Nuptial, Male.
by Cidpilot

Comment by Sam94720:
DNMC, this is clearly not what was meant. But I give you credit for at least not entering a dog or a cat.

Forked
by Cidpilot

Comment by antares1966:
Hey, who invited the spoon?

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by SaraR:
I gave this a 7, and thought it one of the stronger images in the challenge. I love the appearance of sponteneity; I realise from your notes that this is an illusion, but that is pretty much what all photography is! Your depth of field is absolutely spot on, as is the lighting. the tonal range of your mono conversion is good, although there aren't any whites to provide contrast. With regards to your young model - you've got a good one there, I'd keep him ;-). The chipped and slightly mucky finger nails are a nice touch, and add to the emotive, story-telling aspect. I am with kteach in thatthe change i light in the upper left is slightly distracting - it was the thing thta prevented me from bumping you to an 8.

A word of warning about the scores at DPC - don't take the end score as a measure of a photos value. To me the value of a photo is in the impact, particlarly lasting impact, that a photo has on a single viewer. This is one that I enjoyed viewing, and look forward to coming across again. It is a photo that I want to explore, not just with my eyes but with my brain too, if that makes any sense?

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by kteach:

Originally posted by vlado: Good photo... the finger/other hand is extremely distracting though... would have been one of the best of these types of photos in this challenge (and there were a few) if not for that finger/other hand :(

As a kindergarten teacher, I used to use a hand signal like this to get the kids quieted down... a "shhh" over the lips and two "bunny ears" on the other hand to show they were ready to listen. So I don't find the other hand distracting at all, in fact I find it to be a nice depiction of what a kid might think of as peace and quiet.

If I find anything in the shot distracting, it would have to be that upper left corner in the background. I don't know what it is, but I find myself looking at it and wondering, which detracts my attention from the main focus. I do think the shot is a bit flat though.. perhaps a boost in the contrast to make the whites more white and the blacks more black would help this shot.

Forked
by Cidpilot

Comment by kv144553:
I like how you slipped the spoon in there.

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by LadyK:
ah cute 7

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by menele:
I like the use of DOF here, I just think the hand should be squarer to the camera to make the symbol more pronounced as it has more of a reaching feel to the pose as it is.

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by JoAnna3853:
I like the shallow depth of field here, the blurred backgrounds adds alot to your picture because it emphasizes the "peace" part. good job!

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by kauisyndrome:
nice

"...a million miles from reality"
by Cidpilot

Comment by TeamZissou:
Very nice. Way to take a cliche and make it more interesting.