dilip

I was on a lake and looked down at the ledge I was standing on. What may look like mountain mist is the lovely blue sky and clouds reflected in Price Lake in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. Here is another shot that I took:

Great set of shots, Dave. I particularly like this one. Could you share with us some of the details of your technique? Innovative and gorgeous. Thanks for sharing such lovely art!! --Dilip

Gorgeous shot, Curtis! I love the colors, the fairly straight perspective of the two foreground white birches, and the modern and geometric look to the leaves on the forest floor. Beautiful!

Abdul, innovative cropping mask that mirrors the subject nicely. I wonder what the picture would look like with less intense light spots. Thanks for sharing it!

Abdul, I like your effect. Did you duplicate the image into a second layer, blur the second layer, give a sepia effect, then mask the edges lightly? Thanks for sharing the picture - in addition to the muted colors, I like the way the picture shepherds one's eyes to sweep from the foreground tree's branches down the road.

Juergen, this is a lovely picture. I love the detailed veining - the focus, particularly on the left side, is sharp. The lack of strong contrast in the background has its merits, but I wonder how the shot might look with a dark, perhaps black, background. I do like the subtle colors, gradations, and textures in the background. Thanks for contributing this winner!

Val, my condolences. She will live on in your photography. Best wishes.

I like the tighter crop that you posted just above my comment, Lu. Thanks for sharing!

What a creative shot, Mark! I wonder what this would look like if the green field were pink or perhaps grey to bring out the blue more. In your blue "blob", I also wonder if the left edge were less linear and some of the curves on the right and top edges were more natural, like the ones at the bottom, how it would look. I might try this shot without the outer pinkish frame. Neat - thanks for posting your work!

Thanks, John. I can't remember why I cut the top of the flower off - I wish I hadn't when I shot it.

Very nice shot, Lu. Thanks for sharing it and for asking for a critique. I like the tight plane of focus of your macro which keeps almost all of the monarch butterfly in focus and adds a 3D sense of the buddleia (butterfly bush) flower, as it if is trying to push out of the top of the picture. I find the diagonal white detail on the bottom left a little distracting, and wish the butterfly were not so close to center.

 

How do you like this quick edit that I did? I removed the white line and cropped the shot a bit tighter. The green on the bottom is also a bit distracting; it might be worth editing it a bit to make it more like the other pinks and browns in the background. I also did a unsharp mask to get the focus even a bit sharper and adjusted the contrast a bit.

 

But the shot as is that you posted is quite nice! Thanks for posting it for us to see!

I shot it this way so couldn't experiment with another crop. I think

it works and adds a sense of dimensionality, but I'd enjoy others'

opinions of the crop and any comments overall. Thanks! --Dilip,

www.dilip.info

Above is the original shot, resized and compressed

Frank, I like your picture - the composition, the shadow superimposed onto the textured dune, and the tight crop with little sky exposed. I wonder if the sky hasn't been enhanced to be unnaturally blue? I also wonder what the picture would look like with a less fanciful font and if the font were pulled in a tiny bit to the left so it doesn't end to the R or even under the R edge of the picture. Thanks for sharing this picture!

Gorgeous. I love the lighting and how the subject fades to the black background. I like the aggressive, tight composition. Thanks for sharing!

Nice collage, Adam - the individual pictures seem to fit together nicely. I would enjoy learning how you put this composite together. Thanks!

Gorgeous and unique shot, Fabian! I like reading about how you accomplished this picture. It's interesting to see the water's turbulence caused by the tomato's splash into the tub, particularly the perturbations from the stem. Creative and fun - thanks!!

I like how the lighting works to hide the olives in the last shot, working well with the olive's disappearance into the mouth in the penultimate case of the index finger. I wish that the bit of window weren't distracting me a little and that there were a little more contrast in the child's R (L as we view) shoulder and sleeve. Thanks for sharing your nice shot with us!

Beautiful picture, Prasanta! I love the colors, curves, and depth of field. I wonder what the shot would be like with a slightly less tight crop on the top edige and with a little weaker light as the petal in the left foreground is a bit washed out. Thanks so much for sharing this gem!

 

--Dilip

 

Clever shot, Paul. I like your original idea. I wonder if it would look even more exciting if the loose petals contrasted more strongly with the color of the intact rose, and if that intact rose were a bit sharper in focus. Thanks for sharing!

It was neat to see this busy little beetle pushing backwards the ball of debris bigger than s/he was. Here is a picture showing a bit of the dynamics of the situation:

Nice shot, Katherine! I like the good focus on the duck and the motion blur of his/her wings. Nice diagonal composition, too. Thanks for sharing!

Gorgeous shot! What effects did you use? I love the fading and yet realistic quality to the rose. Thanks for sharing your many lovely pictures!

Lovely shot, Tor! The lighting is subtle and intriguing, though I wonder if a tiny bit softer light on your model's face might be even more effective. I like the angle and composition as well. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your rose, Tariq. I might have cropped a bit closer. I wonder how the shot would look with a less strong border which some may find takes away from the rose itself (and I find the orange clashes a bit, as well), but perhaps with a fade-to-light green border or maybe even no border at all. Thanks for sharing!

 

--Dilip (see my rose page at www.dilip.info/roses)