Originally posted by NordlysWith Urban and still life coming up so I hope we see cogs and gears, machinery and moulten metal in steel works etc.. Man made to me is about manufacture. Plastic. Brass Planishing? Rivetting ship building?
The definition from dictionary.com doesn't necessarily mean that all things made up of a number of parts that are held or put together in a particular way are structures. But I see your point.
I like Rags Idea of dams... cool.. I wanna get gob smacked by smoke and steam and smells coming of the thread.
People and families are coming up too.. so save some baby shots for that. Baby making ain't man made,,, lol
We've seen scenery shots for water and scenery shots for natural wonders bring on the imaginations get some gritty ideas.
This should be fun..
OK, here is my review of the photos for the "Natural Wonders" round. My ratings are based on the question, "would I be willing to hang this photo on my wall?" The answers are: 1 - nope; 2 - nice photo, but nope; 3 - maybe; 4 - sure; 5 - if I had room, this would be there!
One note: maybe my eyes are tired, but a surprising number of these photos appear to be a little out of focus. With rare exception, that bugs the heck out of me, and I probably don't like your photo if I think it's not focused properly. I think people used long lenses for a number of these photos, and long lenses are particularly susceptible to shake (get a tripod!), and also have a finer focus. Another possibility is that the scans are not high quality, and you're ending up with grainy pictures that need to be sharper. (Gee, I hope it's not my eyes.)
Disclaimer: If you just skip down to your photo and read my comment, you might not understand it without it being in the greater context of the rest of my comments. Also, about halfway through this I started getting tired, so my comments might have gotten a little terse - don't take it personally. 🙂
1 - Monkey love; 1; a little coarse for my taste, and not properly focused.
2 - Ghostly Trees; 2; I like the idea behind the photo, but it lacks execution. I can't find anything in the photo that is in focus (which may have been intentional, but which bugs me). The lighting is good, the layout is good, but I just can't keep looking at it because of the focus.
3 - goan beach channles; 2; Interesting photo, but it needs something more. There's no "subject" to the photo. Hey but it is focused! 🙂
4 - goan beach swirl; 2; I actually like the set-up on this photo more than the previous one, but it needs to be sharper.
5 - Poppy; 2; there are a number of flower photos in this set, and this is IMO the least promising of the bunch. There's a shadow on the center and bottom of the flower, which is distracting, as well as detracts from the amount of detail visible in the heart of the flower, and this photo is all about detail. I should mention, that I think it's really tough to take truly interesting macro shots of flowers.
6 - Cape Paliser Seals; 1; this would have been a 2 or a 3, except that your scanner did you a disservice. This thing is sooo grainy, that I can't tell if that second brown blob is a seal or a pile of walrus dung. Sorry.
7 - Franz Josef Reflection; 3; A good photo. Looks like you turned the contrast up too much (the hill on the left and the trees on the far bank are grainy, and the sky is completely washed out). I'm sure you did that so that you could see the shadows. I would suggest another attempt with some digital "dodging and burning" (hold over terms from the days when folks developed photos in the darkroom).
8 - Skydiving Under The Chute; 3; Interesting photo. Nice composition. I love the cloud layer. Photo is generally too dark, but you'll need to be careful lightening it because you don't want to wash out the sky (see previous photo). Scan is also pretty grainy.
9 - The Highlands; 4; I like this photo a lot. Here are a couple things you can do to IMO, improve it significantly. Crop about 10% off the left and right, and 20% off the top (don't need all that empty sky) - that'll put the horizon about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the photo (a great place for a horizon to be). Next darken the top half of the photo, and lighten the bottom half.
10 - In a Mist; 2; Very subjective evaluation here. A photo should grab your eye and drag it to a certain point - you can go exploring from there, but it should keep bringing you back to the point of interest. This photo doesn't have a "center," a point of central interest. My eye keeps bouncing around the photo without a place to rest. Interesting photo, but it just doesn't "capture" me.
11 - Morning Haze; 3; Nicely composed photo, from the tree on the left, to the sheep on the right. The washed out sky doesn't even hurt in this case (although it didn't quite wash out the telephone lines (at least that's what they appear to be in the upper left corner). You should be able to solve that fairly easily in photoshop with this photo. This photo was almost a 4, and would have been if it had been more colorful.
12 - Symmetry; 3; Another almost 4 photo. Nicely lit, well focused, well composed, beautiful colors. Alas, there is that one petal on the right that just keeps bugging me. Everything else is sooo perfect, and there's that one stinkin' petal. Fix that, and you're a solid 4, leaning towards a 5 (and that's coming from someone who's not a big fan of flower photos).
13 - Cattle on the Edge; 1; Photo is hazy, has too much sky, nothing interesting in the foreground colors, and you can't even make out the bovine creature very well.
