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The Reveal Phase begins Saturday (October 27th) and extends for the life of the thread. This is optional. This is the phase in which you can reveal which pictures you had taken. Up until this point, you shall remain anonymous. That way there will be no biases towards your work. You do not have to reveal yourself if you choose not to do so. However, if you wish to get help with how to improve your shots, this could be a good starting point.

Previous Threads
The ABCs of Photography - The Project (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60393)
The ABCs of Photography - Test Run (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60428)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter A (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60564)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter B (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60677)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter C (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60823)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter D (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60960&)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter E (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61113)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter F (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61228)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter G (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61358)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter H (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61474)

Anyone in the future who wishes to join this group, follow these steps:
Go to http://www.maverickmarks.com/abcphoto.
Click the "Login" link and register from there.
Once registered, login and click the Upload file(s) button to begin uploading your pictures.

You will know that this is mine, because once again, the timestamp and whatnot, from my first batch of pictures in London. So, no timestamp comments please. I got it. :)

Wow. Some really nice pictures already submitted this week. Oh, and bump.

SI

And discussion begins:

Icy Blossoms
IlluminatedStreet
IcyLandscape
IlluminatedStreet2
ImageOfMe
Innate
Insect
Isis
Isolation
IdealLocation
ItWasADarkAndSnowyNight

I hope to do comments later, but I will say that my favorite landscape yet is in this group.

I hope to do comments later, but I will say that my favorite landscape yet is in this group.

+1 (to both statements)

Icy Blossoms – When I first saw this picture, I felt chilly, really chilly! I love the white flowers with the white snow but it seems the focus is in the front somewhere.

IlluminatedStreet – I love long exposure shots and this one’s really good. I love the direction and capture of the headlights… dunno what I’d do different… nicely done!

IcyLandscape – The clouds on the left-hand side almost looks like smoke. Good job not over/underexposing your shot, I always have a hard time with it. I like smoothness of the snow in the front. I also wouldn’t change a thing… not even crop.

IlluminatedStreet2 – I like the motion of and headlights but the front is a little empty for me. I would have cropped the light at the top and a lot from the bottom to leave the street and the headlights.

ImageOfMe – I love the reflection of the glass underneath and of course your reflection… don’t know who you are but I see a kid. I wouldn’t change a thing… it’s nicely framed… I really like it!

Innate – great landscape! This picture brings back memories of when I was a kid. We’d go to the mountains all the time and the sound of the river was sooooo relaxing. I’d frame a picture like this.

Insect – Great detail and depth of field! It’s a little centered but I think it’s okay… it works.

Isis – another picture with great depth of field. Isis seems to be anticipating something. The picture seems a tad washed out… just a tad though but nothing a little post processing can’t fix.

Isolation –I like the space on the left for it makes the dog seem lonely if it wasn’t for the people passing by. The fact that 1 out of the 3 people noticed the doggy makes me feel a little sorry for him… poor thing was left alone.

IdealLocation – Ahhhh… so peaceful and serene. I love nature pics. It seems a little washed out and I would have liked to have seen more trees on the right to balance the picture a little more.

ItWasADarkAndSnowyNight – Was this picture taken behind a window? It seems a little streaky around the light. This picture also makes me feel cold.

http://www.xenomed.com/forums/images/smilies/icon_bump.gif

And I FINALLY get the chance to do a writeup... Sorry if I'm overly harsh, but I'm all about the honesty.

Icy Blossoms: Something about this just doesn't work for me. I'm going to try to explain it, but may fail miserably. It does a good job of everything but the main focus being blurred. The problem for me is that the main focus is a lot of chunky snow that makes it look blurred, even though it's not. So for me it has the impact that at first glance it all looks blurry and you have to really look to realize that it's not. I like the idea, but that just gets me.

IlluminatedStreet: Another picture that makes me underestimate the effect certain night scenarios can have. I really like the impact of the car lights streaking around and it gives me some ideas of things to try myself.

IcyLandscape: YES YES YES. This is my FAVORITE landscape, by far, of this little adventure of ours. I would change nothing and get a nice print and frame this bad boy. Simply amazing for me. The only minimal change I might make is to crop out that very top layer of grey clouds.

