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Cattail Down
Cattail Down
Dr.Confuser


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2010-10 (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
Location: Kirkland, Washington USA
Date: Oct 21, 2010
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1000
Shutter: 1/4000
Galleries: Nature, Floral
Date Uploaded: Oct 23, 2010

 [Photographer’s Notes
An explosion of seeds presages the next generation.

Not much drama this month. I’m running out of time to shoot a free study entry. Shot lots this month but all commercial and while I got paid, not exactly DPC friendly.

So the other day I walked a few blocks to a small park on the lakeshore. It was late on a mostly sunny fall afternoon; the sun was low in the sky, backlighting the cattails and muting the background. Took lots of photos but I want to go back and reshoot next opportunity.

Why? Two reasons, really. I want to play with aperture blending so I can get all the down in good focus.

And surprisingly, I like the background on this photo better than the subject. Maybe I can fix that.

Probably means the photo will tank in the voting. Maybe a reshoot will improve things. But in the mean time, this is my placeholder entry in the likely event we don’t get another sunny day this month. We may not get another sunny day this year, but I digress.

Title: It’s a (weak) pun of sorts. It is a photo of the down of a cattail – the seed explosion that happens this time of year. And in English “down” is a euphemism for dead – Like “officer down” or “put down the horse with a broken leg.” Thus a dead cattail.


Post Processing
• Convert From RAW (Photomatix)
• Tonemap (Photomatix)
• Reduce Noise (Neat Image)
• Punch (PSCS5 Vibrance Layer)
• Contrast (PSCS5 Curves layer)
• Brightness (PSCS5 Curves Layer)
• Saturate Yellows & Reds (PSCS5 Hue/Sat Layer)
• Sharpen (PSCS5 High Pass Overlay Filter)
• Dodge & Burn (PSCS5 Overlay Layer)
• Crop (PSCS5)
• Resize (Genuine Fractals)
• Save for Web (PSCS5)



Camera Data
• Date: 2010.10.21
• Camera: Nikon D3
• Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
• ISO: 1000
• Aperture: f/2.8
• Shutter: 1/4000

Statistics
Place: 276 out of 316
Avg (all users): 4.8552
Avg (commenters): 7.0000
Avg (participants): 4.8846
Avg (non-participants): 4.7805
Views since voting: 1105
Views during voting: 223
Votes: 145
Comments: 2
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 12/11/2010 02:38:19 PM
Shallow dof I think works for this type of image, however, I think the image may have been better appreciated (read: higher score) if the cat tail was in focus rather than the fluffy bit in front. That would draw the eye into the image better, imo.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/07/2010 08:54:08 PM
Love the DOF and limited palette.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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