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No Lifeguard On Duty
No Lifeguard On Duty
EstimatedEyes


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Landscape III (Expert Editing*)
Collection: Challenge Entries
Camera: Pentax K100D
Lens: Pentax DA 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 ED IF Fisheye
Location: Twin Lakes State Beach, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Date: Apr 14, 2007
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/500
Galleries: Landscape, Seascapes
Date Uploaded: Apr 16, 2007

 Nothing expert about the editing on this one. Levels, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and USM. Did some alternate takes using barrel correction to remove the fisheye distortion, and others with weird hue adjustments, but liked this basic edited version the best.

This was a last minute shot through my fisheye when out shooting for some panoramas that didn't quite pan out. I liked it well enough to see how it does. I'm guessing mid-to-low 5s, with a fair number of DNMC trolls aghast at the presence of a man-made structure in a landscape challenge!

Here's the pano version, composed of a series of 5 or 6 shots. The pano had a lot of overlaps and other problems that I didn't bother spending any time trying to correct:


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post-challenge: thanks for the nice comments. I liked this one and didn't expect it to score very well. It did a bit better than expected, but all those comments were what made it worth the price of admission.

I liked the centered composition, though figured it would not appeal to everyone. I was trying to minimize the fisheye effect with the shot as well, by keeping the beach/shore line running straight through the center of the image. I did some other shots as well, including this outtake similar to what Larus suggested:

Statistics
Place: 157 out of 308
Avg (all users): 5.6404
Avg (commenters): 6.4667
Avg (participants): 5.5385
Avg (non-participants): 5.6932
Views since voting: 1354
Views during voting: 407
Votes: 267
Comments: 16
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM
04/24/2007 05:35:19 PM
Nice shot, but perhaps it's just too centered
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital
 04/24/2007 12:15:13 PM
Pretty cool but wouldn´t it be even cooler had you moved in even closer to that lifeguard hut and crouched down to the ground, taking the shot more upward and going all the way with the fisheye effect?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/24/2007 11:45:10 AM
Colour contrast is good, and the sky is slightly interesting, but overall the image lacks excitement. Perhaps composing the station according to the Golden Mean would have made it a bit more exciting. As well, the reverse curvature of the horizon (due to the wide angle lens) is counter intuitive to what one expects, and might be a bit "confusing" to the mind.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 04/23/2007 01:55:38 PM
I like the tiny lighthouse off in the distance. Interesting effect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 04/23/2007 09:57:24 AM
like the fisheye!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D2X
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 04/23/2007 08:02:09 AM
Looks like a lunar landing - this shot makes me feel funny with the distortion. Strangely, I like it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
 04/22/2007 11:54:05 AM
I like the focus of this. I like that there is nothing around.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus E-500 EVOLT
Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital
 04/22/2007 06:06:50 AM
having the lifeguard station not smack bang in the middle would help the compobsition of this photo alot IMHO
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D200
 04/21/2007 12:46:45 PM
Great landscape shot. I like the almost fish-eye like take. A 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
 04/20/2007 06:43:52 PM
I love the wide angle perspective and the centered composition. Well seen and well photographed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 04/20/2007 03:26:50 PM
Makes me smile - love the wideness and the sky. For some reason, I really like the lifeguard thingie smack dab in the middle, too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S
 04/20/2007 02:36:44 PM
love the superwide angle on this image, especially with the lifeguard tower dead center
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR
 04/19/2007 06:55:04 PM
nice image.. great sky, nice centered subject, shot with a wide angle or fish eye, or is that a PS effect? either way, cool shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX
 04/19/2007 12:08:01 AM
Fisheye lense? looks funky in a good way 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS 80D
Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II
 04/18/2007 07:54:27 PM
dead center when you have an interesting coast line and light house to the right or clouds to the left. Either would have made a very nice shot - by trying to get both you have a compromise that is a nice, but ordinary photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/18/2007 07:42:27 PM
excellent use a wide angle. creates a very interesting image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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