Original - A chipmunk is a squirrel-like rodent species native to North America. Though they are commonly depicted with their paws up to the mouth, eating peanuts, or more famously their cheeks bulging out on either side, chipmunks eat a variety of foods. Their omnivorous diet consists of grain, nuts, birds' eggs, fungi, worms, and insects.
Reason
Accurately shows the subject, in its environment, in a way that relates to part of the article and is of high quality.
Comment I like the picture, but can't support due to the chipmunk's tail being cut off. As said above, for a relatively easily taken image, the quality really has to be top-notch. faithless(speak)07:29, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Highly ecyclopedic, extremely detailed due to 800 x enlargement. Top image quality, even though it just barely fulfills our size requirement, it is razor-sharp.
Oppose - Too dark and noisy, unfortunate framing. Should be white, normalized to the 1600x1200 standard and denoised (it is obviously pixelated) -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 12:54, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - Unfortunately, the subject does not take up enough of the image, given the size requirements. Next time make sure you use a higher power zoom on your camera. Also appears to be a bit out of focus. Was the pixel in motion or is it just due to shaky hands? — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-01 13:57Z
Strong Support very high enc, massive historical value, impossible to reproduce. Quite possibly one of the most informative diagrams I've ever seen on FPC. E∞T∞A∞ —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ13:59, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Doesn't work as a thumbnail. I can only see the "un-enlarged" pixel at full image size on my monitor. If adopted, we will have to restrict use to only the full size image due to technical limitations! Rmhermen (talk) 14:01, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support So that's what they look like up close. Massively important image, how else would anyone know what a pixel looks like, they're normally too small to see.Chris_huhtalk15:27, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You need a bigger monitor. That would make it an even bigger black box. You might be able to adjust the color settings on your monitor and thereby change the color of the box. Spikebrennan (talk) 21:25, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thoughtful Suppose Dust on SLR sensor? Oppose per unnatural environs and inability to tell if this is the front or back of the animal. Excessive oversharpening. Blocky JPG artifacts present. Should be SVG, but just because this is an SVG doesn't mean it gets a free pass. -- atropos235✄ (blah blah, my past) —Preceding comment was added at 21:19, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Try fixing the white balance and rotation. Probably won't be enough to feature it but will improve it. Is there any copyright problem with the logo? Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 23:56, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per Janke. Also, I could have sworn this, or one very similar, was nominated less than two months ago and failed or was withdrawn? —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ12:10, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Isn't this a bit redundant? I may be oblivious to the subtleties of this sport, but I see no big difference as for which driver is supposed to be in the depicted car. Looks the same to me, just different commercials on the car. Plus a little too much of out of focus dirt. --Dschwen18:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Also a comment: yes, the two photos are very similar but they're both excellent quality. Just because one of them already happens to be featured doesn't have any bearing on whether this current nom should be featured. It meets all the criteria. (And considering the slew of barely-distinguishable insect pictures that come through FPC I think it's forgivable in this case.) CillaИ ♦ XC23:47, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. The original existing FP shot contains a lot of drama and captures the excitement of an F1 race. This nom is dry and still. The car in the foreground is static, there's too much bright foreground, and the moving car behind is mostly hidden by the static car. SilkTork *YES!14:17, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment on Silktork's point. I agree that the other shot has far more drama, although as Cillan says it's not really relevant to compare with other pictures in determining whether this is of featured quality. What this picture provides is a nice, clear three-quarter shot of a modern F1 car, with all its aerodynamic wings and fins and bits and bobs clearly presented. I'd suggest the content is of high quality for this reason, and is better in this way than the other. I'm no photographer, so whether or not the focus, resolution etc are of the right standard, I couldn't say. 4u1e (talk) 08:50, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support As 4u says, it is a great 3/4 shot of an F1 car, wonderfully clear shot that shows everything clearly, including the carbon fibre inserts on the wheels. While the memorable bits of F1 for many might be the crashes, there are times it is quite nice to just admire the cars. Narson (talk) 09:17, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment And, well, is drama an essential for a picture to be nice? We have pictures of bees and hummingbirds as Featured and we don't have the bees attacking the hummingbirds with nunchucks while Daleks emerge from the Tardis being ridden by Riders of Rohan (Man, I want to see that picture). Is drama essential? (To respond to 4u, a crop would be great, though the current ratio is perfect to me.) Narson (talk) 01:21, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support, but with the provision that this would be following a crop. If the present aspect ratio is maintained the picture would benefit from losing a fair slice off the left side, and some of the lower portion. The "out of focus dirt" lends a great sense of depth to the shot, and as such is an integral part of the photo. However, at present it places the car too high in the frame for comfort. Other factors in this image's favour include the clarity, and the fantastic heat-haze affected view of the following car. Cropping would also emphasise this feature. Pyrope14:46, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - as was said above, the last promoted F1 pic was full of drama, and is indeed set as my desktop. Now I'm a Hamilton fan, but there's a reason this one isn't my desktop - it's a bit boring. -mattbuck (Talk) 11:24, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - The Bloedel Reserve is a 150-acre (0.6 km²) forest garden on Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA, made by the vice-chairman of a lumber company, under the influence of the conservation movement and oriental philosophy. Prentice and Virginia Bloedel wished to 'capture the essence of the Japanese garden - the qualities of naturalness, subtlety, reverence, tranquility - and construct a Western expression of it'.
Oppose Prominent artifacts and it's not very encyclopedic. It's more illustrative of a willow tree than it is of the reserve, and even then the main subject is cut off. CillaИ ♦ XC18:08, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Enc. is lacking, even though it's a beautiful picture. Some unsharpness in corners - maybe shot with a compact digital camera? But, keep trying, you might submit to Wikipedia:Picture peer review first for more input and/or suggestions. One right away: Always use the "best" quality for storage (largest file size). --Janke | Talk12:59, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment, the black and white worries me a little. I don't mind it if some other photographer has made it famous--but we should not take that more 'artistic' step. grenグレン16:31, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I should expound on this nomination. The current Barack Obama WP:FP at Image:Obama Portrait 2006 trimmed.jpg may be technically sound, but it is aesthetically alarming. There are at least a dozen pictures on wikipedia or commons that illustrate Obama without showing him on a bad hair day. He looks like he was dragging his feet across a shag rug while wearing wool socks. The only worse pictures aesthetically would show him with hair flaring from his nostrils or ears. I imediately looked for an aesthetic Obama picture when I noticed the current FP. Maybe tonight I will sit down and present a dozen or so images that would be chosen for Obama articles over the current FP. The point is that this is one of the first pictures that would be chosen for his article. It is probably the second or third most important picture on his bio. From an aesthetic perspective it is far superior to the current Obama FP.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 19:22, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I agree with Svetovid. The Black and White doesn't help the picture. 76.205.74.106 (talk) 22:32, 26 March 2008 (UTC) Ach, this is me. I mean that the picture shouldn't be in black and white, not that there are technical flaws. SpencerT♦C20:43, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
IP votes are disregarded . If you wish to vote, please create an account or log in. Also , could either of you explain to me what technical flaws are hidden ? I see nothing to incline me in that direction . --Mad TinmanTC23:42, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Modern images should not be black and white unless there is a specific reason for them to be (and there is none here). Mangostar (talk) 00:20, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Let me expound on the problem. Image:Obama Portrait 2006 trimmed.jpg is the current Barrack Obama FP. The following images are in Barack and related articles:
(Click "show" to view a huge gallery from Wikipedia articles)
Don't let me get started with flickr. Of these I think about 5 or 10 are better images than the current FP. Despite the current bias against black & white photography, I think the current nominee is one of them. Regardless, to say that the current FP represents the finest of WP is a joke.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 07:54, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not to enter your private arguments, but it's not appropriate to clutter up the FPC page like that. I have hidden the two galleries you've dumped here, as if people can't go and look for themselves. --jjron (talk) 09:24, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Wonderful picture, but I think photographs of contemporary public figures need to be in color to provide the most encyclopedic value / accuracy. Cacophony (talk) 07:13, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Oppose - I like the picture, but a couple of things as have previously been mentioned. The black and white, do you have the picture in colour? Might be quite good. ← κεηηε∂γ(talk) (contribs)10:48, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Based purely on aesthetics, I think the fact it's black and white is no problem at all. The depth contrast is absolutely stunning. I actually don't really get some of the criticism that's listed on this page, since I think that it's a very nice and natural portrait of these two people. —msikma (user, talk)20:31, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - what's so great about this image? I see no indication that this image is somehow "wonderful" or quailified to be a FP. Happyme22 (talk) 05:14, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment, I have added your 'original sources' from the first image and I just want you to check them to make sure you didn't use any more or change something. Thanks. grenグレン17:02, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - I don't see why svg images should be exempt from size guidelines
I think an SVG can be arbitrarily sized up , so if that's the issue it's simple to solve. Or am I incorrect ? I am not at all sure :\ --Mad TinmanTC23:25, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, it can be as big as you like without losing any quality. I just tried to size it up in my sandbox to demonstrate, but I think I put one too many 0s and went and crashed my (ancient) laptop. J Milburn (talk) 01:45, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yeesh, what about "scalable vector graphic" do you not understand? The image can be 10,000,000 pixels on edge if you choose. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-03-26 13:15Z
My point is that as an encyclopedia, Wikipedia needs to be accessible for everyone, not just those who have the software to enlarge scalable vector images --HadseysChatContribs17:59, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Then someone can upload a version as large as you desire . Still, I don't get why a larger version has more encyclopedic value - and you have to understand, the only reason the size guideline is there is to ensure that the images have enough size for detail to be seen adequately, and since it's there at this size or larger, it seems pretty irrelevant... --84.90.46.116 (talk) 20:03, 26 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You don't need special software to enlarge the image, just insert it into a Wikipedia page and set the size to whatever you want. You could also just click through to the image itself, and right click on it, in most browsers there's an option to zoom in. If you want to edit the image or zoom with more advanced control, there are many free editing packages (Inkscape, OpenOffice etc.) which can handle SVGs. See Scalable Vector Graphics. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ09:32, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Still, it is a convenience for readers when we upload images that are big enough to examine the detail without having to go through any extra steps. On the other hand, images shouldn't be too large. For this image, I'd say 750 to 1000 px is appropriate. I agree with TheOtherSiguy that the flagellum lacks detail, especially compared to Image:Flagellum base diagram.svg. Also unlabeled is a large green sphere inside the cell; if this is supposed to be a featured picture, I want to see a lot more detail. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 01:34, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Info I tryed to upload a new version with fixed "robosomes" but it doesnt show, i will wait a bit and if not i will upload it again. I dont really see much sence in arguing about the size, the diagram is readable in screen size, is stetical in article size and is printable in any posible format and size you may like...where is exactly the problem with this? -LadyofHats
Comment There is an unnoted green blob on the left hand side of the cytosol that is definitley not a ribosome. Considering this diagram is extremely general I can't imagine it getting specific enough to show inclusion bodies or somesuch.D-rew (talk) 01:53, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Good quality (for a dirty environment!), very interesting image illustrating the turtle coming up for air and its use of natural camouflage, highly encyclopaedic.
Weak Oppose because of blur. I understand that it is blurry because the turtle is under pretty murky water, but I feel like the blur detracts from the photo significantly. The freddinator (talk) 00:04, 24 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - This diagram of four pulley systems illustrates how increasing the number of pulleys increases the mechanical advantage (making the load easier to lift).
Reason
Today's Commons POTD, seems like a good candidate here as well.
Articles this image appears in
Mechanical advantage, this image would be a good addition to the pulley page were it not already crowded.
Yeah... clearly I don't know my physics :) maybe that should be put in the caption... or, it's probably solved by anyone who reads the article. 128.175.80.58 (talk) 16:49, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose for now In addition to the control image of no force applied, it also seems odd that the height off the ground is constant; other changes are made to offset the addition of more pulleys to keep the load lifted 10cm. The image gives an immediate (and incorrect) impression that more pulleys do not lift the weight higher. Instead, we must look to the differing numbers to see that this is not the case. My recommendations: keep the lengths the same, adding pulleys each time and the depict weight rising successively higher off the ground.--HereToHelp(talk to me)00:10, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
More pulleys would not lift the weight higher, more pulleys would lift the weight less with the same amount of rope displacement (denoted s on the drawing). On this drawing the displacement changes from figure to figure. Work done (work = force * distance) is the same in each case, the weight is always 100 N and always lifted 10 cm, and the product of the rope displacement and force is always the same (100 N * 10 cm, 50 N * 20 cm, etc.) -- atropos235✄ (blah blah, my past) 00:32, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As you said, Work=Force*Distance. I guess what I'm trying to say is rather than decreasing the force and increasing the length to keep the work the same, keep the length the same and let the force and work change in response to the addition of new pulleys. Does that make sense? It's been awhile since I've studied pulleys.--HereToHelp(talk to me)23:32, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That makes no sense. Period. The whole point of pulleys is to do the same job with less force. It's understood that that comes at the price of having to pull the rope farther. Just because you have this pet idea that it would be interesting to have an image that shows the rope being pulled the same distance doesn't mean it is useful to the actual topic at hand. Explain how it would better convey the purpose of a pulley by showing more pulleys lifting an object less high when the rope is pulled the same distance. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-03-26 17:39Z
Suggestions. OK, here I go again (and I swore off commenting on diagrams). It seems pretty good as a diagram, but some possible improvements – at least some of these are pretty easy fixes, if someone can get in and edit it.
Inconsistent alignment, e.g., all 's = ...' should be vertically aligned, all forces at the right of each figure should be aligned with each other, etc. Additionally the first ‘s=’ should be in the same relative position as the others, i.e., at the left of the hook, or the rest should be at the right.
Symbols not defined (e.g., what’s FZ, FL, s, ...). They’re not given on the image description page, captions, or article. Is someone using this image just expected to know what they are? Doesn't that reduce its usefulness?
Inconsistent scale - measure the lengths of the distances given; the scale changes, e.g., 40cm isn’t 4 x 10cm; the 10cm displacement at the hook on Fig1 is not the same as the 10cm at the load, etc.
Displacements should probably more correctly be given in SI units (i.e., m, not cm), though I’m not overly fussed with that as long as it's consistent.
On that matter, shouldn’t what the four images are showing be described, at least on the description page? There's sort of a description in the article, but it doesn't refer explicitly to this diagram. --jjron (talk) 03:05, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The two that are dissimilar are the s on the left and the rope tension on the right, the one on the left is pushed to the other side to shorten the image, and the right most rope tension is so it fits in a "clear rope area" (?). The position of the rope displacement measurements change between them (drifting lower), but they are placed in the middle of the dimensioning line as is typical on engineering drawings.
I'm probably not the best person to judge this for ease of use/understanding, but because all the symbols are labeled with the amount with units it should be easily enough to infer. I agree that regardless, they should be explained on the description page though.
Accurate scale isn't always beneficial to figures, here I don't think it's that big of a deal as everything is dimensioned.
I prefer cm slightly because it's on a more human scale and doesn't require decimals
Support if you can fix jjron's point 2 and 3... the others (besides point 4 which doesn't matter to me) would be nice as well. grenグレン16:56, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support if jjron's points 2, 3, and 5 addressed. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-03-26 17:43Z
Scale adjusted. I uploaded the file over the original, not sure if I was supposed to do that or not; it seemed like a correction so it didn't warrant a new file. -- atropos235✄ (blah blah, my past) 17:48, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose other issues aside I think it's just too small, this should be a relatively easy sequence to reproduce and each image could be much larger/clearer. Guest9999 (talk) 01:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Cricket ground of Trinity College Dublin on a sunny morning. A part of the bench gallery is visible with a distance view of the pavilion.
Reason
This picture shows Trinity College cricket ground including a part of the bench gallery and a distance view of the pavilion. Shadow of the tree balances its composition and also adds a value towards arts and photography. It is a picture that holds information and creative merit. It is also used in the respective article to illustrate its campus.
Oppose I wouldn't know it was a cricket field if the caption didn't say it was. Wouldn't including people playing cricket in the image be better than the backs of people sitting on a bench? Guest9999 (talk) 01:27, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Unfortunately, as already stated, it does not illustrate the subject sufficiently although it is much better than another picture in the article showing a path between the fields. It is however a very interesting, even disturbing, picture - the shadow makes an fine pattern in the foreground, but also it does put the viewer figuratively in the shadow. Added to that the backs of the figures signify rejection, so the whole image gives a strong expression of "exclusion" and solitude. May be that was not intended but it makes the picture worth another glance. The composition hangs together nicely, but the tree on the left would be better with a trunk Motmit (talk) 13:27, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, I looked at the EXIF data externally and the exposure appears to be 1 second at ISO 800. Its the high ISO that caused the noise, not the shutter speed. That said, you could have got a similar shot with an 8 second exposure and ISO 100, or something similar. I've uploaded a new version with noise reduction. I couldn't see any noticable depreciation in detail so I've overwritten the original for simplicity. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)13:30, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've checked the EXIF data with several different pieces of software and they all give the exposure as 1/640 - not to mention that even something with this low a light level would probably be overexposed at f5.6 and ISO 800 for 1s. Anyway, the exposure is irrelevent, it's the amount of noise that counts. The noise reduction has improved it, but I'll stand by my oppose for the noise-corrected version though: it's a nice picture, but most of the landscape is too dark to count as encyclopedic, and any attempt to improve that just washes out the light on the top of the mountain. Time3000 (talk) 19:16, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yep you're right, I checked with a different program and it is 1/640. I suppose owning a nice camera (Canon 5D) doesn't mean you have the brains to use the right exposure settings. :-) In this case, they could have used ISO 200 and 1/160th of second handheld, easily. Or ISO 100 and 1/80th if the lens was optically stabilized. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)00:56, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the comments, guys. I just found out that this picture I uploaded more than a year ago has meanwhile drawn some attention. And I actually feel honored by that fact. I deliberately uploaded it without doing any improvements (other than cropping it), cuz you would have found out anyway... I'll try to do better next time, I promise. :-) Bummer that I missed out on that very special moment. Thomas.fanghaenel
Oppose I'm sorry, but this is just a snapshot-type image. Doesn't show the turtles to advantage, has no composition to speak of, thus a bit dull. Lowering the camera, getting closer to the subject would give a much better vantage point, thus better enc. --Janke | Talk19:24, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose The tree trunk in front of the panda takes away from the actual subject. Otherwise, I believe it would be a good photo. crassic![talk]18:36, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Steamboat Sultana on fire, Mississippi river, 1865 (worst loss of life, over 1,700, on any steamboat in U.S. history)
Reason
1865Harper's Weekly illustration of the Sultana (steamboat) explosion. Over 1700 Union Army soldiers released from Andersonville and other prison camps at the end of the war were tragically killed or drowned on their way back home on this overcrowded steamer. The image is freely license (produced in 1865), excellent contrast for B&W, balanced, historically accurate, unique image, good resolution for a historic image, no digital manipulation
Proposed caption
Sultana explodes carrying Union soldiers released from prison camps in 1865, the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history
Comment, I can scan at much better resolution, however it will not fit into the scanner I have. I had read through the FP criteria and it said that exceptions could be made to the 1000px policy for historic images. MrPrada (talk) 22:53, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The new scan is closer to the size requirements, but the coloration is uneven and there are some stray vertical lines that should be cleaned up. What's going on in the corners-- is that the text from the reverse side of the page showing through? Spikebrennan (talk) 14:22, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose While I agree it lends tremendous value, good scans of engravings really need to show the lines that make them up at full resolution if they're to have any hope of letting the engraving be reproduced. Encyclopaedic value is great, compare it to other scanning FPs like Image:William Hogarth - Gin Lane.jpg. However, it's relatively easy to stitch an engraving together from multiple parts - simply scan it with your scanner, and take the pieces to WP:GL/IMPROVE. commons:Help:Scanning may also give useful advice. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 01:26, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
