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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Did you mean the final (NIK) one, Chris?
For Jerry, here's a picture I took in about 1984, on an Orwochrom slide, from my first light aircraft. This trip was round Scotland and I passed over the island of Staffa. Pretty daft in hindsight in an aircraft powered by a 2-stroke engine to cross water without a raft, but it got me there and back safely. Fingal's Cave is the bottom-most tip in this photo. This is looking more or less north. Further north-east are the islands of Ulva and Mull, then the mainland. Fabulous scenery! |
Dec 24th |
 |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
Thanks, Jerry. Fingal's Cave was part of Mendellsohn's inspiration in writing the Hebrides Overture, which was one of the first pieces of classsical music I carefully listened to. This was the first time I'd seen the cave from up close, and it's as dramatic and thrilling as as the music. |
Dec 22nd |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
Thanks |
Dec 22nd |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
Thanks |
Dec 22nd |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Yes, you've both gone for a non-posterised version. Oh well, nothing ventured.....
I see what you mean though. Back to the drawing board. I might give NIK a try on it. Here's a first try there -
|
Dec 22nd |
 |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
What a sad image. I was broought up in Teesside, in North West England, where steel works were the lifeblood of the area. Alas they have all perished now, and the big blast furnaces have all gone.
The cemetary in the foreground is great commentary i think. I would prefer to see the shadows less dark, as these are an important part of the story, and I would like the detail there to be more prominent.
In a related way, I'd like to see the sky darker, and the steel works dodged a little, as they are the main player in the story.
I've been doing a deep dig into NIK silver efex in the last month or so. I only have the freebie version, I don't think it's worth DxO's current price of 150 GBP. But it can give some very interesting control of the image, including lots of toning and grain structure options, which might have been interesting to try. Here's a quick sample - what do you think?
|
Dec 22nd |
 |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
A super action shot. I particularly like the second wake from his hand, I've not seen that before. There's even a trace of a reflection, which adds.
I'd agree with Don, a little off the left makes it better balanced to my eye and retains the essential space to rush into.
|
Dec 22nd |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Scottish cattle can be quite fearsome beasts! I hope there was a fence between you and it.
I like the photo, good details as Chris suggests. But I'd have cropped it tight at the top to remove most of the fence, and removed any straggly bits of fence by cloning them out. This gives the image a letter-box type shape, which I think emphasises those dramatic horns! |
Dec 22nd |
| 64 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Sorry I'm late in commenting this month, we've been on holiday and came home to the Christmas rush.
My guess it that the top in sunshine was very bright, in which case the HDR is really well done, especially for 2010. Personally I'd have taken it further and burned in the top a little which might have recovered some more detail.
John, I'm sorry to know that you are retiring as administrator here. You have been all my time in Group 64, and I've appreciated your photos and your comments. I hope that you too have a good Christmas holiday, and good health in 2025.
Chris, I gather you are becoming the admin now. Thanks! The site was very well designed by Tom Pickering, and whilst sadly he has retired from group 95 (which I'm now the admin for), he does keep an eye on things should the server throw a wobbler! I'm sure you'll enjoy the admin role too.
|
Dec 22nd |
6 comments - 3 replies for Group 64
|
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
Absolutely, yes, Pat! But even at f11, at this magnification the depth of field is small, so you have to choose what is sharp and what isn't. Often the result is a fine image, enhanced by the blur, like Carol's this month. But studies like this are usually less pictorial and more to show detail, so focus brackets are the cavalry to save such macro photographers! There's lots on the internet, but if you need help, just ask!
Did you look at Nikon Small World? Some of it is marvellous. |
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
I'm not familiar with scallops, I thought the white was a bit of plastic or other thing. The barnacles do look a little distracting to me as they are so sharp, but much better than a board, say, and overall it very real and natural. I wonder if studies of barnacles alone might be interesting? |
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
A nice photo, Carol. Simple and powerful. Personally I'd have like the foregrpund a bit less blurred, but the blurry farground makes the great background for what I think is the stigma.
I'm no botanist, I just consult https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/plant-morphology/parts-of-a-flower
If that link doesn't work, go to American Museum of Natural History (www.amnh.org) and search for "Parts of a flower".
And it might be a cliche, but I like leading lines a little on a diagonal, so how about rotating it say 20-30 degrees anti-clockwise?
|
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
The comments on sharpness here are interesting, I think. There are some features that are bitingly sharp eg the mid front leg, and some of the stem. But overall it's a bit soft, and pictures of insects thrive on sharp detail.
So I'd say well done, very close to an excellent image. I don't know details of the Nikon D750, but if it does in-camera focus bracketing, I strongly recommend using it on every shot like this. If you do brackets of say 6 images with a small increment between the images (trial eand error is needed) then you will get at least one image that is "best" focussed, and hopefully you'll get a few images that can be stacked. If you look on sites like Nikon Small World (https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/) you will find virtually every shot is bracketted.
I've noticed when checking that the link above doesn't work, but the page it brings up does give you a link that takes you to "Photomicrography competition".
To be fair, most photos there are 10x magnification and above, but a few are less. Do have a look - they are very inspiring.
|
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Yes, the left flower is definitely a bit sharper than the right "main subject" one. In my view, less is usually more in photographs, and whilst other similar flowers can look good in the background, well out of focus as in the far background here, I prefer just one main subject that pulls the viewers' attention. Having said that, its a nice flower and a nice picture! |
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
I agree, a pleasant image. The shell contours could be perfect leading lines - pity there's nothing we are being to led to! I'm wondering what the white rectangle under the far side is.
Personally I find the small structures around the shell (sorry I don't know what they are, either) are distracting - I would have blurred them and darkened them a bit to allow the viewer to concentrate on the shell. |
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Comment |
Sorry I'm late in commenting this month, we've been on holiday and came home to the Christmas rush.
I've never tried UV lighting, but it seems to offer lots of interesting effects. This is a lovely result I think, well done. I hope you do this more.
A UV torch doesn't have to be expensive for this type of work, but UV safety glasses (specs) as well are essential, even for low-powered torches. I used to work in a lab with a 2 kW (2000 watts) UV source - very hazardous! But even a torch can hurt if shone into your eyes. |
Dec 22nd |
| 95 |
Dec 24 |
Reply |
Thanks! But no, I claim no credit for a steady hand, it's all due to how quickly the camera takes the bracket and the good software. |
Dec 17th |
5 comments - 3 replies for Group 95
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11 comments - 6 replies Total
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