Welcome to the poll for our October Open Theme photo contest! Select the photo you think is the best from among our finalists below:

#1.


#2.


#3.


#4.


#5.


#6.


#7.


#8.


#9.


#10.


#11.


#12.


#13.


#14.


#15.

[Reality_Check]

Wow - lots of awesome photos here. Difficult to choose! Well done to the nominees.

[pfogal]

The lighting in 6 for me ...

[Erictator]

The bokeh on #1 is insane, love it. These are all winners though... so hard to pick something... but I did, and I ain't telling.
Eric

[Walkingwolf]

What a set of difficult choices!
I went back and forth, forwards and backwards, and reluctantly made my selection, knowing that really I wished to have been able to pick more.

[Robin]

Oh boy this is such a difficult choice! It just goes to show what Pentax people can do when let off the leash!

[veato]

Some great photos but one really stood out for me. Voted!

[ggascay]

Tried to pick the one with the least amount of processing, because in the end, a Raw image or a set of images either shot or pulled from the web combined to another is more art than photo and can there is no Pentax Magic anymore...

[Erictator]

Tried to pick the one with the least amount of processing, because in the end, a Raw image or a set of images either shot or pulled from the web combined to another is more art than photo and can there is no Pentax Magic anymore...

I wouldn't assume that there is a ton of PP of the type you allude to in so many of these entries, I recognize several photographers work here, and know their typical processes, and they haven't done the kind of manipulations you are talking about here. Pick the photo you like best, I wouldn't worry about who might be fooling you with extensive PP, because you might be entirely wrong and be denying a great photograph its due.
Eric

[MatKus]

I didn't put much work in postprocessing on my image. Honestly, I don't realy know lightroom or photoshop much, probably i should take some courses.
Here's sliders in lightroom.

Also, there is minor crop (there was some treetops on bottom, so i cropped image to remove it) and some dust removing. That's all, not even lens correction.
All other settings are on lightroom defaults.

I had to correct hightlights, because i was shooting almost directly toward sun and on fog was way to bright. Sometimes i wish there was more than +/-100 value

Here's how it looks without any post, SOOC if you realy want to know.


I'm sure there was some image-stacking done on night images with stars, but is it bad? I do not see it as interference in the picture or photomontage, but rather as a way to walk around the limitations of the equipment, and this is not a bad thing for me.

[Erictator]

I didn't put much work in postprocessing on my image. Honestly, I don't realy know lightroom or photoshop much, probably i should take some courses.
Here's sliders in lightroom.

Also, there is minor crop (there was some treetops on bottom, so i cropped image to remove it) and some dust removing. That's all, not even lens correction.
All other settings are on lightroom defaults.

I had to correct hightlights, because i was shooting almost directly toward sun and on fog was way to bright. Sometimes i wish there was more than +/-100 value

Here's how it looks without any post, SOOC if you realy want to know.


I'm sure there was some image-stacking done on night images with stars, but is it bad? I do not see it as interference in the picture or photomontage, but rather as a way to walk around the limitations of the equipment, and this is not a bad thing for me.

Great example! Wonderful picture with very minor tweaks.Thanks for sharing.
Eric

[grey goat]

I didn't put much work in postprocessing on my image. Honestly, I don't realy know lightroom or photoshop much, probably i should take some courses.
Here's sliders in lightroom.

Also, there is minor crop (there was some treetops on bottom, so i cropped image to remove it) and some dust removing. That's all, not even lens correction.
All other settings are on lightroom defaults.

I had to correct hightlights, because i was shooting almost directly toward sun and on fog was way to bright. Sometimes i wish there was more than +/-100 value

Here's how it looks without any post, SOOC if you realy want to know.

I'm sure there was some image-stacking done on night images with stars, but is it bad? I do not see it as interference in the picture or photomontage, but rather as a way to walk around the limitations of the equipment, and this is not a bad thing for me.

Thanks for this, MatKus.

I was thinking before I saw it--but after I'd read the last few posts--that there may be a number of issues at work in regard to some people's dislike of "post-processing," and here's what I came up with:

1. Some people confuse "post-processing" with "Photoshopping"; the latter, of course, being what has got certain photojournalists fired.

2. Those who dislike "post-processing" have never seen the workspace in Lightroom and have no concept of what can--and can't--be accomplished there.

3. Most of those who dislike "post-processing" have never developed film or made prints in a traditional, chemistry-based darkroom--that, or they haven't spent significant time in a darkroom (that is, not enough time to realize the intricacies of film development or printing).

When I first started working with digital images, I used GIMP. Then I bought a copy of Adobe Creative Suite, and I used Photoshop. I don't know how long it was after I bought my K-7 that I bought a copy of Lightroom, but it couldn't have been more than a year or two. Lightroom changed everything, making it so much easier for me to do what I wanted to do with digital negatives (raw files in Adobe's DNG format). Photoshop and other such apps allow creative people to do so many things, but Lightroom for me is the digital equivalent of a traditional darkroom.

I still have my darkroom in the basement, replete with a couple enlargers and all sorts of other equipment--including an archival print washer and anti-UV glass for framing purposes. I still use the latter, but most of my darkroom has been gathering dust since my son was born. I mean, I used to spend hours at a time down there printing, emerging only for the most necessary things, and that's not really possible when one's a stay-at-home dad with a baby upstairs. (And no way did I want that baby anywhere near chemicals.)

But Lightroom has given me a way to process digital negatives and wind up with graphic files I can share online or print with my Epson R2880. I'm a decent printer in a traditional darkroom, but I think Lightroom has made me that much better at making photos worth sharing with people. (And Lightroom isn't the only such app; it's just the one I settled on since it has great processing and cataloging tools.)

Lightroom's a tool, just as a camera body and lenses are tools. If you take time to get to know your tools, and how they work, they can make creating and refining a lot easier.

Anyway, thanks again for the cap of your settings for that final-15 image of yours! (By the way, nice crop, and good use of the various parameters in LR. The contrast, clarity, and highlight adjustments really helped make that image what it is.)

[hjoseph7]

I'm not sure why #15 didn't remove that streak on the left bottom of the picture ? It's very distracting and takes away from the peaceful mood.

[grey goat]

I'm not sure why #15 didn't remove that streak on the left bottom of the picture ? It's very distracting and takes away from the peaceful mood.

I'm pretty sure that's either a tumbling satellite or a very brief meteor. To my eye, it adds a little more mystery to the image. But for me, that's what the photograph whispers: mystery. I can't help wondering what's out there, or even how small humans are in the vast scheme of things, when I look up at the stars or see them spread like a mandala above a line of trees in a photograph.

There's what looks to be a meteor just above the horizon above the field of flowers in number 3, too.

But there's not a wrong way to see a night sky. Finding it "peaceful" is a just as valid as finding it "mysterious." So I can see why you think that streak violates the peaceful mood.

Sure is a beautiful image, though. . . .

[800rate]

I believe 8 is outstanding for many reasons.