gordonpritchard

The yellow border is NatGeo copyright.

That might get you too close. You might consider using a +1 or +2 close up lens instead of an extension tube.

I used the "texture" tool in Adobe Camera Raw just on the eyes and mouth.

They all look equally fine. I don’t see blown out highlights. In any case, that would occur more as a result of exposure and processing rather than the lens. You might try making an aperture out of ...

I just checked... The exif data that's embedded does indeed come from the date/time in the camera settings. So I think you're also wrong on that point. Here is a screen grab of the test image: The ...

As far as I can tell, people can enter a challenge by uploading a picture directly from their computer not just their DPR gallery. How is the date/time shown in the exif data determined by the ...

Interesting. Thanks for pointing that out. I have no idea on how to falsify capture date info. Is the time stamp affected by date settings in the camera, or by going through time zones - taking a ...

Correct. Check the movie trailer (his size varies dramatically) https://youtu.be/FEWeV2_MAWg

The "tire" in the background is an old ashtray.

A 2" high model (the "tire" in the background is an old ashtray)

A 3" tall toy coin bank in the form of Deadpool. I tried several different (iPhone) lighting options but couldn't decide which I prefer.

Three versions of the same setup. Which do you prefer - or don't care for, or? #1 #2 #3 (combination of #1 and #2

Actually...it's a small plastic bank.

Good catch. Using the "equalize" filter in PShop helps make some of the artifacts more visible: BTW The equalize filter is a good way to see where dust bunnies are hiding in a image.

whether the challenge host will now disqualify the shot or not.

Yeah, the jpg artifacts around the birds are different. If it was one photo then the artifacts would be the same on each bird. Since they're not, it's a composite with the artifacts cropped out ...

Where the cut out didn't quite cut it: