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I drive by this lake and mansion all the time and I never tire of this serene setting. I hope you like it.
Post Challenge comments: I actually did want the duck out of focus because even though the eye is initially drawn to him, the scene that I wanted to impart was everything that was in the background.
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Place: 87 out of 218 Avg (all users): 5.9825 Avg (commenters): 6.2759 Avg (participants): 5.8646 Avg (non-participants): 6.0682 Views since voting: 1355 Views during voting: 378 Votes: 228 Comments: 41 Favorites: 1 (view)
The lighting is really terrific, as is the scene in general.
That duck in the foreground does bother me, though. It's just so big that to have it out of focus detracts.
Then there's the issue of it being a wildlife challenge. I think a sharp foreground duck and ducks on the water, and a somewhat blurred house, and you would've gotten a huge score. The usual trend is to make your subject sharp, and that's the large house and small ducks on the water.
But in a free study, as it is I think this would've done much better.
Either way, it's obvious that you chose the DOF; you didn't accidentally make the closer duck blurry. So then it becomes a question of whether I agree with your choice.
You said over in the team suck forum that you looked forward to explaining your thinking, so why not put it there in the comments? You can edit those post-challenge just like a shot in your portfolio.
Okay, Jeb, here is my comment. First of all, I think you had a very acceptable score and ranking. I think it would have been even higher if the goose/duck in the foreground had been in good focus. The mood of the scene is excellent, the landscape is excellent, but the wildlife in the foreground is out of focus. This is the first place the eye goes when viewing the shot -- it is the lower right power point (intersection of the 1/3 divisions). I think even if you had put this in Free Study, the focus would have been a problem. A very long DOF with the foreground in focus would, in my opinion, make this a lovely, high-scoring shot.
One other thing that I think may detract from the overall quality of the composition is the very hard and sharp edges of the surface where the goose is standing. It is in harsh contrast to the soft, misty feel of the rest of the image.
Finally, the house in the distance seems to be off kilter. The whole image needs to be rotated slightly clockwise.
I'm no expert, but that's the way I see it. I hope this helps.
I think overall the mood is great. It is a very artisticly done shot. I don't mind the depth choice used here, I think having the front duck slightly out of focus works great. There are just a few compositional elements I would change, and really this is mostly beyond your control. The ducks in the pond, I wish they were more to the left, or at least the two to the furthest to the right. They distract just a bit from the front ducks form. It would just be a small element that would make a better line and get more involement in that middle section. Lastly just a slight adjustment in the angle, maybe just a bit higher, so you could get the foreground duck's head in the water rather than covering up some elements in the background. Granted of course that you can still maintain the same general perspective
However, I'm just picking on very small details here. It's the type of thing that makes a great wildlife picture extrodinary. Sometimes a little luck has to come into play. Wildlife I think is the hardest, because in the purest sense you have the lease amount of control of your subjects. This is really a tremendous photo you have here!
I think for this I would have had to go one way or the other with the depth of field. Either drop down and attempt to bring the duck in to focus, or push the focus further away. As it is my eyes are drawn back and forward in an awkward manner. The general composition though is outstanding.
I like the highlite of the water todraw the eyes to the small ducks.
What isthe object just from the the small duck to the right. It looks like a griant duck. Definitly a 10.
Jeb, I know you are bummed because you barely missed that 6, but this is a really interesting shot, one of the most artistic of the challenge - a shot of which you should be proud! The mist is lovely and the intentional lack of focus on the foreground duck adds a lot of depth. Great job.
very very pleasing shot, jeb. the compostion is great, and i agree with deb, the foreground duck out of focus works well. i'm not mad on the green border, though. my eye keeps being drawn to that, rather than to the beautiful image it contains.
o, and now i have 'dust in the wind' stuck in my head...
Very nearly a 6 and a nice shot, too! Very peaceful - mist works well and the house adds a lovely element to show that wildlife does indeed coexist quite nicely with man. Seems the majority of the commenters wanted to see the foreground duck a bit sharper. It does work this way, though it requires the viewer to linger a bit longer to appreciate. The "scene" is the house with the ducks in the water. The "sentinel" is the single duck in the foreground, keeping an eye on things but not wishing to be the focal point.
Intriguing shot and location. Needs to be the setting of a short story or some such. I'm fine with the foreduck being fuzzy - the depth here feels like what the eye would naturally see.
I like the duck in front - it just adds something to the picture. And I love the mist or fog covering the house in the background. Like there is a story waiting to be told...
I like the composition and misty feel a lot, and I don't think it would work without the duck in the foreground (at least not for a wildlife challenge). But it's disconcerting that the duck in the foreground is so soft while the rest is nice and sharp.
I realy like the mood of this image, the fog is awesome.
A couple of things that may have helped it score a little higher, IMO, would be to straighten the image slightly (the house appears to tilt to the right)and to get the duck in the forground a little sharper. Good luck in the challaenge
Lovely moody shot - I predict though you will get many comments on the duck in the foreground being out of focus. He should I think be the sharp element of this picture.
Lovely shot. I wonder how it would look with the foreground duck in focus? My eye is definitely drawn to the ducks in the water (midground) due to good DOF, but I keep coming back to our little friend nearest us and wanting him to be the sharper subject. nice scene.
If I could block out the duck in the foreground, I would rate this photo a 10. He detracts from the photo instead of adding to it. The mist over the lake with the lovely home in the background is beautiful. With the ducks in the lake, it makes for a wonderful shot.
This is hysterical! I'd have called it "Sentinel in the Mist", myself :-) After all, that's obviously a duck. It's too bad (IMO at least, maybe this is what you intended) that the foreground duck isn't sharp and the house a little blurred. Still, fine shot!
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