63 - pyry - And this should be green - Very clever idea. I am really not a fan of selective color work in photoshop but this is a perfect use of it. Only thing I *might* change, but I'm not sure, is to perhaps have a few more leaves already green - most of them are hidden behind the arms. That said - I'm not sure it'd be a good change, the composition sort of works with the viewer anticipating all those dang leaves getting painted - so perhaps less is more. Great idea, very well done!
Thank you
I had two primary (pun intended) ideas when I went for it and I knew going in that it was going to be a crowd splitter. You see the first where the work has just started, the other was having just a few branches in BW-IR - work almost finished.
I wanted to do an IR-Visual RGB composite, or just a selective color for round 4 already, but didn't have the time and so didn't take the idea further, until this round.
70 - kwalsh - Primarily Water - Well this is my entry, I had a bunch of other ideas that didn't pan out and did this at the last minute. Even though to me being an engineer type primary strictly means RGB, I now wonder if swapping the green dye for yellow wouldn't have been more appealing to the eye... Anyway, I'll let someone else critique mine (pretty please?)
I'll gladly return the favour
I can't help thinking that this has been done before. You're version of it is quite good, with the colours clearly contrasting agaist a reasonable flat white b/g. I probably would have cropped the edges of the glass out to just leave the colour trails hanging. Also, there are other primaries than just RGB, I kind of though of doing something meself with the full six, RGB, CMY.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to critique all of us, I respect it!
62 - peterst6906 - The Wide Blue - This is one of my favorites. It is a very well executed blue on blue with yellow pastel highlights. For such a static subject it is a bit of a dynamic composition - the dock line leads the eye in and the sweeping curve of the bow kind of anchors the eye, but the higher contrast tower keeps dragging the eye up into the sky and then dropping it back to the bow. Well, I'm not going to over analyze. I think it is spot on to the theme and I like the composition of simple elements a lot. I don't know what to improve, ranks very high with me. Excellent!
Thanks for the feedback and especially for taking the time.
Now hurry up and win a round, so you can judge.
Regards,
Peter
It's not my camera's fault, I'm just visually illiterate
20 - Karrie McD - Jumping through hoops - Definitely bridging photography and graphic art. Photos like this are why I'm glad the challenges have such open rules and don't restrict people's creativity. I'd hate to see something like this excluded by silly rules and arguements about what constitutes a "photo". Anyway, definitely draws the eye. In a "created" image like this there is no excuse for missing any compositional elements and this image seems pretty darn flawless in that department. Very imaginative.
Thank you very much!!! However, I think things are confused...either I am confused or my photo is confusing. I don't think any graphic art was used and I am pretty sure, other than a little manipulation, my entry is 100% photography. All I did was cut and past and resize. does that constitute as graphic art and a "created" image? (SERIOUS QUESTION HERE, CUZ I AM NOT SURE NOW and need to know for futrure reference)
I like that you said I was imaginative, but once you see the photo, you will see...not to imaginative here.
I just took a picture of this fish (made out of laundry soap containers) and then cut out the fish and put it in a picture of my mom's pool (a couple times at different opacities).
AND MY TOP TEN IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.
GREAT JOB EVERYONE, SO MANY NEW ENTRIES AND SO MUCH IMPROVEMENT, I AM VERY IMPRESSED HERE!!!!!!
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you are right."
Thank you very much!!! However, I think things are confused...either I am confused or my photo is confusing. I don't think any graphic art was used and I am pretty sure, other than a little manipulation, my entry is 100% photography.
Sorry if my quick paragraph was a bit confusing. I definitely got it that all the elements of the image are photographs and that nothing was "drawn". I just used the term "graphic art" (probably incorrectly) to mean that you had taken a couple of different elements that you photographed and repeated/scaled and placed them in a completely controlled way to create a totally new composition. It seemed to me a bit beyond just compositing two images like sneeking a sunrise behind a foreground. You actually had a composition in mind that was well beyond what was implied in the photos you built it from, but it is certainly all photographic elements. Some purists (there have been many debates in the past) would question whether this was a "photo" because it doesn't reflect "what the camera saw" or even what a camera could see. I for one am glad this contest ignores such myopic distinctions.
What I didn't understand was the scale of the fish. Wow! That's pretty cool. I wasn't sure if you had arranged some bits and then created the border of a fish around them in photoshop or what, but now I can see that in fact it started as a really big fish from the start!
I can't help thinking that this has been done before. You're version of it is quite good, with the colours clearly contrasting agaist a reasonable flat white b/g. I probably would have cropped the edges of the glass out to just leave the colour trails hanging. Also, there are other primaries than just RGB, I kind of though of doing something meself with the full six, RGB, CMY.
