Oh oh. Dare I risk the wrath of Libby?

Libby's obvious got her father's eye.

Marvellous.

JD: I wouldn't ;-) In fairness, I know what I was after with this shot (and many similar ones that I also don't think quite work), but I struggle to capture or process them as I would like. I think, unlike my more dramatic beach shots, that the main problem is that I can't quite pre-visualise how I would like this more gentle type of image to look. There's something, for the time being at least, that I just can't get quite right.

Matt: sorry, I always assume that people know everybody. Libby's my wife, and the kids are (in height and age order), Amirah, Camilla, Rhowan, Harmony and Finley. That said, her father is into photography too.

I like the crop on this, aswell as everything else. that was simple.

Great composition and beautiful post processing. Strange atmosphere.

Beautiful mood in this picture. Particularly the droplets.

In which case this is wonderful and she has impeccable taste and she is smart and funny and gorgeous.

Although someone braver than I might venture that the tone is too even across the frame and the DOF too deep to differentiate between the foreground and background (ducks).

And of course, that would just be that person's opinion.......

I'd agree that this isn't quite right somehow but I'm judging you on the high standards you've set for yourself - if this was one of mine it'd go up on the blog no question. I do like the fact that the droplets are the only part of the photo that contains pure white, so your eye gets drawn to them but it's not enough on its own. There's something missing, or not enough missing, or... I dunno... Just something a tiny bit off-key.

I'm not sure I like the choice of processing, but it's a typical chromasia shot.

I copied into PS (forgive me, for research purposes only!) and did Auto Contrast, which by some bizarre fortune gave me more character in the sky (a natural vingette almost), which I think lifts the slight haze I see across the print. Though in PS (with the grey background), I like it a lot more, brings out the toning. Could this be the start of a "bring back the grey background" movement?

JD: the dynamic range may well be part of the issue, I'm not sure. What I had in mind for this shot though is a more limited dynamic range than I'd usually apply - no bright highlights, no deep shadows - because it seems to better suit the mood of the shot and more naturally reflects the conditions at the time it was taken. Maybe it's not flat enough, ... I'm not sure.

Jamey: maybe that's it too - something missing or not enough missing. I'll keep working on this type of shot because I have a feeling that when I do get it right, despite not being able to quite map out what "right" means in this instance, I will be able to recognise it when I see it.

I acknowledge that my auto contrast attempt probably wasn't what you were looking for - I imagine something higher key, but not sure how..........

Okay I'm actually with Libby on this one and I'd hate to dogg your latter posts but I think this is what Chromasia really represents or should I say what really inspired me when I first started coming to Chromasia. I think there's something about this photo in that it actually has a certain mood to it, something that most women are more sensitive too...okay did I almost say that I was a lady, well let's just say that I'm in touch with my femine side....d'oh!

Nice work David.

I love your DOF treatment - in fact it reminds me of my 1st visit to your work.

http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/archives/0510111953.php

I'm interested in your thought process about your archives. I frequently find that an image "grows on me", meaning the more I think about it, the more I like it later. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts: Why would you have rejected this earlier, and why did you choose it now (from among all your others)?

Not too bad! Toning adds a lot to the overall feeling of a wet, miserable day at the beach.

I hear what you were going for but I don't think this type of scene will get you there. It simply needs more contrast. Less DOF would have worked better also. As much as I always promote the 2:1 crop, I think it too much this time because the blades appear too strongly cropped.

I'll enjoy seeing what you are able to do with your softer, gentler side of photography but I think this particular scene needs the tradional C h r o m a s i a treatment: stronger separation of elements.

I like the drops of water in an otherwise average shot.

I really cannot find any merit to this image other than the processing. The composition really does nothing for me.

I'm afraid it doesn't do a great deal for me Dave....not one that pulls me in. I don't mind the flatness of contrast as I don't think going stronger would have given it more anyway....there's just something about the whole thing that doesn't come together for me personally. Then again I'm still looking for the ducks that JD mentioned....

Lovely vivid colours and detail, nice shot David.

the lack of range makes it wonderfully dreary in my opinion. i am very mch appreciating seeing you do some different things lately. as always ... enjoying your journey.

I like mikeb's description of this as wonderfully dreary, which is spot on, and despite my (hopefully constructively) negative comments yesterday, I'm warming to this on a different monitor. The tone looks better, I still long for a bit more distinction from foreground to back, but I think the look of almost viewing through a rain-strewn (strewn?) window is more effective second time round.

This picture captured my eyes immediately. I love the water drops on the leaves and the colour toning is really smooth.

Thanks everyone, and I'm not really surprised that this one got a mixed reaction. I guess my own feeling was/is that it doesn't quite work, but I also like mikeb's "wonderfully dreary" ... there's a whole series of shots around that them just waiting to be taken :-)

mark: :-)

perfect. good choice of format and brilliant color treatment.

This is one of your best recent shots for me. Excellent.

*happy sigh*Haven't been around for some time, so was browsing backwards. This made me happy. I want it in a huge huge print on my wall.

Nice

this shot just rocks! The color, the water drops and the way it cropped. I just love this image.