait against blurred background later in the show but the earlier shot of the tower with side walls of buildings forming a portrait view was a great way of dealing with it. The music was just fine apart from the chop at the end and I noticed you have stopped using the border - any reason?

A great inspiration.

[JEB]

Hi Maureen,

Thanks for that dose of Sienna, next to Venice probably my favourite city in the world and long overdue another visit.

I have to add my agreement to those expressed by others regarding the quality of the images – the lighting and focus is superb. I too wondered about whether you used a tripod and am now encouraged to play a bit more with ISO settings as I never have a tripod on these visits and probably wouldn't be allowed to use one in any event.

I thought the music was just a bit sad for the occasion but would probably not have commented had the subject no tbeen brought to my attention by others. I liked your candid shots of people as they depicted for me the authentic feel of Sienna.

This is not a criticism but perhaps something to consider. I am not a believer that AV's must have narration but I do think that on this occasion it could be worth trying. Knowing Sienna quite well it was interesting for me to identify where you were and from where you had taken the shot but for others a little bit of narrative may be appreciated.

Thanks again for that injection of sun and Italian atmosphere from a damp and dull Edinburgh.

Regards

John

[davegee]

Maureen,

Notwithstanding what I wrote in the PM, I noticed this morning that the last slide - the zoom - is showing the left hand edge right at the end - minor point.

DG

[Lakelandlass]

Hi Maureen,

So many great shots in such a short visit to Siena, how do you do it? Just one shot with the tower chopped off could have been missed out but the shot of the Piazza with couples seated in the foreground was just classic. I noticed that you already used Eric's suggestion of portrait against blurred background later in the show but the earlier shot of the tower with side walls of buildings forming a portrait view was a great way of dealing with it. The music was just fine apart from the chop at the end and I noticed you have stopped using the border - any reason?

A great inspiration.

Mick - thanks again for your comments. Yes, the ending of the music has bothered me somewhat but I wanted to use both pieces and there was nowhere else to fade the music out without extending the A/V considerably and I didn't want to do that for the sake of it. I think I may have another go as it does niggle.

As you know I have always liked to use borders until recently but have been advised several times by people more experienced and knowledgeable in these things than myself to drop them. I thought I would give it a go.

Maureen

[Lakelandlass]

Hi Maureen,

Thanks for that dose of Sienna, next to Venice probably my favourite city in the world and long overdue another visit.

I have to add my agreement to those expressed by others regarding the quality of the images – the lighting and focus is superb. I too wondered about whether you used a tripod and am now encouraged to play a bit more with ISO settings as I never have a tripod on these visits and probably wouldn't be allowed to use one in any event.

I thought the music was just a bit sad for the occasion but would probably not have commented had the subject no tbeen brought to my attention by others. I liked your candid shots of people as they depicted for me the authentic feel of Sienna.

This is not a criticism but perhaps something to consider. I am not a believer that AV's must have narration but I do think that on this occasion it could be worth trying. Knowing Sienna quite well it was interesting for me to identify where you were and from where you had taken the shot but for others a little bit of narrative may be appreciated.

Thanks again for that injection of sun and Italian atmosphere from a damp and dull Edinburgh.

Regards

John

Hi John - Really nice to hear from you again, although I have noticed you keep popping up in other parts of the Forum.

Regarding narration - personally I don't like it. I find I can't quite sense the atmosphere of a place when I am also listening to what someone is saying, but that's just me of course. Also, it is vital to have someone with a really good voice - or the 'right' voice to do it, not always easy to find.

How are you doing with your A/Vs? I recall a super one you did of Edinburgh quite some time back.

Bye the way, many thanks for commenting.

Maureen

[Lakelandlass]

Maureen,

Notwithstanding what I wrote in the PM, I noticed this morning that the last slide - the zoom - is showing the left hand edge right at the end - minor point.

DG

Dave - thanks for that. I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. Isn't it amazing how many times you can look and not spot something. I found with the Florence A/V after I had posted and viewed many times that I had not cropped one shot properly.

Will rectify it straight away.

Maureen

[cottage]

Dave - thanks for that. I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. Isn't it amazing how many times you can look and not spot something. I found with the Florence A/V after I had posted and viewed many times that I had not cropped one shot properly.

Will rectify it straight away.

Maureen

Maureen,

If you want to replace your previous version, just zip up the exe file alone and use my DropZone Utility. No need to redo everything else. I'll make the changes on my end. PM me if you need my help.

Bill

[Lakelandlass]

Maureen,

If you want to replace your previous version, just zip up the exe file alone and use my DropZone Utility. No need to redo everything else. I'll make the changes on my end. PM me if you need my help.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. Have reloaded amended version.

Maureen

[snapcam]

Hello Maureen

I hesitated to comment this time, once again your images are beautiful.

However, I see others have already commented in like vain. As you know I really enjoyed Florence

but for the reasons I enjoyed Florence I think Siena comes up short.

Still love the images though.

Snapcam

[Lakelandlass]

Hello Maureen

I hesitated to comment this time, once again your images are beautiful.

However, I see others have already commented in like vain. As you know I really enjoyed Florence

but for the reasons I enjoyed Florence I think Siena comes up short.

Still love the images though.

Snapcam

Hi Snapman

Unfortunately, we were in Siena for a very short time and at the wrong time of day to get the beautiful light we were blessed with in Florence. However, I am grateful for your comments, as always.

Maureen

[dadou]

Maureen

Other great AV in your production !

Great photos , very good treatment and a good eye ...

Did you go to Lucca ?

daniel

[Lakelandlass]

Maureen

Other great AV in your production !

Great photos , very good treatment and a good eye ...

Did you go to Lucca ?

daniel

Thanks to you again, Daniel. Unfortunately we were in Florence for just 4 nights and as we were using public transport, not having a car this time, we didn't have the time to visit Lucca. It would also have been nice to visit San Gimignana but again, no time.

Maureen

[morturn]

Well Maureen, what can I add to this.

Firstly, I really enjoyed it, a great set of really interesting and well composed images, which from you Maureen, I would expect nothing less.

I beg to differ on the comments about the towers and high buildings not being in frame, I did not even notice this had (allegedly) happened, so watched the show through a couple of times to confirm this.

Of course each to their own, but in my view in city shots like this, the problem with converging verticals I feel is far more of a distraction, and using very wide lenses, just shrinks everything down to minuscule detail.

I will argue that making good AV show is not just about producing a sequence of ‘photographic club’ style images, the sequence has to say something, otherwise it will not be of interest. This show is interesting.

Thank you for sharing t with us.

[Lakelandlass]

[

[Of course each to their own, but in my view in city shots like this, the problem with converging verticals I feel is far more of a distraction, and using very wide lenses, just shrinks everything down to minuscule detail.]

Thanks, Morturn, for your comments. I must say that I agree with you on the above statement.

Maureen

[d67]

Hi Maureen

I first opened your Florence AV which is really breathteaking. The Siena one seems then to be a notch behind and this is unfair as the shots are all of great quality.

Siena is a town that is very hard to photography as in most cases there is no place left and the tourists are numerous and literally everywhere.

On the other hand, light is also a big issue with all the narrow streets and on the central place, the sun is in face of you!

You worked around all these problems with success and this AV will be, as all your production, a keeper for me... and an exemple when I go back there next time.

Thanks for sharing

Patrick