MISHA!!!! Hi Stranger!!!! i LOVE that little flower in B/W!!!! Brenda, please don't apologize 'cause you like it soft and i like it sharp! Different strokes for different folks! Hope you feel better! :) Marlene, i do like your crops! :)

Attached Link: http://www.factsfacts.com/EggCups/EggCups.htm

Marlene, that's a beautiful capture, girl!!! Here's what i would do with this image. i'd brighten the shadows and see if i could bring in some more light/detail to his nose. then i would layer that image with this one so you don't brighten ALL the shadows. then after that i'd do the same thing except i'd work on my highlights and see if i could decrease the brightness of the highlights a bit. i would probably also crop some on the left...at the point where the dog's backside is dropping down. anyway there's my 2 cents. i love the picture, marlene!!! :) Andreas...i haven't seen that movie. i'll have to check that one out! :) thanks! :) Richard...ah...i see the CD now! an egg cup???? i just did a search under google images and saw it. never seen 'em before. must be somethin' fancy. we just eat our eggs on plates/bowls here. oh...i just did a regular search and seems i'm not alone. this site says most Americans don't know what they are. *phew*...i feel better now! thanks for telling me. :)

thanks for the link, bud! i'll check it out when i get home tonight!!! :) gotta run! later! :)

i LOVE this image!!!! not too dark for me, but let me play with your color version and see.

in the meantime, here's the way i would do it. this is a b/w image if i ever saw one!!!!

channel mixer:

Red: 73; Blue 33; Green 33

again...i'm pushing it and i'm sure it's not technically correct, but when i have the reds down more, it just doesn't have that OMG feeling to it. sorry. don't listen to a thing i say. i just know when i bumped up the reds my eyes went WILD with delight! ok...only have a few minutes to play with the color version before i go to work. if i don't have time i'll post if after work.

i think i saw Kingpin but i can't remember. i'll have to read a synopsis on the story to refresh my memory. later....:) edit: i tried increasing the brightness of the shadows, but i didn't think it made the image look any better. i do like it dark. try pushing the contrast a bit on the color version and see whatcha think. i'm not sure. i like extra bit of contrast when i was playing, but my i'm not sure how it affected the details overall. oh, BTW...kemal eyes lit up when he saw this image of yours! he really likes it! :) later gators. hi ho hi ho...time to sling some seafood! :(

Message edited on: 01/13/2006 14:07

What a gorgeous place!!!! very nice pictures! the reflections in the water in the 2nd one are wonderful! love those twisty trees as kort mentioned. the architecture in that first image is fantastic! don't see structures like that where i'm from! :) thanks for showing these!

Andreas...yep...i LOVE it! the extra saturation boost you gave the water is nice, nice, NICE!!!! definitely a keeper...even without the postwork! :) Dave...phew...so glad i didn't scare ya away after you saw what i did to your image! LOL! glad you like my take on your image! :) and ya know...if the blown out part of your sky bothers you, why not just layer in piece of sky from another one of your pictures? might work. :) Aloha to you too! :)

Andreas, you like it???? cool! be more than happy to give you my 2 cents anytime. uh...but after you see what i did with Dave's image, you may change your mind! LOL!

Dave...i'm a bit of a nut. keep that in mind. yeah, you got some blown out highlights. so what! i say accentuate them!!! make the most of them! get wild and crazy and push it even more!!!

i used Bleach Bypass Simulator on this one (a free filter) and pushed the exposure. i know it's completely a whacko-thing to do, but i'm like that. you could always colorize this and bump up the saturation too if you wanna get really crazy!!!

psssst...it's ok if you don't like what i did. won't bother me. i like weird stuff and when i saw your image, that's the first thing i thought of...push the LIMITS!!! :)

