|
| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
I am glad there are words in the Nature definition about the importance of the story. While I have seen about three loon fights of one type or another over the years, this is the only one I could capture. I was of course set up expecting the rather tranquil nature of adult loons feeding their chicks. Suddenly that tranquil scene exploded. I don't know that I can effectively bring up better detail in the Vanquished Loon, but I hope the judges understand the story and give me a pass on that. |
Jul 18th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Most of the loon shots are pretty tranquil but you also need to be ready for action. Yes, I probably should of been at a higher ISO to get a little more shutter speed. |
Jul 17th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
This close up head shot is sure to generate interest. You have excellent depth of field with only Annabelle's head in sharp focus. Photographing Annabelle is a challenge similar to photographing loons, most things are either black or white and it is hard to hold detail in both. You might try to bring up more detail in the blacks. This is likely to work better if you are shooting RAW, but you might be able to bring up the exposure and perhaps some more contrast. Be careful the blacks don't become grey. This is likely to work better with the blacks selected. |
Jul 9th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Yes, we are lucky and photographing them is something we really enjoy in June when the chicks hatch. I don't know if Idaho has them, but I think Montana does. MN and WI have lots of them. You can see another image of them on Group 64, a monochrome group so I needed to pick something I thought would work well in monochrome with chicks on the parents back. Those in the south might have them also when they migrate down, but they are just a plain grey bird without the loon sounds when they are down there. |
Jul 9th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
There is some amazing software to remove things like that wire. I don't do much of that, but perhaps one of the others can make a suggestion. |
Jul 7th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
A very unique capture. Well done. I really like the backlit feel of this image on the leaves. They are a much lighter tone which focuses us on the darker tones of the bird, forget what we are always told about being drawn to lighter areas, this is a prime example of we are drawn to what contrasts with the overall image. The branches and the bird stand out. I suspect you could bring out more detail in the bird and would try to do it. Try to get more detail in the dark areas of the bird and the head. I would experiment with crops to try to get the bird larger, but you don't want to loose the feel of those backlit leaves. Crop from the left should work well. Perhaps the bottom, but I don't think you want to lose the V shape. |
Jul 7th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I thought this might be a "selective color" monochrome conversion, but from your description, it is just the way it was. I like the image just the way you have it, but you might consider a couple of things. The lamp is centered which is effective, but for some you might want to crop. The lamp seems to "look" to the right, so if you try to move it out of the center, you would crop the left a bit. You could take the "selective color" feel a bit further and make this into a monochrome, bring the lamp back to the original color, and leave the structure under the lamp monochrome. Another excellent example of seeing good images and capturing them. |
Jul 7th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I think this is a very nice image with the shadow patterns. The suggested crop is effective, but I also like the image with the light post. I think I would try to make the image more "formal" with a perspective correction. You have the verticals perfectly vertical, but the horizontals are not perfectly horizontal. I also would take out the wire that drops across the door. I also like to do whatever I can to make the brick patterns as dramatic as possible. Now it is time to consider the crops. I think I would consider taking out the sky above the building, and perhaps the metal cap on the building. I like the details of the architectural treatment above the door and would keep them. Now you can have two pictures, one with the lamp and another with it cropped off. Live with both of them for awhile and decide if the lamp is a good image element or a distraction. I could argue for both positions. good eye to see this shot. |
Jul 7th |
| 19 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Beautiful portrait. The lighting and exposure are very good. the sidelight is effective. The image makes me want to understand the culture more. Is there significance to the rings as an example. Why the two rings on her right hand and one on her left and none on the fingers we usually wear rings on? Five acceptance and not satisfied? I can't blame you, try for an award again. There is a small group of photographers taking very excellent portraits that we see a so often in exhibitions, that I think judges are getting a little burned out on them. We have two of those excellent portrait photographers right in the west valley and run into them in ACCC Roundups. You might want to enter this in the PID portrait competition, also in an exhibition that has more restrictive sections such as "Women". |
Jul 7th |
5 comments - 4 replies for Group 19
|
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Sorry, by G19 I meant Digital Dialog group 19. Thanks for the comments. I am struggling a little about how to present this image, I appreciate the suggestions. |
Jul 18th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
A beautiful image. I have no idea what "Frequency Separation" is but whatever it is, it worked. The image has a smooth dreamy feel to it, perhaps to the point of having an artistic effect applied to it. Perhaps this is what resulted in the light area under her chin which resulted in great separation of her chin from her neck. I am not sure I like the streaks in the darker area of her lower neck however. Her eyes and the small catch light are great. |