File:Erdfunkstelle Raising 2.jpgOriginal - Erdfunkstelle Raisting is the biggest facility for satellite communication in world, based in Waisting, Bavaria, Germany
Reason
Very nice and logging image of a parabolic antenna
Comment Although I agree with much of the support above, I find the lack of anything within the image that gives a sense of the scale of the building a little disappointing.--Kendosaki (talk) 06:50, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Shows exactly what it is - perfectly placed within the frame. The pattern made by the track (fortuitously or planned?) makes an excellent base shape to support the bowl - even the little barriers help. The only problem is that the brightness within the bowl loses the clarity of the bits and pieces inside. Motmit (talk) 14:31, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
File:Erdfunkstelle Raising 2.jpgOriginal - Erdfunkstelle Raisting is the biggest facility for satellite communication in world, based in Waisting, Bavaria, Germany
Reason
Very nice and logging image of a parabolic antenna
Comment Although I agree with much of the support above, I find the lack of anything within the image that gives a sense of the scale of the building a little disappointing.--Kendosaki (talk) 06:50, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Shows exactly what it is - perfectly placed within the frame. The pattern made by the track (fortuitously or planned?) makes an excellent base shape to support the bowl - even the little barriers help. The only problem is that the brightness within the bowl loses the clarity of the bits and pieces inside. Motmit (talk) 14:31, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - The "Hampden" portrait of Elizabeth I of England was painted by the Netherlandish artist Steven van der Meulen around 1563. Art historian Sir Roy Strong has suggested that this is "one of a group produced in response to a crisis over the production of the royal image" as a number of old-fashioned and unflattering portraits of the queen were then in circulation. This is the earliest full-length portrait of the young queen, and depicts her in red satin trimmed with pearls and jewels. The painting made headlines in November 2007 when it was auctioned by Sotheby's for ₤2.6 million, more than twice the maximum predicted.
Reason
Hidden from the public for almost 50 years, this life-size full-length image of Elizabeth I of England by Steven van der Meulen is historically significant as the earliest full-length image of the Queen, painted in the 1560s in the brief period before the emergence of symbolic portraits representing the iconography of the "Virgin Queen". The painting is newsworthy as it was auctioned for ₤2.6 million in November 2007, more than twice the maximum expected. (See DYK for 27 March 2008).
Support Pose and anatomy are a bit weird, but that's not unusual for art of that time - naturalism would only really become the de facto standard much later. Some of the other images in the Elizabeth I article are more aesthetically pleasing, but I don't think we need to limit ourelves to one Elizabeth I FP. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 21:16, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Do we have another FP of Elizabeth I? A rather poor scan of the Rainbow portrait was nominated last year but didn't make the grade. Just curious. (And I agree we can certainly have more than one FP of Elizabeth I.) - PKM (talk) 22:14, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I was looking through the images - I don't think we have any others, nor, at the moment, could we: all the other images of her have major problems like half-toning or size (Though there might be some on Google Images that would work). In any case, the artist is notable [even if he did (IMO) better works than this]; the subject is notable; and, due to its use in a propoganda campaign to replace other, less flattering images and so on, this piece seems reasonably notable in itself. Even if we got other images, I'd still be happy with this one as an FP, even if I don't much like it as art. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 05:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
With photo-realistic shading and such I'd be willing to accept a raster image provided the size was big. We've done this before with some images. My main concern is the watermarking which has a copyright logo (even if the drawing is released under GFDL licensce, the image should not be watermarked). Also, the font for the names of the craft are in some kind of annoying cursive font that should be switched to a more readable one. Smells like copyvio though, I'd want an OTRS ticket confirming copyright status. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 16:27, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support A great image which meets all the quality criteria. I share Jeff Dahl's concerns about copyright, however. Is it possible to prove that the editor who uploaded this onto Wikicommons is the same person as the email address in the image? (this editor has recently uploaded a large number of images displaying that email address). The plane's logo may be covered by copyright (fair use is claimed for Image:Rafale_logo.png), so it may be best to remove it from the image even if the overall copyright status turns out to be OK. This is a very easy tweak if it is neccessary, however, and won't detract much from the picture's quality. --Nick Dowling (talk) 01:04, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A free license means you have every right to remove them, although we did have a close IfD on whether or not an image creator could remove his content for no reason. grenグレン19:30, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Very encyclopedic and detailed(and a bit historic) illustrations. The scan quality is enough to clearly show the edge of detail in the original. Sam Barsoom20:51, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Question Do these sketches have a particular historic value (such as being the first to describe the objects)? Are they accurate by the standards of modern illustration/photography? Guest9999 (talk) 00:20, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Haeckel's work (with some notable exceptions in embryology) is usually considered reasonably accurate. ernst Haeckel was a major 19th century biologist, though he's best known today for "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", a misguided notion. Obviously, we shouldnðt be using him for cladistics or developmental biology, but he's quite accurate in his depiction of macroscopic organisms, as far as an artistically-arranged painting goes, and they are certainly excellent and encyclopaedic overviews of the subjects, showing the variety very well. He is also notable as one of the earliest major users of colour lithography. In my opinion, he's certainly accurate enough for an overview, and his overviews are usually praised for artistry as much as biology. As they are artistic portrayals, however, I wouldn't use him for identification of individual species. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 11:54, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Ixodes ricinus, known as the sheep tick or castor bean tick, is a hard-bodied tick (family Ixodidae) of Europe. It is a vector for Lyme disease and tick-borne meningoencephalitis in humans, and louping ill in sheep. [This caption is... pretty much the whole Ixodes ricinus article. So sue me. I have flu]
Reason
Beautiful macro photography of a very small arachnid (under half a centimetre) Given the size, the level of detail and quality is astounding.
