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Steel Wave
Steel Wave
giantmike


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Puzzle Macro IV (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-50D
Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM
Location: Madison, WI
Date: Feb 20, 2011
Aperture: 22
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/15
Galleries: Still Life, Macro
Date Uploaded: Feb 20, 2011

 I'll be impressed if anyone guesses what this is. It's a desk lamp I bought a few years ago because I liked the spiral shape. We actually ended up getting some curtain rods that are a very similar style.

I shot this in my home made soft box, but didn't actually use the soft box features. I tried many different objects in the soft box, but was not getting anything I liked. I eventually discovered that the soft light wasn't dramatic enough for creating a "puzzle." So for this shot, I turned off all of the ambient lighting, and just used my flash with a blue gel and a sheet for diffusion. This gave not only dramatic light on the object, but the background spill on a white sheet turned out to be a nice color. If I had another flash, I would have used it to light the background with the different gel color.

I used a 13mm extension tube to get the macro-ness of this shot. The small depth of field was tough to work with, but with a f/22 aperture this had just enough depth of field. I really need a Macro rail to increase the focus field.

Looking at the past entries for Puzzle Macro challenges, I expect this to do a little higher than mid range.

Post Processing:
* Straighten
* Retouch some dust out and an abnormality in the paint
* White balance
* Increase Exposure and Brightness
* Topaz DeNoise
* Topaz Adjust
* Crop
* Increase brightness further
* Increase definition and decrease saturation on the metal parts
* S curve
* Export to TIFF
* Resize to 800px
* Sharpen Edges
* Save as JPEG

Statistics
Place: 11 out of 158
Avg (all users): 6.0876
Avg (commenters): 6.1600
Avg (participants): 5.7692
Avg (non-participants): 6.3750
Views since voting: 1767
Views during voting: 294
Votes: 137
Comments: 33
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 02/28/2011 08:00:22 AM
Thanks, all the best people got it, lol.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/28/2011 03:01:16 AM
You did impress me Steve! @nd comment, first person to guess gets it correct. Dang.

Also congrats to Tiny and KarenNfld who guessed it as well.

It's funny how many people guessed curtain rod. That's the first thing my wife thought it was as well.
 02/27/2011 07:03:28 PM
So, did I impress you?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/27/2011 06:38:07 PM
a gate that never shuts again
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2011 03:53:26 PM
Rod iron furniture of some sort.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2011 01:39:08 PM
end of curtain pole?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2011 10:27:15 AM
so cool! is it a iron candle holder?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2011 12:24:42 AM
wrought iron ladies dress shoe
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2011 03:38:56 PM
Part of a chandelier? or maybe a ballaster from a hand rail or fence.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2011 12:52:34 PM
A whisk???
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2011 08:36:00 AM
Nice light! No idea what this is
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2011 07:00:44 PM
Wrought iron?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2011 06:42:56 PM
a chair or railing. Nice, cool and strong looking
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2011 11:36:21 AM
Simple and effective...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2011 07:15:05 AM
simple and nice...8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 06:56:48 PM
iron work, maybe part of a table or gate
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 05:02:06 PM
part of a railing/newel
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 04:42:09 PM
Reminds me of a roller coaster!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 04:21:06 PM
Think I've seen this before..it's a curtain hanger or picture hanger?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 10:17:51 AM
whisk
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 09:31:52 AM
Curtain rail end??
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2011 05:55:11 AM
This looks like the end of a curtain rod I used to have.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/22/2011 04:23:15 PM
A candle stick!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/22/2011 09:24:22 AM
Wrought Iron twisted knob for bedpost or curtain rail
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/22/2011 06:19:05 AM
Part of a lamp.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/21/2011 12:41:55 PM
A nylon beater.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/21/2011 11:24:57 AM
End od a curtain pole?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/21/2011 08:27:40 AM
Looks like a candle holder placed on it's side. Or a curtain rod or lamp finial.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/21/2011 06:48:39 AM
Nice comp...flows well. Not sure what it is.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2011 09:39:46 PM
Iron bed post? Maybe an iron fire poker or something?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2011 07:54:45 PM
Furniture (maybe bedhead) embellishment?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2011 07:53:00 PM
Could be part of a lamp.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2011 07:19:55 PM
I like the lighting
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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