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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
11/1/2005 5:58:13 PM
I really like it Ann. It gets an SC from me.
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| Photo By: Ann Nida
(K:45248)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/31/2005 4:34:13 PM
Very nice image Seyed! As an editor of the nature section, I feel this is worthy of a Staff Choice award. Keep up the good work!
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| Photo By: Seyed Babak Musavi
(K:496)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/31/2005 3:23:34 PM
Yamil: In transfering e-mail from my laptop to my desktop computer I lost some messages as well as your e-mail address, and the address of Marcus. We are thinking of taking a road trip in the very near future, and may come down your way.
Steve
steve@naturephotography.net
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/31/2005 2:54:41 PM
Ann: March and April have long days in comparison to November>February which have very little daylight. The area around Colorado Lake gets very deep snow, but that snowbelt isn't very large. It runs from around Hurricane (the big high bridge over a canyon) to the middle of Broad Pass. Cantwell and north is much dryer, as is the area around Wasilla. There have been some northern lights this year, but I've only a few nice displays so far. We are now in Homer, and it is a bit south of the good displays (Fairbanks area is much better), and we often have cloudy skies in winter.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/30/2005 4:23:52 PM
Yamil, nice to see another subject besides all the hawks and kites that keep making me jealous! Beautiful work once again. Al has asked me to refrain from giving EC's, but I still can award SC's, and this one gets one from me.
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Photo By: Yamil Saenz
(K:12434)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/28/2005 4:04:11 PM
I was traveling for a few days, between this location and our home in Homer, so I missed answering Jim's question. I still have the Kodak SLR/n, though it has been pretty much replaced by two Nikon D2X's. The faster frames/sec make the Nikon cameras better for stopping action. I like the files the Nikon makes, but at times I prefer the full frame sensor of the Kodak.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/27/2005 9:30:19 PM
Hello Arnaldo! Spud died of kidney failure on September 10th. We buried him by the lake in a pretty spot. A week later we bought a new sled dog puppy, who we've named Lucy. She is 14 weeks old now, and a bundle of energy and continuous joy. I just left Colorado Lake yesterday, and am now back in Homer. We had 2 feet of snow at the lake, and there's a foot here in Homer. Winter is definitely here. Best Wishes, Steve
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/16/2005 8:43:37 PM
Yamil, I don't feel it's right to give EC or SC awards to the same people too frequently. The two images you've posted today are really exceptional however, and while it's difficult to chose between them, I think this one is the one I like most, and I feel I'd be wrong not to give it an EC. Congratulations on some very fine photography! I envy your opportunities with the hawks and kites!
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| Photo By: Yamil Saenz
(K:12434)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/14/2005 10:38:09 PM
Marcus, I will make it down to CA sometime in the near future, but for the immediate next few months, it isn't possible. I've had to curtail a lot of our travel in the last few years, because my Dad is now in a nursing home with Parkinson's. I try to fly down to visit with him (in McLean, VA) as often as I can to try to make him happier. Today it's been snowing all day; the roads are getting slick, and it's not a good day for photography. Even so, I saw a northern hawk owl and a great horned owl this morning. Even when I can't photograph, I enjoy seeing any wildlife. Best Wishes,
Steve (steve@naturephotography.net)
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| Photo By: Marcus Armani
(K:36599)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/14/2005 5:23:15 PM
Once again, very nice Marcus. It's worth an EC.
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| Photo By: Marcus Armani
(K:36599)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/12/2005 7:41:23 PM
Yamil, thanks for the kind words, and the invitation to visit and stay with you! You better be careful, one of these days I will take you up on your offer! I've spent time in that area, but have never been to Arrastradero Nature Preserve. I spent some time at Ano Neuvo a number of years ago, and have worked elsewhere along the coast of California as well as the desert areas to the south. When is the best time to work on hawks and kites there?
Steve
steve@naturephotography.net
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| Photo By: Yamil Saenz
(K:12434)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/12/2005 5:00:45 PM
Yamil, you guys are making me think I should go down to California some time! While we have lots of birds of prey here in Alaska, most are not very approachable, or they are so common (like Bald Eagles) that after awhile, you actually get bored photographing them. Very nice photo! I've given you an SC.
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| Photo By: Yamil Saenz
(K:12434)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/12/2005 4:53:04 PM
Darlene, you have posted some really nice work. This particular image I really liked, so I selected it for an EC. Keep up the good work!
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| Photo By: Darlene Boucher
(K:15739)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
10/12/2005 4:51:14 PM
Thanks Cassie. Spud died September 10th of kidney failure at age 13. He's now buried in a pretty spot overlooking the lake and mountains where we live, and right over a new beaver lodge, so he has company. We now have a new sled dog puppy, Lucy.
Steve Kaufman
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
9/30/2005 5:38:17 PM
Manu, the sunshine in Alaska in early April isn't so intense, so snow photograhy isn't as difficult as it is at lower latitudes.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
9/30/2005 5:29:46 PM
Marcus, another fine portrait of a kite! Your work is commendable. As an editor of the nature section of usefilm, I have chosen several of your images for various awards, and will give this one an EC. Best wishes, and keep up the good work!
