A bugs life
by MQuinn

Comment:
I did not look at the other comments. First, man we had these bugs everywhere a month ago. When I took my image grain pic, there was a large bush/tree in the graveyard that literally had thousands of them flying around. Quite weird.

Ok, I did not look at the other comments, as usual. First off, it's the lighting; it's very flat. Looking at the histogram, it looks like you could have upped your whites a little. It also looks like there is a green cast to the picture. Not quite sure where that comes from as people usually have more issues with red or blue casts. I tried upping the contrast and that helped quite a bit.

The subject is tough too. I totally get the busy aspect of it, but it doesn't translate quite as well as we would hope. These bugs look more like they are looking for work rather than ants which always seem to be doing something. The three beams and concrete add to a "snapshot" quality. It looks like you found the situation, changed very little, and snapped a picture. That can work, but often it doesn't. The nail, for example, is distracting. A closer crop of the vertical third of the picture (mainly the center beam) might have been good. You would ditch the shadows in the corners and the picture would have a more purposeful background (just wood).

Try this. When I get a picture where the color is not important to the picture, I immediately think B&W. I looked quickly in PS and the blue channel as B&W is actually not bad. You lose some of the detail of the bugs, but the textures of the wood look a lot better than they do in color.

Message edited by author 2005-11-14 23:28:15.

end for end
by undieyatch

Comment:
I didn't look at the other comments before leaving my own. The first thing that grabs me is the composition. This picture has 3 parts: grass, hay bale, tree/sky. I think the grass should own less of the picture. The flat on positioning is perhaps a bit uninspired as well. Maybe shooting a little more "down the line"?

Finally there appears to be quite a bit needed in the post-processing department. A quick look at the levels in PS shows me you could have had brighter whites. I liked it better by doing this and making the blacks darker (in other words, more contrast). I think the picture looks like you used USM to poor effect. The thin lines of the grass and hay got overemphasized. If you didn't use USM then it may have been the sharpening your camera did on its own.

I'm surprised you didn't get an 1 or 2 scores. The DNMC crew could have hit you as this is "out of the box".

My First Canon
by mpeters

Comment:
I gave your pic a 5 when voting this challenge. I didn't look at other comments before leaving this one. The first thing that grabs me is that the horizon appears off level. This may not, in reality, be true, but then either the left or the right of the camera is further from your lens giving it the impression it is crooked.

Your lighting is quite good. The contrasts do well too. I think you got hit with low votes because your reflection is not really the emphasis of the picture. It feels more like the reflection is an afterthought. Perhaps a more clearly reflective surface (plate of glass?) could have added to the reflection.

Time catching up
by saintaugust

Comment:
Ok, I didn't look at other comments, so this is all me. By looking at the scores, you seem to have a done a good job with your idea, but the idea had limits. In other words, this picture doesn't really have the ability to soar (or in this case, perhaps, really creep people out).

Although it is Time reaching for the subject, I'm not sure the wristwatch helps the picture. The picture probably suffers the most from low contrast in an attempt to be low-key. I goofed a bit in PS and think the picture looks better with the following change (you can try this in PS). Boost contrast by +70 and lower brightness by -7. It's really rough, but I think this has more punch.

A final confusing portion to the photo is why Time has chosen to catch up with this gal in her undies in a basement. What are you trying to say here?

Footsteps and Whispers
by jjbeguin

Comment:
I like it. The expanse of the ceiling is an excellent shot. I think the triptych nature helps because I think you recomposed for the top shot to aim more up. You did quite well with the lighting of what could be a difficult subject (between the lights of the windows and the darks of the ceiling.) 8

Winter Wildlife Wonderland
by AlexSaberi

Comment:
Nice theme. The spiderweb is a little OOF, I think.

Looking For Mr. Snake-Eyes
by hokie

Comment:
Don't we want to avoid snake eyes? Just kidding. Oversaturated on the right exposure especially. Nice clean images though and good lighting.

Surfs up
by Stagolee

Comment:
Hmmm, I'm looking for temporal continuity and it's hard to see. I bet they are taken in order, but the wave confuses stuff. The lighting is a bit hard since I think you are shooting toward the sun.

Passage of time
by burtct

Comment:
The quality of image goes down as you go to the right. The lighting is excellent on the left, it's a little harsh in the center, and perhaps oversharpened on the right. The highlight on the right is also a distraction. Composition is nice though and your idea fulfills its goal.

Three Birds
by Prism

Comment:
Woah. You had some trouble with compression. The colors are a bit muddy and I'm not sure if the focus is off or if that's more trouble with sizing.