Thank you for commenting!
Yeah, definitely done before, but I was out of ideas at the last minute. Well, it gave me a chance to do some "studio" like work. As you said, removing the edges of the glass would probably be better (especially since it is such a boring glass). I left them in probably just because I was excited to be trying out the classic backlit glass lighting arrangement and was happy with the edge definition I'd gotten - even though it doesn't contribute much. Well, it was fun anyway!
I'd like to 3rd, 4th & 5th it! I am amazed by anyone who can communicate so clearly and cogently with the written word. It takes me forever just to think up just one or two sentences (like these)...it would take me a couple weeks to do what kwalsh has done - Thank you Ken! I think that's one reason that I enjoy photography - my natural aversion to words.
Thanks for all of your support - it's very much appreciated and it's an honor to be a part of this group.
66 - hawkeye978 - Lossestrife in the Swamp - A very pretty landscape, and a bit different from all the flower closeups. I like it quite a bit, not sure what I'd change if anything. I have no idea if the scene would allow it, but perhaps a slight move to the left or right, it seems the closest tree is dead center in the frame - sort of creating a wedge of trees pointed at the veiwer that is perfectly centered. Might look better on a third. But that is pretty minor nitpicking, a really nice shot. Good job!
Ken,
Thanks for the feedback. I went around a little on the crop for the same reason. I already cropped fairly tight to emphasize the flowers. Further shifting would start to significantly cut off the flowers and I thought the subject was starting to shift away from the flowers when I did that.
33 - evoryware - I'm not Ronald! - This guy is sure full of color! Again, candid shooting has its limits, but if possible it would have been neat to have had a bit more interaction in the portrait, perhaps him handing his finished work to a kid. Still, neat to have worked a candid portrait into the contest theme.
Ken
Thanks for the critique Kwalsh! I appreciate it. I tried for about 10 minutes as my ride walked away out of sight to capture a shot like what you suggest, him passing the balloon, but the fair was crowded and every single time he passed a balloon someone walked into the shot.
Here's my picks:
No particular order, but the bottom 4 are HM.
Canon 40D : Canon 400D : Canon Elan 7NE : Canon 580EX : 2 x Canon 430EX : Canon 24-70 f2.8L : Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM : Canon 28-135mm f/3.5 IS : 18-55mm f/3.5 : 4GB Sandisk Extreme III : 2GB Sandisk Extreme III : 2 x 1GB Sandisk Ultra II : Sekonik L358
71 - overparduffer - "Childs Play" - Welcome to the contests! To answer your question, you are in fact doing it right! Composition wise it is a fairly simple set up, nothing wrong with that. I see that the red duck is offset from the other two. That breaks things up a bit, which can be a positive thing, but in this case I don't think it adds a whole lot and having the red one strictly in line with the others I think would be stronger. The lighting could use a little work, I can see you are using on camera flash and it is causing a harsh shadow under the chin of the blue duck on the yellow duck not to mention the nasty specular highlight on the side of the blue duck's head. In general, on camera flash as a primary source is bad - on axis and tiny it creates very hard light. You appear to be getting some fill light from the left from an open window and that's helping keep the light from being too harsh. With still lifes like this you can get great lighting on the cheap if you just put the camera on a tripod (or any other stable platfrom) to handle long exposures and gather up some desk lamps from around the house and some white poster boards (bouncers) or tissue paper (diffusers). For something like this you probably want a physically large (bounced or diffused) primary source to the side somewhere and then experiment with a fill source - if all this is greek to you check out some lighting basics on the web and remember for still lifes resist the urge to go out and buy strobes and lighting gear, just use the stuff you have around the house. Good first entry, keep submitting.
72 - MikeK - Blueberry Pastel - The pastels on the berries are quite nice. I might crop them even tighter. Looks like this was shot with on camera fill-flash and I think the fill is just dialed up a bit too high, getting some glare and shadows and the light is very flat. I think the natural light alone might have been better, or perhaps fill from a bit more to the side (with the pop up flash on your 40D being this close to the subject you can still side fill by using a pair of white cards to bounce the flash over to the side). The more I look at this the more I think you found a great subject, the pastel colors of the berries are really excellent. Tighter crop and better lighting in my opinion would make this entry really shine. Good find!
