[FONT=“Georgia”]Sorry for the delay in posting these, it’s been a chaotic weekend. Here are the results for Day 4, and look out for Day 5 very soon.
We will announce the overall winner later today.
Arwench
You got in nice and close, Arwench, but I have no idea what I’m looking at. Maybe you should have hunted around for another subject? Shoot multiples, then pick your best.
cajebo
Interesting idea to go with a dead subject. I like the clean background you got too.
In a situation like this, where the subject isn’t moving so you have the time and ability to manipulate your environment, I’d hope for better light. What’s on it right now is a little dull. Maybe a strongly directional light, low to the surface to give you long shadows?
capescafe
Nice! Very good, capescafe. Everything looks fresh, bright and colourful.
To carry this to the next level, consider your light direction. Also consider making up your fruit with a spray bottle and some fresh water-droplets clinging to your berries.
Datura
Moody lights, and lovely composition. At first I thought you passed the required three fruit before figuring out the “grapes” and the round ones below were rocks.
Love the use of an edge light along the dark side of the items to separate them from the dark background.
DuncOne
Really interesting subject, DuncOne, and I like them you got in close. Work on your lighting, and try more crazy angles. Come in even closer, if you can, or bring the camera right up, looking along the surface of the nest.
emeryswanson
Good try, emeryswanson. I’m sure you know yourself what you need to do here.
Your focus is slightly off, but when you’re working at these distances with creatures that small, you need to be dead on. The head and eyes should be sharp, before the wing and leg.
Also, try to get the whole insect in the shot, you lost piece of antennae.
gryffyn
Interesting, gryffyn. Now that’s a freaky looking thing!
Good focus, good distance. Nice one.
The late posting in forgiven because of the confusing timezone system. We will implement something better in future contests.
InesFael
I know you might be limited by your camera, but you really need to come in closer, InesFael. Maybe you could have gone for the other topic instead?
If not, try a composition where this kind of distance works, such as an insect on a flower or leaf, or eating some fruit.
jaagare
Sorry, jaagare, only one photo per day/topic. I’m going with your first, which was the spider.
Good distance. Open up your image editor and bump up the contrast. This might also be interesting if you turned the photo upside down in there, because the head of the spider almost has a pattern like a human skull. It could look quite freaky if you played on that.
jcwacky
ha, I like! Interesting way of approaching the topic. I like how the highlight on the preserve looks.
Maybe a tighter crop, right up to the mouth, would really make this stand out. Right now, it’s sort of a round in a round, with three round subjects. Perhaps cropping the mouth tight would help bring the eye right into the fruit.
mikemgb
Really good light on the web, mikemgb.
Even though the spider isn’t so zoomed in, the spider still remains the dominant idea of the photograph. Good going.
ParkinT
Nice one, ParkinT. Good use of a wide aperture to blur out the otherwise distracting elements of the background. Good placement in the frame too.
pixelfuze
Outstanding. Well done, pixelfuze. Great focus, great depth of field. I like the contrast, and the little white specks on the bee. Very good photograph.
rderego
Nice, close crop in the bright sunlight. Your photo is slightly too red, but it’s not a bad shot at all. Very hard to get in that close to a butterfly!
sbarrat
Dramatic light and nice, sharp photo.
For me, I’d crop it tighter because that yellow hose is distracting.
You don’t want the viewers like, “Hey a butterfl- Wait, What the hell is that thing?”
sGrossman
Interesting idea, sGrossman. How did you do this? Taped the other fruit or are the trees growing beside each other?
The harsh light is really killing you here. Consider outdoor shooting at a different time or day, early morning or just before sunset are good, because you get nice, warm, directional light.
Also, mind your background. The house back there is distracting. Try cropping closer or having only foliage in the back.
simonnz
That’s a pretty bug, simonnz. I like the colours, and the idea of putting him on a leaf.
If you moved your body down slightly, the leaf in front would slightly overlap the background leaf, and break up that strong horizontal line that’s cutting your frame in two.
WarpNacelle
I see what you’re trying to do, but it didn’t work.
What happened instead is that the negative space between your three fruit itself became the subject. So I’m looking at the white triangle instead of what you want to show me.
The strongest photos today were capescafe, pixelfuze, Datura, simonnz and jcwacky.
Datura and simonnz both already won daily contests, so they were out of the running for this prize (though they still qualify for the grand prize if they entered all the other days).
Good job by all, I see you all put out quite an effort.
Today’s prize goes to pixelfuze. That was a gorgeous photo!
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