PF Photo Contest - I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille! (8/23-8/30)

[ZapperZ]

I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille!

This week's theme is all about close-up pictures. If you've used the close-up macro on your camera, then that picture qualifies. However, your picture need not be taken only using this function. Any picture that is a closeup of, or up close to, an object or a subject is accepted. The close-up subject must be the main focus and occupies the majority of your picture.

Contest Rules:

1. Any digital photo or digitally-scanned photo relevant to the theme will be accepted within the contest period. In case there's a grey area, or you're not sure if the picture is suitable, check with me first.

2. Please resize your digital photo to no more than 650 x 490 pixels. You may also crop your picture if you wish. But other than that, any form of picture editing or modification is not allowed. This is a photo contest, not a picture editing/special effect contest. You may add a watermark or your name/nickname to the photo for identification purposes.

3. Upload your photos to any of the photo servers such as imageshack. Then post it the relevant contest thread and link your picture using the img command. PM me if you do not know how.

4. Only ONE picture per member per contest.

5. At the end of the contest period, I will open a poll and every PF member can vote for the picture they like best.

6. Note that in case we have a large number of entries, I will do the polling in more than one thread. If that's the case, you can vote in each of the polling threads. The photos will be assigned in the the polling threads in the order they were submitted.

7. These pictures must be something that you took, not something taken off someone else's photo albums or taken by someone else. I have no way of checking if you did this, so we'll go by the honor system.

8. You can use a picture only once. Once it is used in a contest, it cannot be reused in another contest.

9. Please post only pictures meant for submission in this thread.

Zz.

[nazzard]

"e' string" (standard tuning) :smile:

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/5780/guitaroa4.jpg

[Integral]

Alright, I have learned my lesson, my bridge pic, which I choose because it was "different" turned out to be like its subject.. a loser... so.... Think cute.
http://home.comcast.net/~Integral50/Ricochet/Meja.JPG

Sleepy pup.

[GeoMike]

http://www.mcschell.com/rose_small.jpg

-GeoMike-

[larkspur]

http://home.comcast.net/~larkspur2020/beebutt2.jpg

[TuviaDaCat]

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5483/p1010006md2.jpg

cat's curiosity.

[Ivan Seeking]

http://www.mcschell.com/rose_small.jpg

-GeoMike-


Beautiful shot! GeoMike is tough competition.

[Moonbear]

I too have learned that when all else fails, cute kittens always get at least a few votes! :biggrin:

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8344/emberun2.jpg

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a close up photo of a moving kitten?!

[larkspur]

I too have learned that when all else fails, cute kittens always get at least a few votes! :biggrin:

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8344/emberun2.jpg

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a close up photo of a moving kitten?!

Which was harder, holding her down to put on that eye liner or taking the picture?:biggrin:
What a pretty kitten!:smile:

[Moonbear]

Considering the eyeliner is only on one eye, I'll let you decide. :biggrin:

If I could reach the camera now, I could get one of her lying still...she's stretched out in my arm sleeping. Tough typing one handed!

[Janus]

My daughter Danielle at age 2 (She turns 19 and starts college next month.)

http://home.earthlink.net/~parvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dani.jpg

[hypnagogue]

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7107/gas1ik1.jpg

gas puddle

[Kurdt]

Here is a Waspy thing on some plant I have in my garden I took 5 minutes ago for this very competition. Excuse my lack of knowledge about natury things but perhaps all the guys and gals on here would have fun working out what the little flying thing is and what plant its sitting on is :wink::smile:
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9569/waspything3lj9.jpg

[Andre]

Hover-fly aka wasp-fly. Not a wasp

[Kurdt]

Hover-fly aka wasp-fly. Not a wasp
Theres the animal now anybody any guesses about the plant? (Astronuc I'm looking at you.)

[0TheSwerve0]

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7107/gas1ik1.jpg

gas puddle

:eek: cannot compete with that!

[FredGarvin]

Theres the animal now anybody any guesses about the plant? (Astronuc I'm looking at you.)Some form of Allium?

[Molydood]

http://www.pbase.com/molydood/image/65728237.jpg

Fly sitting on my pond

[Molydood]

Swerve.... did you intentionally post that pic thinking that this was a physics forum and that the oil looked a little like the mandlebrot set? Very well done if you did, nice picture if you didn't :)

[Kurdt]

I wish I had a pond.

