Bloodcup: Drink of Strength and Spirt
by Anachronite

Comment:
Looking at the comments and scores on this tells me something very important: DPCers are spending faaar to little time looking at a picture which they intend to score harshly. In my opinion, if you're going to give a low score, you ought to at least study the picture for some time first to be sure there's not an element you're missing or that you haven't drawn a negative conclusion too quickly. Why am I saying this? Many votes and comments on this photo were based around the fact that something appeared uneccisarily cruel and tasteless. Apparently, few seemed to notice the thing that was taking up 1/4 of the page: quality hunting garb, surely not bought cheap for the sake of a DPChallenge. The bullet hole is in the deer's neck, a precise shot meant to down the deer without suffering. Obviously, the man is a practiced hunter. The timeframe in which the photo was shot (Nov 3) is prime hunting season. The cut made to the deer, at the main blood supply arteries, was done obviously in order to bleed the deer and prepare it for proper butchering. So why do we seem to think he killed the deer for the sake of being sick for a photograph? Are we that dense that we can't put large, obvious puzzle pieces together and draw a likely conclusion, or are we that pessimistic that the obvious reasonable conclusion isn't a dark enough reason to settle on? It seems far more likely that he had the camera with him when preparing a kill for butchering for meat (very healthy, very natural, very delicious, as discussed by others, below). Shame on you for not giving the photo just consideration before drawing irrational conclusions! Yes, quality-wise, the photograph could have been better, but a 1, a 2, a 3?

-He was obviously NOT taking the picture to be morbid. It's something he does often enough to have quality gear and a precise aim.
-The deer was shot in a careful manner to prevent suffering.
-The deer is being cut for food, not for sport.
So what's so yucky about it all?

Would you like your photographs treated with such unconsidered pessimism?

Message edited by author 2005-03-25 01:33:24.

Affectionately Yours
by clarmore

Comment:
That dog has gorgeous eyes--well captured.

Blue Jay in March Snow
by coolhar

Comment:
Beautiful. The blue on the primary flight feathers is such an outstanding shade.

Tough Times Bring Friends Closer
by DannyM

Comment:
What a touching picture. It pulls on heartsrings, wells up knots in throats, and makes us smile nonetheless. I'm sure many of us out there have a story or two about someone close (or themselves), which makes it all the more precious of an image to so many. Thanks for sharing it with us all.
-Annette

"Its Gonna Be A Long Long Night ... "
by Jecto

Comment:
Great use of neggative space.

Dirt Doodling
by glad2badad

Comment:
My favorite entry for this challenge. I hope that knowing that piece of truth brightens your day. I hope it ribbons.

Chillin in Rome
by sammy_stecchino

Comment:
Rome, boring? I loved it! If she'd turn around and look at that gorgeos cityscape behind her, she might not be so bored.
One thing I see about this photograph is the fact that she's slooking off the the edge of the frame, which draws the viewr's eyes off the frame, also. If she were looking to the left, our eyes would stay in the frame and looking at the picture longer.

Boredom of writing a paper
by bfishin89

Comment:
The skin tone is kinda overexposed. A tip I was told: When the main element in a picture is a person (or people), always develop the picture (or adjust, with digital stuff) for the skin tone, and the rest will look fine. PErhaps even if you had diffused the light a bit a wouldn't have looked so harsh on her skin.

Here We Go Again.....
by Shannon

Comment:
Haha! Excellent. Technically good, plus made me crack a smile.

Ernie and Me
by jeffzoet

Comment:
They say that pets and owners start to look alike after awhile, I never believe dit until now. I just hope I don't look like my parrot (then again, he's green, I have olive skin, he ha a rather large beak, and I've heard that my nose is a little on the big side...uh-oh). Anyway, your photo really made me smile. Very cute.