This incredible feat would be fully apparent if there was a scale of measurement directly in the picture instead of in the caption. Imagine how much more amazing it would look if the viewer could make that direct comparison? Enc pics should always have some kind of internal scale, whether that be a plant/tree, blades of grass, flower petals, or a simple but accurate ruler. I have no opinion either way on the technical merits, but photographers/artists should always include some kind of scale. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 01:22, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support - This is not a case of technical photography. Picture of a 4 millimetres object is taken so smartly. Though it is slightly out-of-focus but because of its intellectual content I am strongly supporting its nomination. -- Niaz(Talk • Contribs)00:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support - masses of encyclopaedic value, visual identification at this level is especially valuable when you probably wouldn't be able to recognise the thing - or see this level of detail - if it was an inch in front of you. Guest9999 (talk) 13:46, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment It might be misleading to add a scale. Saying this tick is 4 mm long is accurate to the nearest millimetre, but a scale would imply more precision than exists. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 02:21, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The way to do this is typically to get the appropriate sized ruler, whether that be a yardstick or a microscopic ruler with tiny hash marks, and put it in to be photographed alogside the subject when the photograph is actually taken. That's the way people have been documenting natural phenomenon for a long time. Geologists, archaeologists, and crime scene technicians know exactly how important this documentation is. Even better yet would be color control patches, so we can make sure the colors are reproduced accurately as well. Additionally, actually putting it in the photo makes for a much bigger Wow! when the viewer sees just how big it is. (User:Jeff Dahl) 128.248.73.223 (talk) 16:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Comparing to ref 1, it looks like Excystation looks OK, considering that each nucleus would go into a different compartment. I like the treatment of the amoebae, the coloring and outlines look slick. Should capitalize the T in "through the bloodstream" under invasive infection. Thanks for adding citations as well. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 00:25, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Would be nice if the "default size" (whats the SVG term for this) was > 1000px. I understand that I could download the image and open it in a compatible editor and make it whatever size I want, but, thats kind of a hassle. Thanks. --Uncle Bungle (talk) 03:44, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - While normally relatively harmless, causing itching and possible secondary infections, in those with compromised immune systems, infection of the scabiesmite can take over the skin, encrusting it and creating a condition known as Norwegian scabies
Reason
At full resolution, the image is very noisy; however, this is one of the most viscerally grabbing images I've seen on Wikipedia, and I doubt that we could easily get another image like it. Under such circumstances, I think that the normal requirements can be waived to some extent, though I will understand if you do not agree with me. Edits might improve the image.
Oppose. While I sympathise with your reasoning, image quality is one of the main criteria and this one just isn't up to spec. Motion blurred, noisy and out of focus. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)13:15, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Not only is the image quality a problem. It has in the meantime been nominated as a VIC and as I have explained there, the image does not seem to be representative of the how the (already extreme variant) Norwegian Scabies manifests itself. It is IMO an extremely severe example, which is more terrifying than enc. valuable. Has the affected person been asked if it is OK to publish his/her extremely severe skin infection in the Public Domain. I do not know if that is required(?). -- Slaunger (talk) 20:35, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with you that it isn't particularly encyclopaedic if it is an extreme example of the condition. I don't see how permission should be needed if there is nothing identifiable of the person in the image, though. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)
My concern about having asked for permission from the patient is based on a speculation that the specific manifestion of the infection shown in the photo is of such severity and uniqueness that it could be correlated with an identifiable person. The infected person is (according to the source) a home-less person. For me it seems to originate from a non-public place like a hospital, and the person in shown in a miserable condition. My identifiability concern is speculative, though. I am not a domain specialist in the infection, I just read pieces about it on available on-line resources and saw some other images of the infection which had completely different manifestations. -- Slaunger (talk) 10:45, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's a severe form of the disease, but I wouldn't say it's atypical for an immuno-compromised individual who does not receive treatment. That not receiving treatment is relatively rare is a good thing, but this shows the effect of the disease. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shoemaker's Holiday (talk • contribs) 13:23, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose No composition to speak of and rather drab, with too much sky. It only works in the article because of support from other pictures. Motmit (talk) 12:13, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This is an example of the way a good charity shop can make fairly useless goods look attractive. This photo was not taken with a particularly good camera but it came out nicely, considering it is taken through glass. Even as a thumbnail it conveys the impression that there must be something to buy, somewhere in there, and you can see a lot of detail if you enlarge to 100%. The article had no image and I already had this. As far as I can remember it is not cropped or colour-adjusted in any way.
Oppose Colourful and fun and illustrates the topic, but more effort should have gone into posing it. Taken from that angle the shelf has a nasty tilt and too many items are cut in half. Taking the trouble to kneel or squat could have dealt with these issues and might have given an interesting aspect of cameras pointing at cameras. Motmit (talk) 12:22, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Image is out of focus, especially lower left. Very grainy background, and doesn't depict actual coloring (I hope) far left strand is raindbow colored. Also, too much flash. §hep • ¡Talk to me!21:43, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A simplified diagram of the FINA long course swimming pool standard, used at the World Championships and Summer Olympics.
Reason
I believe, topics concerning competitive swimming and competitive swimming equipment are underdeveloped in Wikipedia, as compared to other sports. This picture presents a simplified, but essential view on how modern high-level competitive swimming pool looks like. And as such, it contributes to developing better Wikipedia's coverage of competitive swimming in general.
Comment What does "close to" mean? In what ways does this not precisely represent those requirements? Is there any reason why it couldn't represent them exactly, rather than merely closely? TSP (talk) 01:41, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
To avoid overloading image with confusing details, I omitted some ones, such as "automated officiating equipment" sensors installation places etc. Cmapm (talk) 01:50, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not knowing anything about swimming pool regulations, I won't change it, but would "A simplified diagram of the FINA long course swimming pool standard, used at the World Championships and Summer Olympics" be more accurate? "Close to" indicates that this is somehow modified from the requirements, rather than just leaving some elements out. Thegreenj18:07, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose The graphic design is dull, lacks "wow". All texts are too small, thus almost unreadable when this is viewed on its image page. Not one of WPs best diagrams, IMO. --Janke | Talk06:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I agree that the text is too small (try something sans-serif, too). Considering there's so much empty space, you might as well try it with those sensors in the diagram; it might not be as crowded as you think. (Maybe it will be, but it's worth a try, isn't it?) Also, I think the ropes between lanes (is that what they're called? Because they're not labelled!) need more explanation; what's the significance of the different colors and red and black parts spaced at regular intervals? There also might be a better way to represent scale than that is currently used; it seems to take up too much space covering the same, overlapping vertical distances. Then again, it might look better now than with a ruler, but you can at least crop out the white border. Finally, the backstroke turn indicators and false start rope, which I'm assuming are ropes hung over the pool, don't convey exactly what they are. (I.e. the could be lines drawn under the water.) I know that's a lot of comments, and not many ideas on how to fix them, but don't get discouraged. There have been noms where a few improvements made a huge difference.