Jeff Lear

Indeed, the dynamic range of the H4D is evident but the quality of the image can't be attributed solely to the camera.  To include so much chaos in a single image yet maintain a certain fluidity and order is a testament to your skills, Mr. Penland.  It's probably just me, but I find the grey-ish trunks in the upper left to be a pivotal compositional element, I feel they really anchor the image and give the viewer a glimpse into an older, more permanent world.

Simply beautiful. 

Haunting!  I really like the soft, flowing textures in contrast with the film grain.  Nicely captured and processed.

I'm impressed with your ability to at least somewhat match lighting and tonality between the two elements.  It's rare that I see a composite and think "wow" but I did when I saw this... very well done.

I do wish you hadn't titled it, though.  This begs the viewer to imagine what the gigantic primate might be thinking, contemplating, scheming and come up with their own caption but I can't seem to get "worry" out of my head now.

Rated 6

I tend to agree with Jerry, in a situation like this (spontaneous, unrehearsed) I wouldn't use a 50mm f/1.2 wide-open.  That aperture will produce a razor thin focal plane that's challenging even in a completely controlled environment.

The issue here isn't the bride, you've definitely captured her radiance (although a slightly smaller aperture would have kept her far eye in focus, too.  Sorry, I'll stop railing on about the aperture).  The groom, however, has fallen mostly out of focus.  Only his chin, teeth, nose, and a tiny portion of his hair are in focus.  When using large apertures you have to think like a focal plane, imagine yourself a piece of glass, floating out there exactly perpendicular to the face of your lens.  Everything you want in focus has to be touching that piece of glass.  Smaller apertures, thicker glass (you may already know this but I'm saying it for those who don't). Larger aperture, thinner glass.

It doesn't really matter though, because the bride is going to love this. She doesn't care about apertures or f-stops, she cares that she looks beautiful, your photograph has captured that beauty and spirit very well and the groom probably won't mind that he's a little out of focus. Your photograph makes me smile and I don't even know these people ;)

It's cute, I like the simplicity.  Was this really an 8 second exposure?!  I'm really curious to know what you were using for light... Stars? :)

You have blown the red channel, though.  I'm guessing that's the softness Kombiz referenced.  It's not an issue of sharpness, there is a loss of detail in the reds because they're over exposed.  You can use your histogram in RGB to make sure you haven't clipped any specific color.

I love this.  It reminds me of Ever After.  Even the moiré caused by the texture of her wings has a pleasant, flowing pattern and her dark hair contrasts nicely with her porcelain skin.

There are a couple of things I might suggest you experiment with.  If you have an off-camera flash, place it in front of your model to subtly light your backdrop and separate the model from her surroundings, especially where her hair meets the backdrop.  You could use a lamp if you don't yet have a slave flash, anything that can be hidden behind the model and cast some light on the backdrop. Also, the tone seems slightly flat, I suspect it's a little under-exposed/under-lit. 

In the end, there are beautiful shapes and almost perfect symmetry, it's very well done and a pleasure to view. 

Hi Ally!  Great first attempt.  In my opinion, if you can see any detail at all it's a worthy try.  Photographing the Moon isn't easy.  I see that you were using a D300 with a 75-200mm lens (effectively 113-300mm) which is plenty of reach.  You're a little over-exposed, that's a fairly common pitfall of Moon photography.  Your camera tries to meter on the dark sky.  In my experience, even spot metering on the Lunar disc will result in tricking the meter into over-exposure.  So, you just about have to use the histogram (which will be very sparse) and the LCD.  Exposure will depend on Moon phase, in this case, 1/200th second @f/2.8, ISO 200.  There are those who disagree with me but I think your photograph would benefit from a slightly smaller aperture (f/3.5 or 5.6) which would accomplish two things.  It would reduce your exposure and increase apparent sharpness.  Most lenses are at their sharpest with their aperture set between 1 and 2 stops from wide-open.

Thanks Tony!  Architectural photography is not my strongest skill, so I'm branching out a little. Thanks for your encouraging words.

