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Optical Coincidence
3rd PlaceOptical Coincidence
mpeters


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Trees (Minimal Editing I)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
Location: CA foothills, Hwy 132
Date: Feb 22, 2007
Aperture: 8.0?
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/250
Galleries: Landscape
Date Uploaded: Feb 22, 2007

 Grad ND filter + polarizer

#3568

Resize to 639pix,Sharpen once
*******
Better to be lucky than good! Thanks all of the comments and votes!

(Written in the style of Cigar Afficianado)
Frustrated, I drove downhill through the smattering of an approaching storm. Frustrated, because each tree I had encountered didn't stir the soul as I secretly wished, leaving me feeling unfulfilled and entirely unprepared for a looming 9:00pm deadline. Frustrated, because my home computer's BSOD had left me helpless. Buy a Mac, a coworker told me...but nay, I wasn't interested in new tricks.

Blearily focused on the road ahead, a glance in the rearview mirror told me that my fortunes were changing. As I recklessly spun a U-turn midst a verdant field of winter grass, I realized that this splash of color might be the antidote for my winter blues. As the sinking sun pierced the looming storm clouds, I drove furiously, vainly searching the horizon for the perfect intersection of earth and sky.

Anyway, a few minutes later, I found the perfect tree. A couple spins of the polorizer, a wipe of my ND filter on my (gasp) cotton shirt, and a click of the shutter and my heart became warm again. On the wings of petrol, I sped back to the office to finish my adventure.

The End

*****
(I am still wishing i had a 70-200 in my bag) This rainbow was close enough to touch and my picture doesn't do it justice.


****
“I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth." Gen. 9



Statistics
Place: 3 out of 287
Avg (all users): 7.4096
Avg (commenters): 8.1818
Avg (participants): 7.2768
Avg (non-participants): 7.6053
Views since voting: 8551
Views during voting: 446
Votes: 188
Comments: 63
Favorites: 10 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/04/2007 10:44:42 PM
this is so beautiful! Nice job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/06/2007 10:54:19 PM
Congratulaions on your yellow ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/04/2007 07:54:49 PM
Your description could be a separate masterpiece!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/03/2007 02:53:57 AM
"The harder I work, the luckier I get! Great capture, Mark.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/03/2007 02:43:15 AM
I think I know exactly where that tree is. Is it on the way from Cathey's Valley to Merced? I have photographed trees in there dozens of times... any shopping trip to the Valley is bound to take extra time due to absolutely necessary photography stops on the way there and back. This shot is simply gorgeous; what a capture, and congratulations on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/03/2007 01:29:02 AM
Your description reminded me of the story of how Galen Rowell acquired [url=//mountainlight.com/gallery.tibet/images.html]this image in Tibet. I don't recall all the details, but I think it involved running about a half-mile across a muddy field with all his camera gear to get to the right spot in time.

Talk about optical coincidences, I think with just a little burning-in you can make that into a funnel-cloud in the background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 02:16:57 PM
Nice positioning for this photo, congratulations on winning the yellow ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:14:50 PM
Congratulations on your third place, loved your story too. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 09:00:34 AM
beautiful image, nice info, and great scripture. ty and Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 07:33:03 AM
Wow! This is so amazingly impressive! No editing! It's beautiful!

Congratulations on this well deserved ribbon! Your photography is kicking butt these days, isn't it! :)