[ZapperZ]

Fly sitting on my pond

Please read the contest rules, especially #2. Please modify the size or it will not appear in the voting thread.

2. Please resize your digital photo to no more than 650 x 490 pixels. You may also crop your picture if you wish. But other than that, any form of picture editing or modification is not allowed. This is a photo contest, not a picture editing/special effect contest. You may add a watermark or your name/nickname to the photo for identification purposes.

Zz.

[TuviaDaCat]

the gas puddle owns. heh, it looks like that "yin and yeng" sign.

[Pythagorean]

:eek: cannot compete with that!

yeah, I know where my votes going so far, fluid dynamics induce erotica

[turbo]

Taken through an open window from a distance of about a foot. This guy is the alpha male of this year's brood of ruby-throated hummingbirds, and he won't have adult coloration until next year's visit. Nevertheless, he acts the bully and aggressively defends this feeder. MINE!

These guys are so fast that I got about 40 pictures of an empty feeder and only 3-4 decent shots of the birds. Their stops at the feeder are very brief, and my Olympus C-3040 has an unacceptably long delay after pushing the shutter before it takes a shot. Don't get one of these cameras if you want to do action photography.

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/4464/hummingbirdpe7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[rocketboy]

Taken through an open window from a distance of about a foot. This guy is the alpha male of this year's brood of ruby-throated hummingbirds, and he won't have adult coloration until next year's visit. Nevertheless, he acts the bully and aggressively defends this feeder. MINE!

These guys are so fast that I got about 40 pictures of an empty feeder and only 3-4 decent shots of the birds. Their stops at the feeder are very brief, and my Olympus C-3040 has an unacceptably long delay after pushing the shutter before it takes a shot. Don't get one of these cameras if you want to do action photography.

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/4464/hummingbirdpe7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

excellent photo!

I like the fly on a pond too.

[turbo]

excellent photo!Thanks. Since the background was very bright and the feeder is in shade, I had to use flash to fill in the shadows. These brave little guys didn't care - they acted like it was no problem. I got a couple of good shots of this guy because it's HIS feeder. The other birds are tougher to photograph because they make brief hit-and-run raids on the feeder until he chases them off. He's the only one that actually perches and takes his time drinking the sugar-water, except for one mature female that he tolerates - I think it's his mother.

[Molydood]

Please read the contest rules, especially #2. Please modify the size or it will not appear in the voting thread.



Zz.

apologies; now corrected.

[detta]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6479/plantnf3.jpg

[turbo]

Nice shot, detta. I don't know the fname of that stuff, but it is VERY fragrant when you crush it in your fingers.

[FredGarvin]

Turbo...We have a few feeders in our yard including one on a window. I have been trying for a couple of years to get that shot. Nice pic indeed. My Nikon has the same problems with shutter delay as well.

[Moonbear]

Are there any digital cameras that don't suffer from that shutter delay problem? Or do you have to go into the exhorbitant, professional level price ranges to get them? I haven't encountered any that didn't have some delay, and it really is a pain when you're trying to capture an action shot.

[chroot]

Most digital cameras above $500 or so generally have little or no shutter delay if used properly. One thing many people don't realize is that any camera will have significant shutter delay if you're using the auto-exposure, auto-focus, red-eye reduction, etc. features, all of which occur in sequence before the picture is actually taken.

You need to set the camera to manual, focus it, select your exposure, and compose your shot. Once all that's done, sit and wait until just the right instant -- press the shutter, and your camera will take the picture nearly instantly.

- Warren

[Moonbear]

You need to set the camera to manual, focus it, select your exposure, and compose your shot. Once all that's done, sit and wait until just the right instant -- press the shutter, and your camera will take the picture nearly instantly.

- Warren
:rofl: Well, when you put it in perspective like that, I guess it's not such a delay. Gosh, it's been so long since I've known anyone to use a manual focus camera that I forgot how long it can take them to focus while you're sitting there trying to freeze the smile on your face.

[chroot]

:rofl: Well, when you put it in perspective like that, I guess it's not such a delay. Gosh, it's been so long since I've known anyone to use a manual focus camera that I forgot how long it can take them to focus while you're sitting there trying to freeze the smile on your face.

