[CauseISaidSo]

I knew the smoke and flames were the important part but just didn’t think cropping it that much would be that much better.

Something else you can try is to make a portrait crop of a landscape-oriented picture. That way you can still get some context to the picture while allowing your important part to fill a larger part of the frame.

I don’t know that it’s really worked for me, but who knows? The one’s I’ve done that way haven’t knocked any outta the ballpark, but they may well have done much poorer without it. YMMV, I guess is what I’m trying to say. 🙂

[CauseISaidSo]

IMO, lokisbong your gunfire shot, cropped to just the gun and the smoke/fire area, would have ranked much higher.

That’s just what I was gonna say. loki, your timing and capture of the actual flash is what makes that pic special and at the small size we’re constrained to, if the interesting part of the pic isn’t a majority of the frame, I think it can get lost in the background and be overlooked.

[CauseISaidSo]

Thanks much for both your input and the compliment, Zero! Like I said, I thought the Blue Angels would already be well represented in the thread but it looks like Ranger Joe’s is about the only one.

[CauseISaidSo]

No offence taken. If those were live or even functional weapons, a) you’d be absolutely correct to chastise; and b) I’d never let either one of them around another gun again! They’ve both since gone through gun safety training through ROTC and scouting.

And thanks for the kind words about the Mitchell. I think it’s based somewhere locally because it shows up at all of the airshows and similar events. It’s a cool old plane.

[CauseISaidSo]

What he said. But the “adult” in the background with his finger also on the trigger really rubs me the wrong way. He should know better, especialy around kids.

Yeah, technically you’re both right (the “adult” is 14 in that pic, BTW), but all the weapons there had been rendered non-functional. Here’s the uncropped version and a couple of others for context:

The family of the NC Secretary of Public Safety is visible in one of those photos, so you can be assured everything was safe. 🙂

Regarding the alternate selections, I wavered until the end between this one and the B-25 Mitchell bomber. I assumed the thread would be chock full of Blue Angels pics or I would’ve given that one more consideration.

[CauseISaidSo]

Thanks, loki. And it was definitely empty and likely non-functional. It was at the same live fire exercise at Ft Bragg and there were several pieces laid out for all the public to pick up and play with. Otherwise, I’d never have let him near it! 🙂

[CauseISaidSo]

If anyone happens to look at my B-sides and has any thoughts along the lines of “you know, I’d probably have gone with this one over that one,” I’d welcome the input. Still working on trying to recognize what distinguishes a photo that I happen to like from one with perhaps more universal appeal…

[CauseISaidSo]

Tonight really pushed me back into the archives, the newest picture in the set is fourteen years old.

While I had plenty of archives to choose from (and a difficult time choosing, as always), this will be the first contest in which one of my entries was composed specifically for the contest.

I didn’t really have time to do this, but y’all have shamed me into it. I hope you’re all pleased with yourselves! 🙂

[CauseISaidSo]

I’m using a 5DmkII now

I’m sorry, I couldn’t see the rest of your post through my jealousy! 😆 Some day, some day.

I don’t think I’d put a DSLR (anything decent, anyway) through that kind of punishment. I’m not sure you really need one, unless you’re looking to use a particular lens, since even HD resolution is easily handled with a P&S.

[CauseISaidSo]

Thanks for the info, chupathingie. When you say you locked the remote shutter release, you mean you were taking pix as fast as the camera would take them? If so, that had to be a ton of pix.

You’d probably find CHDK interesting and possibly useful, especially being a linux/opensource kinda guy. From the project description:

CHDK is a firmware enhancement that operates on a number of Canon Cameras. CHDK gets loaded into your camera’s memory upon bootup (either manually or automatically). It provides additional functionality beyond that currently provided by the native camera firmware.

In a nutshell, it extends your camera’s firmware to allow you to write scripts to automatically control your camera. For example, there are several intervalometer scripts that would be perfect for what we’re talking about.

It only works with Canon cameras (it stands for Canon Hack Development Kit) and only (several) selected models. You can find it here: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

[CauseISaidSo]

First, I hope everyone took my previous comment as the light-hearted ribbing that it was intended to be. I know that even though it’s all just good fun, it’s still a competition and that’s what adds to the fun, so last minute upsets can be “heartbreakers.” In my world, that consists of seeing a couple of entries slide out of the top ten.

Maybe I just shouldn’t call it on Farktography.net until it’s for sure closed on Sunday. The Fark thread might still be inaccurate, but the thread here will reflect what the actual final tally is.

Are you saying you just should delay posting the winner (with the winner still based on the Sat night cutoff), or that the winner should be as reflected in the Fark thread when voting is closed?

Personally, I like the latter option. That’s what the FSM stats are based on, so otherwise the stats don’t truly reflect the results and are somewhat meaningless. I’d hate to think Schnee put all that work in for nothing. 🙂

Gee, and I thought I’d broke the top 5 again! I certainly can’t complain; I’m in the top 10 in 3 of the last 5 (and 2/top 5), and that’s a far cry from where I started 6 months ago. A whole heap of credit and kudos to the folks here who’ve helped me improve my skills with advice and suggestions.

And justly so, rav. Your last-minute entry was quite a nice pic. I really loved the color of the reflected sunlight on the water.

I’m AM disappointed,though, at Because I Said So’s finish with the towel critter. I thought for sure that would be in the top 3; it’s STILL my favorite pic. Just goes to show them voters are hard to gauge.

You and me, both, brother, you and me both. I guess I can’t say I’m really surprised, though, because I have no freaking clue what drives the voters. 🙂

[CauseISaidSo]

While 2nd place is nothing to scoff at, I think I got bumped out of first with a last minute, after-it-was-called vote two weeks in a row. That stings a little.

U-Man stats:
– Average Standing: 16.71 (1st place, almost half of 2nd place)
– Average Votes/Entry: 27.05 (1st place)
– Recent Vote Count: 723 (1st place)

And not just the one, but TWO entries tied for second place. Forgive me if I don’t shed too many tears. 😆

Seriously, though, both of those pix were really nice. I actually favored the Peoria airport pic.

[CauseISaidSo]

That’s how I broke the auto-focus on my Rebel…

An awful lotta passing going on there. Got a bit of a leadfoot, do we, chup? 😉 Don’t worry, you won’t get any condemnation from me. “Let he who’s without sin…” and all that.

Did you use CHDK? Is the exposure manually set by the first pic or measured for each pic? You say the autofocus broke – were you auto focusing each image? And finally, what software did you use to combine the pix into a movie? (Is that enough questions? :-))

That’s pretty much what I’m looking to do, except on a cycle and over a shorter period of time (3 hrs condensed into 5 minutes or so).

[CauseISaidSo]

That’s pretty cool, Orionid. What did you use to create the HD video from the images?

Yet another thing that’s long been on my “things I wanna play with” list is to load my old Powershot G2 P&S with CHDK firmware, run an automatic “picture every x interval” script, mount it to my cycle and create a time-lapse video of some of my trips.

[CauseISaidSo]

Elsinore, sorry to bother you with another issue (but that is what you’re paid the big bucks for, right? :)), but I happened to look at the Scarlet R’s and saw there are a couple of entries this week…

In all seriousness, though, let me jump on Pope Larry’s bandwagon and say that I appreciate the time you must invest in keeping this running smooth.

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