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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 72: Found Abstracts (host: Michael Puff) >> Challenge 72: Eligible > witw *
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19-JUL-2006 Jason

witw *

Bartlett, IL

Watcher in the Wood *


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Canon DSLR Challenge20-Jul-2006 18:07
Is there a minimum height? My guys are the shortest in their class! LOL! ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Jul-2006 12:15
Lonnit, my soon to be 37 yo son wanted to be an electrical engineer. It took him two calculus classes to realize that he didn't. Not Calc 101 and Calc 102 but Monday, Wednesday. He went on to get a Law degree. He's still holdng out to be an astronaut claiming that he is 5 foot 11 7/8 inches tall. There is a height limitation for astronauts, they can't be 6 foot or taller. - Pops
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Jul-2006 03:13
Charlie, would you believe my 7 yo son wants to be an electrical engineer!? He'd also like to be an astronaut, a scientist, or a paleontologist! ~ Lonnit
Charlie Beck19-Jul-2006 21:50
I'm an electrical engineer of the "power systems design and analysis" persuasion. I could have designed the electrical systems for the houses you used to design, and indeed for the entire neighborhoods, or for multi-story condo buildings, if you had ever gotten into those. But now I design the electrical power systems for ships (e.g., cruise liners and tankers) and boats (e.g., tugs and yachts). Ask a question, silly or rhetorical or otherwise, and you might just get an answer, silly or truthful or otherwise.

So, Jason, are you going to make any changes? If so, please let us (that is, me) know. I probably wouldn't be able to notice it as easily or quickly as Lonnit. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention: Nice shot.
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Jul-2006 21:36
Ahhh, then it's settled! LOL! Um, well, for us, that is! LOL! What kind of an engineer are you? (That's not a real question, BTW, that's a rhetorical response condemning your abilities as an engineer, but it's just a fun, sarcastic rhetorical response. LOL!) Yes, one of my fantastic talents is my eye for distances and sizes. I spent several years in the construction biz, as a self-taught designer of home remodeling projects, such as dormers, extensions, baths, etc. I'm a very good judge of room sizes. The funny thing is that I've often relied on my memory of the size of the pool we had when I was a kid. It was 12'x20'. I'd often think of distances in pool-lengths, a very handy thing to have as a reference, being that a meter isn't much more than a foot to use as a guage; we need an official measurement that is a dozen feet. Now, I also did my own drafting for the contractor. Apparently this skill must have translated itself down to scale, b/c when I started doing graphics design, and now photography, I've got a good eye for sizes as well. If I hand crop something, say, to make it square, I'll always get within a couple pixels. It's also pretty common for me to split a deck of cards smack in half. When I was working retail I was handling big piles of cash, closing out the registers at night. I could take a stack of mixed bills, do a quick thumbthrough, and be dang close to the $. Used to annoy the crud out of hubby if he'd hand me a stack to count and I'd tell him the amt in about 3 seconds of handling it. So, that's more than you asked, and I'm sure, more than you needed to know about Lonnit's freaky talents! LOL! ~ Lonnit
Charlie Beck19-Jul-2006 18:22
You have a more critical eye than eye do. Eye suppose that if eye want to improve my photographic skills, eye need to work on my critical eye. Eye had to measure the image on screen (what do you expect, eye'm an engineer), to discover that the "Rule of Thirds" point is about where the teardrops would fall from the Watcher's eye. You were able to discern that with your unaided eye. Eye do agree with you that the vertical split would be best at the "Rule of Thirds" point.
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Jul-2006 18:10
You're 100% right Charlie. Probably why I was uncomfortable with the crop. But I think I'm going to have to agree that this is indeed correct. OTOH, I may have been more bothered by the unbalance. What would you think of cropping a bit off the left to make the sharp edge fall on the line of thirds? I believe that would completely maintain the effect while making the balance more comfortable. ~ Lonnit
Charlie Beck19-Jul-2006 15:06
I had to look for a while before I came to the conclusion that the crop is just right, as is. But my reason is different than the one you gave. The experience of looking at the right side of the image is, how do I say this, "painful"? It's uncomfortable to look directly at something out of focus. So my eye retreats, seeking respite from the pain, and what does it find? My eye finds itself staring right at the "Watcher's" eye, and is taken aback. It's like walking around a corner and almost bumping into a stranger. I call that a "very effective image," in that the image draws the viewer's eye right into the primary subject, and you find yourself "eye to eye."
Guest 19-Jul-2006 03:34
I asked for it, and I got it. I appreciate it too. This is a learning exercise for me, so the more critique the better. Bring it on. :)

As for the crop, I agonized over this one for awhile. To me, the crop doesn't work if I cut off a lot of the right frame, since the eye is kind of staring out in that direction. Plus, I really like the creaminess of the blurred panel juxtaposed to the really rough face of the watcher's panel. If this was anything other than a "found" type of challenge, I would have mirrored the eye panel on the right edge and made a lion out of him or something.
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Jul-2006 01:46
Ok, good name. I saw it and immediately thought "eye". I don't know about the whole right side of the image. If it doesn't add to the pic then it shouldn't be there. Does it add? Not sure, but I don't really think so, although, if you want, you can think of the corner of the front wood as a nose in profile. So, ok, maybe we need some of the rear wood, but, do we need it all? I don't think so. Too much wasted real estate. Where to crop? How about an eyewidth over from the "nose"? Remember, you asked for this! LOL! ;) ~ Lonnit