DSS #28 Circle or Square Unofficial Feedback Thread

hawkeye978

Here is the official gallery to give your C&C for DSS#28

Gallery Found Here...


Once more into the fray. This unofficial feedback thread is a catch-all of sorts, lets make it happen:thumb

Anyway, let's start feedback on DSS #28!!

This thread is:

• a place to post a list of your top ten favorites. (be heard, and let everyone know what images moved you.)
• a place to post your "the making of my image"
• a place to ask someone "how did they do that?"(for us all to see:D )

Feedback is an important part of the photographic process. While those selected as finalists get feedback from the judges and those who vote, others are never quite sure where they stand. So share your thoughts both in this thread and with comments in the actual gallery. Constructive criticism should always be welcome.

It's easy to post thumbnails (with help from our Moderator).

With the image selected in the gallery, copy its URL from your browser, add "-Th.jpg" to the end, delete the jumble of numbers and letters preceding the hashtag (#), change "gallery" to "photos" and that's it.

Example

Change this url

http://challenges.smugmug.com/gallery/7821877_VUfQz#508585564_r5YQB

To this

http://challenges.smugmug.com/photos/508585564_r5YQB-Th.jpg

Happy Feedbacking :scratch

KevXman

Guess I'll go first. . .
Impressive results for a challenge that had me pretty much stumped. After searching for two weeks, I ended up entering/sticking with the one that I stumbled across. Good luck everyone.

In no particular order. . .


— Kevin

bf2015

Just 10? Man, this is hard! Glad I don't have to judge! It was hard just narrowing it down to 10!

Awesome job everybody!

Just 10 in gallery order:

Kinkajou

here are mine in gallery order:



Guess the circles have it

Really creative shots, everyone! It's really interesting to look around your everyday life for circles and squares; I was so surprised at some of the places I noticed them

MikeK

Fantastic entries by everyone. Below are a few of my favorites, in no particular order, which were VERY hard to narrow down. These are some that jumped out at me before my eyes went blurry, and that I felt strongly represented the theme.

dnie

ok, I think I figured out the thumbs this time!
Wonderful entries everyone!!!
This are some of my favs in gallery order.

Katmitchell

Bravo... Awesome Entries Guys and Gals. clap

Talented Group of Photogs Indeed..thumb

dlplumer

divamum

This group never makes it easy, do they?????!!!????? :yikes :help:uhoh

I'll start commenting in the galleries in due course, but a few general comments. A always, I had way more than 10 entries which I wanted to include, and while I had to make a shortlist, not all of which could be finalists, there were a couple which it PAINED me to have to cull from my list - in the end, the only way to whittle it down was to start nit-picking, sometimes on small technical matters, sometimes on (my interpretation) of relevance to theme.

Thank you for WONDERFUL pictures to see this morning..... which makes the two weeks in solitary confinement worth it. Know that **all** of your images have my most sincere admiration even if I didn't include them in my final 10 choices! Y'all done good!

sherstone

Wow divamum that was quick you must have started early

This round was really enjoyable to watch and participate in, I normally do not post a C&C thread because I find it hard to properly participate in the interactive process due to time constraints but I managed to do it anyway this time around and I am glad I did. So much fun!

Here are my top picks. Even though I don't think flowers are really a strong choice for a circle theme for some reason the two flower images I picked just reached out a grabbed me so tight I couldn't let go of them. For some reason I'm into super saturated color shots this round too. (just in case you were not aware already )



Kat asked a few questions about how I put together "symbiote"

1. "What is that behind her hanging from that rod?"
It is a 5 in 1 reflector 43", with the reflection cover removed revealing the white shoot through material. You can find this reflector on ebay for around $10-15 from many sellers. I used it in this case as a pseudo circle reference and to achieve the proper back light look I was after. Behind the circle is a flash (full power) with an umbrella reflecting its light back through the circle.

