On the Beach
by Bud

Comment by Artyste:
Composition: 9, A pretty strong composition. The upper "horizon" line in the background would have been nice to see eliminated
Technical: 7, Slightly noisy and over-exposed in areas
Appeal: 10, This has a great appeal for me. Nostalgic, classic, and fun
Challenge: 7, It has yellow in it, but I'm not sure if it's as strong as it could be if you'd tried to keep the sand a little more colorful.
Overall Calculated Average Score: 8

On the Beach
by Bud

Comment by Kylie:
One of my favorites and not my usual "taste". So very well done!

On the Beach
by Bud

Comment by sbeaumont:
nice textures in the sand but the light is a little flat. If possible, seeing a little of the little boy's profile would have added more interest to the shot, but it is very nice.

Security
by Bud

Comment by mk:
I've looked at this photo so many times and I can't believe I haven't commented on it. How lucky you are to have captured this exact moment, the smile and everything. If this is your baby, I hope you have a huge print framed and hanging somewhere. And if it's not, I hope the parents do!

On the Beach
by Bud

Comment by billmorton:
Did you use a color filter?

On the Beach
by Bud

Comment by KDO:
Nice composition. Creative to shoot this from behind. I am unsure about the yellow cast to the sand. The posture of your subject is very natural, which keeps this from feeling staged.

Generations
by Bud

Comment by Bud:
Thanks for all of the comments.

My challenge entry was totally unplanned. I was holding my 2 month old daughter with my camera beside me on the table. She latched on to my thumb. I set the camera on macro, took three or four shots and this was the best. That is one reason my daughter's hand looks a little washed out, because of the flash at such close range. Also, I mostly desaturated the color here, like in the -80% range. It was mostly reds. I did it the "legal" way as explained in the tutorial.

I am happy there were no "1"s or "2"s on the scoring.

Antique Iron
by Bud

Comment by Bud:
Thanks for all of the thoughts and comments.

First, a few comments on the comments:)

The background is a black shirt, you know an iron on a shirt. Anyhow, it made sense to me. Also, I did not use a flash here, the light is indirect sunlight. My "photo table" is a $2 wooden stool.

What I did... I took the iron, put some charcoal in it, and set it on a black shirt. I propped the black shirt up at a 90 degree angle so it would be under the iron and behind the iron. I then took rubbing alcohol and pour it over the charcoal, waited a minute for it to soak into the charcoal, and then lit it. Here is where it gets interesting.

Unnoticed, some of the alcohol had dripped onto the shirt. When I lit the charcoal/ alcohol for the shot, it also ignited the alcohol on the shirt. This was no longer a controlled fire. So, I quickly shot the iron, keeping one eye in the view finder and the other on the burning shirt. That is why I ended up with the "interesting" crop and angle. Oh, yes, I was also trying to keep my two curious boys, 3 & 5, from getting too close too the action!

A fun shot which I could have executed better. Thanks again for the comments.

Message edited by author 2005-01-02 10:20:28.

Antique Iron
by Bud

Comment by Art Roflmao:
Very good! Just a few flaws - background could've been some more authentic setting and don't crop part of the iron. Hope this helps.

Seven Eggs
by Bud

Comment by hyperfocal:
The feather was a nice touch.