"Fly" by Dag Thrane:
Allow me to join the swelling chorus of those who've already voiced their amazement and pleasure from viewing this shot. As I've already read how you acheived that surreal almost 3 D effect of the background, I won't ask. Suffice to say that it works! It's a most unusual and pleasing effect. I think this is one of those shots that would look absolutely incredible blown up real big! I won't get into details except to say that everything works beautifully well, here. I'm blown away. Thanks, Dag, for sharing it with us.
"Giant Bug" by Alan Chan:
Wow! Now ~that's~ detail, Alan! And from a p&s, too! Just a great shot. There's nothing much more to say. Thanks.
"Dewey Blue Dasher" by Mark Cassino:
The photo says "Mark" but I thought it was "Marc". Well, if I spelled your name wrong in my previous post, my apologies. Anyway. Ho hum. Another Cassino image that blows one away. Getting boring, eh? <vbg> But, seriously, Mark, this is amazing. Love the blue of the insect. Love the way the lighting makes the wings appear to shimmer. The bright out of focus circles (actually octogons) lower right are a bit distracting, but not much. Is that bright bokeh, or flare? Anyway, another piece of work of the consistently high quality that we have come to expect, Mark. Thanks very much.
"Landing Gear Down" by David Dixon:
Okay, I can understand macro bug shots when the bug is relatively still (see above two comments). But this thing is freaking flying!! How the hell did you capture that? Was the camera on a tripod and you caught it when it flew through the frame? Was it handheld? How did you get that? I'm amazed! Oh yeah, great detail, wonderful capture, I love the position of the legs, just ready to land. Incredible, tight (for a flying bug!) composition. Do you get the idea I liked this one? <vbg> Great shot, David.
"Rotschenkel" by Thomas Stach:
A great grab! That bird is so dopey looking, how can you not love it? He seems to have this "duh, what do I do now?" look on it's face - I know birds can't really change facial expressions, but that's what it seems to be saying. Those ungainly looking long legs add to the dopey feeling. Great comp. Those wires coming off the post (especially the one from the right, going down in the frame, gradually disappearing out of focus) really add to the shot, and make the placement of the bird to the left work even better. I'd have put the bird dead centre, but it would have looked boring. And, you're right, mirror lenses are supposed to have bad bokeh, but that background is creamy and smooth - maybe because it's pretty homogeneous to begin with; whatever, it works. The whole shot works. Thanks.
"Pelican" by Steve Larson:
Another "Wow" shot from this month's gallery. Nice tight shot; he did pose nicely for you, eh Steve? Great detail, gorgeous blue sky. What really makes the shot are the posts behind him going to the left, and the slighty out of focus pier in the background - just out of focus enough to that 3 D effect, but not so out of focus that you don't easily know what it is. Perfect. Very well done, Steve! Makes me want to move to California.
"Kooka" by Derby Chang:
Very nice compostion, I like the way the bird "flows" diagonally across the frame, and the background seems to "flow" with it. Very nice. The bokeh is beautiful and creamy. Nice action shot of the bird appearing to call directly at the camera. One criticism, as in an earlier comment, it really needs to be sharper, IMHO. Seems to me that these kinds of close-ups need to really "snap" at you, and this just doesn't. Otherwise, a very well done image.
I'll save the next Kookabura for next round. Let's try going outside again, as I think it's stopped raining.
cheers, frank
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