2. "I am super curious about how you achieved the light in the center and got it to burst outward"


The straws are 3/8" bubble tea straws. Very big and a soft shade of pink. On the left a blue gelled flash (1/16th power) and on the right a green gelled flash (1/16th power). The light mixed with the pink plastic straws creating a wild rainbow burst of color. The straws are sitting on a sheet of translucent coroplast and a un-gelled flash is shot up through the bottom of the straws and plastic sheet to create the effect you see here in the wide angle reference.

When shooting the model I used the same two gelled lights at 1/16 power, but had to shift the colors to match the surroundings of the straws. The idea behind the shot is similar to a bee larvae so she is suspended within the circle NOT sitting within it. This suspension idea may not have translated through perfectly but hopefully it wasn't one of the technical details that divamum was referring too .

Thanks again everyone you all together make this place what it is!
just plain AWESOME!

Sean

Katmitchell

Ohhhh Yippie
Thank you so much Sean for the share...:D Taking notes..

I need to get some of those reflectors... Now I see how ya got that light to burst back through.. Awesome.. I have never had any experience with the gelled flashes or even seen one for that matter, however, I have seen a lot of people use them lately in these competitions and they sure pull off some awesome effects..

I did wonder why she was suspended. Now I see why... Super creative.... and now even more so,,,,, seeing how you did it..:D

Clean Execution...

Thanks for sharing so we can learn..

Kat

KevXman

sherstone wrote:

Kat asked a few questions about how I put together "symbiote"

1. "What is that . . .

Sean

Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing, always good to learn "How Tos".

— Kevin

travelways

sherstone wrote:

..........................

Thanks again everyone you all together make this place what it is!
just plain AWESOME!

Sean

You are AWESOME! Sean with your imagination and creativity :wow

I know I'll never have any kind of reflectors or gels, or... ...
but this doesn't stop me admiring real photographers and their techniques

Thank you very much for sharing your work. It's really beautifully amazing

sherstone

photo-bug wrote:

I know I'll never have any kind of reflectors or gels, or... ...
but this doesn't stop me admiring real photographers and their techniques

Ahem -- you too are a "real" photographer, just because you don't have a gelled flash or a reflector does NOT make you any less of one. All it takes is some sort of camera and of course your imagination, both things you obviously have!

but thank you so much for the encouragement.:D

whiterice

sherstone wrote:

Thanks again everyone you all together make this place what it is!
just plain AWESOME!

Sean

Sean - your creativity and technical prowess set the bar! Thank you for giving me something to work toward.

miskatonic_university

I would love to be an asst or a fly on the wall for sherstone someday !!

MarkR

Thanks to those who said they liked my picture. As usual, I'm leaving feedback directly in the gallery.

Quite a collection of amazing images and visions.

travelways

MarkR wrote:

Thanks to those who said they liked my picture. As usual, I'm leaving feedback directly in the gallery.

Quite a collection of amazing images and visions.

I really think you did an awesome job, Mark

travelways

sherstone wrote:

Ahem -- you too are a "real" photographer, just because you don't have a gelled flash or a reflector does NOT make you any less of one. All it takes is some sort of camera and of course your imagination, both things you obviously have!

but thank you so much for the encouragement.:D

Thank YOU for the encouragement

BTW: yesterday I had the unique (for me) opportunity to watch a shooting session for...

sit down... the VOGUE magazine, with a real model in front of the Gaudi "La Pedrera" building in Barcelona



.....................

... and because this is the place to share our work, these here are some or the photos I took for this challenge, sorted by date taken, descending order:

http://allbiz.smugmug.com/gallery/8712957_TrqAu#577350607_K9DnL

**PS: I'd like to add that I'm so excited to share all this with you guys, not because I'm "photo-bug" - I'm NOT
that is just a name - I'm Tatiana, but... I've got the bug... from this wonderful family of SmugMug/Dgrin

sherstone

photo-bug wrote:

sit down... the VOGUE magazine, with a real model in front of the Gaudi "La Pedrera" building in Barcelona

COOL!

Thanks for sharing your gallery of DSS candidates I commented on my favorite of the bunch.