--HereToHelp(talk to me)13:52, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I fixed rope placement, they're now above the water (this was a bug, sorry, and thanks for the catch). Float colour is required to be different from surrounding floats at 15m from both end walls and in the center. The same for 10 m distance from end walls doesn't seem to be required, but usually is also implemented. Such colouring of lane ropes (red, yellow, blue, green) is required by FINA, but I didn't find any explanation why. Should I include this description onto the image page? And should additional details be relevant for the new, rotated and more crowded version of the image? Is your suggestion on sans-serif essential (I'm afraid a bit to change that, because other people could prefer Arial or TNR)? Cmapm (talk) 01:10, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Looks better. Put as much detail as you can into the description page, but if it doesn't fit in the image, that's fine as long as you tried it to make sure. The point of sans-serif was directed solely to improve legibility, ideally (but probably not practically) in the thumbnail. If you find else something that works, or someone has an expert opinion, go with that instead.--HereToHelp(talk to me)23:39, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Somewhat informative, but a rather boring graphic. A three dimensional diagram could also include depth information. ~MDD469604:56, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, this is a good suggestion. And in 3D version we could also implement end wall markings, as well as an animation of the falling false start rope. But I give up. Somebody can do better. Cmapm (talk) 13:46, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment, please upload the new version to a new file name. Both can be useful and it's not good to completely change an image during FPC--present the second one as an "alternative". Also, I think you should just label the lanes with numbers and then turn "Lane" 90 degrees have it it vertical along the right side. 128.175.80.3 (talk) 01:02, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I discovered this picture while looking at the pictures for 2008 Formula One cars and thought that it was very good. It was caught at the right angle; is massive and is a superb picture for any Formula One related article. Chubbennaitor20:20, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Mild oppose Doesn't really show off the car at all. I mean, that ferrari is full of interesting things (like its funky side aero package) but that picture's angle of attack manages to kind of just become really average. (Also fixed the link at the top so people can easily navigate to this page) Narson (talk) 01:30, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong oppose The image is not visually appealing to say the least. It could use more vibrance, and perhaps a slight crop. FutureOrthodontist(DMD) 23:23, 2 April 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Future Orthodontist (DMD) (talk • contribs)
Weak oppose It's a quality photo, but there's been much better ones that better represent the cars and the sport itself. crassic![talk]01:04, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Support: Excellent image. it's rare to get an image of F1 car from above like this one. Also the tyres are new. Σαι (Talk) 05:28, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A female solitary bee of the Eucera genus (probably a Eucera longicornis) collecting nectar from a Lantana camara flower. Notice the long proboscis and the yellow face.Alternative, with the bee flying
Reason
A clear and detailed depiction of a the head of a Eucera sp. solitary bee, illustrating the characteristic features of the genus
Support Slightly prefer composition of alternative - the wings are out of focus in the first one anyway, so not much loss there, and the second has a better view of the feeding and flower. However, the original is sharper, so I could go either way. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 02:34, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think so, the composition is good but not the image quality. As for the profile shots, there are two in the "other versions" info. But not as good as the original IMO. -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 14:31, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The image is very eye-catching. The arc looks at first sight too fragile to be true. Of course, the arc is not the only feature holding it together as it is connected solidly under the water. I have seen many icebergs during a three months stay in North-West Greenland, but none as striking as this one. Even the locals found it to be something special. What is even more striking was that I have documented the wheathering of the iceberg during a period of one month. The wheatering process can be seen as other versions on the image page or here. As an informative note to the reviewers WP already has another nice FP of an iceberg with a hole, which you might want to compare with.
Yes, we already have iceberg with hole featured, but may I please remind you that we have two or more images of some other very similar subjects featured too. I do not see anything bad, if we had two icebergs with two holes as FP. Besides I really like the image by Slaunger much better than current FP taken by me. The thing is that Slaunger was able to follow the iceberg and his weathering for some time. It is a really rare set of images and IMO has great encyclopedic value. If community believe that two FP icebergs are one too many, I'd rather delist the current FP (taken by me) because the nominated image has bigger encyclopedic value and that's why Strong Support--Mbz1 (talk) 21:09, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose The picture commented above was much better quality. This photo, however, does not have that type of high quality. crassic![talk]22:39, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support per nom, though I wonder if some kind of poster or something could be made from your series of shots. This shot is good enough to be featured (IMO), but something that illustrated that kind of thing could really be something special. Too bad the face (or perspective) kept shifting; you coulda made one big-ass animated GIF with them! Matt Deres (talk) 23:40, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting idea with the poster. I will give that some thoughts and maybe a try later. The two first images in the set are from almost the same direction, but I agree it would have been neat if more photos were from the same camera location. Not easy to do consistently though as the iceberg also drifted between two different locations during the month I followed it. -- Slaunger (talk) 09:34, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Certainly a fine photograph and an encyclopedic subject. Props to the nominator. Yet I don't see any unique informational value to upon comparison and the photograph that's already featured. Normally it takes a marked improvement to unseat a current FP, and the composition of the version we've already got appeals to me slightly more than this. That's no insult to this photo - just a comment on how high the bar acutally is. So although I'm sorry to come down against something this good, I can't quite support. Please submit more photographs on other subjects! DurovaCharge!02:18, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Panoramic view from Space Needle, Seattle, WA. Pictures taken from the top, almost all around. The panorama starts with Puget Sound on the left and then rotates clockwise, showing Queen Anne, Lake Union, I-5, Downtown and then again Puget Sound with some cranes from Seattle HarborEdit 1 - crop, downsample, slight sharpen, some noise reduction
Reason
Great view of the City. PLUS, It shows people what the view looks like from the famous Space Needle.
Weak support There's minor problems with the details here and there (mostly a lack of sharpness, but the bottom right corner has color splotches) but it's outweighed by sheer scope.--HereToHelp(talk to me)01:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Theoretically could be taken on a better day, but considering perfectly clear skies aren't exactly common in Seattle this is probably about as good as we'll get. faithless(speak)02:26, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Oppose Edit 1 per Mahahahaneapneap. The original could use some downsampling, but the edit has gone just a bit too far. For example, the stripes of the tower ~13265 px in (which I think would make a good measure of how far to downsample) are not entirely resolved in the edit. If CillianXC still has a copy of the edit before downsample, I'd suggest a width of around 15000px would be better. Thegreenj03:10, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Unfortunately, there is plenty of texture missing on building surfaces, looks like some strange noise reduction. Sharpness is lacking a bit as well. -Fcb981(talk:contribs) 23:25, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose. I agree, this is a poor picture to start with, no matter the quality of our reproduction (which could be a little better). Not sure if this is reason enough to oppose. Who's the painting by? Anyone historically significant? Last point- are you certain popes 'reign'? That doesn't sound right to me... J Milburn (talk) 21:32, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I've done a partial restoration--just a quick adjustment of the histogram and the color balance (it was severely lacking in blue). DurovaCharge!17:34, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Becoming the possibility to make a picture of a oviposition is not described as a jackpot in the lottery only by me. The animals are very shy. It costs me 3 days to realize this nice picture serie. (New suggested caption: Ichneumon wasps lay their eggs inside or near the maggots or caterpillars of other insects, where they hatch and then eat their host from inside, keeping it alive for as long as possible. In this series of images, we see how one group of Ichneumon wasps go about this, typified in this case by Dolichomitus imperator. In this group, the two main parts of ovipositor, an organ used for egg-laying, are used first to drill a hole in the wood, then to place the the eggs next to the host, where they will hatch and invade. 1. Tapping with her antennae the wasp listens for the vibrations that indicate a host is present beneath her. 2. Having located a likely host, the longer, thicker spike of the ovipositor is used to drill a hole through the bark. 3 The wasp then inserts the thinner spike used to inject the egg through the hole into the cavity which contains the wood-boring host grub. 4 The wasp moves around, getting her ovipositor into position. 5 & 6: The wasp lowers the ovipositor in, and injects her eggs into the cavity, next to their first meal.