Pretty much all professional photographers use either manual focus, or have cameras with auto-focus mechanisms triggered by a half-press of the shutter button. After the first auto-focus for their scene, they lock the focus and don't touch it anymore. Bye bye, shutter delay. Your kitten picture, for example, would have benefitted from this. As it is, your camera focused the wire mesh behind the kitten, rather than the kitten itself. As usual, auto-focus got it wrong anyway, so why use it at all?

Auto-focus is, in fact, the bane of photography these days. I've had to sit still for minutes while some novice photographer takes picture after picture with a full-auto digital camera, throwing out several in a row because the focus isn't quite right on any of them.

And how about those people who take home movies with camcorders, but don't have the foresight to use its focus lock? The kid's chasing a ball or something else with a lot of motion, and the camera is constantly changing focus. You end up with one frame every two seconds that's actually in good focus.

- Warren

[Moonbear]

Pretty much all professional photographers use either manual focus, or have cameras with auto-focus mechanisms triggered by a half-press of the shutter button.
I still find that useless for action shots, because until something is in the frame to focus on, even the half-press of the button locks the focus on something other than what you want to take a photo of. I can't seem to convince my camera to ever lock onto anything I want it to lock on. Of course, with the kitten photo, that's because she wandered in from the side (I just cropped out the dirty windowsill). I had other in-focus shots of her, but they weren't as cute. Then again, I had some that were a complete blur of orange and black as she zoomed past the camera. :rofl: I did get a few better ones yesterday when I focused on a toy I had placed out for her, and then snapped the picture the moment she came up to the toy. Bleh, I prefer photographing things on microscopes. At least then I can adjust the focus exactly where I want it and nothing moves once I get it all set right! :biggrin:

Then again, there was no way I was going to spend over $500 for a digital camera, and the ones that have complete manual focus are huge! I'd never use it because I'd never lug it around. I'd rather have blurry photos than none at all.

[chroot]

It sounds like a common experience: you attempted to use auto-focus, but actually took a whole sequence of pictures none of which were focused as you intended.

That's pretty much why many people still prefer manual focus -- or, at least, auto-focus that can be used only on demand. I typically use spot auto-focus one time, then switch to manual focus to leave the focus locked for the remainder of my photos of a given scene.

Auto-focus rarely, if ever, does what you really intend for it do, with the exception of vacation pics of sunsets, and pics of your friends at a dinner table. For pretty much every other kind of photography, auto-focus is a hindrance. You'd spend less time, overall, and get more shots worth keeping with manual focus.

</rant>

And you're right, most teeny tiny point-and-shoot cameras often have pretty lousy manual controls, but not all. I have a $250 Canon SD-450, which is a tiny little camera that actually takes remarkably good photos. It has half-shutter auto-focus, which helps a bunch. You can also turn off auto-focus altogether, but it requires a couple of button pushes, and is hard to do while holding the camera still.

- Warren

[Moonbear]

And you're right, most teeny tiny point-and-shoot cameras often have pretty lousy manual controls, but not all. I have a $250 Canon SD-450, which is a tiny little camera that actually takes remarkably good photos. It has half-shutter auto-focus, which helps a bunch. You can also turn off auto-focus altogether, but it requires a couple of button pushes, and is hard to do while holding the camera still.

- Warren
I have the SD400, which I thought was pretty much the same thing. There's some sort of manual setting, but I don't see how there's a way to manually adjust focus, just all the other settings, like white balance and exposure. Maybe I just haven't figured out how to use it yet. :redface:

[shmoe]

I have the SD400, which I thought was pretty much the same thing. There's some sort of manual setting, but I don't see how there's a way to manually adjust focus, just all the other settings, like white balance and exposure. Maybe I just haven't figured out how to use it yet. :redface:

I have a canon A510, I downloaded your manual though pg 89-91 has all the focusing stuff. You don't have a manual focus, but you do have a focus lock. Press the shutter down half way it does the focusing at what you are aimed at, then push the flower/mountain button and it will lock the focus.

You can change how it auto focuses as well, either something in the box in the middle or some kind of evaluative version that looks at 9 areas seperately. It's in the menu called AiAF, off means it aims just at the middle, I find this is the way to go for more control.

