Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by dragonlady:
Great fantasy picture.. love the smoky background, the costume and the leaves in the foreground for depth.

Consuming
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by gloda:
Oh my god, I killed Mace Windu! Uh, I mean Oh my god, they killed Kenny!
A fitting picture, but I think the contrast is too harsh for the mood which comes with the pose.

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by Artifacts:
Color, lighting and framing are excellent without excessive noise.

This natural looking image fits the challenge perfectly in a way most all voters can recognize. The Gandolf character is outstanding and the misty look a nice touch. That coupled with its high technical quality will likely put this in the ribbons with the blue possible.

On a technical note a few things can be said.

There is some minor haloing around the main characters garments near the top that can be removed.

The nearest leaves are out of focus. It could be validly argued it is that way on purpose to convey the sense of a journey through middle earth but most viewers will probably find that slightly distracting. That is generally true of most foreground elements that occupy a prominent position in a composition.

The image is lower contrast. Even a simple autocontrast adjustment will add considerable "pop" to an already amazing image. Again it might be said low contrast is purposeful to retain greater image detail and a sense of the mystical but most viewrs would likely think the added "pop" outweighs the other items.

If this image fails to get the blue ribbon it is likely because of the contrast.

A super photograph! Kudos to you for a great shot!

Message edited by author 2005-06-27 03:20:32.

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by ccasey:
Just Great

Consuming
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by LadeeM:
Awesome shot! I sense the pain and anguish. The red adds to the feeling, and blends well into the darkness. Great photo, and great job!

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by kevrobertson:
Nice image
very lord of the rings
one of the best in this challenge
good luck

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by SandyP:
This is absolutely an AWESOME photo for this challenge! So well set up and interesting. The fog is an incredible effect, and your color contrasts are so fairy-tale like! You did GOOD!!!!! 10

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by coolhar:
my impression of this is that it looks pretty staged; if the leaves are going to be in sharp focus so should be the bearded man, better if both were as soft as the man is, and the mist looks phoney

Consuming
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by AlexMonty:
I thought this might be you, Joey! I liked the effect created by the noise reduction software here...very soft. I also like how you've chosen to leave this shot in colour.

I think this should have done a little better. Nice entry, Joey.

Alex

Journey Through Middle-earth
by Joey Lawrence

Comment by tasha4paws:
time u started shopping somewhere else.
leaves sharper than subject spoiles it for me.