# 63 from one thumb JAG

JAG · November 10, 2010

ok, still recovering from torn up ligaments in my right thumb. So my shooting time is limited. Took these all yesterday. Let me know which (if any) are worthy to be in the album. Please ingnor the watermarks.

1 Who's that knocking?

2. Winter Camoflage

3. The embered remains of a day (A pano shot of 4 images)

WhatSheSaw · November 10, 2010

All are excellent! #2 appeals to me the most.

SeascapeS · November 11, 2010

I like #1. Nice details.

kdotaylor · November 11, 2010

I am LOVING #2! Wow.

nightpixels · November 11, 2010

Not sure if I truly love any of them!

#1: Not too crazy about all the white negative space mainly because it is a bird and it would look better if the environment the bird is in is displayed a little bit. It feels like the bird has been extracted from another picture and pasted onto a while layer. It feels unnatural. It could be a blown out sky that you have completely turned into white.

#2: This one is my favorite and the white vignette is interesting too. I like the bird in it too and the shallow depth of field looks great. Off-center composition is pretty good there too. However, they are bunch of tree branches after all and not exactly all that interesting, especially for an open study theme. If you are not able to shoot again, I would enter this one.

#3: The panorama is just too narrow for the picture to tell us any kind of a story whatsoever.

Hey, just because you are not feeling 100%, it doesn't mean I will cut you some slack and I am sure that is the way you want it too.

JAG · November 11, 2010

nightpixels wrote: »

Not sure if I truly love any of them!.....

...Hey, just because you are not feeling 100%, it doesn't mean I will cut you some slack and I am sure that is the way you want it too.

You sir, have passed my test! I have not posted many images in a while because I was feeling that I was NOT getting the feedback I was looking for. As I had stated in my original post "Let me know which (if any) are worthy to be in the album" the 'if any' comment was because I wasn't sold on them either!

As I have learned over the past couple years of doing this challenge...I have to go over the top with my images to get them to be more than just a photograph. Because of my past work I have made it to a point of having a hard time with just 'taking' a photo. Each image I enter lately has been sub par to me because of the amount of time and complexity I have to do with the shot. I have found that each round was consuming more and more time that I didn't have. Thus I took a couple rounds off, not to mention the injury...but that wont keep me away from the camera!

So thus...instead of just a woodpecker on the side of my house taken on a very grey background sky...I try to make it have more feeling, such as either you love it or hate it. The 'blown out sky' is post processed to white in order to not detract from the greys of the bird. The "enviroment"...well there is nothing 'exciting' about the house and was no more interesting than the white background sky. But still there is no wow factor. I think your comments were well deserved!

I also am agreeing with your comments about 2 and 3. Nothing exciting enough. I do not blame my lack of 'wow' on my thumb....I blame it on a several months long slump.:cry

But hey....thanks for noticing that I can do better!

nightpixels · November 11, 2010

JAG wrote: »

You sir, have passed my test! I have not posted many images in a while because I was feeling that I was NOT getting the feedback I was looking for. As I had stated in my original post "Let me know which (if any) are worthy to be in the album" the 'if any' comment was because I wasn't sold on them either!

As I have learned over the past couple years of doing this challenge...I have to go over the top with my images to get them to be more than just a photograph. Because of my past work I have made it to a point of having a hard time with just 'taking' a photo. Each image I enter lately has been sub par to me because of the amount of time and complexity I have to do with the shot. I have found that each round was consuming more and more time that I didn't have. Thus I took a couple rounds off, not to mention the injury...but that wont keep me away from the camera!

So thus...instead of just a woodpecker on the side of my house taken on a very grey background sky...I try to make it have more feeling, such as either you love it or hate it. The 'blown out sky' is post processed to white in order to not detract from the greys of the bird. The "enviroment"...well there is nothing 'exciting' about the house and was no more interesting than the white background sky. But still there is no wow factor. I think your comments were well deserved!

I also am agreeing with your comments about 2 and 3. Nothing exciting enough. I do not blame my lack of 'wow' on my thumb....I blame it on a several months long slump.:cry

But hey....thanks for noticing that I can do better!

I know you have high standards!

billseye · November 14, 2010

Okay... I know I'm new around here, but I'm liking the spirit of the place.

I suspect the level of critique may be different as people get to know one another's thickness of skin and desire to be poked rather than stroked. FWIW, I'm one who's here to learn. Poke away...

That said, I'm not sure I'd give up on the first one. I generally agree with nightpixels, but I think it might be worth reconsidering your crop. I'm not normally a fan of square images, but I think this one might really make more sense that way. It would eliminate some of the pure white, which I think - as it is - actually causes the subject to get lost in the sea of white. In a square aspect, the balance of subject and negative space might be better.

As I'm writing this, I'm also wondering how this might look in its current aspect if the bird were in color.

My two cents....

lizzard_nyc · November 14, 2010

Jag--
#1 is just wow--excellent processing. The composition is beautiful and I like all the empty space in the frame.

lizzard_nyc · November 14, 2010

I first post my thoughts and then read the thread-for what it's worth and if I didn't make it clear before--#1 knocks my socks off.

JAG · November 14, 2010

Well I haven't been able to go out and shoot some more so there might be a possiblity one of these might be entered.

Bill...believe it or not the bird is in color and I had to bump up the saturation and color the eye in more as well because it was very grey out and this fella is known as a common hairy woodpecker who lacks color except for the little patch of red on his head. Cannot see the red on it in any of these shots because I was shooting from below. Image #2 was also bumped up in vibrance and saturation to show the branches with some sort of color and distinguish it from the bird. In winter here in AK, everything looses its color. Thanks for the imput everyone!

JAG · November 14, 2010

Thank you liz. of the 3 I liked 1 the best too. Still going to try and get out today but its snowing pretty hard right now. Not sure what I will do yet.

AndMan · November 14, 2010

For me #2 then #1.

WhatSheSaw · November 14, 2010

JAG wrote: »

Thank you liz. of the 3 I liked 1 the best too. Still going to try and get out today but its snowing pretty hard right now. Not sure what I will do yet.

The challenge is open until 7 PM PST tomorrow, so you would still have an opportunity during the day tomorrow. That said, you already have 3 good candidates.

ic4u · November 14, 2010

AndMan wrote: »

For me #2 then #1.

These would be my picks too FWIW!

# 63 from one thumb JAG

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