|
| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
Great job indeed. As I recall in the field there were picky "rules" for getting the desired reflection into the drops. I don't think the leaf is sufficiently out of focus to be a problem, in fact that makes it seem more of a suitably "background" element. The only thing I'd do would be to rotate the flower just a tiny bit so it looks more like it is naturally drooping from its stem. |
May 19th |
 |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
I like everything about your photo of the bird itself, and I agree with most of what you did with the reeds, but I found two things that bothered me. The most obvious was the extremely out-of-focus large reed in the foreground on the right side of the frame. It was simply too prominent to be so out of focus. So I cloned it out. Then as I looked closer at your great job of removing the reeds from in front of the bird, I noticed that one reed just under the tail seemed to end in mid-air. I considered that it might look "broken off" but then I decided to clone it back in as if it were going behind the bird's body like the one to the right of it. |
May 19th |
 |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
I like everything about your photo of the bird itself, and I agree with most of what you did with the reeds, but I found two things that bothered me. The most obvious was the extremely out-of-focus large reed in the foreground on the right side of the frame. It was simply too prominent to be so out of focus. So I cloned it out. Then as I looked closer at your great job of removing the reeds from in front of the bird, I noticed that one reed just under the tail seemed to end in mid-air. I considered that it might look "broken off" but then I decided to clone it back in as if it were going behind the bird's body like the one to the right of it. |
May 19th |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
I've done a bit of focus stacking, both with Photoshop and with dedicated software (Helicon Focus), and I think the problem in this case is possibly more with the subject. There are so many hairs at different distances in each slice that it is challenging for any software to get them all right. That said, I do find many areas where the focus is right on, so I think it is a good beginning for learning from. Perhaps trying a subject with clearer "layers" of distance might be the next step to try. |
May 19th |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
I really like the colors in the original better than the black and white version. I find the richness of the oranges and browns give more of a sense of the antiquity of the place and seems more natural with the earth tones. I think the choice to crop and straighten really adds to the overall result. I did a thumbnail of your crop in color just to see how it would compare. |
May 19th |
 |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
This photo really makes me feel happy -- the dogs and Shirley are a joy to see. I guess Vince is right about the front-most dog being slightly out of focus, and in the best of worlds that shouldn't be, but I truly didn't notice it until it was pointed out. I think the story here carries the day. |
May 19th |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
I went even further and simply cropped out the wires and left about the same foreground as Marla. I also did a bit different with the sides to keep some framing. I think that helps keep the feeling I got from the original of the barn being in a vast rolling hilly area. I really like the brightness of the colors. It gives me the feeling of a painting or an illustration in a travel brochure. |
May 19th |
 |
| 25 |
May 17 |
Comment |
The crop is nice for showing this particular interaction of the food fight, but the real fun was watching dozens of fish and a couple of ducks all vying for the same morsels. There's really no way to capture all that excitement in one frame with a camera. I have many pictures with the water roiling with frantic fish trying to get their share of the meal, but with a limit of one photo for the study group I picked the one-on-one of this fish and the duck. The crop does indeed help bring the focus where it belongs. |
May 19th |
8 comments - 0 replies for Group 25
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8 comments - 0 replies Total
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