Bee in blackthorn
by hajeka

Comment by geoffb:
Hi from the CC,

This image is a great capture of one of nature's most beautiful insects. The colours are beautiful and the whites look white; there's no under or overexposure to be seen anywhere. You've frozen the detail of the bee quite well, although the detail of the wings is lost in that dark portion of the background. Other than the wings, though, the bee is a strong aspect of this shot.

I am absolutely amazed at your depth of field in this shot. How you got this blurred background at f/7.1 is quite a feat, especially considering that the leaves behind the bee look big enough to be quite close. Surprises aside, however, you have blurred what needs to be blurred and focused on exactly what should be in focus (and indeed it is!).

The branch provides a very strong line in this photo. The camera could have been rotated slightly to give a more perpendicular line, but I really don't mind it how it is. If you had done so, that blurred branch in the background would have also served nicely as a dominant horizontal line.

Obviously you couldn't zoom in closer with your prime lens, but I would have suggested getting slightly closer to the action to provide a tighter shot of the bee. If you look at the entries that placed in the top 10 in this challenge, you'll see that all of them fill the frame with the insect. Obviously, nature hardly gives us the time to "fine tune" our shot, so you did a great job of working with what you had to just get the shot.

Overall, a very nice shot with great colour, detail, and depth of field. This image could have been improved by getting a tighter (closer) shot of the bee, getting a better (lighter) background behind the bee to emphasize its detail, and watching your lines (horizontal/vertical and their placement). Since none of these could be achieved based on the nature of the shot and the editing rules for this challenge, all I can really say is great job!

Regards,
Geoff Ball

Message edited by author 2007-04-26 15:13:45.

Creating bubbles...
by hajeka

Comment by dsa157:
great lighting and tones

Creating bubbles...
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Comment by steez6:
bubble creator 9,000

Creating bubbles...
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Comment by Kimber90:
This image is hard to distinguish what is going on. But i like the lighting and the bubbles sort of look like glass. Nice try

Creating bubbles...
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Comment by whiterook:
unsharp

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Comment by joeciccone:
very cool...I-Pod like for sure

Cutting eggs
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Comment by shutterpuppy:
Nice composition.

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Comment by Pedxer:
If you put some tobasco in this picture I think Id give you an even higher score. The way it looks now I feel a little queasy thinking that someone might eat those as is.

When night is falling...
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Comment by groven:
good comp, tone and a great sence of peace and tranquility

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Comment by pottersclay75:
Very nice composition and balance. The one slice off to the right balances this image nicely. Very good.