Jul 16th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
This is an awesome image. I really like the foreground with the rocks and smooth (30 sec exposure) water. Very nice. For all your trouble selecting, you ended up doing very well. Often if you end up with a halo around something you can clone from very near it with the clone tool set to darken and it will only replace lighter pixels. That might be artifact along the horizon, but I wouldn't of even thought about it if you hadn't mentioned your difficulty. The sky in the left has a pretty large area of white with no detail. Another cloning trick is set to darken with a low opacity and clone in from another part of the sky. Sometimes this works very well to just add a touch of detail. Worth a try. This image is worth playing with to make it as good as you can. It is very nice. |
Jul 15th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
This is an awesome image. I really like the foreground with the rocks and smooth (30 sec exposure) water. Very nice. For all your trouble selecting, you ended up doing very well. Often if you end up with a halo around something you can clone from very near it with the clone tool set to darken and it will only replace lighter pixels. That might be artifact along the horizon, but I wouldn't of even thought about it if you hadn't mentioned your difficulty. The sky in the left has a pretty large area of white with no detail. Another cloning trick is set to darken with a low opacity and clone in from another part of the sky. Sometimes this works very well to just add a touch of detail. Worth a try. This image is worth playing with to make it as good as you can. It is very nice. |
Jul 15th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
In digital dialog, you certainly can join more than one group. I am a member of both 19 and 64 as an example. |
Jul 15th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Basically we are looking at a negative. This is easy to do by taking a curve layer and just pulling the line that normally goes from lower left to upper right, to reverse it.
I have played with this some in the past. It can work very well on monochromes. Some things look pretty strange and some look very creative. You can put the negative layer on top of the monochrome layer, or even leave the color layer beneath both of them and mask through to pick what layer shows where, selective color, mono, and negative. In this case, I don't particularly care for the negative of the vegetation. You could bring that back to regular monochrome.
It looks like you have created a new species of animal. |
Jul 15th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Exactly, as I think of it the exposure was probably a lot more than 1 minute. It was taken from on top of one of the bluffs overlooking the bridge. An interesting thing to try if you have the neutral density filters to do it. As I think of it, this could be one of the greatest car light streak shots taken in after dark traffic and wouldn't require a stack of filters.. |
Jul 10th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
Don, I am sorry, I can't resist making a comment on this. there is absolutely no way to know if this is the mother or father. Even experts can't tell the gender of a loon without being on an examination table. I sometimes like to sort of pull peoples chains and once used a title of "Father and Son" on an image that everyone would automatically credit to a mother without being able to tell. In reality, loon fathers and mothers tend to share the duties, they have to before the eggs hatch. someone needs to sit on the eggs pretty much constantly for 30 days. Mom can't do that alone. |
Jul 9th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
Jerry, you are a master of finding these somewhat abstract compositions in nature. I think this one is cropped just right with two ridges keeping us focused on the pebbles between them. I also like the contrast in lighting between the brighter lower right and darker upper left. I am afraid I would not of seen this image but would probably of used it as a interesting foreground for a shot of the rocks behind it. I hope I wouldn't of just shot over them. Good eye to see this and focus on it. |
Jul 9th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I think almost everyone would enjoy the story of the concentration on the modern electronic device with the traditional clothing. Great street photography which is often best in monochrome, like I am sure this is. I like the idea of blurring the dress a bit, but the glare on the floor doesn't bother me, in fact, I think it contributes to the image. Detail in the floor remains and the highlights of the floor create high contrast with the well captured details of the profile of the face. This rivets our attention just where you wanted it. |
Jul 9th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Comment |
I feel this image has an excellent range of tones with good contrast between every picture element. The arch is tack sharp. I like the angle you picked where you can see one of the interior walls well but still see through the arch. The sky has nice detail, but not so much that it tries to dominate the image. It is a great background. The f/4 provided a sharp arch and retained enough detail in the background architecture to show place. Nice image. |
Jul 9th |
| 64 |
Jul 18 |
Reply |
There is a solution to the cars, but not within the resources that most tourists carry about the city. There is a picture by Ansel Adams of the Golden Gate Bridge with no cars. I understand it was taken with a stack of neutral density filters and of course on a tripod with maybe a minute or more exposure. Not a car in sight. Frankly, the arch is so massive and the cars so small, I don't know that it is a big problem but we always wish we could get a time with no cars. |
Jul 9th |
7 comments - 5 replies for Group 64
|
12 comments - 9 replies Total
|