IlluminatedStreet2: I like this street a lot too. I think I like the other slightly better because the street light at the top of this one distracts my eye.

ImageOfMe: All I can say is I guess I don't "get" this photo. It lacks organization and real focus for me and I just can't relate to it.

Innate: Nice photo, good focus, good time of day. I think for me for a landscape it lacks a real "subject". It just seems to have too many potential subjects which really gives it no subject. I think I'd prefer it to be cropped in closer on something. Then again, maybe that's why I often don't dig landscapes.

Insect: Good focus, although it might be nice if the background was a little more blurred. I really like how you have him at an angle and the branch goes off the corner. The thing I would say is a criticism I often have of myself - it's too centered. I'd like to see him off to one side at the angle rather than dead center.

Isis: This does a pretty good job of taking what many would put dead center and shifting it off center. I think it does a pretty good job of the 1/3's rule that DC has mentioned. I like the framing. I wonder how it might have looked if it was from an even lower angle.

Isolation: Another pup, but from a completely different type of shot. As a dog lover, this picture really moved me. I would have tried to get it with no people at all or the people even further away from him, but that may have been hard if it was a busy city street. Poor puppy :(.

IdealLocation: Nice shot. The sky is a bit too washed out for my tastes, but besides that I think it's nice. Again, not real good with the landscapes myself so it's hard for me to critique.

ItWasADarkAndSnowyNight: For me this shot just lacks anything interesting. Seems like something that could be taken at any moment outside of any lightly snowy apartment complex.

Icy Blossoms: I really like this idea for a shot. Good job!

IlluminatedStreet: You see these shots a lot, and I've never seen one I didnt like.

IcyLandscape: Unlike others above, I do not think this is the best landscape shot of the week. Its not bad though. It makes me feel chilly seeing it.

IlluminatedStreet2: See comment above

ImageOfMe: At first I wondered if it was reflecto-porn. Are there three people in the photo, or are you just happy to see me.

Innate: Totally adore this photo Amazing!

Insect: Enhh. Seems like a picture of a cricket, no more or less. Could be in a wikipedia article for crickets.

Isis: I really dig dogs, but this one doesn;t show any emtion. That's interesting, but don;t do anything for me as a result.

Isolation: I wonder who took this pic?

IdealLocation: Not bad, but a little less than ideal for me int eh middle of a small river, so I didn;t get teh title.

ItWasADarkAndSnowyNight: I agree with wade moore that ths just seems like a shot. I'm not sure what Im supposed to be looking at.

Before anything, minor suggestion to future threads, possibly add a link to the previous threads in the first post of each thread? I've been trying to look back at previous ones and keep having to search them out. Here's a started from the first weeks if you're interestsed:

Previous Threads
The ABCs of Photography - The Project (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60393)
The ABCs of Photography - Test Run (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60428)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter A (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60564)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter B (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60677)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter C (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60823)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter D (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60960&)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter E (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61113)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter F (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61228)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter G (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61358)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter H (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61474)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter I (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61591)


As I stated before, definitely one of my favorite weeks of pictures. Frankly, I don't think I could choose a favorite as 4 or 5 are that good.

Icy Blossoms - I love the subject matter as it makes a great picture. A little bit out of focus so it's hard to make out some of the blossoms- would have preferred to pick out the middle section or front section of them. Also, I like the background as it looks somewhat like a mosaic.

IlluminatedStreet , IlluminatedStreet2 - I love the still of the picture with the light blur. I've gotta ask- how do you do this because I'd imagine this is a fairly long exposure as, for instance, in the first one, you can see multiple car lights go through the intersection. Dumb question number 2: How is it that we don't see the cars? Two good choices for shots as they both have good "night color" and I like the inclusion of street lamps on both since they make that great star effect.

ImageOfMe - Lacks reflectoporn? Dang, Abe beat me to the reflectoporn joke. I like the big central image tho the other couple of reflections all seem bunched up so it looks unbalanced to me.

Innate - Another one of my favorites for the week. Love the mountain view and how there's a natural eye progression up it, love the tree placement, love the reflection of the sun on the water, like the rock up front sortof for scale. Myself, I love when nature sets up a great shot like this because all I have to do is recognize there's a great picture there and take it. My only one little complaint is that the picture is a smidge crooked, maybe 5 degrees off.

