One of these won me a camera!

[mattym]

I entered these 3 shots in the Digital Photo Magazine Nature and Animals round here in sunny England

http://www.pictures.quickanet.net/canon/Squirrel-Nutkinssmall.jpg


http://www.pictures.quickanet.net/canon/helga.jpg

http://www.pictures.quickanet.net/canon/lioness.jpg

One of them came second, winning me a Canon G6! :D

I dont know which one won though, will have to wait till the mag comes out.

3rd time ive been in the mag, second in the competition, means i have 100 points and in the top 10 again! :D

HUGE thanks to MattE off www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums), without his tutorial on post processing none of this would have happened, so Thanks Matt!

[Maz]

Those photos are just perfect. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thanks for showing them.

Maz
http://www.homesteadsforsale.com

[tommykjensen]

Wow beautiful photos and congratulations :-)

[cfcRebel]

Congratulations! I like them all. You deserve the winning.

[IanC_UK]

Fancy seeing you here Matt ! :)

Well done and congratulations again ! :cool:

[mdm]

Wow! Great shots!

[sparker1]

All are nice, but I vote for the eagle.

[Rob612]

All are nice, but I vote for the eagle.

Ditto. I think that the winner is the eagle ! Let us know !

[skade]

Congrats!! All 3 of those shots are fantastic!

[witchy]

Wow great shots, you deserve to win with shots like these :)

[tupe]

Great shots - congrats! (I'm guessing it was #3.)

[dancad]

All three are very nice but I'll guess the lion won it...

[mattym]

thanks for the comments people, i will let you know which was the winner, interestingly people are evenly split between the 3 of them!

[John Trogdon]

They are all great shots, but I have to disagree with most everyone else. I love the depth of field in the first shot. I know squirrels aren't nearly as exciting as eagles and lions, but I really like number one.

All three could be winners in my book.

[DeltaWebb]

It is too close to call I think. For me, it's the eagle purely for the drop at the end of his beak. (sp?)

Where did you find these animals to get such great shots? I'm assuming the squirrel wasn't too difficult, but the eagle and lion...where or where did you shoot those two?

[mattym]

thanks again guys!

The squirell shot was taken round the corner from me, i baited the grass with some brazil nuts and lay shooting it, the Eagle was one of around 15 i took at Groombridge Place in Kent, at the Raptor Center there, and the lion, which is in fact yawning, was taken at Port Lympe Zoo in kent through a nasty mesh fence, which is why its slightly out of focus on the mouth and a bit of the face.

Once again thanks for the kind words, im VERY proud

[scott stokes]

congrats awsome shots.i like #3the best but all are great.

[Hellashot]

I think #2 got you the 2nd place, with the water about to drip off the beak. The other 2 images are basically "cute" :)

[GTogs]

I like all three, my preference is number one, but I agree with Hellashot that number two is what got you second place! It is a striking photo!

[Michaelmjc]

Congrats man, thats really awesome.

What lens did you use for the eagle?

All pics are Perfect! I love the first pic though.

[burgoid]

awsome pics matt my vote would be for #1 the DOF is amazing. also do you think you could provide a direct link to the tutorial post.
Cheers Dave

[Rigrider]

Great shots. I think #2 won you the camera, but personally I like the first one the best. Congratulations, and...what kind of camera...do you know yet?

L8r,

[marie]

:) Congratulations
that's a wonderful prize

great shots
and it's great that you took the trouble to enterhttp://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif

I think #1 as it reflects more of what you mentioned regards 'sunny England'

[krmaven]

All 3 of these are absolutely stunning! The squirrel is my favorite. Curious now, which one is the winner...

[mattym]

as soon as i know which is the shot that got picked i will let you all know,

all 3 shots taken on 300d with Sigma 70-300mm supermacro APOII lens, looks like i got one of the good ones!

direct link to tutorial

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23

but you may need to register to see them, which is free, but feel free to post!

[bachscuttler]

Once again thanks for the kind words, im VERY proud

And so you should be!
I would kill for shots like those.

I wouldn't like to have to judge, they're all immaculate to me :)

[DanStephens]

Wow, WONDERFUL shots! I vote for the lion. Seriously, how often do you find a shot like that?? The ears flat back on the head and it looks like its about to rip your head off! Love it....LOVE IT!

Great job.

Dan

[mattym]

thanks once again to everyone, very pleasing to get such fantastic praise from photographers as good as yourselves.

Would it surprise you to know the lion was yawning!

[mrclark321]

Excellent shots and also the work in PS. Can this be done in Elements 3?

Dan

[mattym]

i dont know TBH, im sure it has similar functions, i will have a look at work i have elements 2 on that machine...

[SidW]

As a beginner I find the shots absolutely amazing.
Love the eagle.
Congratulations.

[TammieO]

Well deserved!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Fantastic shots! I'd have a hard time picking out which would get the award!

[mrclark321]

Hi Matt

I tried following your instructions in PS Elements 3 and there was a few things that were different but here is my attempt at your original pic. ( yours looks better ) What did I do wrong?

Dan


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/mrclark321/eosd0.jpg

[LazyPhotographer]

Fantastic! Congratulations...

[mattym]

mrclark321

elements 3 doesnt have Lab colour i dont think, that will affect the overall outcome as the sharpening will be different, also the image you started with will have been lower quality than the original that i have as the compression on the gallery versions is a bit harsh, but not bad, the first effort i did was terrible, no life in it!

[mattym]

once again thanks for the kind words!

[mattym]

Ive just had confirmation, the winning shot was the Eagle!

[muscleflex]

excellent! how much cropping did you have on the eagle?

[mattym]

excellent! how much cropping did you have on the eagle?

i dont think i cropped it at all, iirc thats how it came off the camera, though i wont swear to that, i took around 30 shots of the eagle, so i may well be getting confused but i will check when i get home.


*edit*

I might have loped some nothingness out the right, the image size on the net is 800x544 so its missing some off the side, will have a look and post the original though for you all to see:)

[mattym]

this is the original unprocessed shot, a bit of the side is all!

[Airedale1]

Congratulations! All 3 are deserving.

[Rob612]

Ive just had confirmation, the winning shot was the Eagle!

I told ya !!! It's the drip on the beak that makes it VERY special. Congrats !!! And self pat to all the members that voted for the same pic :D

[mattym]

got the magazine now, even more pleased as the class of entry was very high, i think i got lucky!

[Arsonist lolol]

Yep, #1 does it for me....don't know what it is. Maybe the flawlesness of the grass, the rich colors and all contrasted with the squirrel. Shrug.

[bachscuttler]

I've just picked up the mag and the eagle shot looks even better in print...crystal clear!

Enjoy the free G6! :)

[Rick Baker]

congrats. those are all great pics

[marie]

got the magazine now, even more pleased as the class of entry was very high, i think i got lucky!

that's great news
congratulations again

:D :cool:

[mattym]

thanks everyone

i prefered the squizz too

[Alan B]

mattym - what was the magazine ?

[Learner]

Those are just flawless shots! Did you use the rebel and what lens did you use, may I ask?

Learner

[mattym]

mattym - what was the magazine ?
Digital Photo Magazine Alan..came out on the 15th

Learner, yes its the Rebel(300d)with Sigma 70-300mm super macro APO II lens:D