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Eye To Eye
Eye To Eye
rwouthuis


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study X (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Lens: Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX DG for Canon
Location: Marineland, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Date: Jan 21, 2006
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/125 sec.
Galleries: Family, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jan 22, 2006

 We were invited to Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This was a private day and only a handful of people got to visit the park. My son loves whales and he had a great day playing with this calf.

Photoshop Processing:
- RAW Conversion
- Crop with perspective adjustment
- Curves Adj. Layer
- Flatten
- Cloning an Healing Brush to remove specks that were floating in the water.
- Just a touch of dodging and burning
- Resize
- USM
- Convert to sRGB
- Add border

Post Voting:

Wow, I can't believe how well this did. Thank you all for viewing and voting. Believe it or not, this was the shot I had in mind from the start of this challenge. We had been invited to a private event at a local Marine attraction. Only 20 patrons plus staff were in the park. When the Free Study was announced, my plan was to produce a shot very close to this. The calf was very cooperative and playful and Noah can always be bribed.

There was a lot of really great photos in this Free Study. The talent at this site is incredible.

Statistics
Place: 26 out of 622
Avg (all users): 6.7400
Avg (commenters): 7.5714
Avg (participants): 6.7006
Avg (non-participants): 6.8837
Views since voting: 2804
Views during voting: 302
Votes: 200
Comments: 20
Favorites: 9 (view)

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AuthorThread
 03/29/2006 03:38:05 PM
Terrific .. the whale looks so interested in the child. I sort of like the dark bar at the bottom. I agree that this would make a great postcard.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2006 03:13:24 PM
I really like it upon my first impression. Aquariums are not the easiest place to take photos due to the low light but you've done well. Exposing for the whale and leaving the child's silhouette was a nice choice. I really like the deep blue tones that give a sense of depth to the water. The fact that you captured the whale and child seemingly looking eye to eye is the best part. If I had to change one thing, I would crop off the black bar at the bottom of the imgage. Slightly distracting for me. Nice job.
Oh, and also, check out the similarities to this image of mine:

What are your thoughts?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2006 03:04:38 PM
crop out the black at the bottom and ask the aquarium if they want to buy it to make a postcard
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/18/2006 11:59:13 AM
wonderful moment....would make a great postcard for Marineland..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/07/2006 09:00:44 PM
great capture.
 02/07/2006 08:23:45 PM
Beautiful. I love the silhouette boy against the blue aquarium tank...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/07/2006 02:00:20 PM
This is one of the loveliest shots I've seen in DPC. Congrats, you've done a great work here. Really transmits illusion and innocence. I love it :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/06/2006 04:04:48 PM
:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/05/2006 05:30:08 PM
Way cool. Way. This would make a terrific poster!!! Bumping up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2006 11:09:53 PM
Great capture! I think this would be even more powerful cropping the bottom of the image so that the whole background is comprised of the water (I minimized the window to see how it looked, I think it's awesome that way, but it is still nice as it is). Good work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/04/2006 10:57:19 PM
I'm such a sucker for these types of photos and this one is top notch. 10 and favorite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2006 04:06:52 PM
How cool is THAT! I love the dreamy smooth look of this. The whale and the boy are positioned perfectly. Great photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2006 01:09:14 PM
would like to hav seen the floor cropped out
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/03/2006 10:00:55 AM
good composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2006 09:10:41 PM
Great capture! Sell this one back to the aquarium! Cute candids don't always do that well in these challenges, but I like it! Bumping up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2006 06:21:32 PM
Nicely done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2006 04:53:53 PM
great moment...nice shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2006 01:34:29 AM
I think this is a lovely shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2006 08:10:06 AM
I like this, I like the strong siloette. Possibly work on the bottom cof the frame where the glass meets the floor
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2006 02:57:24 AM
This shot is great, the subjects, the crop and colours. I think it would have been even better if there was a gap between the whale and the boy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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