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From The Depths
From The Depths
Senay


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Puzzle Macro III (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Location: My House
Date: Dec 20, 2009
Aperture: f/0
ISO: 800
Shutter: 0.7
Galleries: Abstract, Macro
Date Uploaded: Dec 20, 2009

 It is a koosh ball! Lit with a giant flashlight, some of the ends of the strands, especially the purple ones are blown out. But by the time I noticed it was too late. I also tried using some spices and paintbrushes but wasn't feeling those pictures so looked around for random things, and found this ball.

Cropped, contrast, burned some of the white in bottom corner and sharpened.

A lot of you guessed what it was or were close. My favourite comment being Yo_Spiff's!

Statistics
Place: 64 out of 137
Avg (all users): 5.4892
Avg (commenters): 5.7500
Avg (participants): 5.2353
Avg (non-participants): 5.7324
Views since voting: 815
Views during voting: 312
Votes: 139
Comments: 23
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 01/03/2010 10:13:32 PM
Here's your critique and feedback as requested! :D

I must say, this is a very cool shot. The DOF (Depth of Field) and contrast together create that darkening effect as the focus gets shallower through the image. The Purple colors against the black is beautiful and the texture on the end of the black strands just makes the whole photo pop. Congratulations, there's just a few things that could've been done differently. First of all, as you noted, the end of the purple strands are very blown out, this takes away from the photos impact. Also, the crop along the bottom seems a little tight, I'd like to see some more empty space below the furthest down stands. Also, image quality and detail is a little low, I believe this came form a combination of your lens, sharpening in Post-Processing, and the overall image grain coming from your colors and 800 ISO speed rating. In the future you might want to try putting your light behind a screen or using a reflector so the brighter parts of the image don't get blown out as the rest of the image is brought into midtone. Also, shoot with a 50mm or 100mm macro lens to capture as much detail as possible. And in post processing, use one of the many Noise Reduction tools such as Noiseware Pro, Noise Ninja, or NeatImage. Those are very useful filters that can be applied to virtually any photo graph and are allowed in basic editing here on DPC. NeatImage is free, but I personally recommend Noiseware Pro. To wrap this up, great photo, the reason it didn't get something more like a 6.0 or 6.5 is because of the blown highlights and image grain, reducing the photos impact and detail. Great photo none the less, keep it up! :D

- ColemanGariety
The DPChallenge Critique Club

P.S: You had me stumped, I thought it was a tooth brush!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/27/2009 02:14:50 PM
This looks like one of those squishy balls - like a koosh ball.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/27/2009 10:33:50 AM
Plastic/rubber bristles on something.... Maybe a "Koosh" ball?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/27/2009 01:56:54 AM
fiber optics or straws
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/24/2009 03:11:22 AM
Looks like a sea anaemone
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/23/2009 09:23:24 PM
rods
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/23/2009 07:00:03 AM
Spaghetti
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 10:24:13 PM
Nice detail and DOF. Some sort of brush?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 09:18:47 PM
Pick up sticks?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 04:05:29 PM
ends of a
 12/22/2009 01:05:47 PM
fiber optic cable
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 12:47:37 PM
incense sticks
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 11:57:44 AM
My girlfriend's hairbrush?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 11:36:04 AM
Fibres - don't look very tightly packed - hmm...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/22/2009 11:01:36 AM
Spaghetti or other pasta? Fibre optics? A koosh ball?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 11:23:34 PM
squishy squnchy toy
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 09:23:15 PM
A toothbrush.

Either that, or a giant land anemone that is going to eat all the small children in my family as soon as it finishes digesting it's last meal. (Which I think was Slippy.)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 09:10:17 PM
koosh ball (not sure of the spelling), good idea...excellent focus
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 12:55:30 PM
Fibers from a cable of some sort?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 11:38:37 AM
Wires?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 11:07:12 AM
Brush bristles?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 06:56:00 AM
some kind of brush?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/21/2009 02:22:57 AM
Welding rods??
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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