Hi Mr. Browko (not even going to attempt your first name!).  I happened to come across this photograph on the Outdoor Photographer web site and immediately recognized it as one I'd seen here so I thought I'd come by and congratulate you on your People's Choice award.  This is a beautiful photograph and it's recognition is well deserved.

Under most circumstances I would acquiesce to the more experienced and educated Mike but in this case, I've got to disagree with his assertion that shooting wide open will create the sharpest image.  This may be true for larger aperture telephotos but for multi-element telephoto zooms, it's not.

But don't just take my word for it.  I made you a little demonstration ;) 

The following images were all taken tethered to prevent having to touch the camera between shots, using a Canon 40D, Canon EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS piggy-backed on a Celestron CG-9 1/4 which was mounted to a Losmandy G-9 equatorial mount.  I used Live View (and thus, mirror lock-up) and manual focus (10x in Live View) on all images and IS was turned off.  Each image was cropped to 100% and then enlarged 100% so the images are 200% original size.  All three images were processed identically.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/F1Addict/IMG_4334_crop.jpg 

^^1/500th second @ f/5.6 ISO 400^^

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/F1Addict/IMG_4335_crop.jpg

^^1/250th second @ f/8 ISO 400^^

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/F1Addict/IMG_4336_crop.jpg

^^1/125th second @ f/11 ISO 400^^

The highest resolving power of most any photographic lens is between one and two stops down from wide-open.

LOL!  You only have one photo so I guess I should comment on this one.

I like it.  Leading, ghostly, etherial. The candles lead me to the statue and then to the pretty blue, uh... opening of ascension?  I haven't been to church in years, I don't recall Joseph's fate.  While I don't think the ghostly candle-lighter "spoils" the shot, I do feel she is a compromise.  Perhaps you tried to include too much?  At first glance, I want this to be symmetrical (because at the top, it is) but as I move to the bottom it becomes weighted to one side.  I think I would have chosen one or the other, but not both. Just my two cents.  I also find your shadow minimally distracting but not overly so... or maybe that's the shadow of the tripod police?  God does not approve of tripods.

In the end, it's a pleasant and engaging photograph despite my minor issues with some elements. Nicely done and, if I may make a suggestion for next time, hang a Rosary from your tripod for protection.

I really like this, very dramatic.  The whole scene lends a sense of motion.  Besides what other's have mentioned, I love the detail of the underwater rocks.

If I had a complaint it would be the complete lack of detail in the distant hills to the right.  I realize they're in shadow but the light, rocky shoreline leads the the viewer directly to an area devoid of any detail so I see it as a negative.

Thank you Tony and Joscelyn.  I'm not really happy with this photo but I tolerate it because the subject is interesting.  I've been working on it in Lightroom and I'm getting closer to what I'd hoped for. Anyhoo, thought you might enjoy this photo.  Same body boarder about two seconds earlier.  Everything seemed to be going so well...

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/F1Addict/IMG_9592_pn500.jpg

I have to say, this is definitely one of my favorites.  There's something about the tone of it, a certain softness punctuated by the Yucca that makes the image compelling and  very interesting.  The dunes in the distance could easily be mistaken for lenticular clouds if not in context. I wonder if you've ever considered a slight clock-wise rotation?

Looks like this is just north of Trestles and I know a girl (surfer) who lives in San Clemente and has a boxer!  She would never be out with that wimpy lake swell though ;)

I do like the mood of this, and you're exposure is pleasant.  The flag adds an interesting twist, it's unexpected. I'm not sure about the tracks.  I might have included a bit more of them or none at all but, of course, that's just me.

Thanks Joseph, Pierre, Ross "Anonymous" Yourth, Niki (congratulations on your recent POTW!!  Very deserving), and Eduardo.

Joseph, I struggled with the partial tree to the left and have versions with it cropped but a couple of things happened... It over-squared the image and made it appear less dynamic and it also placed the left branches of the complete tree right at the very edge of the frame.  In the end, I decided the partial tree was less distracting than the alternatives (to me).