Mine does have manual focus, but honestly it's pretty lousy for anything but macro stuff where I have a hard time getting the AF to hit what I want. It's not at all fast, you hold down the button while the bar slowly moves across the screen and it's not at all easy to tell if you're in focus or not. It blows up a small portion of the screen and I have a hard time telling when my enlarged pixelated image is sharp.

Also handy for moving stuff is the continuous shooting mode. Even with the focus lock and manual settings some cameras might have some shutter lag plus your own slowness to react so snapping a bunch of pictures can be nice.

(your kitten is very cute by the way, but you probably know that)

[Moonbear]

Thanks shmoe! I'll have to find that thing that turns off that AiAF so I can just focus on what's in the middle instead of being surprised every time.

And, yes, the kitten is cute, and I think she knows it too, because she sure thinks she can get away with a lot. She's gotten a bit too comfortable around here and thinks everything is fair game for chewing and scratching. I'm working on redirecting her to allowable areas for both, and at least she's finally gotten the idea that the scratching post is for scratching rather than being ignored (mostly, I just had to wait to find places where she was going to scratch and then move the scratching post and scratching mats to those places). We may be trying those "soft paws" things soon if I can't get her directed away from carpets and furniture, so at least she doesn't damage them, though they look an awful lot like fake fingernails (I'd give her the dignity of the clear ones at least)....not exactly sure if the instructions for those will include how one gets them onto a moving target, but I'm sure it can be accomplished with only minor caterwalling and bloodshed. :rofl:

[shmoe]

You AiAF appears to be in roughly the same place as mine. Put the camera in shooting mode, the one you use to take pictures with normally, then hit the "menu" button (the playback mode + menu button gets a different menu). AiAF should be at the top of the list, and you should get a rectangle in the middle of your preview screen.

My cats always completely ignored scratching posts unless stocked with catnip. We built them one of those cat homes that's covered in carpet and they took to tearing it apart in no time (they sleep on/in it as well). I guess it looks enough like furniture. They pretty much leave everything else alone now.

[FredGarvin]

The AiAF has helped on mine (Nikon CoolPix). It unfortunately doesn't have a manual focus. I have had to adapt to having the button half pressed long before the shot I am looking for and waiting. With my camera, it seems that the major part of the delay is from the display viewfinder getting updated (at least that's what it says in the book). Unfortunately, both viewports are CCDs and there's not much one can do about it. I'll know better on my next camera.

[GeoMike]

The AiAF has helped on mine (Nikon CoolPix). It unfortunately doesn't have a manual focus.

In many cases the manual focus feature on a digital camera is largely useless because of the small size and limited resolution of the LCD viewscreen. (excluding DSLR's and studio setups with external monitors)
So you aren't missing much! :tongue2:

-GeoMike-

[FredGarvin]

In many cases the manual focus feature on a digital camera is largely useless because of the small size and limited resolution of the LCD viewscreen. (excluding DSLR's and studio setups with external monitors)
So you aren't missing much! :tongue2:

-GeoMike-I hadn't thought about that aspect of it. What I was thinking is that it would be nice because I could act, usually, quicker than the AF and I could set it and leave it. As it stands, the best option I have is to set the focus using the AF and then hold the AF lock. It kinda stinks. It's cases like this that I do miss my old film SLR.

[Moonbear]

My cats always completely ignored scratching posts unless stocked with catnip. We built them one of those cat homes that's covered in carpet and they took to tearing it apart in no time (they sleep on/in it as well). I guess it looks enough like furniture. They pretty much leave everything else alone now.
She's a bit too young to care about catnip yet. She's taken quite well to the scratching post I made her...she loves climbing it, but she hasn't given up on finding other places to scratch yet. She seems okay with the cheap, cardboard scratching pads too, so I'm going to go out and get a few more of those and strategically place them throughout the house. At least, so far she's only tearing up things that aren't visible, like pulling loose stuffing from the underside of the sofa (but I'm trying to stop that before she gets to the visible side!) But, then, how can I be mad at her for that when she sits on my shoulder purring? :rolleyes: Once she starts to get excited about catnip, I'll start bribing her over to her scratching spots more.

