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Reaching for the sky
Reaching for the sky
Yo_Spiff


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Twisted (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon
Location: Stephenville, Texas
Date: Nov 30, 2008
Aperture: F6.3
Galleries: Sky, Nature
Date Uploaded: Dec 2, 2008

 My daughter didn't understand why I brought my camera when taking her back to her college after thanksgiving. After I drop her at school, I get to drive home during the "golden hour", and there is nobody else to be impatient at my stopping to take photos.

Editing notes: I tried something different from the conventional thinking on this. I sharpened it almost as much as possible in my RAW converter (Canon DPP) rather than the minimal sharpening usually recommended. This approach seems to work well if I intend on using most of the image. If I will be severely cropping, however, then It results in visible noise like patterns.

I also resisted the temptation to crank up the saturation to unrealistic "WOW" amounts, in spite of the tendency for that to pull in higher votes. I wanted the shape and details of the tree to be the star of this shot, not the disk sky. A moderate golden glow is to my liking for this. I'm curious to see if anyone comments that I should have raised the saturation a bit.

I may also get some comments about the bottom 1/3 of the image being too dark. The outline of the tree against the dark clouds may be too subtle for some monitors to display.

Pre-challenge notes:
I think this is pretty darn good and would think it good for a high five or low 6. However, I am expecting only a low 5 because:

A) I am usually dead wrong at evaluating how my own entries will do in a challenge.

B) My wife thinks it is one of my best. Her liking one of my shots has been the kiss of mediocrity in the past.

Post-challenge notes:
Did well enough, and from the stats, I can see this had moderate appeal for most and strong appeal for some. The commenter's average vote was quite high. A pretty good entry for me.

Statistics
Place: 65 out of 171
Avg (all users): 5.5271
Avg (commenters): 6.8000
Avg (participants): 5.3958
Avg (non-participants): 5.6049
Views since voting: 895
Views during voting: 193
Votes: 129
Comments: 5
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-50D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 12/09/2008 05:12:02 PM
this is a nice shot, the sky is reminding me of the ash filled skys of california during those wildfires,
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D90
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon
 12/04/2008 07:58:07 PM
beautiful exposure
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 12/04/2008 05:11:34 PM
A lovely photo. Should score in the top 20% at least. Good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R7
Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount
 12/04/2008 10:56:49 AM
Plain and simply lovely, gorgeous tones, soft curves leading your eye skywards
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Minolta
 12/04/2008 12:21:56 AM
Pretty sky, and it doesn't give me that over processed feel that may "nice sky" shots do.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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