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| Photo By: Marcus Armani
(K:36599)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
9/28/2005 4:44:50 PM
It's a very nice clean photo, but the bird is a Snowy Egret, (Egretta thula). Jerzy, I edited your caption of the bird changing it from a white heron to Snowy Egret. Hope you won't mind!
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| Photo By: Jerzy Dziedzic
(K:109)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
7/13/2005 9:29:58 PM
Angelo, Mount McKinley is 20, 320 ft high (6194 meters). The pass where I took the photo is about 2,300 feet high (700 meters). This was sunrise on the high mountains and there was still no light at the lower elevations, hence the snow has a blue cast.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
7/12/2005 7:37:53 PM
I shot lots of variations of this flower. I chose this one over ones which showed the entire blossom, but I really don't know why. It just felt "right". This was shot indoors, with natural light coming through a window. Outside, where they were blooming, it was raining and windy, so I cut one and brought it inside. The blue background is a blue lawn chair I used to create a neutral background.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
6/30/2005 7:11:01 PM
Haven't been able to get on the net lately, so I didn't answer Ned's question. I always use a tripod. I generally use Aperture Priority.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
6/9/2005 2:29:25 PM
Kurt: I used to collect silver dollars, but sold most of them, and now only have a couple. The remaining coins in the photo are the result of travels to do my photography. I did arrange them to show off a variety of coins, and piled them deeply enough so that you can't see the background paper they were sitting upon. I'm glad I've inspired a few people to think of shooting similar items. That's what this website is all about!
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
6/7/2005 3:44:53 PM
Mary Sue it was one of those days where it was rainy, but sun kept coming through the clouds at times. It also was spring breakup, and the snow was melting and sloppy, so it wasn't fun walking. I simply put the coins on a piece of paper on a table by a window and shot the photo when the sun did come through the window.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
4/23/2005 2:01:26 PM
James, the web uses SRBG. Did you convert to SRGB prior to uploading (it will be converted if you didn't, and that will cause some change in colors). Did you start off as a RAW file or jpeg? Each time you save a jpeg, you are going to lose some data. I'm assuming you used Photoshop for editing. Did you use Unsharp Mask as your final step in editing the photo? After Unsharp Mask, add your copyright information, and Flatten all layers (or Merge Layers if Flatten isn't available) Then select Save for Web. It is a nice photo, by the way!
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| Photo By: James Bambery
(K:13421)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
4/14/2005 4:02:59 PM
Spring in deep snow country means having wonderfully long days with moderate temperatures so we can play in the snow with skis, dogsleds, or snowmobiles. We are gaining a bit more than 6 minutes a day of daylight, so the snow will go quickly as temperatures rise.
Lee, I've had the D2X for a little over a week. I'm pleased with the image quality, feeling it edges out my Kodak SLR/n in detail. I have not yet learned to "feel" what my lenses will do with the crop factor of the smaller sensor. For now, I find that somewhat annoying, but as I grow accoustomed to the crop factor effect, I'm sure I will love this camera. I do not like the Nikon software, and I've found a few problems with Bibble as a raw converter (it creates "multi-frame" tiffs, which screws up another program I have that I use to caption and keyword images using IPTC data)
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
3/13/2005 7:00:41 PM
Very well done Paul. I suggested this project, and this is exactly the type of image I hoped to see posted!
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| Photo By: Paul Lara
(K:88111)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
3/9/2005 5:46:43 PM
To answer a few questions: The smoke was so dense that it obscured the sun completely on many days. That particular morning the smoke was dense enough that you could look at the sun without hurting your eyes. For fun, I turned my camera at the sun, and saw the sun spots. I shot a series of images, and then downloaded them to the computer. I found that the sun was still too bright on my photos compared to the background, so I processed each raw file twice in Adobe PS. By underexposing one image I got the sun to look as it did when I shot the photo. Then I took the same file, and processed it for the background, so I raised the exposure to make the background look as it did to my eyes. I then merged the two versions of the same image, and the result is what you see. The sun looks pretty much like it did when I took the photo, and the background is correct too.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
2/18/2005 4:18:35 PM
It's not a mallard Robert, it's a Common Loon (Gavia immer). This is a territorial display.
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| Photo By: Robert DeRepentigny
(K:40)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
2/1/2005 5:03:14 PM
Broad Pass is the lowest pass in the Alaska Range. It is south of Cantwell, or roughly 180 miles south of Fairbanks, or 200 miles north of Anchorage on the Parks Highway.
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| Photo By: Steve Kaufman
(K:2748)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
1/19/2005 5:31:21 PM
Hiroshi, this image is beautiful. I can't critique it, as I believe it's perfect in every way. It is a huge improvement from the two previous shots of Cosmos that you posted. I've selected it as a "Staff Choice".
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| Photo By: kokupsy_un morita
(K:2651)
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Critique By:
Steve Kaufman (K:2748)
1/17/2005 5:00:27 PM
Bob, I think it's either a Cooper's hawk (as Cody said) or an immature red-shouldered hawk. Nice sharp image Bob.
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| Photo By: Bob Jarman
(K:3145)
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