Wolf Talk
by basssman7

Comment:
One thing I've never got to grips with in my short time on DPC, is that so many images can have a range all the way through the scale. By all laws of average, you wouldn't expect much more than a range of 5, the eleven 1s on this one is really odd though. I voted 8, but had I been through more on my recheck, I would have bumped it to 9 (I didn't give any 10s this time and very few 9s). Personally, I think it should have been top 10 at least, probably even higher. Thanks for your comment on mine during the challenge btw, it was just about the most favourable comment I had during the challenge.

Dance of the Grebes
by kernuak

Comment:
Thanks to everyone who commented or voted. I wasn't expecting a high score, but had hoped for more than it acheived. The grebes were right at the limit of the lens, requiring heavy cropping, wildlife doesn't like to play ball at short notice, so it was never going to be as good as I would have liked it to have been. They were well out of the range of the shutter sound though, as they were upwind and in was in a permanent hide, so any sound would have been carried away, plus they came closer for me to take standard portrait shots. I didn't want to crop too tightly, as I wanted to keep the splashes in for some context, I couldn't show much of their environment in the position they were (unlike the previous weekend), but at least I could show that.

He flew in with a spring snow storm
by jimsapp

Comment:
I think this would be better if it wasn't for the editing restrictions.

Drake
by Dave Gordon

Comment:
Seems to be a little out of focus.

Cedar Waxwing in the Rain
by dswann

Comment:
A little oversharpened for my taste, but good capture.

With Diamonds In Their Wake
by GeneralE

Comment:
It looks like the glare from the water has thrown the exposure reading out

Fire and Water
by kernuak

Comment:
Thanks to all the commenters and to those who voted, I was pretty happy to end in the top 40% in my second challenge. A couple of things I missed out in me description above, the reverse grad was a three stop and I also used a warming circular polariser to cut down unwanted reflections, and to maintain the reds that are normally diminished by a standard polariser. After reading some of the earlier comments regarding sharpness and contrast, I went back and had a go at reprocessing (at the time I only had Elements 5 to work with after Photomatix Pro was used), with Lightroom/CS4, in addtition to the latest version of Photomatix, but I didn't like the results, partly because it enhanced the chromatic aberration that had largely been removed and partly because of haloing. I've since read some of the ideas to remove the haloing effect in the forums, so it's something I can have a go at when I have some time. So, while I didn't necessarily agree with the comments, it did force me to revisit, which is always a good thing to do.

Message edited by author 2009-03-18 17:27:11.

Lucy in the snow
by _Mindy_

Comment:
It could do with a shadows boost, there also appears to be some motion blur on the nose.

Brothers
by NatalieM

Comment:
The processing works really well.

Ratcliffe Power Station
by BigChris

Comment:
I'm not usually keen on oversaturation, but you've used it well here to accentuate the story, giving a good contrast between the trees and dreary power station, like a blot on the landscape.