Michel Bricteux

I totally agree with you as the balloons look like stickers applied to an otherwise outstanding picture. Really kills the magic mood created by this misty landscape that would have been much better left alone.

Would love to hear from the voter who gave me a 0.5. ;-)

Congratulations!

Excellent composition! Was the bird alive when you shot it? How did you get the black background?

Great composition! Congratulations !

Woops! Two of my photos made it to the finals. Interesting and reassuring to see they are of different kinds : one is of the aesthetically-pleasing type, glossy, shiny and colorful (little PP though); the other is a street photo, instantaneous, spontaneous and candid.

Shadow on the bird is not consistent with main light source (sun). Is this a photo composite?

Hello everyone,
To answer some of your interrogations, let me briefly explain the setup that allowed me to take this interesting shot :
1. take a glass dish and fill it with clear water
2. place a printout of a printer calibration chart underneath the glass dish so the color patches appear in transparence; make sure part of the printout is folded upward at a 90° angle, serving as vertical background.
3. place you camera (Nikon D3X in this case) fitted with a macro lens (Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VRII) on a tripod. Add a wireless remote trigger and a SU-800 flash remote commander. Select manual focusing and pre-focus on a point at the center of the dish and at the water surface.
4. Place 01 remote controlled flash on each side of the water-filled dish, manual power
5. Using a syringe, start releasing drops of water in the center of the dish (focus point) and press the trigger

This particular shot is just one in a series of 500 taken that day on my kitchen counter. As you see, it's a matter of patience .... and luck. But a rewarding exercise as this photo has taken several podium places in the past. The original out-of-camera file is 4000 X4000 pixels, leaving room for enlargement.

Cheers
As far as PP goes, I saturated the colors, increased the sharpening and contrast and did a bit of cleaning (dust and small particles on the surface water)

Why would you give this picture more exposure that it really deserves? It just illustrates the kind of situation No photographer wants to experience, i. e. blatant voyeurism. Adding insult to injury, the author felt the need to convert an old man reading into a street beggar. I really find it misplaced and disrepectful, to say the least.

Hi Mark,

Is this a cutout placed on a sky background?

Hello there,

I guess the reason is that the entire challenge - bar a few entries - revolved around the model-scale look achieved using the web-based Tiltshift Maker software. When you look at the vast majority of entries, this is what they try to illustrate. Very few actually took the tilt-shift to the word, i.e. using perspective controlled psecial lenses.

Great picture, by the way!
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Michel Bricteux

There is something bothering me in this picture : did you apply artificial blur to the background to make the little musicians stand out?
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Michel Bricteux

> Incredible!!

Thank you! I do like the inquisitive wasp's stare as well as its expression of curiosity mixed with some defiance. The original file is 4000 X 4000 pixels, meaning only side sections have been cropped (sensor is 6000 X 4000). I printed it A3+ size and the details you get even at this magnification are stunning. Contrary to some entries in this challenge, this was truly 1:1 ratio. A little disappointed with the ranking though but I have to admit there is a lot of good stuff.

Yes, I guess you're right!
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Michel Bricteux

Go swim!
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Michel Bricteux

Hi Angela,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, you maybe right about the not-so-obvious presence of the All*Star shoe. In my mind, photography is not meant to simply show what everybody sees but to reveal, to suggest, to confront and induce a process of reflection in the viewer's mind. Behind some photos, there is a story to be told or simply imagined. Those are the ones I cherish most.

Warmest regards

Creativity must be held back.... That's an interesting thought. "Only dead fish swim with the stream". Wonder what your notion of photography is, really. You're entitled to express your own opinion, of course, but let me respectfully disagree with your view. So long

>
> ...the "Additional rules" says:
>
> - *The shoe must be visible.*
>
> Where is the shoe in your image?
> --
> /Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream./
> (Malcolm Muggeridge)

Upper right corner, in case you hadn't noticed. Sometimes it's worth thinking a little bit outside of the (shoe)box ;-) That's what creativity is all about! "Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream" (Malcolm Muggeridge) Best regards

These are the Baths of Lady María de Padilla in the Real Alc'azar de Sevilla, right? This place is magical. IMO, you could have cropped off the right part to make it look perfectly symetrical as this is what this perspective is all about.

Congratulations for a very nice composition! Well deserved first place IMO.

Just wanted to share some thoughts regarding the entry I submitted to this challenge, which ranked a pitifull 41st place (out of 47, see below).
Looking at the votes, I realize it earned quite a lot of very low markings (0.5 -1.0), meaning voters really wanted to express their dislike for the pìcture. In my mind, the photo was not totally deprived of artistic value, which brings me to think that the theme expressed here might have appeared too political/controversial to some. Am I right, am I wrong? Interesting to note that it was one of the most viewed so far among all challenge entries, though.
IMHO, this is a powerful photograph as it carries more than a visual message and really tells a story. Too disturbing to hear or just no aesthetic appeal? Comments welcome! Best regards
dpr://galleries/2725960859/photos/578322
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Michel Bricteux