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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Jane!!! I saw your entry on the DD Home Page!!! Why on earth didn't you crow about that to us?! What an awesome image too! You should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. That image is incredible. Congratulations. It's nice to be recognized, no? |
Jul 29th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Jane!!! I saw your entry on the DD Home Page!!! Why on earth didn't you crow about that to us?! What an awesome image too! You should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. That image is incredible. Congratulations. It's nice to be recognized, no? |
Jul 27th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Things I love:
#1, tack sharp eyeball. There's nothing that can replace this, IMHO.
#2, Tack sharp body and especially talons.
#3, DoF blurred, homogenous, non-distracting background. Really killer her and DIFFICULT to achieve for birds, in my experience.
#4, Posture of the bird with outstretched wings.
I'm not as big of a fan of the motion-blur/DoF-blur of the wings, in this case. I don't think it really detracts, but it's not the same as if the bird were head on and the wings were blurred merely by motion. Anyway, that's just me. Super duper shot.
How far away from the bird were you? Were you laying on the ground, or in a blind or something? Were ants crawling all over you (2 points extra in that case)? How'd you get the shot? I've been considering setting up a blind in my back yard so want to hear about your tribulations. |
Jul 23rd |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Reply |
My gosh John, that's an incredible compliment. Thank you very much.
So, what are your thoughts on the composition, and the amount of space surrounding the subject? Do you feel more room around the central spiral would improve it?
And I have an admission: I really wish that the stem coming in from the upper left, had more curve to it. Actually, when I was shooting this, I took many shots of many fronds, and my very favorite ones had this cool reverse curve as the stem came into the frame. I really liked that. A challenge to capturing that though was the fact that not only does the stem curve on the same plane as the spiral, but it curves above and below that plane, which really plays hell with trying to get everything in the DoF, and positioned in the frame correctly. Getting the combination of a) correct spiral position in the frame b) proper reverse curve c) proper stem exiting in the corner d) proper unfurling of the fronds e) proper background f) super sharp focus g) proper focus and DoF, all while handling this on a breezy day (and thus a moving target), made for some challenging shooting. Given all the parameters I was trying to achieve, this one came out to have the highest overall competency. If I had unlimited time and unlimited patience (and more skill maybe) and could control the environment more, I think I'd work really hard achieve a more curvy stem.
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Jul 12th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Reply |
Uh, I don't know if fitting the spiral really means that it has to absorb the entire frame, in order to fit that convention, but your point is still well-taken. I was kind of driven to this particular composition because I really liked the way the leaves were unfurling in succession and wanted to capture that. I suppose I could crop in from the right, and might try that.
On a slightly different note, that of cramping, I constantly battle the conflicting urges to fill the frame, and provide space. I think this may be another example of that. |
Jul 11th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Rodeos really are ripe for action shots. DoF is well done IMHO, since it softens the background just enough to bring my eyes to the subject. Colors are very well done IMHO. The subjects have living space in front of them which I like. Much of this action is razor sharp, which always adds impact for me.
You know, I think I'd try an adjustment brush to see if I could brighten the cowboy's face. I have the sneaking suspicion that adding a little detail to his face alone, since we do have a profile view, might really add to the scene. Just my thoughts. Maybe brighten the animals face too (Is there an eye in there? I can't really tell).
|
Jul 9th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Hi Jane,
I think this is a pretty eye-catching image. The sharpness of the bridge, and it's relative brightness, and the fact that it's a screaming leading line, really bring my eye in. I think the exposure is well-done, and I compliment ingenuity with regard to the sky replacement.
You could experiment with crops, which might or might not change anything.
To me, the sky's graniness doesn't match the rest of the image, and the water looks a touch weird. But to tell you the truth, those don't ruin the image for me, so don't let my opinion on those two things spoil this critique for you. Further, I applaud your resourcefulness. |
Jul 9th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
Hey John,
I appreciate the crisp, well exposed, center of the piece, which appears to have good detail to me, nice tones in the brown feathers, and nice colors in the accent pieces.
This is just me talking, but I have the sense that the piece is kind of incomplete. I don't suppose zooming out to include the entire head dress would have improved anything, because then you would have had a lot more background clutter. But, avoiding cropping the first ring of feathers, and placing them as the subject against the background of the other feathers, especially if they were nice and crisp, would have been something cool to see. Anyway, just my thoughts. Thanks for sharing it. I'll bet that place is ripe with great photo ops.
Oh, BTW, tell me more about your thoughts on using flash. I have limited experience with it, but have been playing with it in order to get my macro stuff to turn out. How do you think you should've used it? How would it have helped? |
Jul 9th |
| 60 |
Jul 21 |
Comment |
That's certainly an interesting shape. It appears to be sharp all around, well exposed, and have really nice colors, so kudos on the choice of exposure settings. Also, great texture and detail to my eye, which helps to add impact.
Frankly, I kind of like the concept here. I think the inclusion of the observers busy observing the same subject as us, tells a bit of a story, and makes us part of the crowd.
Fleshing out that part-of-the-crowd thing really would require the entirety of the observers to be in the frame though I think. You may have succumbed to what pilots sometimes call "target fixation", which means losing situational awareness when trying to follow an object. And, I gotta tell ya, if I had a dollar for every object in the frame I failed to see because I was fixated on my subject, I'd be a very rich man. But, I think developing this skill (I've heard it referred to as "seeing the image") is SUPER-critical for advancing as a photographer. For me, part of developing this skill (which I'm still in the process of doing) is to slow down, be more deliberate, and to consciously observe the image. You do whatever works for you.
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Jul 9th |
7 comments - 2 replies for Group 60
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7 comments - 2 replies Total
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