73 - thegreenegg - A mask's reflection - A nice subject, you've got an overall pastel tone with two primary highlights on the mask. The really high ISO has brought in some chroma noise in the bottom which is a bit objectionable and easily correctable by using a tripod and lower ISO instead. That said, I see this is from your photo a day project (super admirable by the way) and so I suspect maybe you didn't want to take the time. Nose glare seems a bit blown as well. Regarless, a nice concept and composition. Keep up your photo a day!
74 - agilepawz - Frilly Lilly - Well, I keep saying it, but while this is a nice flower shot there are many others this round! In this case I think perhaps the light is a bit dull, looks like fullshadow or overcast day. Can be hard to control such things, but while soft light is good I think it still needs to be a bit more directional to get some more definition of shape on this. Still, a nice flower macro. Is this your first entry? Hope to see more!
75 - Michael Atkins - Leftovers... - I like the title, various parts of the house always end up with detritus from my not so bright ideas. For fitting the theme I might have included less of the black well. The light is a tad harsh here, the sidelighting is good, but I'd make the source a bit larger bit bouncing or diffusing. It is actually not the shadows here that are distracting but the really bright specular highlights coming from certain spots. Overall, a good idea, but I think a few others did better with similar elements. Anyway, I know from your past entries you can really put together some great ones, wish we could see what "failed" .
76 - OhEddie - The Grand - I really like this one, it is one of my favorites. Great subject. Only experiment I might conduct (perhaps you did) is moving closer to the building and pointing the camera up to get the more colorful base larger with the spire receeding. But I really don't know if that would improve things, I like the current composition quite a bit. Great job!
77 - furiousfart - Oldest Ice - This is definitely one of my favorites. Perhaps a tad "done before" but I think an excellent fit to this theme and a very nice photo on its own. I've got no words for improvement. Wonderful!
78 - swintonphoto - Hand Me a Wheel - Cute idea spot on to the theme. Not sure what to change really!
79 - Nikolai - What women want... - A new 40D or D300? Nice shot, but in this particular round I think the lips/apple/fingernails shot is my preferred entry head to head with this one. Nothing at all wrong with this one and I've got nothing to improve on it, excellent execution as always Nikolai.
80 - TPBinKC - Red is the loneliest color - Good concept, I like it. Only thing I'd *try* is perhaps of centering the red marble - but I suspect it may work best as is being the central focus and keeping the yellow and blue balanced on each side. Good idea.
72 - MikeK - Blueberry Pastel - The pastels on the berries are quite nice. I might crop them even tighter. Looks like this was shot with on camera fill-flash and I think the fill is just dialed up a bit too high, getting some glare and shadows and the light is very flat. I think the natural light alone might have been better, or perhaps fill from a bit more to the side (with the pop up flash on your 40D being this close to the subject you can still side fill by using a pair of white cards to bounce the flash over to the side). The more I look at this the more I think you found a great subject, the pastel colors of the berries are really excellent. Tighter crop and better lighting in my opinion would make this entry really shine. Good find!
Ken
Ken, thanks for the feedback. I was out blueberry picking last weekend and realized it would make a good pastel entry. I did use a 430ex flash, pointed up with a vertical bounce card to soften the flash. I agree, I do need to get an off-camera flash setup for this type of subject though.
77 - furiousfart - Oldest Ice - This is definitely one of my favorites. Perhaps a tad "done before" but I think an excellent fit to this theme and a very nice photo on its own. I've got no words for improvement. Wonderful!
Ken
Thanks for the feedback, I hadn't even intended to enter, but after looking at it after getting back from taking it I thought it would be a nice fit. If I was to change anything I might do a little editing to it, as it is I did none, I'd like to see where I could get it from where it is to improve it.
81 - redleash - Canine Color Vision - To answer your question, so *we* can find their toys in the bushes... Again a simple three colored objects still life we've seen from a few other entires, a good starting point. In this case it is missing something and is a bit bland. Lighting definitely a bit hard as well. Rather than the plain white back drop you might have tried the impossible - getting your dog to lie still in front of the toys. I see your pooch is black and would make a nice back drop (although lighting a block dog is always a challenge too). But in an ideal world I see your dog lying down, head up with the toys in between the forepaws looking at the camera - of course you may need to give the dog a fifth of wiskey to keep the toys in one place...
82 - tamplum - Color Wheel - Pretty spot on to the theme (with the "complementaries" added in). Lacks a bit of pop, perhaps an idea would have been to use a rather slow shutter speed and then get the wheel spinning during the exposure?
83 - chandi - Ephemeral - I like this idea and the colors are quite nice. Technically the photo suffers from some pretty obvious color banding/splotching (sometimes called posterization) which is a bit objectionable. Things that might help it would be reducing the size of the entry and care in post processing (often happens when dialing up too much saturation or contrast). In a diffuse subject like this sometimes a gaussian blur can help as well. Very nice idea.