14 - Mist Aftermath; 3; It's a well-composed and interesting photo. Unfortunately, I keep straining to see things clearly - I don't think it was your focus, but I'm not sure.
15 - Tree; 2; It was a somewhat interesting photo, but the fungus growing on the tree definitely detracts, IMO.
16 - Easter Lights; 5; What can I say, Nordlys? Your photos make me want to go north and see the northern lights. Well composed with the "halo" around the island, beautiful colors - both in the lights and in the sky behind. Nicely done.
17 - Not a Sunset; 5; Very nice none sunset! 🙂
18 - Lofotveggen; 3; nice composition; I would like to see it brighter and a little less monochromatic (not sure you can do anything about that in the "darkroom"😉.
19 - Bizarre Birches; 2; interesting photo, just not interesting enough. It needs some "interesting" subject to draw the eye and give it "perspective."
20 - Trouble Brewing; 2; IMO, if you're going to do B&W, you've really got to make the photo come alive in other ways. This one fails the test. It's a picture of clouds - it doesn't convey anything to me.
21 - gorge 2; 2; same thing - you might try really pumping up the contrast in these B&W photos and seeing if that helps. Also, the scan is pretty grainy, which makes it harder to see the photo. In addition, you chopped off the top of the cliff on the right, which would have been less of an issue, if you hadn't shown us the whole cliff on the left.
22 - gorge; 2; same thing
23 - sea and sky; 2; it's an interesting sky, but that's all it is. Once again, I think you lose something by doing it in black and white, and the photo is grainy.
24 - beach and sky; 2; OK, you really pumped up the contrast on this one and made it surrealistic. It lacks a central point of interst.
25 - The Child; 1; Why is this photo in "Natural Wonders?"
26 - Colour; 3/4; Nice colors and composition. I think the focus is just a little soft, but I'm not sure if a print of this wouldn't be much better. I was back and forth on whether or not this would be a 3 or 4, so I split the middle on it.
27 - Fall colours; 2; nice autumn foliage, but there's nothing else to the photo. It needs something interesting in the foreground and the background - use the foliage to frame something of interest.
28 - Flower pot island; 2; focus!
29 - Glassy-eyed; 3/4; OK, it's a 4, except that I'm not big on photos of critters. It's a well-executed and interesting photo.
30 - Honey; 3; It's a zoomed photo of a bee. Interesting from a technical standpoint, but there's not much artistry here - framing & composition.
31 - Rest; 2; Interesting composition, but the entire bug really needs to be in focus!
32 - Sunbathing; 2; Looks like a snapshot of some turtles on a log. Needs more creativity to be a photo, and not just a snapshot.
33 - colour closeup; 3; I like the composition and colors. However, that big yellow flower which is pretty primary to the photo is not completely in focus. Need to adjust your depth of field or change your focal point to try to get the whole thing into focus.
34 - Ice fingers; 1; Doesn't do anything for me. Whacked out colors, etc.
35 - Kremmling Colorado; 3; pretty sky, interesting mountains; just needs something of interest in the foreground.
36 - New Blacktop in Scottsdale; 2; When you shoot a photo like this, you want the road to take your eye somewhere. In this case, it takes my eye past this house that's too small to see any details, and ends up at a mountain that's too small to see details. Go about 2/3 of the way towards the house and shoot it again.
37 - Wild fig; 2; nothing really interesting in this photo. It's a snapshot of a weird looking tree, not a "photo."
38 - Crested barbet; 3; This looks like a nice photo of a crested barbet as seen at the zoo. It needs something to give it context, otherwise it's just a photo of a bird. (But a good photo of a bird.)
39 - Striped Swallow; 3; Ditto previous evaluation.
40 - Tumbleweed in the dunes; 3/4; I like the composition. It would have scooted to a 4, I think, if it hadn't been for the road (or what looks like a road) running between the dunes in the background - takes away from that sense of being "out there."
41 - Abandoned; 3/4; This is one of those photos that you like the more you look. It's well composed, and I like the lighting. If it were a little crisper (might just be your scan), it would be a 4.
42 - Roadrunner; 3/4; Crisp this photo up a bit, crop out the tire tracks on the right side, and you've got a solid 4 here.
43 - Pluto??; 3; Crisp it up, and try cropping off the bottom 1/4 and left 1/4 of the photo.
44 - Infinity; 2; Kinda' boring....try cropping off the top 1/4 of the photo - might make the salt flat more prominent.
45 - Head of Uluru; 2; this is another one of those snapshots of an interesting natural phenomenon. Photos need to be creative, not journalistic in nature.
46 - Different Perspectives; 2; I like the attempt at a creative perspective. Photo needs to be crisper - probably a scanning issue.
