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Chinese love letter
Chinese love letter
kat75


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Stationery (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Kodak Z760
Date: Jul 3, 2006
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/125
Date Uploaded: Jul 3, 2006

 My very first challenge. Go ahead, tear it apart! :) I'm here to learn! It's not what I hoped but better than I expected, if you know what I mean.

This is a Chinese letter-writing set I received as a gift, and the Chinese symbol for Love is on the handmade paper.

My changes:
Crop
Border
Curves
Despeckle

There was a bit of my black work area showing at the edges, which I did my best to crop out. Didnt get it all, but when I added the black border (as I planned anyway), it made it a lot less noticeable (since we cant use Cloning.)

I did an on-camera white balance for Tungsten and Daylight but I didnt like those nearly as well as the Fluorescent balance with the golden tinge, since that made it look antique (I was using Tungsten bulbs). I did use Curves to take out just a bit of the yellowness. I didnt get the nice deep red I wanted in the background, though. :o/ It looks sort of orangish.

Took this on 400 speed film so it's a bit grainy, even after a despeckle. I'm not too happy with the harsh shadows, but that's something else I'm working on as well.

I'm new at curves, and also relatively new at using my camera's manual settings, which I almost exclusively do now because Auto just dont cut it anymore. :)

Statistics
Place: 20 out of 122
Avg (all users): 5.9661
Avg (commenters): 6.6875
Avg (participants): 5.7500
Avg (non-participants): 6.0167
Views since voting: 7069
Views during voting: 391
Votes: 295
Comments: 17
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
Pentax K100D
Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD for Pentax
 11/15/2006 08:15:03 PM
I love this image! looks like it could be a still life shot from a wedding! Good Job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6
 07/11/2006 07:02:25 AM
Is this literal? Is that the "letter" for "love"' in chinese? Very nicely depicted and photographed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D50
Quantaray AF 35-80mm f/4-5.6 for Nikon
 07/08/2006 10:53:29 PM
Seems to be a little grainy and the colors are flat
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon
07/08/2006 02:12:27 PM
Nice composition. I only wish it was a bit sharper. Not saying that's always required however, I don't get the sense a softer image was the intent here. With that said, this is different and has a good crop. 6.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon PowerShot A95
 07/07/2006 08:14:32 PM
Like this chinese stuff. Calm an well composed image. Unfortunately a bit blurry.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D70
Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D
 07/07/2006 12:09:22 PM
Tonal quality of the image is great IMO. i like the effect and the lines of the 'pens' in the image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Pentax K-R
Promaster 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 XR IF
 07/07/2006 09:14:57 AM
Love the angles and colors in this image. The soft focus is very pleasing and works well. I'm scoring this one pretty high.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Pentax K-S2
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF for Pentax
 07/06/2006 08:09:39 PM
Focus feels a little soft. Nice color tones.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon PowerShot SD200
 07/06/2006 09:25:25 AM
Beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
 07/06/2006 06:06:54 AM
Nice composition and use of the classic colour.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D70
Sigma 100-300mm f/4.5-6.7 DL for Nikon
 07/05/2006 08:18:53 PM
Nice composition, focus is a little soft, tho.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 07/05/2006 08:02:26 PM
Elegant shot. The subdued light and colours work well, and the elements are all nicely composed. Its a shame that there's a red tinge creeping in to the bottom right of the paper.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm FinePix S3100
 07/05/2006 06:45:20 PM
Nice colors
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/05/2006 03:55:47 PM
I really love this, the red background and black border set it off nicely and you've got all the perfect touches at just the right angles and placement in the frame. BUT! It's not quite in focus and it seems really grainy. Better lighting maybe?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus C-5050Z
 07/05/2006 03:25:10 PM
nice, but that Chinese sign looks a little too perfect to be handwritten...should have used an actual sign that was written, not printed or stamped...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
 07/05/2006 01:12:42 PM
Faux. A good idea and well arranged with the right character at least. But where is the ink liquid in the ink stone? The character is obviously printed, not a result of personal hand inked caligraphy. Nice one but you could have put the extra ten cents in to make it great.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
 07/05/2006 12:53:33 AM
Very Nice
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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