9/23/2003 7:53:04 AM

Nice one, Mary-Ella! That's one good looking "bad" apple...

9/23/2003 8:05:06 AM

There's a show-off in every bunch! A very creative shot. Great job Mary-Ella!

9/23/2003 8:22:23 AM

Very creative and artisically put together shot, Mary-Ella!!! Excellent image!!!

9/23/2003 8:30:46 AM

How fun! I love your lighting and composition..and that gold filigree apple is a nice touch!

9/23/2003 9:01:43 AM

This is wonderful and so creative Mary-Ella!! Great job.

9/23/2003 9:13:07 AM

Thanks all! I had fun with this one. The gold apple is one of my many "finds" at the local thrift stores. I'm always on the lookout for props for my photography, or stuff I can use in my mixed media art. Those stores can be dangerous!

Here's a question if anyone is reading this - at another site I just had someone comment that the apples looked soft focus - not crisp enough. I used a tripod and everything, and thought they were fine (maybe time to get my eyes checked? Opinions?

9/23/2003 9:14:36 AM

Very clever idea......great!

9/23/2003 9:27:00 AM

I really like this Mary-Ella, the lighting and compositions are great.

I think that the apples are rounded that the parts that curve away just don't have as crisp an edge as something flat. Maybe the lighting also makes the edges look a bit softer, from the shadowing on the bottom part. Sometimes on other sites it seems that some are a bit overcritical!

9/23/2003 9:28:20 AM

I know which one I *wouldn't * eat! :-)

Neat shot!

9/23/2003 9:33:32 AM

Wonderful creativity, Mary-Ella....great shot!

9/23/2003 9:42:43 AM

Great imagination and execution,Mary-Ella. At 750x500 it's impossible to tell if anything is sharp or soft IMO. Did you lock the mirror-up and use a cable release (or self timer). Sometimes even on a tripod at certain shutter speeds you can get a bit of movement when the mirror slaps up--just a thought. Still an excellent image!!

9/23/2003 10:31:16 AM

No complaints here! Looks perfect to me. I love this!
Judy

9/23/2003 10:34:51 AM

wonderful - very creative :-)

9/23/2003 10:50:57 AM

This is wonderful and so creative Mary-Ella!!

9/23/2003 12:30:36 PM

This is sooo creative, Mary-Ella! I just love the way your mind works!

9/23/2003 12:59:05 PM

Very impressive!!!

9/23/2003 3:02:40 PM

How original and unique! Superb work here Mary Ella.

9/23/2003 7:18:03 PM

Very creative and one outstanding image.

9/23/2003 7:41:23 PM

Thanks everyone!! I truly appreciate your kind words and support. :-)))))

9/23/2003 7:53:51 PM

WOW.... Mary-Ella! What a wonderful and creative idea!!! Great image!!

9/23/2003 9:38:42 PM

GREAT!
:) gy

9/24/2003 8:04:57 AM

Mary Ella,
Great concept and excellent photo -- 'tack sharp'! The 'softness' issue has to do with a slight halo effect along the apple edges created by the high key background -- a common problem in portrait photography. Two possible solutions are to move the subjects further away from the background, or to place an arch shaped 'gobo' (shield) of black material over the subjects, but out of the frame. This dark material acts as subtractive lighting device for the subjects, but does not effect the background -- commercial photographers use this technique.
God Bless,
Greg

9/25/2003 5:58:26 AM

Hey Mary Ella, about the softness of the image, I do not think it is the original image, im thinking if you had sharpened the image just a tad more it would have made it a bit more crisp, or it could be from the upload.

9/26/2003 10:58:55 AM

I don't see a problem with the clarity...you have a great vision with still life. It must have taken a while to find those perfect apples :)

9/28/2003 7:10:19 PM

What a wonderful set-up, Mary-Ella! To my eyes, the apples do seem a little soft, especially the "bad" one, but it's rather minor. The composition, lighting, set-up and colors more than make up for it.

9/30/2003 11:38:12 AM

Another great month for you, Mary-Ella! Big congrats to you!

10/17/2003 2:59:35 AM

Congratulations Mary-Ella!!

10/17/2003 4:05:35 AM

congratulations Mary-Ella!!

10/17/2003 4:38:16 AM

Congrats, Mary-Ella!!!

10/17/2003 5:18:38 AM

Way to go Mayr-Ella!!!

10/17/2003 6:13:23 AM

Congratulations, Mary-Ella.

10/17/2003 6:21:20 AM

Congrats on your creative finalist, Mary-Ella!!

10/17/2003 6:31:38 AM

Congrats and Good luck, Mary-Ella! Very creative!

10/17/2003 9:28:47 AM

You go, girl! :-)

10/17/2003 9:46:20 AM

Congrats. I bet you a dozen apples that this will go into the next round. ;)

10/17/2003 11:40:47 AM

Many congratulations and good luck with this great image, Mary-Ella!

10/17/2003 2:49:14 PM

CONGRATS, Mary-Ella!
:) gy

10/17/2003 4:34:09 PM

Great job, Mary-Ella. This is a unique and elegant composition.

10/17/2003 5:29:02 PM

Congratulations, Mary-Ella!

10/17/2003 11:32:38 PM

Congratulations on this very creative image.
Judy

10/18/2003 2:13:28 PM

Congrats and good luck,
Cheers from POrtugal, Su

10/19/2003 12:31:09 AM

I really love this shot. I love the off center of the "bad apple." It leaves us to puzzle (as if unknown) which of the apples is the bad one.

10/27/2003 8:20:33 PM

Collette,
I just now saw this for the first time. What a great shot!

I disagree with the soft edge comment. This is perfect the way it is. If you got rid of the shadow areas, you would lose the depth and dimension of the apples against the white background. Nice lighting job! This isn't easy to do with all the potential reflection problems. Great work!

11/10/2003 7:18:54 AM

OOPS! Sorry Mary Ella. I just scrolled up to get your name, and I saw Collette's on the left there. Sorry guys!

11/10/2003 7:22:34 AM

Mary, Your shooting in digital on a canon camera..I have used canon for a number of yrs and the one thing I found out about canon is that their digital cameras are not tack sharp..you may have to go into photo shop and sharpen the shot up...I was at work for Boeing and we got Canon D60's...all of the shots required the shots to be sharpened...that is my guess...it's good...good lighting, comp..etc...but the digitals aren't tack sharp and it has something to do with the CCD they are using...

12/16/2003 7:30:46 PM