[larkspur]

A squirt gun works very well at discouraging bad scratching habits. It is amazing how quickly they learn that sinking claws into certain objects produces rain!:biggrin:

[Moonbear]

A squirt gun works very well at discouraging bad scratching habits. It is amazing how quickly they learn that sinking claws into certain objects produces rain!:biggrin:
:rofl: Past experience tells me they learn quickly that they shouldn't scratch when someone is holding the squirt gun. :biggrin: I'm trying putting double-sided tape on the places she's not supposed to scratch and leaving scratching pads close by. Oh, and more toys! If she has enough toys, she shouldn't have any time left for scratching. :rofl: She was purring like mad when I brought home her latest batch of toys. :approve:

[Mk]

A squirt gun works very well at discouraging bad scratching habits. It is amazing how quickly they learn that sinking claws into certain objects produces rain!:biggrin:
Great idea, I just got a puppy who hasn't been housetrained yet. How many hundred psi?

[Ouabache]

Nice shot, detta. I don't know the fname of that stuff, but it is VERY fragrant when you crush it in your fingers.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6479/plantnf3.jpg

Great photo, detta!!
Yes turbo-1. I've always enjoyed this one too, it is called pineapple-weed (http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/matmt.htm) Matricaria discoidea (syn M. matricarioides, M. suaveolends and Chamomilla suaveolens). It is rather ubiquitous across No. America and NE Asia. It scent is strikingly similar to chamomile. An like chamomile, the fresh or dried flower heads may be steeped in hot water for a delicious tea. Here is a site (http://www.naturesgarden.ca/pineappleweed.htm) that describes other ways we may enjoy pineapple weed.

[larkspur]

Great idea, I just got a puppy who hasn't been housetrained yet. How many hundred psi?
I think a SuperSoaker would be about right!:biggrin:

http://www.hasbro.com/common/images/products/5269336b43fa_main400.jpg

[ZapperZ]

OK, I'm going to buck the trend here of cute pictures of pets and gorgeous pictures of flowers. Instead, I'm going to do a closeup of a very large object! :)

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/4250/disney010ve4.jpg

Zz.

[Moonbear]

Great idea, I just got a puppy who hasn't been housetrained yet. How many hundred psi?
Puppies are more difficult to house train. You have to try to catch him/her in the act and immediately carry him/her outside to finish. That, along with LOTS of walks outside, especially right after they get up from a nap or soon after eating a meal, followed by tons of praise when they "do their business" out there. The whole rubbing their nose in it inside thing doesn't work (in case you didn't know that). If anything, it reminds them that's where the scent is, so they'll go back to that spot over again. It's really important to thoroughly scrub any places they soil inside so the scent is removed and they don't try using that spot again (that's easier if you keep them off carpets until they're trained well). I've never used newspaper or "wee wee pads" for housebreaking dogs, because, again, then they aren't getting the point that they need to go outside, they just think the Sunday paper is fair game (which, depending on the journalistic skills of your local reporters, you may or may not agree with). Once they have the idea, the only thing that remains is to figure out what they do to tell you they need to go out. Some will bark and make it very obvious, but others will just sniff the door or sit next to it, or just give you some "look" that is more subtle. And, of course, you can't leave them alone longer than their bladder capacity can hold up, or they don't have a chance. I've never punished a dog for an accident if I was away too long, but if they didn't have an accident, I praise them quite thoroughly as soon as they get outside and go (get them outside REALLY quickly, because a lot of puppies will piddle as soon as they get excited over greeting you).

[detta]

Great photo, detta!!
Yes turbo-1. I've always enjoyed this one too, it is called pineapple-weed (http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/matmt.htm) Matricaria discoidea (syn M. matricarioides, M. suaveolends and Chamomilla suaveolens). It is rather ubiquitous across No. America and NE Asia. It scent is strikingly similar to chamomile. An like chamomile, the fresh or dried flower heads may be steeped in hot water for a delicious tea. Here is a site (http://www.naturesgarden.ca/pineappleweed.htm) that describes other ways we may enjoy pineapple weed.

Thanks. I noticed it in the grass and I had no idea what it was, that's why I took the picture. And now I know. :smile:

[zoobyshoe]

Here's my entry:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b95/mrzshoe/lizaeye005crop650.jpg

I could have put in a pic of my own eyeball, but this shot of one of my neighbor's eyes is much prettier.

[Moonbear]

Wow! Zoob, that is so cool! You can actually see a reflection of the scene behind you in her eye!

