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Miniature Moose Migration
Miniature Moose Migration
zencow


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: High Key (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i
Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM
Location: Mountain View, California
Date: Sep 15, 2010
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: ISO-400
Shutter: 1/400
Galleries: Macro
Date Uploaded: Sep 19, 2010

This is a plant in a garden display in front of the local City Hall. I've been trying to find out what it is, but I haven't found out, yet. I went for the detail and tight DoF and increased the exposure a little, as it's a very nearly pure white subject. I got several shots of this plant, but I liked this one in particular because I thought it looked like miniature moose antlers covered in snow.

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post-challenge...

Some alternates I was considering to submit for this challenge:

<- was initially my first choice

Statistics
Place: 53 out of 97
Avg (all users): 5.4101
Avg (commenters): 8.0000
Avg (participants): 5.0476
Avg (non-participants): 5.5670
Views since voting: 788
Views during voting: 261
Votes: 139
Comments: 4
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
10/03/2010 10:43:21 AM
Hi Zencow, you asked for a Critique, so here it is!

Overall, this is a very pleasant shot, with a fairly abstract look which I find appealing. Most of the High Key entries are BW, but the pastel colours in this give it a lovely dreamy feel so colour was (IMHO) the right choice here.

Technically: Where you have focussed, it is good and sharp, but the DOF is very limited. You have used f5.6 while either very close, or using quite a long focal length and as a result both foreground and background are OOF. While I get that you may have been going for this, it makes letting the photo 'lead' my eyes tricky since there is no obvious start point. The exposure is perfect, but for a high key challenge I would have been tempted to boost it a little.

Artistically: This is completely subjective, and obviously my opinion only! The composition is spot on, with all of the major points of interest hitting that rule of thirds. It only lacks the leading lines to be textbook stuff.

PP: There are some tweaks I would have made to make this stand out from the crowd a little more. Again, personal choice. I would have boosted the exposure at RAW conversion (if applicable) to give the high key look, and then used some more curves to boost the contrast and show off those exciting 'leaf' edges. If I was being cynical, I would have also sharpened it a little (or a little more?) after resizing for DPC again to show off the edges and the detail of the tiny hairs which you have captured. I might also have reduced the saturation on the green selectively to get rid of the green blob in the low middle - its a bit distracting.

In summary, its a lovely shot which I reckon just needs a little more 'pop'. Not being really obviously 'high key', and not being of a pretty flower or DPC friendly child probably killed your score, but that happens to so many great shots here that I wouldn't let it put you off. The voters are fickle!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/27/2010 12:28:10 AM
Originally posted by Melethia:

Soft and gentle - I like the golden glow near the top - almost seems like a cold winter morning. The plant is most likely something called Dusty Miller, maybe.


Yes, it's definitely a Dusty Miller. I pulled up shots on Google and that's exactly it.

Message edited by author 2010-09-27 00:28:26.
09/27/2010 12:23:45 AM
Soft and gentle - I like the golden glow near the top - almost seems like a cold winter morning. The plant is most likely something called Dusty Miller, maybe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/20/2010 09:45:35 PM
A very pretty image, well suited to this challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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