Okay guys, here's your chance to really pull these Challenges together as a community. This is the thread where I will post feedback on both my own and the other judge's chosen top ten, but go ahead and start giving input for each other.

Post your own favorites, give critiques, add comments. The more you are able to provide, the more helpful this will be to your peers. Keep it constructive and polite, and help each other to learn how others view their work.

The theme for this round was: Dusk or Dawn

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PaulThomasMcKee - Feedback


First, let me say what a privilege I feel it is to have the opportunity to participate in the DSS this way. A big thanks to Greensquared and DoctorIT & Smugmug (& sponsors) for keeping this challenge series going.
It was great to see all the entries for the first time all at once without the preconceptions of the pre-entry Q&A feedback banter. I wanted to make my picks as much as possible without the halo of influence of knowing the photographer behind the photo. So, my system was to tape a piece of paper over a portion of my monitor so that I could save each photo to disk without the title or photogapher's name. I then loaded the whole bunch into Lightroom to progressively sort and evaluate each photo. 1st pass = 50; 2nd pass = 28; 3rd pass = 19; 4th pass = 16; 5th pass = 12…then I went to the entry thread to view each photo and the EXIF. Here are my 10 selections:

#04 – douglas - Multiple Points Of View
Wonderful execution on this – perfect exposure! My eye is drawn right to the subject and then to the other elements. I like the tension in the figure’s pose. I get the sense he’s pointing to the single light on the far shore.

#05 – SherwinJames – Heading Into The Night
Beautiful shot! I love the soft hues captured in this photo. It’s a little like the train is poised to run off into the water - an interesting perspective for sure.

#35 – Ratty2austin – Enchanted Breakfast
Enchanted indeed! Fantastic composition and capture. I love the way the sheep are small medium & large – and all in order. Did you instruct them to line up that way?

#45 – bch2300 – dusk storm
Mmmm…Tasty eye candy! The gradient of color from orange to blue is especially sweet. I love the ethereal look of the sun shining through the misty rain. I know that the rule of thirds is not law – but, to my eye, this image would also work with a slightly longer focal length to position the tree on the left third line.

#51 – Tdcompton – Evening Prism
Fantastic colors and so delicate! Great use of a large aperture to create a nice sense of depth while keeping the subject tack sharp. I like that there are brother & sister bubbles in the frame.

#54 – Swinton – Night Evaporates
Love the layers in this. The very definite fore, mid and background and I like that they also graduate from dark to light. Very, very nice. Very crisp & smooth. Sweet!

#55 – jwear – Getting Up
Amazing! I love the orangey tone. Great use of ISO/shutter speed/focal length/aperture/white balance to create a stunning capture. I’d like to know how to cause birds to fly into the frame at just the right moment! It’s obvious that you had everything worked out & ready when the moment presented itself – beautiful.

#62 – sherstone – Celestial Alignment
Other worldly cool! Since I am writing these comments without having looked at any threads related to this theme (other than the entry thread)…I have no good idea how you accomplished this – but it is very fun to look at. It says Dawn to me in an extraordinarily sci-fi way.

#67 – mactoll – Morning Dorys
Mmmm…the first rays of morning light! I can feel the warmth on my back as I look at this photo. Perfect exposure. It’s interesting how the sky so closely mimics the water in this image. I love it as presented and I think it could also work zoomed-in to show just the three boats on the left. Beautiful capture!

#84 – Michael Atkins – Evening Mist
Stunning Scene! Crisp cool feeling to this image - Love it.
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GreenSquared - Feedback

#19 - JAG - Oats in the morning
Really nice on the composition and color. A very appealing image.

#22 - KevXman - The 6:47
I loved the story with this image. Very nice exposure getting great detail in the shadows.

#28 - divamum - That ole' man river
I kept coming back to this one again and again. I just love the composition, the light, the shadoes, the lines. All equals
a great image.

#29 - Grly - All Swung Out
Another one with a great story and really nice, simple and effective composition.

#35 - Ratty2austin - Enchanted Breakfast
I love everything about this image. If ti were mine, I'd print it huge and put it on my wall.

#39 - peterst6906 - Home Time!
Stunning. The symmetry, color and movement all make this a very dynamic image.

#55 - jwear - Getting Up
The title of this one indicates a sunrise, but the feeling to me is one of an autumnal migration. It's a lovely composition with a splash of glory and a touch of sorrow.

#59 - sbarge - Another day's end at Horsetooth Reservoir
Out of all of the amazing sunrises and sunsets in this challenge, this one really stood out for me. The sky looks so painted and the water reflection really pulls the composition together. Great on the exposure too.

