He's taking a break!
by rob_franklin

Comment:
Nice "spotlight" effect on the moss-covered rocks.

Magical Curves
by David Ey

Comment:
I really like this, though I wish the center background wasn't completely blown-out. OTH, if you rotate it about 90 degrees CCW, I notice it's rather heart-shaped -- perhaps you'd want to accentuate that.

I love shots of old tools in general -- I have to shoot more of my own : )

Brass-Wound Bass Strings
by GeneralE

Comment:

Originally posted by posthumous: this has got to me my favorite brown ribbon ever! um... congratulations?

Thanks -- it wasn't quite what I wanted, but close ...

Lights, Camera, ACTION!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment:

Originally posted by jaded_youth: didnt want to cut off the top of the clapboard but there was a very distracting light fixture up there and I couldnt seem to angle it out and still get the shot I was looking for.

I think I'd have tried to keep exactly the same angle and setup, but bring the board closer until it could all fit.

The board says it all for this challenge, and I think you could get away with a lot less background showing around it. Great idea -- I have access to one of those boards, and I never even thought of it for this ... (but I might now!)

Hushed Melodies
by ShannonLee

Comment:
I really like the idea and colors in this, yet I can see some details which might negatively affect the typical DPC voter.

Composition: IMO this might've worked better if you had stood a step or two to your right, so that the entire tree would be included -- unless there's objectionable stuff over there. Right now it seems a bit too unbalanced to strongly convey "serenity" or quietude.

You must be dealing with some funny hillside angles, but some compromise to at least partially compensate for effect of the obvious receding horizon line might help with people who deduct points for things like that.

Tech/Processing: The slow shutter speed has caused a ghosting at the back of the dress. It looks OK over the grass, where it's dark enough to appear like a double-exposure or just an extra fold of fabric, but the almost transparent triangular part overlapping the sunset looks odd -- I'd have tried to dodge that to match the rest of the skyline.

I thought there might be some haloing around the tree from oversharpening, but on second look I think that's about as good as it gets -- there's a surprising amount of sharp detail in the silhouetted twigs.

The Lion Lies Down With The Lamb
by GeneralE

Comment:

Originally posted by DrAchoo: ... people appreciated the technical quality but didn't care for the subject.

This is funny -- that's about the opposite way my photos usually score ...

Thanks for the comments.

The Lion Lies Down With The Lamb
by GeneralE

Comment:
Here's a link to the resized but otherwise unprocessed original:

Here is how I set it up with mini-tripod on the handle of my big one:

I thought about this shot throughout the week, but only set it up and shot it in the last hour before the deadline.

In addition to the "quiet" zen theme, I wanted to introduce a yin-yang element, of opposites in harmony (or at least peaceful coexistence), thus two objects of similar topology but opposite textures. I chose the title for the same reason.

Technically, I wish I'd had a better twig I could arch over the feather, but I was pretty happy with the lighting and detail on the feather.

Message edited by author 2006-08-10 15:20:38.

Darned Typos!
by GeneralE

Comment:

Originally posted by UrfaK: I love the colours and the idea.. Just a teeny weeny issue with the focus.. I would have liked the forefront to be just a little more sharper

Thanks everyone! I'm glad so many of you got the same laugh out of the idea as I did : )

Shallow DOF isn't too popular here, and this camera does it better than most non-dSLR cameras. I thought having the arc of the rind in pretty-good focus would be enough, and I definitely wanted them fuzzing-out as they receeded. I didn't want to crop out more of the foreground because of the spacing on the right. I'm also wary of over-sharpening for both artifacting and size issues, and I couldn't create a mask to selectively sharpen the rind.

Blue Radius
by sherpet

Comment:
The tone compression works well and makes it look much like a watercolor painting -- a good think IMO in this case. I have access to some of these plants, and I will have to steal try out this technique soon ... : )

Process 96 DNA Samples At Once
by GeneralE

Comment:

Originally posted by Benkennedy11: It's awesome that you have access this stuff.

Actually, it was a fortunate coincidence that this State Forensics Lab just happened to have their "Friends and Family" day (Open House/Tour) during this challenge period, and my cousin works there. Normally, I expect access is quite restricted.