Eye "Q"
by Matthew

Comment:
Many thanks to all those who have commented!

In particular, Beetle, e301, rex and photoshootme spotted my sensor dust. That dust really shows up on a long exposure using a low ISO setting. I have bought a cleaning kit...!

Tallbloke wanted to steal my technique - not sure that there is much to steal. I positioned myself on Westminster Bridge with tripod and remote wire and experimented with several long exposures, and a couple of short ones. Here is the cropped but otherwise unaltered image



As can be seen, I really only had to alter the contrast and a little saturation (as standard with a DSLR), with a tiny bit of levels and USM. I did do a Neatimage pass in an attempt to minimise the dust (which did very little).

As for sharpening - I received several comments - rayg544 thought it was sharp, gibun that it was too sharp, imagineer that it was a little soft. Myself, I think it maybe a little oversharpened, but I have noticed that any softness is always commented upon!

On composition, I agree with e301 and rex that the composition is not the best - I was a little constrained by distracting bright lights coming from City Hall on the RHS, and sensor dust on the left. I attempted several recompositions and did this one at the last minute after a big night out (maybe I should try that more often if it works)...!

For those that asked, the line on the river (not road!) was caused by a passing boat, which I quite liked (and this image was better than others for other reasons), and the two "objects" on the bottom left are the white lights with a shadow pattern created by the trees in front of them (completely invisible to the human eye - only apparent in long exposure).

Tristalisk thought that it was a bit tilted - perhaps: I straightened the image using the Shell building on the RHS as a vertical guide. I think that any tilt appears as a result of the angle, the imbalance in the lighting creating an optical illusion, or a tilt that is present in the Eye itself.

For saracat, here is an outtake showing the London Eye without the motion blur (it is very slow in reality):



I am very pleased that the various technical glitches (glaring to me!) did not hold everyone back on the voting front. Thanks again!

Sleeping... so adorable!
by Matthew

Comment:
PS Thanks to those who scored it more than a "one"!

Sleeping... so adorable!
by Matthew

Comment:
I am a bit disappointed with this result - I have learnt a few lessons. In particular, not giving a relatively obtuse picture an even more obtuse title.

For those that asked, it is a Sony robotic pet - an Aibo.

www.sony.net/Products/aibo/

I was in slightly constrained circumstances, and felt that the tight crop, shallow DoF, was necessary in order to achieve the idea of "portrait".

For a group of people on the edge of photographic technology, I am shocked that so many people were so ill-informed about the latest in robotic entertainment - but won't hold it against you :-).

Defiant Beginning
by Melethia

Comment:
I thought that this was an interesting and different take on the challenge - I am surprised it did not score higher. I like the composition in particular. I agree that there is a slight focus/sharpness issue on the top leaves, but very slight.

Helping Hand
by aznym

Comment:
Very powerful image. Love the composition, and parituclarly the lighting. Manages to capture a sense of beginning that a thousand "light" shots could never do.

light...
by ergo

Comment:
Nice idea (though many others have had the same. Sadly, lots of blurring here and so much contrast that there is no detail to comment on.

In The Beginning There Was Love
by lennywells

Comment:
great capture! looks as though someone is about to be impaled on a twig! Only issue here is the seriously weak link to the challenge (though I am sure you know that.)

The Journey Beginning...
by tolyanchik

Comment:
Nice clear photo. However, lacking in drama - sky looks a bit faded, sea quite calm. Wonder if a panoramic, letter box style would help the composition? Link to challenge is entirely in the title.

The Day Begins
by canyoncat

Comment:
Nice image, great colourm nice sky and contrast with sea and sand. Missing a focal point, for me.Maybe too much contrast between sky and sea - not enough colour picked up in sea, leaving a slight unnatural look (though this may have been the case in reality), possibly caused by over-saturation.

MY First Camera
by sofap

Comment:
Like this idea. Coposition eexcellent. Backgroundcolour complements nicely. Very slight softness on foreground camera face. camera is facing out of frame, though I like that here. Interesting, but not enough "x" factor to get to highest rating for me.