Isis - See rant about centering below- I think I'm just going to be the opposite voice to the "you can't center things" camp. If the term "depth of field" that DC used describes how the dog is really well focused and how the background fades very nicely into the background, then this picture has tremendous depth of field (sorry, don't really know the term). I like the expression of the dog. I'm not sure I like the cut of what we see on the dog- we get head, neck, and a little back. It just seems too much or too little to me, but I don't know what I'd do to change it.

IdealLocation - Like in "innate", I love when nature sets up an easy shot and all you have to do is snap the picture. As others have said, the sky is a little washed out and I could do with something on the bottom right, but on the whole, a solid picture. Again, similar to innate, seems to be a few degrees crooked- nothing major but it's there.

Isolation - I have to say it: the people really distract me in this picture and completely ruin it for me. If I just completely popped them out of the picture, I'd like the shot. I like how the store is basically a mirror image and we get that effect in the picture. Again, I'd have liked to see it centered so we get some image symmetry. Also, this is the third picture of the week that's been slightly crooked (four, including one of mine below).

Then onto my three...

IcyLandscape - I love the snow, the detail in the snow, and the shapes and I think it overcomes a couple of the other issues I have with this picture. Composition-wise, I like the foreground snow but with the midground could be split with a half level of snow but a half layer of trees above it or no trees at all. Then, in the background, I'd kindof like to be able to play around with different types of sky- the clouds almost seem too white but they make the picture feel colder than if there were a blue sky.

Insect - This one is "insect" because I forgot to put it in with "C"(icada). This was one of the first pictures I took with my new S3. I love how it focused in on the branch and the cicada and blurred out everything else. Took me 3 or 4 shots to get the one I wanted but still not too tough.

As for the mini-rant, I still don't get the "object too centered" critique- if there's just one focus in the picture, it seems silly to unbalance the entire shot. Balance, to me, seems like one of the most important aspects of a photo and there are much worse things you can do than center for symmetry. For instance, there are lots of pictures out there where it seems like the only composition feature of the shot is a cutesy, pseudo-artistic angle which seems forced. What is the academic argument as to why centering is wrong?

ItWasADarkAndSnowyNight - And now for the dud. For some reason, this seemed like a good idea to include on paper but once it was up, I was scrambling for something else "I" related and didn't get anything this week. I guess I'll just stick with what I like about this picture- I like the red and green color contrast, I like the moving snow in front of the light, I like... the corny title? I dunno, there really isn't all that much to like, particularly for a crooked picture without much to see in it.

SI

Before anything, minor suggestion to future threads, possibly add a link to the previous threads in the first post of each thread? I've been trying to look back at previous ones and keep having to search them out. Here's a started from the first weeks if you're interestsed:

Previous Threads
The ABCs of Photography - The Project (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60393)
The ABCs of Photography - Test Run (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60428)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter A (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60564)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter B (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60677)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter C (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60823)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter D (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60960&)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter E (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61113)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter F (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61228)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter G (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61358)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter H (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61474)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter I (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61591)

SI

Great idea SI!

I was IlluminatedStreet, IlluminatedStreet2, and IdealLocation.

Both IlluminatedStreet pictures were taken with a 30 second exposure on a tripod. The first one was taken in front of Texas State Capitol, looking towards Frost Bank Tower. The second one was on 6th Street and it was really, really crowded, I'm surprised we didn't see more people in it. Someone actually walked right in front of the camera and nothing.

IdealLocation was taken in a ranch in Wimberley, TX. I wasn't in the water but at got as close as I could without getting wet.

I'll give more technical details on the IlluminatedStreet pictures later, we're on our way out.

Before anything, minor suggestion to future threads, possibly add a link to the previous threads in the first post of each thread? I've been trying to look back at previous ones and keep having to search them out. Here's a started from the first weeks if you're interestsed:

Previous Threads
The ABCs of Photography - The Project (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60393)
The ABCs of Photography - Test Run (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60428)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter A (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60564)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter B (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60677)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter C (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60823)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter D (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60960&)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter E (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61113)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter F (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61228)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter G (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61358)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter H (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61474)
The ABC's of Photography - Letter I (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61591)

SI

Done