Patrick in deep space by Mike Keeling

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Nikon D300, Tamron 180mm macro lens, a piece of black aluminum, spray bottle of water and a flashlight.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Focal Length 180 mm, ISO Speed 200, exposure 0.8, aperture f/29.0. The higher the f/ the smaller the dots.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I am computer illiterate. My Dell came with ACDSee.

Untitled by Daniele Napolitano

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF f1.8 85mm lens. I also used two strobes, one on the left, for the rim light, behind the model and another one up above on the right, pointing down, as the key light.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
I shot in manual mode at 1/200 sec, f/8.0, ISO 200. I used a wired remote to take the picture.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Adobe Lightroom 3 for framing and balancing the tones and Adobe Photoshop CS5 to clean the skin a little bit.

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is myself, it's a self-portrait :)

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I discovered I really like the shadows produced by very angled lights since they tend to emphasize the face features and create a dramatic feeling. So I went with it!

Patterns in nature by amazon2008

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Canon 40D, Canon 100mm 2.8L macro lens

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Exposure - 1/250, aperture - f/4.0, focal Length - 100 mm, ISO 100, +2/3 EV

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Used DPP from Canon itself

Q4. What is the subject of the photo?
Dahlia flower

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I am always searching for patterns in nature and when I came across dahlia's it just came to me. Sometimes you have to look at the subject and see what possibilities it brings for you.

Gravity is overrated by Rob Webb

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Canon 50D + Canon 100mm USM Macro + 1 x YN-560 Flash + 1 x YN-460II Flash + YN RF602 flash triggers(1x TX, 2 x RX) + Hahnel shutter release

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
1/250 @ f/9 & ISO 100

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5


Q4. What is the subject of the photo?
A wine glass with drops appearing to defy gravity and flow upwards

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I was washing the glass under the tap and I liked the way the water sheeted off the sides and dripped down off of the rim. I wondered how I could use this for a shot, inverting the original image for the "defy gravity" part was just a natural evolution of the concept for me.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
The hardest part of the shot was finding a way of safely suspending a wine glass over a bowl so that I could pour the water over the base, in the end I settled for a couple of Tupperware cereal storage containers and some kitchen tongs!

Untitled by Natalya Smirnova

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Pentax K-7

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Exposure Time = 1/160", F/4, ISO = 100, Focal Length = 50mm

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows

Q4. Who is the model?
It's my daughter, Alex. I take pictures of her from birth. She loves this and comes up with images and stories. I just suggest her situations and accessories.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I love retro. Our Russian retro. I collect vintage furniture and accessories. Clothing. With photographs I reproduce the mood and the feelings that I experienced in my childhood. Many things I do not remember but saw in the Soviet movies, family photos. I do not idealize the Soviet times as many Russian people. I only show the history of life. Ordinary stories of ordinary people.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
In this photo my daughter is in a school uniform that I wore in the 1988-89's.

Vestige décoloré by David Keochkerian

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D + Hoya ND400 filter

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
I took 3 photos at different exposure time, in order to make a DRI (digital increase range)
24mm - f/8 - 100 iso - 2, 4 and 8 seconds

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
DXO for my raw converter and Photoshop CS5

Q4. What is the location?
It's the "Pointe du Hourdel" Beach in Somme, France

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I saw a shot of this place by one of my flickr contacts. On the day of my shot the wheather was so bad - with rain and wind!!!!!!!!! Perfect for a dramatic shot in a historic place.

Chrysanthemum dewdrop refraction by Brian Valentine

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
5Dmk2 camera, MPE-65 lens, 430Ex flash bracket mounted and diffused, a dew covered lawn, a chrysanthemum flower and a rubber mat to kneel on.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Lens around 3:1 magnification, F/7.1 camera in manual 1/200th, Flash in ETTL, FEC +0.3

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
RAW images processed with DPP, I took a series of shots with different focus points and then combined them in PhotoShop using the healing brush to focus stack the image to get greater depth of field.

Q4. What is the subject of the photo?
Natural early morning dewdrops on a grass blade on the lawn with a chrysanthemum flower placed behind them.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I've been doing dewdrop shots for a while often trying to find ones with something interesting behind them to refract in the dewdrop. Eventually decided it was a lot easier to purposely place a flower behind the the dewdrops giving me control of the refracted image and also the background colours.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
A few years ago I had some similar photographs published in one of the daily papers. The paper just gave my name and the town I lived in. The next day I was in the front garden taking some photographs when a lady who lived in the block of flats across the road came over with a copy of the paper and asked if the photographs were mine. I said yes and she said: "I wondered what you were doing kneeling in the middle of the front lawn early in the morning on a mat." :)