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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 18: Stones (Hosted by Karthik Murugesan) >> Challenge 18: Stones Eligible (Hosted by Karthik Murugesan) > A Rock and a Hard Place
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25-JUN-2004 Joe Reilly

A Rock and a Hard Place


Redux of a prior post, re-shot in response to feedback from Olaf and Dr. Moose. Still not completely satisfied, but this is far better by virtue of their input. Thanks guys...

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
1/200s f/5.6 at 70.0mm iso100 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Olaf.dk 29-Jun-2004 20:23
I have to agree a bit with Phil on this one: It's not quite there yet... I would like a little more DOF [depth of field] and there is something about the composition that just doesn't work for me. I wish I could put my finger on it - maybe it's the negative space on the right? Maybe it would have been better to have it on the left? I don't know. I actually think I prefer the composition of the prior post. When I suggested getting closer and having the rock in the foreground, I envisioned looking down the wrench, kind of like looking down a road or a path. That would have the handle going up instead of down in the image (just to explain). Without trying it, I can't promise that would be any better though. Another thing that springs to mind: my alteration of the first shot brought out the reds in the rock, which I thought helped the image as it added contrast to the grey-scale steel and blue background. Here the rock (a different one?) does not have any color and therefore does not contrast as much with the wrench. Joe, you are a good sport for keeping at it - I am sure your persistence will pay off!!!
Karthik Murugesan29-Jun-2004 15:32
Joe: I like this shot very much. One of my fav. for this theme. Great idea, well executed this time. Nice work on the smooth blur on the handle. I liked it. The blur at the bottom of the stone didn't really bother me and never distracted me untill Phil mentioned it. Bottomline I think it worked well this time. Great effort!

- Thanks, Karthik.
Guest 26-Jun-2004 16:23
Hey, Phil. In honesty, I'm not wild about it either. But, after two attempts (both long episodes of "trying too hard"), I'm done. I hammered this in Photoshop for an hour (do, undo, re-do, do-do, etc), so this *might* have some incremental blurring on the handle, I just can't remember the final suite of edits. In any respect, I do appreciate (and respect) your candor. This has been a learning experience. Evidently, having a picture in mind is helpful but not sufficient [*sMiLe*].
Guest 26-Jun-2004 13:43
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb here and perhaps be a little controversial... I don't like this one so much! The background is better, but if anything I think the DOF is too shallow - I think the whole rock should have been sharp. It also looks to me as if you have added further blur on the wrench below the jaws (correct me if I'm wrong). In my opinion, this is too far the other way... somewhere between the two is where it should be. Phil
Anna Yu26-Jun-2004 05:49
Nicer shot this one. Tried playing around with the Curves in PS? More shadow would be nice.
Scott Hopkins26-Jun-2004 05:26
I do like this one better...The DOF is nice on this one