Just A Minute
by Imagineer

Comment:
I'm so jealous that you have a Nixie tube clock! Nice shot; the "cool" background color you chose works well to contrast the "orange hot" glow of the Nixie's...

Fantasia
by Gordon

Comment:
Congrats on achieving the 4th highest rated photo ever on DPC!

This is an awesome shot!

Riverwalk Lighting
by Musicman

Comment:
Hey... I took a shot from the same bridge (except during the day) while I was visiting in San Antonio last July. =]

Chairman of the Board
by crabappl3

Comment:
Danny.... congrats on your 4th blue ribbon... a great accomplishment, especially in this challenge! Outstanding post-shot editing as well. Wow!

Breaking The Bank
by EddyG

Comment:
Thanks for all the comments everyone! I agree that the lighting could have been better, but I was working with what I had and with a limited amount of time. I think this shot may have also appeared "dark" on some monitors (I just checked it on a friend's LCD and it didn't look all that great...)

Message edited by author 2004-01-12 19:08:02.

First Snow
by Crafty Sue

Comment:
I think I would have edited out the yellow "crosswalk" sign. My eye is immediately drawn to it, and I don't think that is the intended "focal point" of your composition, is it?

Rock Star
by magnetic9999

Comment:
Like this shot a lot. The reflection from the softbox in her glasses is a bit distracting. If it had been more vertical, it might have looked like a window. I would have been tempted to play with the reflection a bit in Photoshop. Anyway, nicely done.

Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment:
Thanks for all the great comments everybody!

For those who are going to try photographing snowflakes yourself, here are a couple more tips:

1) Keep your glass, fabric, etc. outside. If you have to wait for your "snow catching device" to get to the same temperature as the ambient air, you may lose a good opportunity as the snow will melt instantly if the items are warm.

2) Keep a spare battery in your pants pocket (not your coat pocket). Batteries perform worse in cold weather. Keeping a spare in your pocket will allow you to swap it quickly if necessary, and since your body heat will keep it warm, it should perform much better.

3) Realize that not all snow is good "photography" snow. Sometimes the snow is just "frozen balls of ice" (technically sleet) without any detail, and sometimes the ambient temperature is just too warm for the flakes to last. Snowflakes form when water vapor condenses directly into ice up in the clouds. The beautiful patterns form as the crystal grows. Colder temperatures make snowflakes easier to handle and last longer.

4) Don't breathe on your snowflakes! They will melt from your breath.

5) It is possible to catch snowflakes on something smooth, such as dark-colored foamcore (which makes it easy to see the flakes), and then carefully use a toothpick to move a particular flake to your glass or fabric or whatever.

6) Snowflakes are tiny! You could easily fit 10 or 15 typical snowflakes on a penny! The flakes get bigger as the temperature drops further below freezing, and then they start to get smaller again as the temperature gets even colder.

6) Lighting is the key! Since "clean snow" is nothing more than an ice crystal, it can be as clear as glass.

7) 12-sided snowflakes aren't rare, but they aren't nearly as common as 6-sided snowflakes. You'll never find 4, 5 or 8-sided snowflakes, but you'll occasionally see triangular-shaped 3-sided snowflakes. The uncropped version of my photo also has a 3-sided snowflake in the frame (and no, I did not manipulate the position of the snowflakes at all. It just happened that way!)

Good luck and thanks again for the comments!

Message edited by author 2003-12-30 23:59:21.

. _ . _ Morse Code?
by ladpupmoe

Comment:
Nice capture, but it looks "overprocessed" to me. The edges of water look "hard" and not smooth, with a light-blue "streak" on the right side.

Circles and Lines
by Jacko

Comment:
Very cool background! I can't figure out what it is, but I love the soft "rolling" lines. Interesting way to show the diffraction effects (or whatever it is called) of water. If this was in color, the water would remind me of what motor oil looks like on water. Oh, and I really like how the wire is silhouetted as well so that your focus is drawn to the water in the loop and the background.