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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> The Best of CTF Challenges >> Best of 2005 > 1st:Refreshing* by Pedro
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01-MAY-2005 Pedro Fehlauer

1st:Refreshing* by Pedro

Oviously staged, big challenge here was to keep the remote control dry. Croped, darkened borders with PS.

Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel ,Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
1/200s f/10.0 at 55.0mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time01-May-2005 10:26:24
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS DIGITAL REBEL
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length55 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/10
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Gra Tomlin04-Sep-2005 06:26
good picture
Rod 04-May-2005 09:33
No,no,no, Abs:-)A bit of subtlety mate you have over sharpened the water into solid objects which has a novelty value seeing water frozen solid in time. But for photography we need movement & feelings which this original shot has. More sharpening/contrast can be tried on the water but it must remain fluid to keep the refreshing feel of the shot......IMHO, plus my 2c mate:-)
Guest 03-May-2005 14:27
Pedro, very creative and excellent compo. Check out the version by Abs. Its very nice, the water pops out of the photo -Cat
ctfchallenge03-May-2005 13:37
Pedro, the answer to your question in one word is, "selective usm".
- a lot of usm only on the water, even on droplets and running water on your face.
- for the bottle i added usm in gradient...max usm in the center to a little on top/bottom edges of bottle. i was experiementing otherwise usm on whole bottle might not make much difference either.
- also a bit contrast adjustment on water through color-curve.
-Abstract
ps: lets try, if i can give a link here... Click here for the modified photograph.
Guest 03-May-2005 11:58
Thanks everyone for the comments.
JStrong, the biggest torture was to be considered crazy by my neighbors, while I was pouring water in my mouth in front of a tripod ;-) And you're right about the green "extra-finger", I didn't notice it, I checked the original and it is a leaf from the tree I was sitting under. I will clone it out.
Abs, thanks, you're right, it looks quite better, the water is somewhat clearer... I bet you did some contrast/brightness adjustment, right? Let me know, when I clone the green stain out, I will try to follow your steps.
Rod, I agree, the darkened edges gives a sense of heat, like the sun is "burning" me, I don't know, at least, it drives attention to the mouth...
Rod 03-May-2005 08:49
Well done Pedro this works really well for me. Talk about quenching a thirst, without seeing any other versions of this shot I like the darkened edges they seem to help with conveying of heat & thirst. Well done mate:-)
ctfchallenge03-May-2005 02:18
Pedro, something kept bugging me about this shot but didnt know what. hence i did not comment earlier. when i figured it out, i took liberty of post-processing a little more. hope you like it.
www.PhotoShare.co.nz/PhotoShareGallery1/101044/105389/428032577262.jpg
this is a great conceptual shot and imho conveys the theme of the challenge effectively. -Abstract
janewigginsphotography03-May-2005 01:59
Considering the torture you might have put yourself through getting water in your nose if you shot this over and over again, I think it is great the way it is! Looking closely I wonder what that green sprout is above your hand? I think I would crop that out but maybe I'm not seeing it correctly. In any event, excellent shot. jstrong
Guest 02-May-2005 19:49
Sorry, thanks Paul and Alex for the comments.
Guest 02-May-2005 19:48
Thanks Andy. My first try was to make it extra slow, instead of fast. I wanted to emulate the "waterfall" effect, you know, a white stream... but it was to much light there... then I thought it could be better to make it fast, to see the water drops... and thats wat I got, but certainly, it could be better. If I can, I will reshot it, but it's pretty tough to do it oneself... if I had a model, it would be easier to get it sharp... anyway, let's see if I can make it...
ctfchallenge02-May-2005 17:00
Sorry Pedro, it was i who wrote the first comment. I forgot to sign.

Andy
alexeig02-May-2005 15:51
Very nice. Really transmits the idea of quelching the thirst
Paul 02-May-2005 07:26
This works perfectly for me and i particularly like the way the water is a torrent running out of the bottle, into your mouth and then all down your chin. I get the sense of great refreshment. I think if we saw the water drops brought out by a flash of faster shutter speed then we could lose the idea of the water flooding down. Rods shot here in Eligible works well with individual drops to denote the paucity of the rain during our drought but this really needs the feel of a flood.
Guest 02-May-2005 02:33
Thanks Lee and Iso3200. Please let me know who wrote the firts comment. About the suggestions, this is one of 4 shots, and the sharpest one, and it's really hard to get it sharp, since I have to focus an empty chair, and then sit down and release the shutter via remote. I didn't think about the flash, but it could certainly be the answer. I will try it again, if time and weather conditions allows it.
Canon DSLR Challenge01-May-2005 22:44
Cool shot, well done. I agree with previous posters that it could use some punch. theFly
iso320001-May-2005 20:57
I think this is a really good shot. The darkening of the borders works OK for me as well. A little more PP wouldn't go amiss here. It screams for some USM. A subtle contrast boost with some extra saturation (not a lot) to the green would make this image seem *more* refreshing. The USM will also help *freeze* the water and make it glisten on your skin.
ctfchallenge01-May-2005 20:25
Pedro, this was an image i had in mind but have avaided because of the very difficulties you have encountered. I think yu should reshoot with a flash if you have one and a faster shutter speed. It might just pickup the water droplets better. Its a good image but i don't like what youve done by darkening the borders. if you don't have a flash which will allow ou to shoot faster, you could just up the shutter speed anyway since you were at f/10.