Halite

sherstone wrote:

Ahem -- you too are a "real" photographer, just because you don't have a gelled flash or a reflector does NOT make you any less of one. All it takes is some sort of camera and of course your imagination, both things you obviously have!

but thank you so much for the encouragement.:D

Agree! As David duChemin has said, "Gear is Good;Vision is Better."

You've got the vision.

travelways

Halite wrote:

Agree! As David duChemin has said, "Gear is Good;Vision is Better."

You've got the vision.

:cool

Halite, I'm so proud to receive these nice comments from you

jeffgroves

Great entries everyone!
I am always amazed during these challenges by the talent, the creativity and just the way some of you think. Amazing really. Quite a wonderful collection in this challenge.

I still consider myself somewhat of a newbie to this group (this is my third challenge). The group seems so tight and I often feel like I am just peaking in on you guys :cool. So to all that have made me feel welcome, I say thank you .

To all that seem to enjoy my "bubbles and bokeh" photo, I thank you most sincerely as well. I appreciate all the comments I have received, yet I remain humbled by the talents of the others that have entered.

Again, incredible entries everyone! Excellent job!

RocketMan

the first and last are my fav's.....followed by some others I also like, some because I'm a sucker for nature shots or old rusty things..
glad I'm not in the judges chair!














Jeff

travelways

jeffgroves wrote:

I am always amazed during these challenges by the talent, the creativity and just the way some of you think. Amazing really. Quite a wonderful collection in this challenge.

I still consider myself somewhat of a newbie to this group (this is my third challenge). The group seems so tight and I often feel like I am just peaking in on you guys :cool. So to all that have made me feel welcome, I say thank you .

To all that seem to enjoy my "bubbles and bokeh" photo, I thank you most sincerely as well. I appreciate all the comments I have received, yet I remain humbled by the talents of the others that have entered.

Again, incredible entries everyone! Excellent job!

I would say: don't worry Jeff. We are all newbies in a way - each one in he's own way...
just keep going... nothing to lose, but maybe something to gain

BTW: Welcome

NikonsandVstroms

Thanks for the comments everyone.....now with the new song title theme the question is do I try and go further out there :uhoh

Katmitchell

jeffgroves wrote:

I still consider myself somewhat of a newbie to this group (this is my third challenge). The group seems so tight and I often feel like I am just peaking in on you guys :cool. So to all that have made me feel welcome, I say thank you

Well Jeff, you should get out on the boards with us...
It was fun the last time you graced us with your presence...

Kat

HoofClix

jeffgroves wrote:

I still consider myself somewhat of a newbie to this group (this is my third challenge). The group seems so tight and I often feel like I am just peaking in on you guys :cool. So to all that have made me feel welcome, I say thank you .

Some people who come to the party just hang out, relax, and listen... No problem, but pretty much anything anyone has to say is just more for the mastermind! Speak up, man..

shatch

My level of respect for judges has increased immensely. You read it every time a contest concludes, but choosing just 10 from such a large group of great photos is quite difficult. Congratulations to all entries! There was a great and diverse selection to choose from. I will get to some comments later, but before you read them, please understand that my comments are biased to........well, me! However, I personally appreciate another's opinion on my work, so I hope you will appreciate mine. Again, congratulations to those who made it to voting.

Keep shooting and looking forward to the next round.

Steven

dnie

I want to thank everyone that included me in their favorites and left comments in the gallery. Coming from this group it really means a lot.
Here I know that what I get is your honest thoughts, good and bad, and that is better than 'that-a-girls' that aren't sincere any day.

travelways

dnie wrote:

I want to thank everyone that included me in their favorites and left comments in the gallery. Coming from this group it really means a lot.
Here I know that what I get is your honest thoughts, good and bad, and that is better than 'that-a-girls' that aren't sincere any day.

Thank you so much to those who took their time and left comments on my entry
and to those who included my photo into their top favorites

We cannot be winners every time, but this is part of the game and to continuously
challenge ourselves ...

Congratulations to the finalists