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Melethia


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2009-11 (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Challenges 2009
Camera: Canon EOS-30D
Lens: Lensbaby Composer
Location: Wiesbaden
Date: Nov 27, 2009
Galleries: Lensbaby
Date Uploaded: Nov 30, 2009

 I felt kinda bad that my lovely Tour Eiffel shot did not have a discernible pigeon (although I am quite sure that somewhere in that photograph there is a pigeon.) So I spent some time trying to find the right pigeon shot to enter for the FS. I had one all picked out - a contre jour pigeon shot taken at the Louvre, a French-named type of shot taken in France! But then I was wandering about Wiesbaden with my Lensbaby on a nasty gray day and the pigeons in the square were doing their formation thing. And since it was a Lensbaby side challenge month, this seemed kind of fitting. Of course, if I'd had any sense at all, I'd have hidden the swing Lensbaby shot earlier in the month... Ah well. I like this one, too. Hoping for a 4.9 or better! :-)

The contre-jour shot (or at least one of them):


The swing shot:


[Dec. 7th, 2009 05:27:13 PM]

VERY pleased with how this is doing. Quite delighted with the comments and the favs - thank you very much!

Processing is the Holga preset in Nik Silver Efex with some tweaks, most likely.

Statistics
Place: 129 out of 366
Avg (all users): 5.9038
Avg (commenters): 8.0556
Avg (participants): 6.0531
Avg (non-participants): 5.5116
Views since voting: 816
Views during voting: 98
Votes: 156
Comments: 28
Favorites: 7 (view)

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AuthorThread
 02/14/2014 10:59:33 AM
This is outstanding! I love it. The beauty of it put a smile on my face. Thank you!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2009 03:46:18 PM
You achieved what very few people have achieved. You made me like a lensbaby shot! I think I've only found 2 others that I've liked (for some reason, I haven't quite figured them out yet) I thought this one was quite fun -- it seemed kind of like an Alfred Hitchcock scene!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2009 08:50:01 AM
haha, thought it might be yours Deb! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2009 05:58:00 AM
I was wondering if this might be yours as I gave it a 9. Reminded me of Wallace Stevens;

"And, in the isolation of the sky,
casual flocks of pigeons make
ambiguous undulations, as they sink
downward to darkness on extended wings."

Brava!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2009 05:23:05 AM
i like! the lensbaby effect seems sooo right for this image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 10:17:40 PM
fantastic again !!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 07:09:38 PM
Deb, sorry it didn't quite make it over the 6. But well done anyway, it's a good score!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/07/2009 06:30:08 PM
Lovely, sentimental.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 06:10:19 PM
unbelievably cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 03:42:12 PM
Alfred Hitchcock approves. So do I. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 01:13:56 PM
Classic!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 12:14:58 PM
Love the mood and atmosphere here. Also, great sense of movement. 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 09:34:41 AM
Fantastic shot. Perfect focus on the birds and lovely low key colour. In my top ten of the challenge. 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2009 04:52:04 AM
Palpable feelin of movement.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/06/2009 01:33:04 PM
lensbaby? I LOVE it!! It feels so gothic, so hitchcock, just wonderful. my only complaint would be the grain. I like a bit but the only place i can really see it is the clouds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/06/2009 09:47:35 AM
Makes me think if an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/06/2009 08:16:49 AM
Hope this is on the up! Very cool
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/06/2009 06:48:33 AM
lensbaby? nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2009 12:36:16 PM
Neat shot. Love the focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2009 07:30:24 PM
Best image I've seen so far in this challenge. I can't articulate all the reasons I like this but if it doesn't finish in the top 10%, I'll have to kill myself. That being said, it won't appeal to every taste. Ignore your detractors!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2009 03:53:07 PM
I normally dont like shots of birds, let alone pigeons or seagulls, but this shot is outstanding. The noise, the OOF elements, and the dark and desaturated processing make this one a standout in the free study. Hope this does well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2009 11:12:41 AM
I think but not sure...that this would be an example of "tilt photography"???...should have added "The" in front of Birds...this has that good'ol Alfred Hitchcock feel to it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2009 10:38:47 PM
I Love it !!! : )
My favourite of the challenge. Wonderful use of the LB : )
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2009 12:02:31 PM
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives:The overall scene holds together very well and I think the Lensbaby is the right tool for the job. I'm really liking the grain too. Also, I wonder how you got this shot - the timing is either highly fortuitous or you camped out - either way it makes for a great scene.

Critical stuff: There is a lot of blur here and I wonder if a smaller aperture ring might have been a little more effective - but then perhaps that would detract from the overall vision.

Overall: A most compelling image - it gets better and better the longer I look at it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2009 10:30:52 AM
:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2009 04:38:49 AM
The grain works well with this capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2009 01:54:10 AM
Nice B&W image. Like the grain and the lensbaby effect with the sweet spot in the middle of the mass of birds. Reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds".
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/30/2009 10:33:55 PM
Under the bridge by imagineer... Super cool image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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