Well, I agonised over this for a long long time, and finally went with this photo. I think its stunning, and magical, the kind of moment few see and even less capture on film. My alternative was a shot I know will score reasonably well (low 6s) as it is very very similar to my Dec. Free Study entry that scored a 6.66. But, you dont gain anything without taking risks, so I went with the unknown... hope it lives up to expectations (or, at the very least, doesnt hurt my average!)
Post processing was fairly simple: levels, saturation, noise reduction, cropping, border. I know it looks like a painting, and I think thats part of the magic. Hopefully, the voters agree!
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I thought this would do well, but 6.59 and 89% for a "Best Of" challenge is pretty epic. I was hoping for a 90+ but 89 is close enough, especially with the talent around here. Thanks to all of the amazing comments, and heres hoping over the coming year I get better and better!
Statistics
Place: 75 out of 712 Avg (all users): 6.5983 Avg (commenters): 7.5588 Avg (participants): 6.4850 Avg (non-participants): 6.9158 Views since voting: 2180 Views during voting: 541 Votes: 361 Comments: 39 Favorites: 11 (view)
Andrew!! This is so GORGEOUS! I have to tell you: one afternoon, my sister and I were looking at some of the "Best Of" photos over the phone, talking about which ones we liked and which ones we were blown away by. This one got her attention and she told me, "Go find Misty Rays. . .It's the BEST!!!" :) She was SO RIGHT!!!
Glad it finished strong -- but in my opinion, it should have finished even stronger!
This is an exquisite image. The light and tress are superb. The soft focus creates a pristine and fresh feel to this shot. From someone who is in the forest more often than not, all I can say is that you really nailed it. Good luck!
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