Regarding the editing software, a while back I was looking to see if the free alternatives would do the job. After trying a bunch of programs, I decided to use LightZone. While it does not have all that the paid program have, it does very well working with both jpg and raw images. You can download it at http://lightzoneproject.org/ . You need to register to do the download, but I have not seen any misuse of my email address.

And good luck with your exam.

Jerry

Aw rats. If you won, then I didn't. Don't go spending it all in one place! :-)

The court documents in provided in the story tell the story very well, including the jury charge document that show how the various smaller awards add up to the big total. The only thing I think the photographer could have done better was to include a charge up front for a default cover and then making the more expensive covers be options. This would at least help avoid the false accusation of extra nickel and diming the charges. Regardless, the couple should have been able to read their contract and figure it out.

Side Note: if this posting had not been only a link to the story in the body of the posting, it might have remained in the forum it was posted in.

The modified file feels washed out to me. Given the above permission, I'm posting my copy after fiddling with it for about 2 or 3 minutes in LightZone. I brought up the darker mid-tones a little bit, add some vibrance, as well as some clarity. The composition is very good. I do not see anything that needed cropping, or cloning.

Remember, it is all subjective so you might like it more the way you did it over anyone else's version.

Jerry

(Download)

Another one that sometimes gives some useful information is:

https://thatsthem.com/

However the information can be somewhat old at times and it works better for finding out addresses of known names. for example, I entered an old landline that was last used about 11 years ago, and it gave my name, a very old email address, and that old street address)

It really does not need much. It seems to have a slight tinge of yellow/orange through all of it. It might be my monitor, or maybe it is natural with the bird. If my copy of the image seems to have a slight blue tint to others, then it probably is my monitor causing me to wrongfully compensate. (it is dangerous to edit at work during lunchtime)

Also, I raised the mid-tones a bit, cropped (to move the eye to the left third), and sharpened a little bit.

(Download)

I agree that the second hypothetical is most likely a double play, but probably outs are at home and first. It depends on where the hit goes and how fast it is fielded. The runner on second, with lead off and jump on the pitch, can get to third much quicker than the batter to first. But then if these guys on base are HR hitters (in the hypothetical), they might not be all that fast on the bases.

While I see your point, disk space is cheap, and you might decide to redo the HDR image with a slightly different set of parameters after a period of time.

But then I save various treasures that might be useful in the garage too. :-)

Jerry

I have used it from both a chrome browser on my laptop and from my android smart phone.

Exactly. Price gouging is when a someone charges excessively for a necessity, especially if it is a situation where the consumer is caught off guard (like after a weather disaster). Having a hotel in the eclipse path on that weekend does not meet that criteria in anyway.

I live 75 miles outside of the path centerline and will probably sleep in my car that night, just like I did in Feb, 1979. I am betting that places to park will be rare, even on the most rural roads.

Jerry

Not to nit-pick a good story (I loved it), but it must be an old one. That is if the college freshman grew up with man walking on the moon (which has not happened since the '70s).

Isn't it strange how sometimes the gem of a shot is not one of the ones we think would be great at the time the photos are taken.

This is a really good image. I like the colors, the symmetry, the direction of the flight, and the subtleness of the reflection in the water. It is a perfect composition. It is just one of those feel good shots that looks like a work of art as well.

The only thing I might do would be to crop some off of the top, to move the bird up in the photo some to get it away from center a little bit more, but not much. However, having that room up there, gives you space for fitting most picture aspect ratios (5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc), if you decide to print it without making it narrower, so it is good that it is there. (it is worthy of a print).

Jerry

I did a number of searches with the name previously guessed and variations of what the signature could be, but didn't find much. A search of just "french tapestry hussar" hit pay dirt. I based the comment about how well known he was from the wording in the ebay posting (which might be an exaggeration). Like I said, I am not an expert in this area.

From the ebay text: "This is a romantic French tapestry (printed and embroidered) from the end of the 19th century. It finely depicts an amorous scene with a Lady and a soldier: fourth Hussar in dress uniform under the First Empire. It is signed by the artist Paul Grolleron who died in 1901. He was a well known painter for its picture depicting the French-German war of 1870's." Other websites, mostly auctions, listed quite a few works.

Here is a very similar (same image, not as colorful) item that is currently for sale on ebay.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-French-Romantic-Tapestry-Signed-Paul-GROLLERON-Empire-Hussar-Soldier-/231606166981

The fact that two images, nearly identical, might indication a reproduction based on an original. (I am no expert in this area (very far from it). I just like the challenge of the search)

Further searches of the name Paul Grolleron show he was a fairly famous French artist in the late 1800s.

Jerry

I like this one a lot. It is a good fairly sharp image, with nice colors, and the main subject is dominate in the frame. While it might be interesting to include facial expressions, any zooming out to include more of the person would cause everything to get smaller (face and iron), so it probably would not be that impactful. (unless the guy had a really interesting expression) While this is definitely better than the second image in the series because there is less distracting background elements, I would prefer the crop that was used in the first image because it did not have any of the background stuff. Therefore, I think that a square crop with no background showing might be best.

Jerry