[Gokul43201]

Wow! Zoob, that is so cool! You can actually see a reflection of the scene behind you in her eye!But alas, you can't the the zoob himself!

[Cyrus]

Holly sh!t. These fotos are all too good. Normally there mostly junk (sorry no offense). But man, I cant pick out of this lot! :frown:

Every damn one of them is a winner. Period.

[Moonbear]

But alas, you can't the the zoob himself!
Are zoobies like vampires? You can't see their reflection?

[zoobyshoe]

But alas, you can't the the zoob himself!
"...can't the the zoob.."? Are you studying the Castillian dialect of Spanish?

Anyway, she's looking into a camera mounted on a tripod that has a timer. I was well off to the side by the time the shutter clicked.

My camera boasts the ability to focus up to 5 cm away when in the macro mode. Despite the bright, outdoor light, allowing for fast shutter speed, and the tripod, she still managed to move a bit. This is the best of 7 shots I took. She didn't have patience for any more.

[Gokul43201]

Oh, you don't know the rules?

If
{quote=Gokul43201;
thread title=" PF Photo Contest - I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille! (8/23-8/30)";
postcount=55;}
Then
"the the" := "see the"

Duh!

[zoobyshoe]

Oh, you don't know the rules?

If
{quote=Gokul43201;
thread title=" PF Photo Contest - I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille! (8/23-8/30)";
postcount=55;}
Then
"the the" := "see the"

Duh!
Thanks for the clarification. I feel like such a moron now, these If...then... Gokulizations of the rules of English should have been obvious to me.

[Mk]

http://static.mwnx.net/mac/PF%20photo%20contest/Snapshot%202006-08-29%2009-37-45.tiff
I took this picture by placing a neodyminum magnet under a petri dish filled with ~5 mL of ferrofluid. You can see onlooker's reflections, as well as palm trees surrounding us reflected on the surface. Down near the bottom right, you can see a fairly clear reflection of above, including the camera, my finger, a palm tree, my head, and a nearby apartment building. Every piece of dust from the air that hit can be seen interacting with the surface tension of the fluid.

It was soo fun! This was only about 5 mL of fluid, I have 15 left! Can't wait to do it again!

[Cyrus]

Man, these pictures are too good!

[zoobyshoe]

You'd better resize it before ZZ sees it.

Otherwise: VERY cool, and pretty!

[Ivan Seeking]

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1629/crash017gj4.jpg

[hypatia]

wow what a licker-kisser! {my pet name for dogs tongues}

[ZapperZ]

I took this picture by placing a neodyminum (N42 grade) magnet under a petri dish filled with ~5 mL of ferrofluid. You can see onlooker's reflections, as well as palm trees surrounding us reflected on the surface. Down near the bottom right, you can see a fairly clear reflection of above (another dome formed by a 3 millimeter long rectangular magnet), including the camera, my finger, a palm tree, my head, and a nearby apartment building. Every piece of dust from the air that hit can be seen interacting with the surface tension of the fluid.

It was soo fun! This was only about 5 mL of fluid, I have 15 left! Can't wait to do it again!

<sigh>

I'm beginning to think that people don't read the rules at all. :(

I'm sorry, but if this isn't resized as stated in our rules, it will not be included in the final voting.

Zz.

[Mk]

Sorry. I am not sure how small that is, but I made it smaller. :frown:

Thanks.

[Gokul43201]

I can no longer see Mk's picture.

[Mk]

Here it is again, at a different place.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2217/ferrozd5.jpg

And it is 640x(whatever). Wow, I'm getting good. :smile:

[zoobyshoe]

Even slightly smaller it remains a VERY cool and pretty picture, MK.

[zoobyshoe]

I just realized why: it looks like a jellyfish.

[Mk]

Jellyfish? I thought it looked like a zoobyshoe or a penguin. Or yomomma.

[ZapperZ]

Just a reminder that this is the last day to submit a picture for this brutal contest.

Zz.

[aereal]

nice photos over there!

here's my close-up:
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9112/sheepcql6.jpg
the guy was sentenced to death and they wouldn't even hesitate to eat him, however after some negotiations with the farmer, he was given freedom! :rolleyes:
for a while... :redface:

[Mk]

This is going to be brutal. Absolutely the toughest one yet.