84 - mtmillz - Caught... - A first entry I think? Welcome! Very original, the sunset backdrop is nice. The lighting is well done. I'd be tempted to get more of the red hand in on the left side, but perhaps it'd be overwhelming and it is already "just right". I like the framing of the face with the hands/arms. Well done.
Whew! All done!
That was hard. On the other hand having to pick a fixed number for "finals" might be even worse, I don't envy the judges.
As a final note, please no one take offense from any comments. I'm just a single viewer and I may have completely missed the point of your photo while everyone else just gets it. I'd encourage anyone who thinks one of my comments is off base, a little too thin or just provokes a thought to jump in with their own comments.
Great entries!
Ken
P.S. That was a lot of typing, so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. I noticed in a few proofreads I completely wrote the wrong word sometimes in my haste so if something is completely unintelligible it is probably me and not you!
Ken, thanks for the feedback. I was out blueberry picking last weekend and realized it would make a good pastel entry. I did use a 430ex flash, pointed up with a vertical bounce card to soften the flash. I agree, I do need to get an off-camera flash setup for this type of subject though.
Off camera flash is nice, but actually you already had just what you needed on you. Take the bounce card off the flash and put it where you'd like your "off camera" flash to be. Then use the rotating head on the 430 to point the flash at the card instead of the subject and let E-TTL take care of the rest (or manually set the flash power if you want). This "wastes" light, but with subject this close the 430 will power through it no problem. It's great to experiment with what is available because so many shots come up when you're unlikely to have dragged a whole lighting studio along with you.
This entry I did back in LPS used a similar ghetto setup:
That was a 430 turned to the right and bounced off a reflective car window shade balanced on a chair... I tend to be a cheap bastard, I actually borrowed the flash...
Some purists (there have been many debates in the past) would question whether this was a "photo" because it doesn't reflect "what the camera saw" or even what a camera could see.
Ken
Ohhhh I see. Yes, my entry was definatly a fictional photograph.
I was just confused when you used the term graphic art because I didn't "draw" anything.
Thank you sooo much for taking the time to critique me...and everyone else. I can't find the time to do it and I know everyone appriciates it.
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you are right."
82 - tamplum - Color Wheel - Pretty spot on to the theme (with the "complementaries" added in). Lacks a bit of pop, perhaps an idea would have been to use a rather slow shutter speed and then get the wheel spinning during the exposure?
I have to agree with your critique. I must have shot that silly wheel about 30 times, but never quite got it the way I pictured in my mind. But, I learned a lot about my camera in the process. I love entering these challenges, they force me out of my comfort area and to think out of the box.
There were so many amazing entries this round, I love the creativity everyone showed.
**Taking the moments one shot at a time**
~Working with my Nikon D80~
<My dream is to be the kind of mother, my kids already think I am>
65 - Jet Jaguar - Junkyard Flower - First time? Welcome! A nice entry, but we are certainly overwhelmed with flowers this round and this is a good one but there are stronger. Personally (as I mentioned above) I'm not a super big fan of selective color tricks, but given their ubiquity in the wedding business it obviously does connect with a lot of people. That said, you have executed it well and should be happy with the result. I notice that the flower is already separated in focus from the background, which is good. You might accetuate this more with a wider aperature or in this case since you've already masked the flower you could selectively blur a bit more in photoshop. Nicely done, look forward to seeing more!
Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback to every entry. Yes, this is my first time. I sat on the photo for a couple of days because I didn't think it measured up to the competition, but I figured why not?
I was trying to isolate the subject via DOF, and I actually had shots ranging from f/1.4 to f/5.6 (the final one was f/4.0). I preferred the softer backgrounds of the wider apertures but lost some detail inside the flower. It didn't occur to me that since I already masked off the flower, I could easily apply gaussian blur to just the background.
Although I did not have an entry in this contest, I really appreciated and enjoyed your feedback. It made me go back and look at all the entries a number of times. What a great crop of photos!
Your efforts and those of everyone who takes a moment to letthe community know which ones they like and why really enrich the challenges and make them a learning experience for us all.
Thank you!
Virginia
_______________________________________________ "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus
76 - OhEddie - The Grand - I really like this one, it is one of my favorites. Great subject. Only experiment I might conduct (perhaps you did) is moving closer to the building and pointing the camera up to get the more colorful base larger with the spire receeding. But I really don't know if that would improve things, I like the current composition quite a bit. Great job!
Only one more page to go!
