Pure Fuzz
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by spiritualspatula:
If you were curious, this is a Cecropia Moth. If you think the adult is crazy looking, you should look up some photos of the larva!

Ariel
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by Jean_694:
BUNNY!! soo cute

Sweet Summer
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by SaraR:
Good composition here, Joe.

Solo Reshoot
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by Beautiful-Joe:
Holy moly. Well, this is something nice to wake up to.
Thanks everyone for the great comments! =)

I don't have any editing software of any kind.. Which is why I have to get to know my camera real well. The most I can do are adjustments inside my camera, and I did saturate both the shots.

They were taken at different times of the day, the first being later and cloudier than the second.

I recall taking the second shot in a bit more of a hurry.. Because there were horseflies all over me. x__o

But now I know the good and bad of both of the shots. I know what to do differently in future shots like this.

Thanks so much guys. You're really helpful. =)

Solo Reshoot
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by Monique64:
I like the reshoot better than the original. I prefer the flowers in focus with the mystery surrounding the figure in the background.

I See How it is.
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by kteach:
Neat shot... I like how the conversion to b/w has made the pink and blue elephants look almost identical.

Solo Reshoot
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by kteach:
Ok, I keep flipping between the two shots and keep finding things I like better about each... so here's a list of what I prefer from each shot (to keep me from rambling).
Better in the original:
-The background (more trees to filter sunlight and keep sky from overexposing)
-Where you sat (on the side of the grass looks more comfortable/natural than the middle of the road)
-Placement of you/flowers in the frame (seems more set to the rule of thirds instead of flattened out)
-Lighting (seems warmer or more red as someone else mentioned, and also highlights your hair to bring out the shape of the person)
-Shirt (nothing wrong with flannel, but for this I think the plain dark shirt helps to convey the sad/lonely emotion)

Better in the reshoot
-Focus (much better to put it on the flowers)
-Your pose (seems more naturally filled with emotions of sad/lonely)
-Flowers (I like the 3 flowers with the whites better than the single yellow)

I can't figure out which dof I like better... I think maybe something in between the two (keeping the focus on the flowers but perhaps a bit smaller aperture)? Was there a reason to put the sunset in the background? Perhaps facing the other way would help lighten the subjects without blowing out the sky? And someone else mentioned a bit of processing to level, adjust colors etc. That would probably help as a finishing touch.

Overall though, this was a great idea for a shot for solo. Tells a story, and it isn't just one item stuck on a plain background. It's about whether YOU like the shot though, not necessarily the majority of voters. And, the way I see it, if I like a shot and find a few others who have connected to it, then it was successful (ribbon or no ribbon). If you haven't read the interview with Skip, he has some experience with shots that have been recognized elsewhere but did poorly here. It seems to happen a lot, so congrats for having the image recognized and placed on that website! It's great to see someone taking the time to get feedback and trying to learn more, so keep it up! If you have any questions about my rambling, feel free to PM me! I hope I was helpful in some way :)

Solo Reshoot
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by macleodn:
I didn't comment on the one you entered in the challenge but I just had a look at it. I definitely think this one is better. It doesn't look like you did any post-processing so I'm going to rant about that :P.

I'm a fanatic about the horizon of a photo being straight, in this case the road is not straight. Maybe the road is not level in the first place, but I think in PP I would have straightened it (it is a little distracting).

The crop is good but I think I would have cut off a little more of the bottom under the flowers where it is dark and fuzzy.

I love the composition and the colors, even though the colors could use a little adjusting.

Take my opinion for what it is worth!

Why Cut Them Down?
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by bfox2:
I think it might be very cool if you got down low right next to the water and shot from there, keeping the trees/sky in the top 1/3 and the water making up the bottom 2/3. A different time of day would also help out as someone already said.

Solo Reshoot
by Beautiful-Joe

Comment by bfox2:
I'd agree that the flowers being the focus makes this much better, hands down. I'm not a fan of the sky, and the flowers could have been a little sharpened, but over all a much better shot than your entry.