[turbo]

This is going to be brutal. Absolutely the toughest one yet.No doubt! Your ferrofluid is truly "alien", GeoMike's rose has an awesome range of coloration....what can I say? There are things to like about every shot in the contest, and I cannot predict a winner, nor even predict if any particular one of my favorites is going to get into the top 50%. This may be the highest-quality lineup since ZZ started the series. (Great idea, BTW, ZZ!)

[ZapperZ]

Well, I have decided that I will either NOT vote, or simply pick at random, for this contest. There is no freaking way I can pick 1. I don't thnk I can even pick 5.

And thanks also to everyone who have participated. When I started this (with Evo's blessings), I had no idea the pictures submitted would be this good, and I'm not just talking about the technical quality. Even pictures that didn't make it into the final voting had some appeal to me, because they came from a certain location at a certain time, with a certain point of view. I especially love it when participants told stories behind the pictures. That simply add richness and context to the pictures.

So everyone who participated in all the picture contests so far, give yourself a deserved pat on the back.

Zz.

[Mk]

I am sorry to cause trouble if I did, for a possible error. After I had posted my last comment I saw it five times listed. It may have just been my browser being confused, or an error in submitting the comment five times.

[turbo]

Well, I have decided that I will either NOT vote, or simply pick at random, for this contest. There is no freaking way I can pick 1. I don't thnk I can even pick 5.I can narrow my favorites to 5 or 6, I think, but the quality and variety of the entries make further narrowing pretty darned impossible. When I think that I might be able to favor an entry for some reason, another entry manages to be "better" for some other reason. I don't think I can either abstain or vote randomly (out of fairness to all the contributors), but I'm having a hell of a time comparing these images to one another. What carries weight? Composition (including framing and depth-of-field), lighting, subject matter, technical difficulty of the shot, the imagination behind the choice of subject, overall pleasing appearance? There are more factors, too, and every one of them has pushed one image or another to the top of my list (more than once, in most cases).

[Ivan Seeking]

In situations like this, it is usually best to vote according to tongue size.

[ZapperZ]

In situations like this, it is usually best to vote according to tongue size.

That doesn't work either, since Gene Simmons is not a member of PF and didn't submit a picture. Or did he register secretly?

Zz.

[Mk]

Something interesting about my photo that I forgot to mention was that the ferrofluid is actually a very dark red, like you can see up in the top right. When I was directly over it, and the sun was at about a 75 degree angle, it somehow turned silver. I have no idea what the physical phenomenon is behind that.

[zoobyshoe]

In situations like this, it is usually best to vote according to tongue size.
OK, but you should know the woman who's eyeball picture I posted has a tongue like a giraffe.

[Mk]

It looks like a jellyfish
I guess I lose. Jellyfish don't have tongues. :frown:

...and neither do superparamagnetic colloids. :frown::frown:

[Kurdt]

I think we should change the rules and everyone vote for the one they hate the most then the winner is the person with the least votes.

[Mk]

Ha ha, that would make it easier, wouldn't it?

But the voter feels kind of guilty of accusing people I guess. They wouldn't be as eager to vote.

[turbo]

In situations like this, it is usually best to vote according to tongue size.Holy Crap, Batman! Gene Simmons will win every contest (I assume you're talking about the photographer and not the subject). Although if you have seen a ruby-throated hummingbird stick out its tongue, it is over twice as long as its beak, and the base of it resides at the back of its head and it extends through a channel reaching over its skull.

[Ivan Seeking]

That doesn't work either, since Gene Simmons is not a member of PF and didn't submit a picture. Or did he register secretly?

Zz.


I don't know Gene...uh...I mean, Zapper. :wink:

[ZapperZ]

I don't know Gene...uh...I mean, Zapper. :wink:

You saw my make-up kit, didn't you?

Zz.

[Moonbear]

I think very clever close-up photos of screens should win, especially if a really cute kitten happens to stray into the photo. :biggrin: :uhh: Besides, that kitten's tongue is about the best exfoliator around! :bugeye: :rofl:

Zz, that's what I'm enjoying about these contests too. I know I'm not a photographer, but it's fun sharing and seeing what others contribute just for the stories behind the photos. With each photo, we learn a bit more about the others here...their interests, places they visit, creativity, even the flora and fauna found around their homes.