Ken
Ken, Thank so much for "ALL" of your comments. And thanks also for including me in your "favorites" list. I'm a 2 finger typer so I would never attempt to post so many comments.
As for my photo, yes, I did want the angle you suggested, but as you can see, in the image below, there was this big SUV parked in front of the theater that gave me fits. What I really wanted was a shot that included people lined up for tickets to give an interesting balance the theater lights. But as they say, The best laid plans...
As for your image...
Yeah, RGB baby. Great idea for spotlighting the three colors. The colors grab your attention immediately, but then I find myself wanting more. Perhaps an out of fucus color wheel in the background, or placed like a coaster under the glass with a slightly higher angle. Still, the shot exemplifies what I thought was the point of the "primary" part of the contest. Highlighting the 3 primary colors, weather they are RBG of RBY http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/design/color.htm
I had that, "Hmmmm, it just needs something more" feeling with both the image I entered, and this one that I almost entered...
"Primarily Fun"
Well, anyway, this was my first challenge, and it's been a blast
Blessed are those who remain flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape.
Page 6....
54 - sunita - Take your pick - This is definitely one of my favorite images. It is such a simple concept and beautifully executed. The only thing I might *try*, and no telling if it'd actually be better, but perhaps a tighter off center crop. The current image is perhaps too symmetric. Anyway, great idea and a lovely image. Excellent!
Ken
Thanks Ken, for your positive feedback! Very glad you liked my shot.:D Thanks also to Anna Marie and Kevxman for incl. me in your top picks and to evoryware for the HM
Re: your photo (Ken) I thought the composition and idea were great, but the execution was lacking a little. What bothered me the most was the lighting - the light looks slightly harsh and uneven, whereas a softer even lighting would have made this a winner. Hope this helps!
75 - Michael Atkins - Leftovers... - I like the title, various parts of the house always end up with detritus from my not so bright ideas. For fitting the theme I might have included less of the black well. The light is a tad harsh here, the sidelighting is good, but I'd make the source a bit larger bit bouncing or diffusing. It is actually not the shadows here that are distracting but the really bright specular highlights coming from certain spots. Overall, a good idea, but I think a few others did better with similar elements. Anyway, I know from your past entries you can really put together some great ones, wish we could see what "failed" .
Thank you very much Ken for the feedback and compliment. I really appreciate all the work it took for you to do this. I totally agree with your assessment and had similar feelings. But as I'm sure you know procrastination + looming deadline + photo idea block = rushed last minute attempt with time running out. I really wish I had thought of the idea that mess was for attempting earlier but oh well. What I was going to try was to let drops of paint fall to a canvas and capture the collision and splatter effect (without ruining a lens or creating a huge mess). Trying to do that with 12hrs left until deadline probably a bad idea. So that's what I ended up with. Here a few of the pictures coming from the attempts that aren't even close to what I envisioned but I did strongly consider the last one.
Unauthorized Testarossa Spy Shot The set up...just the sun for light and a few passing clouds as a diffuser. The seed of inspiration for this came from sunita's egg shot in the last mini challenge - Thanks sunita!
A belated thanks for those that included my humble 'gate' in their favorites. And a big thanks for the detailed critiques...they are very much appreciated!!
E
Comments
Thank you
I had two primary (pun intended) ideas when I went for it and I knew going in that it was going to be a crowd splitter. You see the first where the work has just started, the other was having just a few branches in BW-IR - work almost finished.
I wanted to do an IR-Visual RGB composite, or just a selective color for round 4 already, but didn't have the time and so didn't take the idea further, until this round.
I'll gladly return the favour
I can't help thinking that this has been done before. You're version of it is quite good, with the colours clearly contrasting agaist a reasonable flat white b/g. I probably would have cropped the edges of the glass out to just leave the colour trails hanging. Also, there are other primaries than just RGB, I kind of though of doing something meself with the full six, RGB, CMY.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to critique all of us, I respect it!
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
T
www.studioTphotos.com
"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons."
----Ruth Ann Schubacker
Thanks for the feedback and especially for taking the time.
Now hurry up and win a round, so you can judge.
Regards,
Peter
Thank you very much!!! However, I think things are confused...either I am confused or my photo is confusing. I don't think any graphic art was used and I am pretty sure, other than a little manipulation, my entry is 100% photography. All I did was cut and past and resize. does that constitute as graphic art and a "created" image? (SERIOUS QUESTION HERE, CUZ I AM NOT SURE NOW and need to know for futrure reference)
I like that you said I was imaginative, but once you see the photo, you will see...not to imaginative here.