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 06:48:34 AM
it's unbelievable ... congratulations! awesome stuff
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 05:09:43 AM
great shot, and congrats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 03:27:55 AM
Congrats on your ribbon for this lucky shot. Nice story, BTW - and, go, buy a Mac and make an end to everlasting frustration.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 03:03:56 AM
congrats for the yellow, Mark!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 02:13:01 AM
"Better to be lucky than good" I agree with you :). congrats!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 01:59:00 AM
I agree with your coment ."The luck goes to the skillful" they said in my country.Congrat's for the great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 01:38:14 AM
Beautiful shot for the yellow, congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 01:21:24 AM
Great picture Mark - first thing I thought when I saw this photo is "pot-o-gold" - and you got the gold yellow ribbon. Sweet!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:37:11 AM
What no shooting stars in the background? Geez. :P Congrats on the yellow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:30:24 AM
What a beauty. Congratulations, Mark.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:18:36 AM
Sweet find Mark! F/stops take two ribbons!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:07:55 AM
beaut!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:06:00 AM
Wow, Mark! Great shot! Big congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2007 12:05:20 AM
You too?! Two F/stoppers on the front page!! Great shot Mark! So beautiful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/01/2007 07:56:56 PM
Wow beautiful shot. What a capture. Right place at the right time I would say. The colors are incredible of course and the lines up to the tree are awesome. Really hope the voters get this one right and get you a ribbon. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/01/2007 07:35:14 PM
Really opportunistic moment. Very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/01/2007 12:51:30 PM
great
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/01/2007 10:04:07 AM
very good capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/28/2007 10:00:24 PM
Wow, guess it was your lucky day, huh? Lovely photo; never see rainbows on DPC, probably because they are so hard to find when you need them. Hope you got a pot of gold as well :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/28/2007 02:48:27 PM
Light is very nice, but was it not possible to try another framing or to search for a more spectacular point of view ? This picture seems a bit "sad" to me...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/28/2007 09:05:10 AM
Beautiful coincidence! 10!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/28/2007 07:12:03 AM
wow- that's pretty crazy - striking image. This was tough to crop i would think .. that's the only thing I could possibly change, but I'm not sure exactly where to move the frame since you have 3 areas of interest here. It seems awfully narrow for not being croped but that must be an illusion. I would have soiled myself if I had this shot in my camera I swear ;P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2007 11:06:21 PM
stunning
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2007 08:59:35 AM
Great capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2007 03:30:17 PM
Perfect timing and placement!! Very nice shot - poster-worthy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2007 12:44:26 PM
nice
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2007 03:57:23 AM
I wonder if we will find a pot of gold here.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2007 08:21:39 PM
nice capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2007 01:10:00 PM
This is an amazing shot! And the exposure is perfect for Minimal Rules.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2007 11:12:59 AM
Amazing capture!!! Very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. -9-
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2007 06:07:42 AM
Must have been a beautiful moment!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2007 12:10:20 AM
Sweet shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 10:25:36 PM
Wow, what diligence you must have had to be at the right place at the right time.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 08:00:25 PM
What a lucky capture! Very well seen and composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 07:29:50 PM
Very nice capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 03:03:07 PM
Amazing capture, lucky you to have this opportunity for this challenge!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 01:43:15 PM
I guess so! Very cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 12:40:10 PM
Talk about leading lines! Impressive timing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 11:48:21 AM
nice capture, looks a tad oversharpened (especially where the rainbow hits the tree). had cropped off some of the grey sky at top - oops, that was not allowed here
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 11:44:47 AM
good the composition, the sky isn't great and the colours a bit flat, but the good star was with you :) I don't know your present score but I am sure that will be a good final score. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 10:57:14 AM
Timing is everything...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 10:42:34 AM
nice capture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 10:01:16 AM
awesome capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 09:55:54 AM
my pick for blue! good luck ...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 09:06:39 AM
Wow, now that's being at the right place at the right time!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 08:31:45 AM
Gorgeous. Awesome focus on the rainbow. Love the way it pulls your eyes into the pic to the tree. Great colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 07:54:28 AM
Great timing & shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 07:47:51 AM
sweet!!! This would be a good one to edit. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 07:27:43 AM
very cool find! good job! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 01:54:00 AM
Explicit 10. Good Luck
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 01:43:09 AM
no fricken way!! That's so awesome! I predict a ribbon in your future, or at least top 5. too cool! fav + 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 12:58:42 AM
absolutely stunning!!! a perfect 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2007 12:15:08 AM
great opportunism here...well done...well spotted...
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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