DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
Dining Out
Dining Out
owen


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Pattern (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC for Canon
Location: Hunter Valley, NSW Australia
Date: Dec 26, 2005
Aperture: 22
ISO: 100
Shutter: 15
Galleries: Nature, Macro
Date Uploaded: Dec 26, 2005

Taken at sunset so to get a good DOF I used a small aperture and a slow shutter speed. I placed the caterpillar on the leaf. I edited the shot considerably to get rid of the bright reflection off the leaf but the overall picture quality suffered as a result I think. In hind sight I would wash the leaf and take the picture in brighter light.

Statistics
Place: 16 out of 240
Avg (all users): 6.3365
Avg (commenters): 7.6154
Avg (participants): 6.1504
Avg (non-participants): 6.4422
Views since voting: 1359
Views during voting: 433
Votes: 312
Comments: 15
Favorites: 2 (view)


Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
01/07/2006 03:14:22 PM
Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost

COMPOSITION
The first thing that grabs me is the use of leading diagonal lines, drawing my eye gently to the upper right. How'd you get the bug to pose so perfectly?? It's a great image for the challenge, IMO, because there are several distinct levels of pattern to occupy me; the fine detail of the leaf, the broader patterns of the major veins, and then the interesting camouflage patterns of the bug caterpillar itself. I also think you showed an outstanding sense of how to crop the image.

TECHNIQUE
Great color saturation on the leaf, but the dark tones of the insect are a little disappointing. I'd have liked to see the same level of detail in his skin, but it appears a little softer than the detail in the leaf. I'm assuming that with f22, you were attempting to buy yourself the greatest depth possible given your closeness to the subject. I wonder if you struggled with this when shooting or editing? It's been said many times in the forums, but I'll repeat here, we love to see your own thoughts in the photographer's comments section. It would have been nice to know what you were thinking as you shot this, what lens was used, etc. Having said all that, I do think this is a technically excellent image.

OVERALL IMPACT
As I said above, your use of leading lines really makes this image work. It's so much more effective this way than a simple caterpillar sitting on a leaf. Your eye for detail made this one work. Your score was well above average, but I think would have scored even higher if you had preserved the same level of detail in the caterpillar that you did in the leaf.

Most commenters really liked the image, and your score reflects this. A great job but I bet that added detail would have added to the wow factor and a consequent bump in score. I enjoyed studying this image for the critique. Keep shooting!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2006 10:30:21 AM
Overly impressive with a shimmering sense of movement. Congratulations on your top 20 finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/03/2006 11:30:45 PM
Great pic, maybe it is my eyes, but the focus could be sharper in the catapilliar.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2006 11:58:41 AM
Is this guy belly-up? Very nice colors. It seems like the focus is the leaf instead of the "bugger".
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2006 11:28:06 AM
Very nice, the patterns and colors are great. Love the details.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2006 10:56:05 AM
Great macro....excellent composition of the pattern on pattern. Love the coloring and pattern of the catepillar in particular. Wish you had been able to clean the leaf up a bit but what are you going to do. Excellent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2006 09:36:35 AM
This little guy carries around the german flag on his back lol....neat picture, would have maybe liked a little bit more from a slightly lower angle, but you recieved a 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/03/2006 04:49:04 AM
Awesome image, well composed, super contrast.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/01/2006 10:59:22 PM
Excellent. The two patterns go well together. The color contrast is great as well as the framing. To bad there is this blueish tint going on, but this is basic editing so I won't hold it against you ;). 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/31/2005 06:41:37 PM
I love this shot! Great response to the challenge, but an even better picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/31/2005 12:39:11 AM
Super macro shot, and love the patterns here..................
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/29/2005 04:44:20 PM
Very cool, the german slug...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/29/2005 03:14:22 AM
Great! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/28/2005 11:52:09 PM
6 - Nice cropping/symmetry/composition. Criticism; could be a result of too tight a crop/zoom, but the quality seems to have degraded here, and is one of the first things that I noticed (or could just be blur/focal issues), so perhaps more zoom out (depending what you had to work with) to try to achieve that 'quality', may have made this better in my opinion. May also be the result of post processing too, who knows.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/28/2005 10:46:30 AM
Great idea, great execution!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/12/2025 10:01:41 PM EDT.