And now, wihtout further ado, the much anticipated rankings (drumroll please): 😉
1st - 10 pts- Not a Sunset (17)
2nd - 8 pts - Easter Lightis (16)
3rd - 6 pts - The Highlands (9)
4th - 5 pts - Glassy-eyed (40)
5th - 4 pts - Abandoned (42)
6th - 3 pts - Roadrunner (41)
7th - 2 pts - Colour (26)
8th - 1 pts - Tumbleweed in the dunes (40)
Originally posted by The PlumberEaster Lights is by far overrated. I can't see anything special about it, with the exception that such an interesting borealis deserved a better picture.
OK, here is my review of the photos for the "Natural Wonders" round. My ratings are based on the question, "would I be willing to hang this photo on my wall?" The answers are: 1 - nope; 2 - nice photo, but nope; 3 - maybe; 4 - su ...[text shortened]... rspective. Photo needs to be crisper - probably a scanning issue.
Edit: How can Abandoned be in a Natural Wonders competition?
Congrats Nordlys for a 1, 2
Rank Points No. Name Photographer
1 103 16. Easter Lights: Nordlys
2 73 17. Not a Sunset: Nordlys
3 57 7. Franz Josef Reflection: Eloosive
4 55 42. Roadrunner: Ragnorak
5 46 14. Mist Aftermath: darvlay
6 40 2. ghostly trees: WRAITHKNIGHT
7 27 29. Glassy-Eyed: Dweezil
8 21 20. Trouble Brewing: DdV
9 20 11. Morning Haze: varg
10 19 24. beach and sky: DdV
11 18 40. Tumbleweed in the dunes: buffaloBill
12 16 34. Ice Fingers: Tirau Dan
13 15 23. sea and sky: DdV
14 13 3. goan beach channels: WRAITHKNIGHT
15 13 15. Tree: Nordlys
16 13 18. Lofotveggen: Nordlys
17 11 19. Bizarre Birches: Nordlys
18 10 44. infinity: Ragnorak
19 8 10. In a Mist: varg
20 8 32. Sunbathing: Dweezil
21 8 33. colour closeup: Dweezil
22 8 38. Crested barbet: buffaloBill
23 7 9. The Highlands: varg
24 7 31. Rest: Tirau Dan
25 7 45. Uluru Head: Ragnorak
26 6 8. Skydiving Under the Chute: Eloosive
27 5 27. Fall Colours: Dweezil
28 5 35. Kremmling Colorado: ictoan
29 5 43. Pluto??: Ragnorak
30 4 4. goan beach swirl: WRAITHKNIGHT
31 4 26. Colour: Tirau Dan
32 4 41. Abandoned: buffaloBill
33 2 1. Monkey Love: WRAITHKNIGHT
34 2 21. Gorge 2: DdV
35 2 30. Honey: Tirau Dan
36 2 39. Striped swallow: buffaloBill
37 1 12. Symmetry: varg
38 0 5. Poppy: Paulie
39 0 6. Cape Palliser Seals: Eloosive
40 0 13. Cattle on the edge: varg
41 0 22. Gorge: Ddv
42 0 25. The Child: Tirau Dan
43 0 28. Flower Pot Island: Dweezil
44 0 36. New Blacktop in Scottsdale: ictoan
45 0 37. Wild fig: buffaloBill
46 0 46. Different Perspectives: Ragnorak
D
Originally posted by WRAITHKNIGHTDon't worry about it.. soft focus is an art, but there is a fine line between soft focus and out of focus. Some strive to find the line and leave it to the viewers interpretation while commercial photographers these days are losing it.
Sorry if most of my photos look out of focus i can assure you they aren't in real life! My scanner is a bit pants. All my photos are scanned from a print.
WK
Check out "The Photographers Q & A Book" by Michael Busselle. He and his brother (jean?) are brilliant. What matters is to keep trying new angles new settings and approaches and your enjoy photography.
Your Goan Beach Channels would grace any studio and it was fine exactly as you took it. Photos do not have to follow rules any more than painters or sculters..
Ghostly Trees whether deliberate or not is a cliched photo done many times but yours was an good example.. Had it been clear or in stronger colour you would have lost it. Bussell says a soft focus shot should have a core of sharpness which draws the viewer in. In you case looking for the core draws one into the trees.. I liked it imensely and won't reach reading glasses 😉
The monkey one was a funny snap.. the wonder of a jungle bonk!
You have to take a different angle - The Child.. was a Hillary climbing Everest if you look at it that way instead of the literal kid on a sign post but it was a zoom shot taken from the other side of our town.
Darv's Mist aftermath was fabulous applause applause.. (from me anyway). It caught the movement in the mist and dragged me down the path after it....
Nordlys... awesome win.. forgone conclusion.. well done
Man Made.. lets have fun with it. No scenery of eifel towers etc (hinting at what I won't vote for.)