Reason
rare & complex image of oviposition by a female ichneumon wasp
Weak support Seems to be very encyclopedic, and gets more brownie points if it is as difficult to capture on film as the nominator says it is. My only qualms are that the needle is out of focus in shot 4, the bug is inexplicably facing the wrong direction in shot 3, and the obstruction in shot 6. Nevertheless, I still think this is a quality, significant find. I would support a high res shot of just one shot, as well. Probably number 5. The freddinator (talk) 13:05, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Conditional support - since Richard has kindly provided the full-resolution images, couldn't a larger-resolution composite be made up? It seems a bit small at present, which obscures some of the details of the process . Also, the caption could be better (I understand Richard's excitement, but that's part of the reason for nominating, not a caption that could be shown on the main page), and work in the commentary on the image page of what each image shows. All in all, a GREAT set of photos, but I think we could do better with assembling them into a combined image. Also, if they could be cropped in such a way that let the first be in the same orientation as the rest, that'd be good (possible, maybe not, but good =P). Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 14:08, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support! Brilliant image. For anyone who has tried macro of bugs, it is rare to get one picture in a series that has great sharpness... here there are 6! in the same set with each increasing the ENC value exponentially. -Fcb981(talk:contribs) 16:48, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment/question. I know on a profile macro shot it is very difficult to take the picture without some foreground blur, but it just seems to be quite a bit of it in some of the frames which can be distracting, is there a reasonable way to reduce it? Secondly, as per above, frame 1 is at a skew and I would support a reorientation of the frame to fit the series. A fantastic and stunning set of photos otherwise.D-rew (talk) 02:55, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose unless it is clarified in the caption or on the image description page what exactly is going on in the image. Right now it looks like a photo montage with nothing connecting the photos together. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-08 18:52Z
Can we try to have a little less opposition-due-to-ignorance? Icheneumon wasps lay their eggs inside the maggots or caterpillars of other insects, which they hatch in and then eat their host from inside, keeping it alive for as long as possible. This is a series of images showing how one group of Icheneumon wasps dig a hole through wood that grubs are in, then insert their ovipositor, manoeuvre it around until it pierces the grub, then inject their eggs. Richard Bartz's first language is clearly not english (German, I believe?) and to full oppose just because the nominator finds it difficult to explain complex biology in English seems a little rude. I have, however, added a better caption. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 15:07, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's a bit insulting to allege opposition-due-to-ignorance when the caption clearly violated one of the FPC, specifically "Has a good caption The picture is displayed with a descriptive, informative and complete caption." The picture lacks encyclopedic value when its not clear what exactly is being shown. It's a wholly valid reason for opposing. Tomdobb (talk) 12:23, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think its not very difficult to understand this sequence. Other biology-interested users understood it very well.
Don't be absurd. The old caption explained nothing. It's that simple. We're not supposed to assume the reader has any prior knowledge of the subject. Or are you suggesting a 6-year-old, knowing nothing about insects or oviposition, would know that the wasp is tapping on the wood, listening, and injecting eggs into a grub underneath the wood, all from these pictures alone? Ludicrous. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-10 19:49Z
With that said, Support now that caption has been fixed. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-10 19:56Z
Formal oppose. Durova makes a reasonable point about stitching the larger sizes together. Meanwhile, I also wonder whether this subject is more clearly illustrated by a drawing, given that that's how it's invariably communicated in biology textbooks. This might address the problem that Tom raised (of course, parts of such a sequence of drawings could be based on these photographs). Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 18:41, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is this realy copyrighted? I thought all space images were in the public domain (at least, that's how it is with NASA). I'm about to lose my time on this computer, so I can't fact check, but I'll try to look for a public domain version tomorrow.--Shaggorama (talk) 18:41, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Second speedy close. Forget it, it's just fair use. Unfortunately ESA does not share NASA's free content policy. Uploading a higher res version is out of the question due to its copyright status. --Dschwen19:25, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) perched on a tree limb, taken in Victoria, Australia.
Reason
Can't let FPC be without a bird nom for too long :-). Compositionally this is arguably the best bird image I've taken, and compares favourably to other FPs. Good EV - it serves as the lead image in three articles. I'll let others decide what they think...
