Thread: MPC #89: Geological Voting Thread - Ends 8/31

Here are the 5 finalists for your approval.

The usual spiel about it being difficult to choose applies. There were 7 pics that made the first cut and then cutting two more was pretty hard.

Good luck to the finalists - may that happy feeling find it's way to your pants!

freak #1


BigDaddy #2


mtcham #3


SchralphMacchio #1


akgeoskier #1

Holy fuck seriously? Akgeo #2 #3 and Mtchams moon shot are all outstanding photos. Ak #3 fucking killed it.

My vote goes to AKgeo, not for the shot that's up but for the one that clearly stands out in this thread. Nothing lost to you though mtcham. The moon shot kills also.

Considering geology literally means "study of the Earth", I'm not sure the moon shot really applies (although it is certainly well done).

I also liked AKgeo's 2nd shot best.

Considering geology literally means "study of the Earth", I'm not sure the moon shot really applies

You got me there...

Originally Posted by time2clmb

You got me there...

No worries. I really liked your first shot and thought that it would be a worthy contender, I just wish it was a little sharper, especially the mountains in the background.

I too loved mtcham's moon shot but was unable to understand how it fit the theme and thus it didn't make the cut.

All of akgeo's pics are kick-ass and the choice between them was difficult with #1 & 3 being my favorites. I doubt that anything I could say would influence the voting but just in case I'll withhold my reasons for choosing #1 over the others until after the voting's done.

I'm also not going to comment on my reasons for any other choices made until this thing is over.

There really is no accounting for taste.

AKgeo-your Russell Falls shot is fantastic. It's a definate wall hanger for me.

It's always tough to pin down the final five and CW gave us his picks-it's all good fun.

I like controversy in an MPC

Yeah the Russel Falls one was my favorite too.. but it was also a pretty kick-ass sunrise.. Although I think my favorite shot of the thread was the moon shot, and really it embodies the very heart of geology, considering its mostly made of what used to be Earth's Mantle/Core.

Originally Posted by AKgeoSkier

?...it embodies the very heart of geology, considering its mostly made of what used to be Earth's Mantle/Core.

Was thinking that, too, but there are no bikinis in the pic, so I think Willie made the right call...



(Honored and surprised to be in it, as I am well aware of a few technical issues... ie- focus. I need to get back with better camera and less people.). All great pics, but tipping my hat to AK for some beautiful work.

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

I need to get back with better camera and less people.

and tripod, timer and ND filter

I just wish it was a little sharper, especially the mountains in the background

Thanks and yeah, i'm still getting used to downsizing the large 7d files for web. I sharpen, it looks over sharpened so I bump it down a bit, upload and it looks soft. I reposted it on another site and "oversharpened" past where I thought it should be and it worked out fine. I think I finally have it.

Time2climb: Look into DXO Optics Pro. It does an awesome job of batching all edits into a single process so it cuts down on the workflow issues inherent to Photoshop. You can do all your sharpening, etc at once and just tell it the size you want to output it at and it "intelligently" adjusts everything to the new interpolations. It lacks on a couple of the more "artsy" aspects of photoshop, but it is a pretty powerful, and cheap, software suite for general editing. It's pretty similar to lightroom without all the organization BS, also has a kick-ass noise reduction module.

Check it out.

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

(Honored and surprised to be in it, as I am well aware of a few technical issues... ie- focus. I need to get back with better camera and less people.)

It might not be a great shot technically, but it made me want to go there. Very cool location!

Close race here