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Below are two of three alternative pics I had for the latest comp. Now I'm looking at them I'm not sure my final choice was the right pic C'est la vie!

I won't show the third alternate since it's similar to someone else's entry and I'll keep it till after the comp.

Stubbsy, love the first. It has a great degree of mystery surrounding it. Bridge shots are good, but with my predisposition towards them, I sort of mentally ruled them out (not that others should).

I like both, but I was recently in the same spot you were when you took the second shot. I had the kit lens and no tripod, and it seems, no inspiration, as your shot is what I wished for, but didn't get. What lens and settings did you use for this, if you don't mind me asking? I took some ok shots but they were mainly of good scenery rather than good composition and effect.

Love the first one Stubbsy - you just cant beat the look of 'cotton wool' the long exposure gives the water on shots like this!

Guys, thanks for the comments

Glen
One of the reasons I ruled out the bridge shot is that it was my view that it would have to be spectacular to go in.

Skyva
Lens was Nikkor 12-24 at 12mm, F36 or F40 (not at my home computer and can't remember which)

Chris
I like this effect too, but had never tried it since I had no tripod. This one was the first outing with my Gitzo 1325 and I was quite pleased with the results.

Stubbsy the first one is really nice. As I still can't find the top thingymajig for my piece of crap masquerading as a tripod I have yet to take an image like this.....it's on my list of shots to do.

The bridge one, well after recently watching War of the Worlds this has a similar dark feel to me......like a storm about to break loose.

But hey, I haven't had my morning coffee yet, so take all of the above with a grain of salt.

Deb

The thing I find with taking shots drom Dawes Point of the bridge is that Luna Park usually exposes the lack of dynamic range of the camera. I love the exposure of everything else in your image but LP is overblown. I find the same problem when I shoot from there. Taking two shots and combining would be the answer, but A)that would not be eligible for this comp and B) I am useless with Photoshop.

I have to agree with the others. I really like the atmosphere created in the first shot

I really like the first shot. The bridge has a bit of a lean to the left, but I love those clouds!

Thought I'd post one of my rejects from Challenge 6. I thought the subject may have perhaps given away the anonymity of the photographer (me), so chose to omit it. I was amazed that she stayed still for so long.
10 seconds when dealing with babies is an awfully long time.....I'm sure there are others out there that can vouch for that

 PS...no drugs were used to keep her still for long enough

AussieDave..thats sensational. I would have never thought of doing that. Thats whats the best part about the comp/forum...always new ideas and inspiration.

Dave

That's a damn clever shot and I doubt that, had you submitted it, this would have immediately identified it as being a pic of one of your twins.

Quite possibly Stubbsy. However, I know if I had posted it, people may have talked/thought about who had young babies (who post photos of them every other week) and the field may have been narrowed down to one - me.

I still like the shot though, but possibly for biased reasons

It is very good to see how the creative minds work when given a set topic. These Challenges are so much fun to participate in....

Dave, very imaginative, there are a few babies on the forum so you probably wouldn't be picked.

stubbsy wrote:
Skyva
Lens was Nikkor 12-24 at 12mm, F36 or F40 (not at my home computer and can't remember which)

Peter - I am fascinated as to how you got f/36 or f/40 out of a lens that has a range of f/4 to f/22 - were you using an ND filter

AussieDave - that is a great shot and something that I would never have thought of

sirhc55 wrote:

stubbsy wrote:
Skyva
Lens was Nikkor 12-24 at 12mm, F36 or F40 (not at my home computer and can't remember which)

Peter - I am fascinated as to how you got f/36 or f/40 out of a lens that has a range of f/4 to f/22 - were you using an ND filter

Chris

It was my memory I was relying on so I'm no doubt wrong . No ND filter, but did have the CPL on because I forgot to remove it! I'll recheck at home tonight

cheers guys

I must admit, I didn't think it would turn out anywhere near as well as it did. I thought for sure she would move or stir and that would be it. And to think I only had to make 2 attempts.

Who needs VR, hey ??

Go the power of the Sigma !

Just rechecked the EXIF on my first pic. All I got right was the F40 . It was actually the 70-200 VR at 120mm (not 12-24 at 12!).

Last time I rely on memory.

the misty rocks pic is amazing!
i'd like to see it in black and white

I think that the misty rock pic needs a horizon or something to make it the absolute shiznitt. It's still pretty nice though.

The bridge shot is the cat's meow, Peter. I really like that shot.

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen.

Kerry - "Cat's meow" - I thought you were a dog person. Does this mean you don't like it (just kidding)

dooda wrote:I think that the misty rock pic needs a horizon or something to make it the absolute shiznitt. It's still pretty nice though.

Dooda's posts are doing wondrous things for my vocabulary! Shiznitt??

I think both shots are pretty shiznitt as they are though I agree with Dooda's comment about some point of reference in the water shot. The sky in the bridge image is awesome but I was a little distracted by the browned-out area in the top left. Was that the natural colouring or some kind of chromatic/vignette effect of the lens?

Aussie Dave - superb capture and one that will be treasured in years to come. Well done!

Manta wrote:

dooda wrote:I think that the misty rock pic needs a horizon or something to make it the absolute shiznitt. It's still pretty nice though.

Dooda's posts are doing wondrous things for my vocabulary! Shiznitt??

I think both shots are pretty shiznitt as they are though I agree with Dooda's comment about some point of reference in the water shot. The sky in the bridge image is awesome but I was a little distracted by the browned-out area in the top left. Was that the natural colouring or some kind of chromatic/vignette effect of the lens?

Aussie Dave - superb capture and one that will be treasured in years to come. Well done!

Thanks Simon. The brown in the corner was a drop of water on the lens which I tried my best to remove in PP (it was drizzling when I took the pic)

Don't you HATE that. PS can work wonders but it's really annoying when you have to fiddle around so much to fix a small area of the image.

Now if you were in Brisbane where we NEVER GET ANY BLOODY RAIN , you'd have nothing to worry about, would you?
(Except for the fact that the bowels of the Story Bridge are nowhere near as picturesque as the nether regions of the Coathanger...)