#67 - mactoll - Morning Dorys
Awesome light, great exposure and really nice composition. Great image!

#81 - Lars - Golden Harvest
This was another that I kept coming back to, trying to identify what it was that appealed to me. In the end, I still don't think I can pinpoint it - I just know that I really, really like it.

Before posting my picks, I just want to say that I think some of the entries in this round are some of the best that have been entered so far (including both the LPS and DSS).

It's going to be tough for the judges to narrow down the selections, because there are many, many entries worthy of being chosen in a top 10.

I couldn't narrow it down and could have easily picked more photos, but as a selection, here are 15 of the many images that I really liked:



So good luck to everyone.

Regards,

Peter

My favs from this round:

#5 Heading Into The Night by SherwinJames
#17 Morning Dew by WomanWithACamera
#19 Oats in the morning by JAG
#22 The 6:47 by KevXman
#35 Enchanted Breakfast by Ratty2austin
#39 Home Time! by peterst6906
#51 Evening Prism by Tdcompton
#54 Night Evaporates by CSwinton
#69 Capturing the Morning Light by anwmn1
#73 Wake Up and Smell the Coffee by Halite

Several great entries this round, but these stood out to me for their stories, compositions, and colors.

Peter, I would absolutely agree. I'm leaving for the airport right now, but when I get home I'll post my picks, although there are definitely going to be more than ten, I have a feeling!

One thing is that, while *truly* challenging (the time and weather constraints definitely made things harder!), because of the no PP rule, it did exactly what I'm sure it was intended to do: it really forced me, at least, to start thinking a little differently and really *look* at light and what was around me and be absolutely 100% focused (pardon the pun) on what I saw through the viewfinder, cropping in camera as accurately as I could, learning some of my cameras' more buried features and adjustments, and not indulging in the "oh, I can just tweak that on the computer" approach (the irony here is that it's taken me a couple of years to START remembering that I can tweak it on the computer, but that just made me smile as much as anything). Back to "pure photography" if you like. (That said, is anybody else now DYING to get their hands on some of their shots that were "great, except for ::fill in the blank::" and start pp'ing the problems out of them??!!)

And, most importantly, it REALLY got me out shooting. I was lucky in that my work took me somewhere this past weekend where there was weather, something visually interesting to try to capture, and I (more or less) had the time to do it, but even at home in the first week it got me out of the house and exploring a whole new area of mystate and prompted some family outings to go exploring that were really fun! (My 10-year old demands to see the entry thread every day - she is nearly as glued to it as I am!)

I've posted a couple of times about how much this challenge has fired me up, and I can only reiterate my thanks to *everybody* - the folks who run it, and the people in here who've been so generous with their feedback to help nudge me along. It's been great!

Originally Posted by divamum Peter, I would absolutely agree. I'm leaving for the airport right now, but when I get home I'll post my picks, although there are definitely going to be more than ten, I have a feeling! One thing is that, while definitely *truly* challenging (the time and weather constraints definitely made things harder!), because of the no PP rule, it did exactly what I'm sure it was intended to do: it really forced me, at least, to start thinking a little differently and really *look* at light and what was around me and be absolutely 100% focused (pardon the pun) on what I saw through the viewfinder, cropping in camera as accurately as I could, learning some of my cameras' more buried features and adjustments, and not indulging in the "oh, I can just tweak that on the computer" approach (the irony here is that it's taken me a couple of years to START remembering that I can tweak it on the computer, but that just made me smile as much as anything). Back to "pure photography" if you like. (That said, is anybody else now DYING to get their hands on some of their shots that were "great, except for " and start pp'ing the problems out of them??!!) And, most importantly, it REALLY got me out shooting. I was lucky in that my work took me somewhere this past weekend where there was weather, something visually interesting to try to capture, and I (more or less) had the time to do it, but even at home in the first week it got me out of the house and exploring a whole new area of mystate and prompted some family outings to go exploring that were really fun! (My 10-year old demands to see the entry thread every day - she is nearly as glued to it as I am!) I've posted a couple of times about how much this challenge has fired me up, and I can only reiterate my thanks to *everybody* - the folks who run it, and the people in here who've been so generous with their feedback to help nudge me along. It's been great!

In the past two weeks I learned how to:

1) hold my camera straight. Er ... straighter. By the end my pictures weren't entirely lopsided!

2) Use the bracketing function of my camera. Until this challenge I barely new it existed!

3) take LOTS of pictures. Obsessively, almost. But now I have cool pictures of a storm over Lake Ontario, Kodak HQ at sunrise, a creepy water treatment plant, and a gaggle of ducks. I wouldn't have gotten any of these without a little challenge to push me.

