Well, I was so impressed by this gallery that I thought it was time to get down to it and do the old Cotty's Comments again.
The quality level is extremely high in the November gallery and in only a few clicks there are some stunning shots. A few *ist Ds knocking about as well! Plenty to choose from. As usual, I only do the ones that catch my eye, but rest assured that all of them are well above average. Right, let's get down to business (as the actress said to the bishop)... "Goin' Fishin' " by Bill Owens, USA That's an *ist D you've got there Uncle Bill. Crop crop crop! You could lose 2/3 of the shot and come out with a real treat. "Got Carrot? " by Pat Kong, USA A first PUG entry for Pat. Nice effort - that shot is crying out for a just a head shot on the nag. Not easy as they move on a whim. Shoot ASAP for the banker shot, then move forward trying again. If he moves, use the first and crop in. Of course you might like all the trees and headroom in which case ignore me! "Boris " by Butch Black, USA RIP, Boris. Those eyes.... "Kiki " by Jim Meeks, USA I see what Jim's trying to do but it's not quite there. Need the tops of the ears, and the eyes are soft. This whiskers are amazing in that light though. Honourable effort with difficult subjects. "You Otter be in Pictures " by Dan Matyola, USA That's the worst title I've ever seen. Back of the class Dan! Nice grab of a furry water friend in unusual orientation. I take it the shot is horizontal originally? Works for me. "Jellyfish " by Stephen Pruetz, USA Stunning colour and composition only let down by softness. "You Can't See Me -- Nana Nana Na Na " by E.R.N. Reed, USA That shot will stand a closer crop. I wanna see the little guy more but I'm getting blasted by some white petals on the left. He's sharp as a razor which can't have been easy with those piddly lil Optios. Nice one. "No Macro Required " by Evan Hanson, USA Beautiful composition with a stunning insect that glows as if lit by neon from within. Looks like he's straddling dunes at night which adds to the eery quality. Had to look twice. Really nice shot. "Afternoon of a Caterpillar " by Mark Cassino, USA Get me outa here man this place is fulla bugs! Sharp and interesting contrast in colour. If in doubt, crop crop crop. Nice. "Grass Trees " by Derby Chang, Australia Nice abstract but lose those blotchy white areas for me. Nicely observed. "Water Lilies " by Katrin, Germany Katrin's first PUG submission and it's a serene study of water lillies with some gorgeous blooms, shot on Kodak's first class emulsion 'Farbwelt ', apparently. I put that through Babel and pops out as 'colour world', what jolly fun. Considering it's a straight scan, it's a nice effort Katrin. Very Japanesey ;-) "Prairie Dawn " by Bill Sawyer, USA Wonderfully intricate web of prairie plantlife, very well observed - but lose the blue! Looks cold enough to freeze my ferkins off. "Dreamy Autumn Afternoon " by Kathleen Leickly, USA Now, it would be entirely fair to say that Kath's pics are amongst my favourites come each PUG. This month is no exception. Kath has looked at the scene, moved around until she was happy with the composition, until just the elements she wanted were in place, and used digital editing techniques to produce a superb example of art. The colours are perfect, the patterns and textures are perfect - and most importantly the amount of blur is perfect - it all comes together in a really fabulous photograph (yes photograph). Well done Kath - my runner up for this month! Congratulations. "Golden Leafs " by Janosch Heinz, Germany Either the pic has been resized out of a grand total of 68 pixels, or Janosch has used Photoshop to very interesting effect. Squinting, I can just make out a really subtle view of a carpet of leaves played upon by a low sun. Somebody want to tell me if this is how it's supposed to be? "Oh no! not me. " by Partho, India Partho wants criticisms, so here goes. Aftre you've scanned to shot (looks like a scan of the print to me?) you need to getthe colours and contrast right. The colours aren't too bad but there isn's a decent black anywhere in the shot - look at the shadows, especially lower right of the insect - that should be pitch black. The scan is full of muck - so clone out the detritus if you can. As a photograph I rather like it - the shadow of the bug is the focal point and that works well. But try cropping the lower portion so you lose the out-of-focus leaf at bottom right which distracts. Good effort. "Bug " by David Mann, New Zealand Fantastic shot Dave. Those colours are gorgeous, as is the texture of the petals - reminds me of the waves of the sea. The bug is well placed and I like the soft green centre of the bloom, lurking within. I like the crop as it is, and technically it's first class. Be proud of that one. "Border Delight " by Zoomshot, UK Another all digital capture, and what a stunner. Flowers on black background always look great, the very direct light playing on the petals creating interesting patterns. A closer square crop would add rather than detract, for me. "Blue " by Dag Thrane, Norway Dag doesn't say how he achieved the effect, but it works for me. Fascinating shot. "Bee... " by Sylwester Pietrzyk, Poland This one caught my eye the minute the PUG started spitting up thumbnails. Striking composition with lots of parallels - the petals and greenery at left, the curve of the bee's body with the soft petal behind - it all works very well indeed. Nice colour. The crop - I think i would prefer tighter or looser - always a difficult decision with something like this. The focus on the bee has to be sharp as a pin, and it's not far off. Depth of field at these distances are tighter than a natt's chuff and Sylwester has done well. Fine shot, well done. Okay - on the subject of bees, I've gotta tell you this joke. You'll either laugh uproariously or look very puzzled.... Warning - some bad language. ************************************* ************************************************** Two beekeepers are chatting. The first one says to the other, ' So how many bees do you have then?' The second beekeeper answers, 'Oh about twenty thousand'. The first says, 'Twenty thousand, eh? Right. And so how many hives do you have?' The second answers, 'Oh, ten hives'. The first says, 'Ten hives, eh? Hmmm, twenty thousand bees, ten hives. Hmmm.' He nods approvingly. The second beekeeper asks, 'So how many bees do you have?' The first says, 'Me? Oh, I've got about a million.' The second beekeeper looks surprised. 'A million! Wow, how many hives do you have?' The first answers 'Oh, just the one hive'. The second is astonished. 'A million bees and only one hive???' The first says 'Yeah well. Fuck 'em, they're only bees...' ************************************* ***************************************************** "Sunset " by Alan Chan, Canada The title says it all. Who isn't a sucker for a nice sunset, and I'm no exception. "Luminous " by Graham Lyth, UK I have seen shots from these amazing canyons before, but I think to say that anyone pointing a camera in there couldn't fail to pull out a stunner would be doing photographers like Graham, a disservice. Understanding the light is what it's all about and Mr Lyth has obviously succeeded here. I looked at his website and there are plenty of galleries with some stunning views in there. Well done sir. "Snake Tracks " by Warren, USA Striking study of snake tracks on a dune. Nice composition. Fascinating. "A Storm Approaches " by Brendan Bhagan, Canada I instantly liked this shot of a lighthouse on the edge of the sea, but to read that it was toned using a tea bag was fabulous! If the repro on my LCD is anything to go by, it's spot on, as is the composition. The lighthouse balances perfectly with the clouds, and there's just the right amount of foreground. If I was being hypercritical (which I am), I would say that I could stand a bit more sky being burnt in, but it works well as is. I adore wide angled shots like this, a few plain elements, carefully placed. Would easily hang it on a wall. Very well done Brendan. Superb. (continued in PART 2)