I just took a picture of this fish (made out of laundry soap containers) and then cut out the fish and put it in a picture of my mom's pool (a couple times at different opacities).
AND MY TOP TEN IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.
GREAT JOB EVERYONE, SO MANY NEW ENTRIES AND SO MUCH IMPROVEMENT, I AM VERY IMPRESSED HERE!!!!!!
Some of My Photos: app.electrikfolio.com/v/steven-hatch
I'd like to second that motion!
Sorry if my quick paragraph was a bit confusing. I definitely got it that all the elements of the image are photographs and that nothing was "drawn". I just used the term "graphic art" (probably incorrectly) to mean that you had taken a couple of different elements that you photographed and repeated/scaled and placed them in a completely controlled way to create a totally new composition. It seemed to me a bit beyond just compositing two images like sneeking a sunrise behind a foreground. You actually had a composition in mind that was well beyond what was implied in the photos you built it from, but it is certainly all photographic elements. Some purists (there have been many debates in the past) would question whether this was a "photo" because it doesn't reflect "what the camera saw" or even what a camera could see. I for one am glad this contest ignores such myopic distinctions.
What I didn't understand was the scale of the fish. Wow! That's pretty cool. I wasn't sure if you had arranged some bits and then created the border of a fish around them in photoshop or what, but now I can see that in fact it started as a really big fish from the start!
Ken
You are a keyboard manaic.!
Yeah, definitely done before, but I was out of ideas at the last minute. Well, it gave me a chance to do some "studio" like work. As you said, removing the edges of the glass would probably be better (especially since it is such a boring glass). I left them in probably just because I was excited to be trying out the classic backlit glass lighting arrangement and was happy with the edge definition I'd gotten - even though it doesn't contribute much. Well, it was fun anyway!
Thanks again,
Ken
I'd like to 3rd, 4th & 5th it! I am amazed by anyone who can communicate so clearly and cogently with the written word. It takes me forever just to think up just one or two sentences (like these)...it would take me a couple weeks to do what kwalsh has done - Thank you Ken! I think that's one reason that I enjoy photography - my natural aversion to words.
Thanks for all of your support - it's very much appreciated and it's an honor to be a part of this group.
Ken,
Thanks for the feedback. I went around a little on the crop for the same reason. I already cropped fairly tight to emphasize the flowers. Further shifting would start to significantly cut off the flowers and I thought the subject was starting to shift away from the flowers when I did that.
Thanks again.
Website: Tom Price Photography
Blog: Capturing Photons
Facebook: Tom Price Photography
Thanks for the critique Kwalsh! I appreciate it. I tried for about 10 minutes as my ride walked away out of sight to capture a shot like what you suggest, him passing the balloon, but the fair was crowded and every single time he passed a balloon someone walked into the shot.
Here's my picks:
No particular order, but the bottom 4 are HM.
dak.smugmug.com
71 - overparduffer - "Childs Play" - Welcome to the contests! To answer your question, you are in fact doing it right! Composition wise it is a fairly simple set up, nothing wrong with that. I see that the red duck is offset from the other two. That breaks things up a bit, which can be a positive thing, but in this case I don't think it adds a whole lot and having the red one strictly in line with the others I think would be stronger. The lighting could use a little work, I can see you are using on camera flash and it is causing a harsh shadow under the chin of the blue duck on the yellow duck not to mention the nasty specular highlight on the side of the blue duck's head. In general, on camera flash as a primary source is bad - on axis and tiny it creates very hard light. You appear to be getting some fill light from the left from an open window and that's helping keep the light from being too harsh. With still lifes like this you can get great lighting on the cheap if you just put the camera on a tripod (or any other stable platfrom) to handle long exposures and gather up some desk lamps from around the house and some white poster boards (bouncers) or tissue paper (diffusers). For something like this you probably want a physically large (bounced or diffused) primary source to the side somewhere and then experiment with a fill source - if all this is greek to you check out some lighting basics on the web and remember for still lifes resist the urge to go out and buy strobes and lighting gear, just use the stuff you have around the house. Good first entry, keep submitting.
72 - MikeK - Blueberry Pastel - The pastels on the berries are quite nice. I might crop them even tighter. Looks like this was shot with on camera fill-flash and I think the fill is just dialed up a bit too high, getting some glare and shadows and the light is very flat. I think the natural light alone might have been better, or perhaps fill from a bit more to the side (with the pop up flash on your 40D being this close to the subject you can still side fill by using a pair of white cards to bounce the flash over to the side). The more I look at this the more I think you found a great subject, the pastel colors of the berries are really excellent. Tighter crop and better lighting in my opinion would make this entry really shine. Good find!
