Nice shot, the DOF is nice (even if the back of the wood seems distracting to me... or something like that, it might guide the vision to the center of attention... but at first sight I try to see it focused and that get's somewhat crazy...)

Congratulations on the exhibition. I'll love to go, but going to UK from Mexico is no walk in the park :-)

Nice shot, I like the different colours of the pebbles in the sand.

The bokeh of this lens in this shot looks a bit strange though. The background looks like it's full of ripples, rather than roughly circular out of focus spots. Probably just because of mixture of pebbles I'm guessing.

S i m p l i c i t y...that's the way to go. I like this photo for the way it appeals to me. No one would care to notice this branch on it's own, but you've made it look beautiful.

Oh yeah, Gong Hei Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Years!

Very nice. I really like the overall tone of the photo and how the texture of the wood stands out. Very well done... as usual.

Well I will say the same that Rodrigo did and I am sure that many people from the other side of the sea would like to be there :) .Any way Congratulations for the exhibition.

beautiful picture! this is a really creeepy piece of wood - do you see the cow face in the wood? that is pretty amazing! great stuff David.

I'm with Cameron. Made me sit back a bit when it first appeared on my screen. (Just a big softy, that's me.) I thought I saw a bird face though rather than a cow. Makes me think of dead things. With their flesh rotted off. Which doesn't mean I don't like it. I do.

Oh! Congrats on the exhibition. Have fun.

Cows and birds? Are you people insane? ;-) Seriously, if you're seeing animal faces in this shot just wait for tomorrow's - it's an anthropomorphosist's dream ;-)

Daaave: I agree, the bokeh is odd, and it's the same in tomorrow's shot. Perhaps this is something to do with this being a macro lens (?).

Thinh: Happy New Year to you too :-)

It's alright. Not your best.

I love the DOF here, the clarity and texture of the wood where it's in focus, and the overall composition.

I think its a rhino...but thats just me. Can't you see the horn and the eyes? As for the photo, I like the close up of the rocks in the front, it keeps the wood the center object as well as the open aperture.

Great picture.

Love those different kinds of stones.

Have fun on the exhibition!

i like how the dof splits the picture in half, and the different colored stones make quite a difference

I love the foreground pebbles that are in focus. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post any comment for a while (been extremely busy) But beautiful work as always and the soft pallet works well here.

Liek they say, You nailed it. Perfect composition and DOF. And inspiring!

I like it, I didn't see cow faces before I read the comments but now I am. Thanks guys, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight... :S

I love all the textures here...it looks like you're having fun with your new lens ;). I noticed that you changed the black skin of your site, any reason why you chose to do this? I personally prefer the dark grey background with the black border that you used earlier. Anyways really nice shot, keep up the good work!

Dave, I like this shot's natural simplicity. I like macro pictures, and I like driftwood, and these together make a very good picture, and one worth looking at (to try to spot all the animals ;-)). I can see an eagle, a crab, a rhino, a bird skull, and Elvis with glasses.

For constructive criticism: I notice less color on the out-of-focus part of the wood. Although it attracts focus to the in-focus part, it seems inconsistent in saturation and contrast to its head. Nonetheless, the in-focus head looks fantastic.

Cows? Rhinos? It's a small dog's face surely.......Exhibition hey? Sub us the fare from Melbourne and I'm there :-).

Well, I too could mention the images in the tree but I think it has been well and truly covered, not that I disagree.

What I would say though, is that at first it does seem quite a mundane image but the draw constantly shifts between the tree and the pebbles which really adds the depth and leads to me lingering on it alot more.

I'm wondering, did you think about increasing the DoF? I've been reading about macro a bit and realise that the DoF is often very limited on these lenses. I bet you thought about it though, right Dave?

As for your exhibiton, the boys are down and we will probably get really rather thrashed, I'll see, it would be good to meet you and see your work in the ink (flesh)...

I love the natural tones on this shot - reminds me a bit of one I took a while back, although i'd just realised I could take macro shots with the flash on the nikon 4500 so my colours are a little more harsh! :-

Click for some ... Seaweed

This shot feels fresh and for some reason humid.
Have fun at the exhibition !!!

Very good
Perfect focus and DoF
I also find the back of the bit of wood distracting, but the image still works for me

I see the dog too !

Sjeez, I see the cow, too. Should I be worried?

I like it. You nailed the DoF.

Fantastic! I realy like these stones...

You're all mad ;-)

hey, i am afraid of that thing, it kind of watches me! great shot. do you see the dog face in there??

I found the bokeh to be very distracting. Is that typical of this lens?

I found the composition led me not to the focus area, but rather my eyes started there and were led by the line of the wood, to the upper left where the flavour of the bokeh hurt the shot for me.

(oddly enough, I really like the stones around the wood)

Thanks for posting it!
--- Doug