This Old House
by phinbob

Comment:
This has a nice, old-timey feel to it. If I have a complaint, it's the way the roof exactly matches in value the sky area it's blending into. I wouldn't call this high-contrast though, personally.

grass-and-reflections.jpg
by Bear_Music

Comment:
I have a hard time agreeing with the suggested crop; I feel like I need the treeline for depth and scale, and the step back in treeline to the far right brings in the haze factor too...

grass-and-reflections.jpg
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Shot's almost directly up-sun; light's probably 15-20 degrees to the right of camera axis.

grass-and-reflections-2.jpg
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Actually, that's a bit of exposed mud...

A Woman of a Certain Age
by Bear_Music

Comment:

Originally posted by BradP: Sorry - not gonna' stroke your ego here Robt. Just my honest opinion, nothing else.

That's ok, Brad. My ego could use a little deflating from time-to-time anyway. Besides which, it was my conscious decision NOT to go "artistic" with this shot. I wanted it to be pretty much arbitrary and in your face; it's made no concessions to "improved" composition or anything else. She's as I found her, and presented in her natural light & location.

I wasn't even gonna enter this challenge, and did so on the last day. My thinking was to provide one, unadorned, photograph of reality. Turns out there were plenty of those, so it wasn't required, but I'm not sorry I did.

R.

don't cry...
by mesmeraj

Comment:
For what it's worth, re: your comment on DOF: the dSLR actually has significantly narrower DOF at a given aperture/working distance than your camera, so this would have been more difficult to get in focus throughout.

That said, I don't think DOF is an issue here; you have placed your plane of sharpness very skillfully on the rim of the glass.

Nice shot!

Umbrella Blown
by JPR

Comment:
Just rediscovered this one. I'm really surprised this didn't do better. It was one of my high picks. Simply excellent sense of composition here, magnificent depth, terrifically moody shot.

Milk, Blue, Cheese — Irish Porter
by Bear_Music

Comment:
For those who think it's a plate, it isn't. It's a very large, cobalt bowl with a smaller cobalt bowl inverted inside it. So the cheese is several inches above the milk. And the shadow? That's deliberate; the only indicator of depth int he image, the only noticeable clue.

The slight offsetting and rotation of the cheese is likewise intentional. I didn't want this thing to be too "perfect".

I like making 3-dimensionality "flat".

The cheese is a very unusual Irish Porter. I have no idea what that stuff is in it.

Thanx to all commenters.

Splashdown
by agwright

Comment:
congrats on ribbon! nicely-frozen instant.

Say What!?
by arnit

Comment:
Ah this is very cool. I took one of my breaks from voting, this challenge, so I hadn't seen any of these. Nice one!