US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by karmat:
Obviously, the title is needed in this picture, and that is okay. I like the diagonal effect from the top left toward the bottom right, and I like the simplicity of the shot. Was there a way to make the plane and contrails more distinct? I am assuming you were zoomed as much as possible and that you have filled the frame as much as possible with the subject. Maybe boosting contrast or something? karmat

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by dadas115:
This one might be better if we could see a bit more of the aircraft. I realize that the open sky is the subject of your photo, but for me open sky is a bit boring. I think you might be able to crop in a little and still convey the idea of open sky while making the shot a bit more interesting.

Greg

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by Natasha:
A hard shot to take, lovely blue skies and nice composition. Unfortunately the point of interest is just too small in the picture and it is lacking story.

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by goodtempo:
good composition but I think you needed a longer lens or tighter cropping. i would expect to see this in the newpaper but closer in. i do like the trail. good color.

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by magnetic9999:
OK, I don't really know about the treaty, but i can evaluate this photograph. i think that the distance and lack of detail makes it hard to tell what the connection is of your pic's subject to the headline, besides the fact that it has something to do with planes :) otherwise i like the diagonal air trail .. mag99

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by ChrisW123:
What? What's open skies treaty?

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by justine:
Neat idea! Justine

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by marbo:
lol. hold the front page

US Opposes EU Open Skies Treaty
by Manic

Comment by autool:
Composition: Subject Placement, Cropping, Background6,
Technical: Focus, Exposure, Lighting, Processing6,
Appeal: Is it Interesting, Motivating, Etc.? 6,
Total Averaged Rating6. Autool
IMO the relationship between the title and picture are key elements in this challenge. You got the connection but the quality of the picture doesn't support it. Too bad you couldn't have got a better shot, and I know how difficult it is. I don't know what camera you were using but it probably limited your results.

Cutting Edge
by Manic

Comment by Manic:
I'm now so glad that I decided to go with this idea and not the other one I had :o) I'm shocked that I placed so high, the best I've ever done by a long long way (my previous best was last week's macro challenge, a 6.201)... and thanks for all the great comments - nearly as many on a photo as we used to get back in the early days of DPC!

First, I'm sure you'd all like to see what the original looked like:

//www.manic.nu/dpc/31/bread-orig.jpg

My (basic) setup is clear in the original - it was lit by merely the room spotlights (hence the double shadows), since my desklamp is too bright for a large scene. I cropped it down the way I did after doing several wider crops, and I decided that the main focus was too much on the rest of the loaf and not on the PCB, hence I made the tighter crop. The bread was sliced with a real breadknife, the slices wedged into position, and the PCB was (carefully) shoved into a half-cut slice.

The lighting seems harsh because I had to adjust the levels such that the white was clean, and not the murk that it originally was. The background is white and not blue (as suggested) because I have nothing to create a blue background with - really!

The title was always going to be a toss-up between what it is and 'The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread' (thanks PTL, I did realise it!), but I decided to go for the shorter one in the end... plus someone else did the 'Best Thing Since...' title :o)

To get the 'null' background, what I did was have a white-sh background originally, then through adjusting the levels made the highlights much brighter, which creates the clean background. However, care is needed to not blow out the details on the subject itself.

As for /why/ I chose this subject, well, I just really loved this challenge, and it gave me so many ideas that I could pick and choose the one I liked, and my sense of humour has always been one of the driving forces behind my photos... and I just so happened to have a new loaf (thanks to my parents) and an ancient ISA soundcard lying around. Oh yeah, the irony of this photo is that the soundcard isnt cutting edge any more ;o)

If there are any more questions about this, please PM me.

Message edited by author 2002-12-14 14:29:13.