So a big thank you to Dgrin in general and Greensquared and DoctorIT for giving me a little push!

Favorites:

#17 morning dew -- says "dawn" in a very creative way. Love those dewdrops!
#19 Oats in the morning -- love that silhouette.
#22 The 6:47 -- wonderful mood, makes me feel like I'm part of the scene.
#34 Slippin' into Darkness --I'm a sucker for cityscapes.
#36 Cascade Sunset -- this would make an awesome desktop wallpaper.
#39 Home Time -- I'm also a sucker for long exposures. The arch brings it all together nicely.
#45 Dusk Storm -- scary!
#55 Getting Up -- just lovely.
#58 It's about Twilight Now -- love that moon hanging in the sky.
#71 Got a nibble -- made me smile, and adds a wonderful human element.
#84 Evening mist. the colors are amazing!

Originally Posted by MarkR 3) take LOTS of pictures. Obsessively, almost. But now I have cool pictures of a storm over Lake Ontario, Kodak HQ at sunrise, a creepy water treatment plant, and a gaggle of ducks. I wouldn't have gotten any of these without a little challenge to push me.

Is anybody willing to 'fess up to just how many shots they took? I haven't done a final tally, but I know it was... er... ::cough::.... a lot (nobody will ever want to buy my XT, I have a feeling!! lol)

I'll Fess up....

it took me 15 tries for this shot, but I was shooting with a wrapped up arm and wrist, took quite the tumble this week past and dislocated elbow and thumb, I would have kept going but the pain was starting to annoy me...LOL. (Note: Never walk on tile floors with slightly wet feet )

Good Luck to All in this Round

Peace
Donna

Originally Posted by divamum Is anybody willing to 'fess up to just how many shots they took? I haven't done a final tally, but I know it was... er... ::cough::.... a lot (nobody will ever want to buy my XT, I have a feeling!! lol)

Too Many But.. It sure was fun!!

I ONLY SHOT ONE EXPOSURE AND THAT'S THE ONE THAT I ENTERED!

Yeah, right. If we were still using film I would own stock in Kodak or Fuji right now. I usually shoot with available/natural light to start with (don't own lights and hate using the on-camera flash unless absolutely necessary) but this challenge still pushed me to new limits. Oh, and Roaddog, I'm saving your title suggestion of "Night Train" for another challenge. I liked it but want to shoot something worthy of it.

Kerry, Mark, Halite, Gage, Anita, mactoll, ilbcnu, Linda, Donna, Karin, Pyro, Jeff, and Michael, thank you for putting me in your favorites list.
THANK YOU Emily for putting me in the voting round!

Here's my top ten.



— Kevin

My favs from this round:

This was hard, there were so many great shots.

#3 Desert Dusk- ilbcnu
#8 Stockton, NJ 09/24/2008 7:36 PM- richters
#35 Enchanted Breakfast- Ratty2austin
#46 dusk storm- bch2300
#47 Soft Light- Danspage
#55 Getting Up- jwear
#67 Morning Dorys- mactoll
#70 Quest For Light- izzy
#79 It's Around Here Somewhere- Travis
#84 Evening Mist- Michale Atkins

There were so many wonderful pictures. Good luck everyone!

Originally Posted by divamum Is anybody willing to 'fess up to just how many shots they took? I haven't done a final tally, but I know it was... er... ::cough::.... a lot (nobody will ever want to buy my XT, I have a feeling!! lol)

I cracked under pressure . I took 14 exposures Saturday evening but everything that could go wrong did. You can read about it in "So What Happens When Things Don't Come Together as Planned?" if you are interested.

Last night I decided to shift gears and go for I knew would be a surefire winner only to have everything once again miss the mark. I shot 70+ frames and had nothing earth shatteringly beautiful. There's a short recount in "Two in a Row with a Miss. Tough Weekend."

After viewing the entries that were posted, I debated on even posting an entry this round but the thought of sitting out was no fun. Everyone did an incredible job. I haven't narrowed down my top-10 (okay, it will probably more like top-30) images yet. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do it in the next couple of days. I don't envy the judges one bit! Good luck y'all!!!!!

Originally Posted by WomanWithACamera My favs from this round: This was hard, there were so many great shots. #79 It's Around Here Somewhere- Travis There were so many wonderful pictures. Good luck everyone!

Thanks WWAC! You made my morning.

