Strawberries on the Rocks
by BNC

Comment:
Nicely done, but I can't help feeling that the lighting could have been a bit warmer, to pick up the colour of the strawberries a bit more. Gets an 8.
- Manic -

Electric Algae
by manda4343

Comment:
Simple, yet very effective - gets a 9
- Manic -

Grains of hand
by Nswenson0

Comment:
I can't fault the photo nor your imagination. Perfect 10.
- Manic -

Cement, of coarse
by ScottEmmons

Comment:
Perfect use of B&W, well lit, and an interesting composition. Gets a 9.
- Manic -

bow
by zacowaco

Comment:
Beautifully lit, superb composition, deserving of a 10 :o)
- Manic -

Feels Good
by Dogman

Comment:
Nice photo, shame about the choice of football team ;oP Good lighting and use of B&W,, gets a 9.
- Manic -

soft stones
by snow

Comment:
I can only think of one word to describe this shot - glistening! Almost perfect, 9.
- Manic -

Ultimate Shadow
by TSaylors

Comment:
Very fortuitous timing, having a partial eclipse the same week as the shadows challenge :o) Just a pity the shot wasn't cropped in closer, as there's too much dead space for my liking.

mostly 'armless
by Manic

Comment:
Wow, my highest rated photo so far! Thanks for all the comments! (and votes!) :o)

The hand here was my own, which is why its not been manicured or anything (I still bite my nails sometimes, which is why they don't look so good), and the shot was taken using a complex system of a tripod balanced on a windowsil at night, using the reflection of the LCD screen in the window to position my hand, and lit using a desklamp.

The original shot, pre B&W and cropping, can be seen at //www.manic.nu/hand1a-orig.jpg

The lamp was in shot in order to get the camera's light sensors to darken the rest of the background. I then cropped the lamp out of shot, converted the image to B&W, then played with the colour balance and contrast, so that the glow off the top of my hand was reduced. I didn't crop any closer as I wanted a good amount of black around the hand, to make it look more like it was floating in nothing.

I wasn't intentionally going for an Addams Family theme - I merely saw the reflection of my hand in the window and tried to replicate it, ending up with an image I was very happy with. The only things I feel I could have improve were pointed out in your comments - the lighting on the top of the hand, and on the thumb, plus a bit more focus tweaking.

Thanks again!

Message edited by author 2002-12-14 14:18:13.

Wave Watching
by Manic

Comment:
OK, I confess, I was taking photos of the powerboat races this day, and happened to catch this kids just messing around on the beach before one of the races was due to start - I can't remember what he was doing during this particular shot, and I don't think he ever noticed the camera being pointed in his direction. The fact that you can't be quite sure what's happening I hoped would make the image a bit more intriguing, which is why I went with this particular one.

The final shot was cropped quite a lot to get the boats, buoys, and the pier out of sight, leaving just the bands of colour, which is also why I chose portrait. The shot was very grey (typical British summer ;o), so I used the 'enchance' auto-levels thingy of my graphics software to bring out the colours of the sea. As for the focus, I couldn't do much about that, as I was trying to shield my eyes & the lens from the sand being blown straight at me at the time...

Thanks for all the comments!