Camouflaged Surveillance in Snowstorm
by hahn23

Comment by KarenNfld:
Wow, they really blend in well.

Camouflaged Surveillance in Snowstorm
by hahn23

Comment by JuliBoc:
Too much detail enhancement ... looks unnatural and busy. Nice capture though.

Stature & Strength
by hahn23

Comment by kenskid:
I changed my vote several times on this. However, it is at a 6 now and I think that is were it will finish. I have some more to vote on so I still may change.

I like:

The blurred backgound
The texture on the neck and chest
The focus of the twigs and plants in front of the animal
The eye looking at the camera

Things to work on:

Distracting blurred rock in the foreground
The harsh mid-day lighting
The 1/2 shadow 1/2 light on the face and nose
The SLIGHTLY blown highlights on the animals back
The broken horns

Camouflaged Surveillance in Snowstorm
by hahn23

Comment by bmartuch:
Very nice capture. They definitely blend in well.

Camouflaged Surveillance in Snowstorm
by hahn23

Comment by bvy:
Two points for Darwin. Outstanding. I didn't see them either. Then -- those eyes. Startling.

Stature & Strength
by hahn23

Comment by topdog:
This is a great picture that I'm sure will place high.

Anticipation
by hahn23

Comment by njsabs:
Looks like a Richard Hahn photograph. Gorgeous.

"Spread Your Wings and Fly Away"
by hahn23

Comment by inshaala:

Originally posted by scooter97: Sometimes a difficult technical shot is under-appreciated here. Have some of the low voters go out and try to get a shot like this!

No matter how difficult a shot is, it is the shot itself which people look at. Take a Porsche vs an old BMW 3-series with rusting and a bad paint job but with a new, drag-tuned engine under the bonnet and slicks on it. Doesnt matter that the Porsche isnt as fast as the BMW (ie the BMW is "technically superior"), people are always going to look at the Porsche, and on the surface think it is the faster (read "better") car...

So with that rather strained analogy out of the way, the shot doesnt strike you as it is shot in overcast weather and the colour contrast (and general contrast) is minimal. There is no real flow in the image / no point of interest (the eye just wonders around aimlessly looking at a mass of birds). It also looks on first view like it is a man-made reservoir and thus not "natural" for the birds to be there (read "not idyllic nature photography eye candy"). Maybe with a better backdrop, some "pop" in the colours and a composition which draws the viewer into an element of the photo to concentrate on then you would have scored higher. (i didnt vote in this challenge)

Looking at your portfolio seems to contradict that you wouldnt have seen this anyway - but i thought i would reply as you seemed frustrated that it didnt score as high as you thought it should.

Message edited by author 2011-05-05 15:34:46.

Stature & Strength
by hahn23

Comment by mariuca:
I must have lost the first comment. So, again, you got quite a specialty with the rams ( hahn23) but I preferred the Wilderness rendez-vous where you got more of a story. This one has the allure of a statue but needs more cropping to become monumental.

Anticipation
by hahn23

Comment by jomari:
I love your photo. What a beautiful place!