Thanks Joscelyn!  When I look at your edit and my original I see just how muddy the original appears.  I try to be careful and not take my processing too far but there are times when that becomes a bit of a crutch, as you've demonstrated here.  I like the crop, too.  It's fairly transparent but does draw attention to the subject while eliminating elements that could be considered extraneous.

Thanks again for your valuable input. I've got a few more wave photos to upload and I'll be considering what I've read here as I process them. 

Thanks so much, Joscelyn!  This originated as an HDR so I didn't actually do any traditional darkening of the sky other than to reduce the blue channel and burn the shadows slightly but I was careful to avoid the tree with the burn tool so I'm a bit perplexed.  I completely agree with you regarding the dark top of the tree where it overlaps the clouds, I'll have to take a look at the original and see if it's a product of my HDR processing or something I did afterwards.

Thanks again for taking the time to leave your thoughts, I really appreciate it :) 

Fantastically composed and involving photograph.  I really like the way it transitions from warmer tones at the bottom to cool tones at the top with the light-colored tracks leading the viewer through the spires and mounds.

There are a few things that could use improvement.  This is a perfect example of a photograph that really entices when viewed as a thumbnail in the critique forum but isn't quite as dynamic when viewed full-size. First, it appears a little soft, the two people walking are not well defined. Second, I might have cropped this just above the road to eliminate the two people standing at the very edge of the frame and the paved road at the top. The extra people are distracting (including the partially visible person behind the mound in the center) and the paved road detracts from the nomadic romance of the image by revealing it's modernity.

I still love the photograph, though.  I think it took great vision to realize and capture this.

Your comments, opinions, thoughts, and critiques are welcomed. It's not

the most original composition but I look forward to your input on my black

and white conversion. I recommend viewing it larger as the default view

tends to compress and obfuscate details in the foliage. Thanks for looking

:)

Compositionally, I think it's really good.  There is sort of a yin and yang feeling to it.  Including their feet might have improved it but I think you've cropped the lower half sufficiently so it doesn't look like you just chopped their feet off.

It's obvious that your P&S metered the dark hair and tried to expose it as medium grey.  I would recommend using evaluative metering (if that's an option) which would even out the exposure a little.  If that's not an option, a quick look at your histogram would reveal blown highlights which might have been mitigated by adjusting your exposure compensation setting.

You've done well with the hardest part, framing an interesting scene.  It's the part hardest to teach, most people either have it or they don't.  The technical stuff will come with time and familiarity with your camera.

Trying to view this as a documentary and not let the sympathy I feel for this poor dog cloud my thoughts on your photograph.  I think (at least some of) the low ratings you've received are an emotional response to the subject.  I certainly view this photograph as above average, I gave it a 5.  The great documentary photographers and photojournalists have a special gift, the ability to visualize, in an instant, the entire scene and how that scene will play out in their composition.  They consider not only their subject but how the rest of that scene compliments or detracts from their subject.  Your exposure is great, the tonality of your black and white conversion is good, but the out-of-focus light streak extending out of the center of the dogs head is quite distracting... I keep thinking "skinny unicorn".

That one thing aside, I think your photograph is an excellent documentary on the hardships of life in rural Thailand.

Thanks Todd, it was a pretty epic couple of days.

It was overcast for most of the day but for just a moment, the clouds broke

and allowed the sun through to illuminate the ~25 foot (7.6 meter) swell

that was borne of a typhoon near New Zealand and had finally made its way

across the Pacific to my home. Feel free to leave your thoughts, opinions,

suggestions, or a funny story about what your cat did this morning. You

can click to make the picture really big. Depending on the size of your

screen, of course.

Disregard my criticism.  While the foreground could be considered distracting (probably just me), the cost of eliminating it by cropping is much greater. IMO, it would ruin the balance of your composition.

Alan, I noticed the dark band as well and, at first, thought it some sort of applied vignette.  It lines up vertically with the edge of the spray which serves to enhance that illusion.  However, looking closer, it became obvious that it's just a play of light where the reflection of the spray on the wave ends near the right edge of the frame.  Never-the-less, I was bored and made a half-hearted attempt at minimizing the dark band using a screen layer in CS4.  Hope you don't mind, Danielle.