73 - thegreenegg - A mask's reflection - A nice subject, you've got an overall pastel tone with two primary highlights on the mask. The really high ISO has brought in some chroma noise in the bottom which is a bit objectionable and easily correctable by using a tripod and lower ISO instead. That said, I see this is from your photo a day project (super admirable by the way) and so I suspect maybe you didn't want to take the time. Nose glare seems a bit blown as well. Regarless, a nice concept and composition. Keep up your photo a day!
74 - agilepawz - Frilly Lilly - Well, I keep saying it, but while this is a nice flower shot there are many others this round! In this case I think perhaps the light is a bit dull, looks like fullshadow or overcast day. Can be hard to control such things, but while soft light is good I think it still needs to be a bit more directional to get some more definition of shape on this. Still, a nice flower macro. Is this your first entry? Hope to see more!
75 - Michael Atkins - Leftovers... - I like the title, various parts of the house always end up with detritus from my not so bright ideas. For fitting the theme I might have included less of the black well. The light is a tad harsh here, the sidelighting is good, but I'd make the source a bit larger bit bouncing or diffusing. It is actually not the shadows here that are distracting but the really bright specular highlights coming from certain spots. Overall, a good idea, but I think a few others did better with similar elements. Anyway, I know from your past entries you can really put together some great ones, wish we could see what "failed"
76 - OhEddie - The Grand - I really like this one, it is one of my favorites. Great subject. Only experiment I might conduct (perhaps you did) is moving closer to the building and pointing the camera up to get the more colorful base larger with the spire receeding. But I really don't know if that would improve things, I like the current composition quite a bit. Great job!
77 - furiousfart - Oldest Ice - This is definitely one of my favorites. Perhaps a tad "done before" but I think an excellent fit to this theme and a very nice photo on its own. I've got no words for improvement. Wonderful!
78 - swintonphoto - Hand Me a Wheel - Cute idea spot on to the theme. Not sure what to change really!
79 - Nikolai - What women want... - A new 40D or D300? Nice shot, but in this particular round I think the lips/apple/fingernails shot is my preferred entry head to head with this one. Nothing at all wrong with this one and I've got nothing to improve on it, excellent execution as always Nikolai.
80 - TPBinKC - Red is the loneliest color - Good concept, I like it. Only thing I'd *try* is perhaps of centering the red marble - but I suspect it may work best as is being the central focus and keeping the yellow and blue balanced on each side. Good idea.
Only one more page to go!
Ken
Answering your question: (one year) old 40D + EF 100/2.8 macro
Ken, thanks for the feedback. I was out blueberry picking last weekend and realized it would make a good pastel entry. I did use a 430ex flash, pointed up with a vertical bounce card to soften the flash. I agree, I do need to get an off-camera flash setup for this type of subject though.
Thanks!
http://www.bourbonstreetphotography.com
Thanks for the feedback, I hadn't even intended to enter, but after looking at it after getting back from taking it I thought it would be a nice fit. If I was to change anything I might do a little editing to it, as it is I did none, I'd like to see where I could get it from where it is to improve it.
81 - redleash - Canine Color Vision - To answer your question, so *we* can find their toys in the bushes... Again a simple three colored objects still life we've seen from a few other entires, a good starting point. In this case it is missing something and is a bit bland. Lighting definitely a bit hard as well. Rather than the plain white back drop you might have tried the impossible - getting your dog to lie still in front of the toys. I see your pooch is black and would make a nice back drop (although lighting a block dog is always a challenge too). But in an ideal world I see your dog lying down, head up with the toys in between the forepaws looking at the camera - of course you may need to give the dog a fifth of wiskey to keep the toys in one place...
82 - tamplum - Color Wheel - Pretty spot on to the theme (with the "complementaries" added in). Lacks a bit of pop, perhaps an idea would have been to use a rather slow shutter speed and then get the wheel spinning during the exposure?
83 - chandi - Ephemeral - I like this idea and the colors are quite nice. Technically the photo suffers from some pretty obvious color banding/splotching (sometimes called posterization) which is a bit objectionable. Things that might help it would be reducing the size of the entry and care in post processing (often happens when dialing up too much saturation or contrast). In a diffuse subject like this sometimes a gaussian blur can help as well. Very nice idea.
84 - mtmillz - Caught... - A first entry I think? Welcome! Very original, the sunset backdrop is nice. The lighting is well done. I'd be tempted to get more of the red hand in on the left side, but perhaps it'd be overwhelming and it is already "just right". I like the framing of the face with the hands/arms. Well done.
