Walk on the Ocean Floor
by KimInNB

Comment by Jeileen:
Would like to see text

Cross Trainers
by KimInNB

Comment by sylandrix:
A really cool abstract! Great exposure, muted complimentary colors, excellent composition with lots of curves and lines :)

Walk on the Ocean Floor
by KimInNB

Comment by tomzinho:
brown ocean, off lighting, muddy beach - not sure if this one encourages a visit ;-)

Cross Trainers
by KimInNB

Comment by thatguy:
nice job, i like how you were able to capture the shoes in sharp focus, the colors are also desplayed well, good subject choice 5

Walk on the Ocean Floor
by KimInNB

Comment by Wes:
Beautiful image! This would make a great postcard shot. The sky color is very smooth I like that, and the focus looks pretty crisp all throughout. well done.

Harbour Views
by KimInNB

Comment by seasaw:
The ugly brown shot spoils this for me - it might be what you desired, but it leaves me cold :(

Cross Trainers
by KimInNB

Comment by irae:
Nice. The colors could use a little punching up. Love the composition except for the little bit of XXX at the LLHC.

Northern Lobster
by KimInNB

Comment by KimInNB:
Lots of comments about the "weird color" makes me wonder whether people realize that lobsters are greenish before they're cooked!! They turn red once they hit the boiling water.

The visibility was only about 8 feet on this dive, so there was a lot of particulate in the water that did alter the color, but it is a pretty good estimation of what the little guy looked like underwater - what I attempt in post-processing - not what he would have looked like crawling around on the beach.

The Northern Lobster is simply the name given to this species - another name is "American Lobster" but this guy was definitely a Canadian lobster (actually heard him say "eh")!! I laughed at the southern lobster comment (accent?) - but in all reality, you can tell the southern ones because they don't have large front pincers - just a couple more weeny little legs - and they're called "Spiny Lobsters."

This guy didn't attack me or the camera, but it has happened before - my dive buddy once poked at a lobster and the lobster took it out on me when I was shooting a video clip (it ended with the lobster flying at the camera). Another time, while taking a photo of a moonsnail, a lobster attached itself to my butt!! Pinched right through 7mm of neoprene and left a scratch where I sit!! OUCH!!! Sad thing is... we can't take them from the ocean ... it's illegal here!!!

Message edited by author 2003-05-08 15:29:06.

Bark
by KimInNB

Comment by rmahan:
I think it's quite difficult to make the bark of a tree interesting to the people who view a photograph with just the bark. You've used some modeling effects of the light and managed to do a fairly good job!

It's not difficult to see why "Bark" was your choice for Flora given the winter you mentioned. Certainly it fits that category, so you're safe there.

In my opinion, there are some things you might try to improve this picture. Again, these are just thoughts I've had as I viewed your creation.

You might have tried a vertical format so that it doesn't look like it's from a dead tree which has fallen in the forest. (It might have been but I generally think of flora as currently living items. You want your viewers to think so too even if it isn't true.)

The contrast is, to me, a little too much. You might try to diffuse the light in some way or use a reflector to help fill in the dark areas.

The highlights are a bit too bright. Note that some of the detail is lost in these highlights.

The picture lacks a "wow" factor. It's just a record of some bark. This is fine if you're conveying information in, for example, a field or reference manual about tree bark. It doesn't work very well in a DPChallenge contest (unfortunately, even if it's a "Flora" challenge).

The picture seems slightly "cold" (too blue) which might be from having the highlights too bright. You could try a warming filter or a gel over the lens or might correct the tone in your photo editing software.

For what you had to work with, this is probably a pretty good choice of subjects. Someone suggested going macro for the lichen and that might have worked too. Or, if there was anything else of a "flora" nature in the area, the tree might have been used to frame that.

You've done a very good job with sharpness and depth of field. This is something I'm usually quite critical of in my own photos and you've done well there. The texture IS quite nice.

Finally, I hope your weather is getting better now and you can get out for some more pictures.

Regards ... for the Critique Club,

Bob Mahan
(rmahan)

Harbour Views
by KimInNB

Comment by Jacko:
Nice images top left and bottom however, you'll need to boost up the contrast and light with Levels in PSP or PS7. Would really bring th images to life. Jacko.