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2nd
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Hoar Frost and Holly
1st PlaceHoar Frost and Holly
dsidwell


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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Shallow DOF (Advanced Editing I)
Collection: Macros & Other
Camera: Sony DSC-F707
Location: Logan, UT USA
Date: Feb 2, 2004
Aperture: f 3.5
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13
Galleries: Nature, Macro
Date Uploaded: Feb 3, 2004

 Taken near my work. The leaves were originally a very dark green, but the b/w really beefed up the contrast between frost and dark. The texture of the leaf was also emphasized, so I went with b/w instead of color.

I did some selective sharpening and dodging to the ice crystals; I hope not too much. I also used a lot of very subtle dodging and burning here and there. Gassian blur was also used to enhance the depth of field, but only the the hintermost layer, and not very much.

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 174
Avg (all users): 7.0707
Avg (commenters): 8.7931
Avg (participants): 7.0631
Avg (non-participants): 7.0822
Views since voting: 7653
Votes: 184
Comments: 49
Favorites: 14 (view)

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AuthorThread
 02/17/2004 10:15:48 AM
they´re rare the ones who can see both the entire forest and the leaf with the same masterly.
congratulations on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/17/2004 05:06:04 AM
Congratulations on another beautiful image and another blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 07:31:51 PM
Thanks again, everyone, for the comments! Just for the record, I did not glue the hoar frost on! At the point of taking this shot, the temperature had not risen over 5 degrees in over three weeks. It was chilly, but makes for interesting frosty images.
 02/16/2004 06:37:13 PM
Incredible! I love the frost on the tips of the leaf.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 11:58:38 AM
The b/w really works well here. Couldn't imagine it color. Well done and congrats on the blue. Excellent work :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 08:21:25 AM
Congratulations, David!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 08:08:44 AM
well done, one of three tens i gave this time.

3rd place was one of the other 10's...

keep it up
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 07:16:26 AM
Very beautiful photo, i'm glad it got a ribbon.

Great as always...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 06:21:28 AM
This was my pick to win. Beautiful. The texture is outstanding. Thanks for explaining the squares.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 05:29:40 AM
very well done, again...congrats,
p.s. did you glue on the frost like that ? (just kidding : ) )

Message edited by author 2004-02-16 10:30:40.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 04:10:31 AM
amazing shot! congratulations, David! WOW!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 03:54:16 AM
A well deserved "blue". I picked this as my number one shot. I wish I could shoot as well as I pick!!! Good job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2004 01:52:01 AM
Congrats on a well deserved win! Seems I'm not the only one who said "wow" outloud when I saw it !
It's an amazing photo!

Stéphanie.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2004 09:31:59 PM
Also congrats form my side! Well deserved!
The great leaf would have work for texture too.

Jörg
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2004 07:13:39 PM
Congrats....again!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2004 07:05:56 PM
Wow! I didn't think this would happen! I paid a price for the nice tones here. It was quite darkish, and shot in the shade to boot, which made some nice shades happen--but the ice crystals lost their clarity and sharpness. These leaves were already quite dark, and with the channel mixer, I converted to b/w. Some of you also noted the digital noise in the form of squares in the lower left--this was due to gaussian blur, but it only took a little! I probably should have left it alone. There were a lot of high quality images during this challenge; I feel really lucky to have won another ribbon. I thought it would be much higher scoring. I just keep learning from you all. Thanks for the votes!
 02/15/2004 07:01:47 PM
I knew this would be #1, great job, kudo's!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2004 07:01:46 PM
Just another super job David! congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/15/2004 05:06:16 PM
Beautiful. I like the repetition. Lovely detail and tones. Did you have a cross screen star filter on or was it taken thru a window?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2004 04:15:19 PM
Beautiful capture and use of DOF
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2004 09:24:36 PM
Ten from me:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2004 04:10:10 PM
Gorgeous image; my favorite of this challenge! Congratulations for spotting the potential here. I'd hang this in my home, for sure.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2004 11:59:27 AM

Exquisite, simple, elegant, distinct, and -
critical for this genre- outstanding image quality.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2004 10:15:16 PM
This is outstanding, I love the snow on the points of the holly leaves, great capture, wonderful detail. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2004 05:47:14 PM
Beautiful photograph. I love everything about this, the texture, the composition, everything. Very nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2004 12:15:13 PM
Excellent! One of my favs of the challenge. Love the detail
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2004 09:09:11 AM
I love this shot. Great composition and nice details in the leaf. The little ice crystals are an added bonus. 10 -danny
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2004 04:07:54 AM
I really like this shot. Great texture and god shallow DOF. 8
 02/12/2004 07:11:42 PM
great texture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2004 04:00:12 PM
beautiful detail and tone. i love the composition. makes me feel how delicate and precarious life can be.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2004 12:07:02 PM
Nice timing and shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/11/2004 09:51:52 PM
I really like the composition and the subject matter. The frost on the tips of the leaf add interest, depth and a detail to an already intricate subject. Black and white was the perfect choice, great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/11/2004 05:07:22 AM
Excellent choice of subject. Very cute and nicely observed. Mono is good, focus is crisp and composition works well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 06:49:33 PM
Just lovely. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 05:45:12 PM
Fantastic! Beautiful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 04:41:56 PM
WOW! B&W works well here... the leaf has a leathery feel to it and the snow is magical. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 02:00:46 PM
I love the shapes here... the contrast is beautiful... excellent work :) -btw, I would love to hear about how you achieve this excellent tonal range in your photo :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 08:58:30 AM
very nice capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/10/2004 03:49:36 AM
Wow! I actually said that outloud when I saw this for the first time. One of my favs. Original, great use of b&w, well executed. 10. Great job! Good luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/09/2004 06:33:29 PM
VERY sharp. I like the tones and composition. Good job! - Note: Background distortion is unfortunate, did you use Neatimage?, it exaggerates this type of distortion (from my experience).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/09/2004 04:36:16 PM
Gorgeous tones.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/09/2004 11:38:32 AM
Excellent image well captured.....slight signs of overprocessing in the lighter areas at the bottom of the picture but doesn`t spoil it overall.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/09/2004 06:36:56 AM
What a beautiful image - it's the equivalent of reading a fairytale in image format...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/09/2004 12:09:00 AM
Great.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/08/2004 11:24:53 PM
Took a few seconds to understand - pleasing composition, like the crisp ice crystals against the blurred background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/08/2004 09:53:17 PM
Very cool, my top pick.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/08/2004 09:46:11 PM
Although I tend to think B&W is overused, in this case I think it's a great affect. Excellent camera work as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/08/2004 08:55:07 PM
Very beautiful photo. I give it a 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/08/2004 07:45:07 PM
wow, amazing snow crystals
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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