Ok...I looked through all the photos and narrowed it down to 83. Here is a link. Seriously...what an amazing set of photos!!! Good luck Paul and GreenSquared! If I was a judge and had to narrow it down to 10 I'm afraid I would have to either use a dart board or pull names out of a hat. Very well done everyone!!!! I felt like I was looking through a stock photography book. Good luck.

Wow, I'm so glad some of you are fessing up...I took a 150 or so shots.

When I did finally get something I liked it wasn't straight. I had several ideas that got posted first so I moved on to something else.

I did learn more about my camera and it's settings which is always good.

I have to admit that my rhythm for getting things right lately is off. When I had a chance to get out and shoot either the weather didn't cooperate or tragedy struck. I even went out before sunrise this morning but it was raining and dark.

I would love to hear what others have learned. I certainly have more to learn and will be reading my book even more. I always depend on my brothers wise opinions but I think he even got sick of me so I had to punt.

Ok I'm done crying now.


BTW, awsome shots all of you.

Peace, gail

Originally Posted by The Curious Camel Wow, I'm so glad some of you are fessing up...I took a 150 or so shots.

I envy you. We had rain, fog and flat dead light for the last two weeks in Holland, so I ended up taking in excess of 600 frames this round and travelled over 400 miles.

I captured a number of shots that will be good after I process them, but couldn't get anything I liked straight out of camera until in desperation I went only about 5 minutes from home and in the space of an hour between one downpour and the next, I captured the image that I submitted (though I had to hold an umbrella up over my camera a couple of times while waiting for the ambient to drop down to where it balanced with the street and car lights).

Tough round, but very rewarding overall.

Regards,

Peter

Somewhere around ~300 exposures for this contest, but many/most of those were bracketed .

And I still think I could've done better.

peterst6906 I envy you. We had rain, fog and flat dead light for the last two weeks in Holland, so I ended up taking in excess of 600 frames this round and travelled over 400 miles

Don't envy me your shot is wonderful.

I don't ever remember a fall being so unattractive as far as light goes around here.

peace,g

Originally Posted by The Curious Camel I certainly have more to learn and will be reading my book even more. Peace, gail

I'm with you Gail except I had 3 books and a video to help me venture through all of the sub-menus of the D300 to set the flash controls, jpg atributes, etc. I think I build a small rocket ship now but I did learn a lot!

(airport wifi makes sitting around waiting SO much more pleasant...)

Yeah, I think I was around the 400 mark (including exposure bracketing multiples), although until I get home and check the other hard drive I'm not sure. "Lots'n'lots" should cover it specifically enough

Things I learned this round:

- ALWAYS take my dSLR on trips with me even if it seems like too much trouble - you never know when a place that sounds like it's going to be boring has something worth shooting!

- feet (ie moving to a new spot) may be the "original" focal length adjustment but long and wide-angle lenses frequently open up possibilities that would be otherwise IMpossible (ie, when feet would take you into the river or the middle of the street!).

(Did I mention how much I missed my dSLR rig this weekend? Why yes, I think I did....)

- my p&s will never be my favorite camera, but it is capable of a lot more than I thought it was :) I for sure learned the reality of "the best camera is the one you have with you"!

- automatic exposure bracketing is your friend, as is exposure compensation. Plus, experimenting with metering off different items in the shot - resuts in totally different effects (all of which coud be termed "good" exposure)

- light, light, light. NEVER forget about it. What direction it's coming from, how far away it is, what objects/items it's hitting. While this may seem obvious to the pros and more advanced photographers, to those of us just graduating from "good snapshots" to "real photography" this realisation is a Really Big Deal.

- while shooting for one "assignment" you may well get shots which don't fit the bill but are good in their own right. The shots I got at the lighthouse were useless for this challenge, but some of the rainsoaked docks ones are beyond my expectations of what I could capture, and I KNOW it's because I was concentrating on really good composition and exposure (for the SOOC requirement) and thus got much better shots than if I'd just started shooting indiscriminately. Lesson learned

To date, most of my better shots have been of living things, ie people and animals. Faces,, situations, expressions, actions. This is the first time I've really explored shooting... other stuff. Places. Light. Ambience. Mood. It's exciting to realise how much more there is out there to explore!

Originally Posted by shatch Ok...I looked through all the photos and narrowed it down to 83. Here is a link. Seriously...what an amazing set of photos!!! Good luck Paul and GreenSquared! If I was a judge and had to narrow it down to 10 I'm afraid I would have to either use a dart board or pull names out of a hat. Very well done everyone!!!! I felt like I was looking through a stock photography book. Good luck.

LOL LOL.....Yup I clicked on the link.....Hmmmmm maybe it is true, I need more coffee

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.