Message edited on: 01/13/2006 12:14

Kort/Richard...you both prefer the color version of my image. i like the color too...if i could just fix that damn shadow or whatever the hell it is. do ya'all not find it distracting? i've been playing with this image...desaturating the yellows and reds and then warming up a bit by enhancing the colors. any suggestions? i'm gonna keeping working on that. kort...yep...you're absolutely right about the central composition. i didn't do any cropping on this on...reckon i will though. :) thanks for pointing that out! And glad you decided to post yours! :) richard...i like your top image a lot! you captured it at just the right time! talk about a decisive moment! very nice!!! no suggestions for you on that one. definitely post it! the second one...i like it! Cool colors and shapes, and it's a well taken photograph, but the composition leaves me wanting to see more. When i look at it, it drives me crazy 'cause i can't figure out what it is and i wanna see the rest! :) can i see more, Richard??? pretty please?! :) Andreas, your image is just breathtaking!!! Good grief, you better not trash it! Post it by all means! I really like it the way it is, but i couldn't help but play with it. the yellow cast (i guess from the sun going down a bit) was bothering me a bit. i thought it was giving those rocks in the foreground too much attention. So i desaturated just the yellows a little (i think -24). Then i saturated the cyans ever so slightly (can't remember the number, but maybe +9 or +15) because i wanted to see your water have a bit more "ooomph" to it. Now, i think it's beautiful just the way you took it and i don't think what i did is necessarily the way to go...you know me...i just enjoy playing! it's what i would do if this image was mine. as for that white thing...i'd clone it and blend it in. Jeff...ah...thanks for telling me! i thought maybe those blue lights were lasers you were shooting! LOL! :) Damia, i'd have to say i agree with Kort's assessment. :) that fungus sure is cool looking though! :)

Brenda, you asked if the version you did in #8 was too soft. IMO...it's way too soft. i guess i'm more like Andreas in that i also prefer them sharp...and for the same reason.

doug, thanks for your feedback! i appreciate it! here's the image in color without any postwork. i like the color version, but that b/w spot on the right looks really distracting to me. i dunno what the hell that is...a shadow? i have a lot of other versions of this image that i wanna work on. too sleepy right now though. i like your image, doug, and don't think the background and face mask are too much alike. crop looks fine, but wonder if it would look better without her ear & chin cut off. have you tried brightening this just a bit or converting to b/w? maybe some selective color would look nice here too! :) lots of stuff to try. then again, i do like it like this too. i get that way about my images a lot...not sure...try all sorts of stuff and then i'm never sure. LOL! :) Jeff, interesting sci-fi concept! looks like there's a black hole in your plate! careful now...it's gonna suck up your breakfast!!!! *slurp*! sorry...couldn't help myself! not sure i can offer you any advice on this one. are you merging two different photographs here?

sorry brenda...i didn't read good enough. :( i tried again to see if i could soften in a way to make it look better than the way you have it, but i wasn't successful. everything i tried...well, your original looked better. sorry. :(

Fantastic shots, Kimmers!!!!!! Did you submit these to the local newspaper??? i really like that first one that shows the palms trees! nice shot of the accident...nice view! ya got it all!!! LOL! poor lady!!!!! i'm glad she was ok!!!! reckon the bank will be out of commission for awhile though! :)

i would adjust the colors a bit. i went to Red/Green/Blue and here are my settings: Red 10; Green 0; Blue -9 it's a beautiful image, Brenda!!! :)

well, i think "gallery worthy" is a pretty subjective phrase. i have no idea if even a tiny bit of what i post is what ya'all would consider "gallery worthy." ya know what i'm saying? anyway, here's one i was working on just a bit ago and just finished. i really like it, but i already posted one image of it today...just a different perspective, different angle, and without the polarizer. i dunno if i'll post this one or not. i would imagine most people would consider this image boring, especially since i already posted one similar image of it already. i might upload it and not enable comments though. i took several others that i really like and plan to process. i guess it just appeals to my love of sci-fi. anyway, Kort...the image looks excellent to me, and i agree with Cindy...looks very much like a 3D render. i think it's beautiful and i don't have any suggestions for you to improve it. i like it the way it is. i say if YOU like this image and would like it in your gallery, then by all means, you should put it there!!! it's just really hard for me to give you feedback on "is it gallery worthy?". each person has different ideas and standards when it comes to posting an image in his/her gallery. i certainly think others would find this interesting and it's a well taken photograph, so why not??? :)

Pascale, i didn't notice highlights being completely blown out. i saw them as being more pushed to the edge, and i really like that with b/w images! since i have problems with my vision a lot, i asked kemal about the highlights. he says he sees overblown highlights in the guy with the glasses on the front. anyway, i like this image, especially the great focus and nice contrast! if it was my image, i wouldn't trash it. i really like it! :) i think it's pretty good overall! :)