Whew! All done!
That was hard. On the other hand having to pick a fixed number for "finals" might be even worse, I don't envy the judges.
As a final note, please no one take offense from any comments. I'm just a single viewer and I may have completely missed the point of your photo while everyone else just gets it. I'd encourage anyone who thinks one of my comments is off base, a little too thin or just provokes a thought to jump in with their own comments.
Great entries!
Ken
P.S. That was a lot of typing, so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. I noticed in a few proofreads I completely wrote the wrong word sometimes in my haste so if something is completely unintelligible it is probably me and not you!
This entry I did back in LPS used a similar ghetto setup:
That was a 430 turned to the right and bounced off a reflective car window shade balanced on a chair... I tend to be a cheap bastard, I actually borrowed the flash...
Ken
Ohhhh I see. Yes, my entry was definatly a fictional photograph.
I was just confused when you used the term graphic art because I didn't "draw" anything.
Thank you sooo much for taking the time to critique me...and everyone else. I can't find the time to do it and I know everyone appriciates it.
I have to agree with your critique. I must have shot that silly wheel about 30 times, but never quite got it the way I pictured in my mind. But, I learned a lot about my camera in the process. I love entering these challenges, they force me out of my comfort area and to think out of the box.
There were so many amazing entries this round, I love the creativity everyone showed.
Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback to every entry. Yes, this is my first time. I sat on the photo for a couple of days because I didn't think it measured up to the competition, but I figured why not?
I was trying to isolate the subject via DOF, and I actually had shots ranging from f/1.4 to f/5.6 (the final one was f/4.0). I preferred the softer backgrounds of the wider apertures but lost some detail inside the flower. It didn't occur to me that since I already masked off the flower, I could easily apply gaussian blur to just the background.
Although I did not have an entry in this contest, I really appreciated and enjoyed your feedback. It made me go back and look at all the entries a number of times. What a great crop of photos!
Your efforts and those of everyone who takes a moment to letthe community know which ones they like and why really enrich the challenges and make them a learning experience for us all.
Thank you!
Virginia
"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus
Email
And thanks, Pyro, for including me in your favorites.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
Ken, Thank so much for "ALL" of your comments. And thanks also for including me in your "favorites" list. I'm a 2 finger typer so I would never attempt to post so many comments.
As for my photo, yes, I did want the angle you suggested, but as you can see, in the image below, there was this big SUV parked in front of the theater that gave me fits. What I really wanted was a shot that included people lined up for tickets to give an interesting balance the theater lights. But as they say, The best laid plans...
As for your image...
Yeah, RGB baby. Great idea for spotlighting the three colors. The colors grab your attention immediately, but then I find myself wanting more. Perhaps an out of fucus color wheel in the background, or placed like a coaster under the glass with a slightly higher angle. Still, the shot exemplifies what I thought was the point of the "primary" part of the contest. Highlighting the 3 primary colors, weather they are RBG of RBY http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/design/color.htm
I had that, "Hmmmm, it just needs something more" feeling with both the image I entered, and this one that I almost entered...
"Primarily Fun"
Well, anyway, this was my first challenge, and it's been a blast
Thanks Ken, for your positive feedback! Very glad you liked my shot.:D Thanks also to Anna Marie and Kevxman for incl. me in your top picks and to evoryware for the HM
Re: your photo (Ken) I thought the composition and idea were great, but the execution was lacking a little. What bothered me the most was the lighting - the light looks slightly harsh and uneven, whereas a softer even lighting would have made this a winner. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Sunita
Thank you very much Ken for the feedback and compliment. I really appreciate all the work it took for you to do this. I totally agree with your assessment and had similar feelings. But as I'm sure you know procrastination + looming deadline + photo idea block = rushed last minute attempt with time running out. I really wish I had thought of the idea that mess was for attempting earlier but oh well. What I was going to try was to let drops of paint fall to a canvas and capture the collision and splatter effect (without ruining a lens or creating a huge mess). Trying to do that with 12hrs left until deadline probably a bad idea. So that's what I ended up with. Here a few of the pictures coming from the attempts that aren't even close to what I envisioned but I did strongly consider the last one.
1.
2.
3.
Thank you all for including my photo in your list of top shots. I now feel as though, in my first challenge entry, I got at least an Honorable Mention
Thanks.
The set up...just the sun for light and a few passing clouds as a diffuser.
The seed of inspiration for this came from sunita's egg shot in the last mini challenge - Thanks sunita!
I knew it!
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
E
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