I love the composition and the natural colours, but the near focus, or lack of, is doing my head in :)

Blurry in foreground, which sort of leads to it being distracting.

Is this an HDR? It feels like it, with the 'halo' effect round the tree...

i had a mostly positive comment typed up but i deleted it before i pressed post, because the more i look at the photo the less i like it.

it's excellent at first sight, great composition, perspective, lovely colors (although it is too bright, turning gamma a few notches down helps), but when you stare at it you realize that your eyes hurt, because in spite of the first crisp impression, the picture has some real focus issues. the tree looks like it's been oversharpened to compensate for the blur, which is however not that apparent at first, mostly due to the applied sharpening. it's only after you look at the three crown for a bit longer you realize that you can't get a focus on it.

i guess when you compose your photo from multiple shots you can't expect the leafs to stay perfectly still.

also the first picket should have been in focus. my eyes keep looking at it but it hurts.

i really wanted to like this photo, but i just can't look at it. sorry. maybe it would work as a smaller image, but not on a 24 inch monitor that i'm sitting half a meter from.

yes this is clearly an hrd image

I agree with quicksand - this clearly has a lot of potential! But the focus issues and harsh HDR just don't work for me.

I agree with quicksand on this one...And I'm definitely not trying to bash the Loupe here, but maybe when we click to enlarge it could give us our full res version? Because sometimes the pictures still look nice when it's in that little box, but when it hits the front page it can be blurry or seem a little different from when we voted. =/

Thanx for the comments guys. I really appreciate it.
@quicksand: Use smaller monitor next time ;-)
@Tel Me Later: No, it's one-shot photo processed in Photoshop and Topaz adjust filter.

I try not to quibble with the artist's intent too much. I liked the image at first; it has a timeless feel to it that's appealing. But finally I have to agree, it looks over-processed. Just because you can do something (and paid a lot for the CS5 versions of the Topaz filters), doesn't mean you should. If you wanted to make a non-Topaz version of this pic available, I'm sure many of us here would appreciate it.

WhiteDog, I understood that this is a site for submitting wallpapers, not only photos. I chose what to upload, and you can wote if you like it. There's no need to talk about how much money I have, and if I paid for Photoshop or not. Cheers! :-)

I really like this. I don't find the foreground focus much of an issue for me & I've no idea what a Topaz adjust filter is. Ignorance is bliss. :)

PS Longitude011, I don't think we can delete our own posts or anybody else's (well, I can't anyway). If it was an objectionable comment, perhaps IFL removed it.

thanx kailoIL, i didn't know that.

yup, didn't delete it, can't to do that.

and i don't get it why it got removed, just like i don't get why firefly.serenity got almost banned earlier this week for saying, i quote: "God, I love this website".

maybe it was the religious reference who knows....

in any event cheers longitude, keep posting. i see you have a few more shots lined up in the loupe and i hope they'll make it.

wouldn't be so bad to have a simple edit function though, for simple typo corrections

Another casualty of Loupe thumbnails.

Interesting place! Topaz Adjust? Eh... never heard of them but quick Google search and there is it is... the source of image murder. http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/#4 Just look at those samples and they say a picture is worth a thousand words when perfectly fine images are destroyed in front of your eyes... I call it murder. I don't know anything about the software but results speak for themselves at least from their samples page. I don't have any experience with the software but I don't have any respect for them based on the results that they are boasting about on their website.

Reading my comment there is a need for edit button for typos especially when you are in a hurry. I agree with quicksand.

murder?...oh common igor don't be such a drama queen.
i've looked at the link you posted and these babies don't look that bad. i'm intrigued and will give it a shot.

Now, beside money, even spelling is important here? Relax quicksand. Have a beauty sleep :-D

reporting back....this topaz adjust things is pretty neat, real fun to play with, and i can totally see how you to go overboard with it, it's very tempting.

@ quicksand ...( Not related to this image directly) Halos, burned sky along with other areas, uneven exposure, flat image = murder. It's simple. Are we talking about the same thing? I am referring to Topaz's website samples. Those samples are like thorns in my eyes. Ahh... I am deeply saddened seeing various software that does not improve images but kills them instead. I am starting to see very poor images in various magazines now. This whole failed HDR look is so yesterday. When I initially ventured into an HDR territory years ago I initially made some mistakes and I was blind to them until one of my Flickr buddies pointed out about the halos and I am thankful to him to this day. If you see halos in the image it is a failure and it's undeniable fact and that's what he told me. I am not the only one that will tell you this. Ask around the pro community. I guess it's fine to live in ignorance if one does not want to improve their photography the choice is personal. All right... my time is up. I just quickly peeked in here... I am very busy as I am typing this. Just wanted to answer your post. Cheers.

It's obvious that the Topaz website has put some very dramatic and eye catching images up as samples of their filters at work.
There are settings for controlling the amount of processing you add...I can't believe Igor doesn't realize this !

And, quicksand, don't delete your comments becouse I'm trying to answer. Now my answer is pointless, but I won't delete it :-)

quicksand, read this one again: "Just because you can do something (and paid a lot for the CS5 versions of the Topaz filters), doesn't mean you should." Why I shudn't? I do what I like to do. Who said I paid for anything, and why it's important? It's up to you to say if you like it or not. And that's all. Love you all. :-D

@ rejectEd ... Trust me I do realize that every software can be tweaked and over tweaked and that's obvious. You missed the whole point though. I would not use a software that advertises those mediocre results and boasts about them. It tells me a lot about the company. Let's face it ... what Topaz product does is no rocket science and I can re-create that same effect in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop in a few seconds. A few tools come to mind such as fill light and clarity and a few others. Matter of fact results would look much better than what they advertise from their software. It's just disheartening for me to look at the ruined images in the mass media. I became too much of a perfectionist during the years.

@Igor Borisenko Photography: Hi quicksand :-)

I think a lot of you need to get over yourselves. The artist took a pic and made it how he wanted it. The community voted it in.

You can claim constructive criticism all you want, but I'm reading it as a way of being blow hards and trying to show off a supposedly superior sense of photography. So he used a cheapo 3rd party plugin? Not everyone's a pro.

How about everyone let this go and get back to submitting your own stuff instead of railing on the contributions we vote up?

I see you kicked that nasty Papyrus habit, Igor.

[Censored], I love this website.

"I became too much of a perfectionist during the years."
Spare me.

Regardless of the various long-winded discussions on the topaz effects and what-not, it gave me a headache seconds after opening it in my browser.

Nije lose, konacno da vidim i nesto nase ovde...

Edit:
http://funkyimg.com/u2/349/523/02310_downtheroad_1680x1050Edit.jpg

I really love the composition of this photo. I've done some field/rural type photos, but where I live it is so flat. The hills add an interesting dimension. I have to agree with what others have said. The HDR is a little harsh. I actually would be interested to see this photo in black and white!

@sabern
Brilliant job in screwing up the natural colours. :(
Seriously..do your own work and stop messing up others.