Some people may need to check what 'blurry' means. It's not especially sharp - a 1:1 crop taken from a photo at full zoom where the lens unfortunately lacks sharpness - but it's not blurred. --jjron (talk) 09:49, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Agree, its just a lack of sharpness, not blur. However, it is a bit too unsharp for me, and looks like there may have been some strong noise reduction as there isn't much in the way of texture visible on the bird or the perch. Excellent shot compositionally though. I think you just might need to borrow Fir0002's 400mm lens for this one. Or better yet, find a 600mm lens. ;-) Wildlife photography is a tough and expensive field though, I sympathise.. My longest lens is a 200mm f/2.8L and I find it heavy enough as it is. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)13:55, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose It serves as the lead image in three articles because it was the creator/nominator who put it there, displacing a different existing image each time. It could be argued that it is a better image individually but it has an adverse net effect on Wikipedia, making three closely related articles look very similar. There is much to be said for variety, even if it relies on not such good pictures. The image has a good composition and does have a place in all articles, but taking the lead three times is overkill. Motmit (talk) 12:11, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Either the glasses or the lens (or both) are dirty. There are red and blue spots on the out of focus glass, and the stem of the right-side glass seems to be chipped. The bowls of the glasses are also very dirty as well. I'm not sure what the out of focus glass adds to the picture other than confusion. In a nutshell, it's a good picture, very interesting, but should be easily reproduced at a higher quality. The freddinator (talk) 17:08, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't quite understand what you mean. I'm seeing a red and white dot in the black space on the blurred glass where the bowl meets the stem. And in the same vicinity, a blue spot as well. And while these flaws can be corrected pretty easily on photoshop (since they are over black space), the bubbles, etc. on the stem of the in-focus glass would prove a more formidable task.The freddinator (talk) 03:15, 7 April 2008 (UTC) Ahh, nevermind. I get it. The imperfections on the stem of the glass still remain the same, however...unless you sprayed water on that part of the screen? You can fix up the spots on the blurred glass easily, the stem, not so much...The freddinator (talk) 03:16, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Easy to reshoot? I need evidence. Please take and please upload the more higher quality photo, more higher than this one. -- Laitche (talk) 10:19, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And we shouldn't refuse to promote one simply because you believe, without proof, that you can take a better one. Especialt since this is one of the highest quality examples of Image Distoriton that I have ever seen.--St.danielTalk13:49, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As stated by Laitche, it's two glasses placed in front of an LCD monitor with a repeating image. I don't see where the difficulty lies in any of that. It seems the most difficult part of the process is making sure everything is clean/undamaged. The freddinator (talk) 03:29, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Very good demonstration of the effect and fits very well in the article. An endlessly fascinating picture showing great original creativity. (I think it is the resemblence to eyes in the base of the bowls that captures attention). And the honeycomb effect conjures up a warm sweet image which goes with the wine glasses! Forget those petty quibbles (the in/out focus actually adds value and where are the smudges?) Top marks. Motmit (talk) 12:38, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Question. Why is this image encyclopedic for image distortion? I can't see what makes it superior to any picture in which an image is distorted by a curved piece of glass. Pstuart84Talk13:27, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Left half of the image is dominated by an out-of-focus glass. However, I like the idea behind this image-- my suggestion would be to frame the shot in such a way that the top and bottom of the glass can also be seen-- this may help the viewer understand, at a glance, that what is causing the distortion in the background dots is a wine glass (as opposed to a partially-seen object). Spikebrennan (talk) 17:10, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Too close crop, if you could see more of the image you could tell it was heat transmitted from the engine. Extend it more so you can see where the haze starts and stops if possible. §hep • ¡Talk to me!23:10, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per above crop issues, the rotor blades aren't fully visible. Unless the he/she is one of the two people visible in the cockpit, I don't see how the unseen Prime Minister adds any guff to the image. D-rew (talk) 02:59, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Its a great photo, but I've seen better photos of this kind. I'm also not sure what value it adds to the articles. --ErgoSum88 (talk) 07:07, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
oppose It's blurry in the bottom left. At full resolution it lacks sharpness (is that what artifacts look like?). Finally, NASA has heaps of hurricane photos better than this one. --Uncle Bungle (talk) 20:40, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Perhaps could work well in an article about 'eye of the storm' or something similar, but as a portrayal of a full huricane, the angle is far too narrow. Spinach Dip19:18, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A boy playing with a burnt lamp in the city of Birao, Central African Republic. The town was almost completely burnt down in March 2007 during fighting between rebels and government troops.
Oppose Low enc - what does this have to do with the Central African Republic, other than the kid being there - in fact, this could be anywhere in Africa. The photo itself is OK, but doesn't relate to article or caption. Try nominating this on Commons, instead, where it may even have a chance. --Janke | Talk14:02, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Everything in the caption is about its encyclopedia value. And, no, it couldn't be anywhere in Africa, because not everywhere in Africa was burnt to the ground, and the peoples of Africa are ethnically quite diverse, not all looking like they belong in the Central African Republic. On the other hand, people are mobile, so any picture that is a close up of a human being could have "nothing to do with anywhere other than the person being there." It's a compelling picture of a human being in the aftermath of a specific tragedy among many similar tragedies that have gone on in Central and West Africa for decades that many people, although not all, in the English-speaking world seem to be reading about. It is a compelling picture of a single human being, ultimately the end line of all conflicts: what it does to one person. He's an attractive child in an unusual situation and he's looking directly into the camera. One of the most famous, compelling, and encyclopedia pictures in the world is of an Afghan refugee girl. The Central African Republic contains people, plants, guns and gardens. Not every picture is its map. The picture is a snapshot of a shot in a place on time, and captures quietly that place and time, and would have visual impact on the main page of Wikipedia. --Blechnic (talk) 14:11, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
But the photo doesn't actually show that that the town was burnt to the ground and in that sense, we're having to take on face value that this kid has been through war and strife. Even if he has, the image alone doesn't really contribute enough to that concept, I don't think. It is a great portrait and but I don't think it is a great documentary photograph in isolation. I've always argued that a photo doesn't have to encapsulate an entire concept completely, and that it is fine to illustrate just one element, but as far as I can see, it only illustrates an boy with a metal lamp on his head... ;-) There is nothing very distinguishing about him or his environment in the photo. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)16:43, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per low enc for CAR article. If there is an article more specific to the government action it might very well deserve FPC. Also, try the Commons. grenグレン16:07, 7 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You're right This is the same group that promoted a 40 year old cell diagram to featured picture status, in some 40 languages. You're right to be dismissive of any outsiders. -- Blechnic (talk) 00:40, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Instead of being a sarcastic asshole, you could listen to what people are saying. This boy could be anywhere and from anywhere, therefore this photo is not very encyclopedic for any place. If we could figure out what ethnic group he belongs to, we could add him to the Demographics of the Central African Republic or to one of the sub-pages. If we had an article on the destruction of Birao, we could even add it there. Any thoughts on that or will your contribution be limited to whining? Matt Deres (talk) 01:37, 8 April 2008 (UTC)Matt, please remember WP:NPA! --Janke | Talk09:25, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As I said, being the same group that promoted a 40 year old cell image to featured article status, there's not much evidence here that I can go on, to provide you with information to have knowledge. So, no, I can't help. It appears decisions are made about what does and what doesn't belong in an encyclopedia by people who know too little about the subject to even know when it's wrong. Besides, you all are having fun dismissing any notion that's outside of what you deem "worthy of encyclopedia" (which in the case of cellular biology appears to be "Ancient" and "wrong") so there's no point in any outsider suggesting that maybe your knowledge is too limited. It's clear that dialog is not allowed. Someone got a notion about what belongs in a print encyclopedia ages ago (and a wrong notion at that, pictures are not decided by the single image in solitude), and the bandwagon filled up.
I assume discussion will continue to be dismissed for some archaic limited version of what an encyclopedia is--aka the version that would have nicely held the 40 year old cell on a paper page. Cyber space must be EB 1973--old school. My field is too young for that. And too many human beings involved who don't belong in encyclopedias. --Blechnic (talk) 04:44, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You have totally misunderstood the purpose of this page! The image is fine, we have nothing against it, it even adds value to the article (even if enc is low, any picture gives graphic interest to a page), but as such, it is not worthy of Featured Picture Status - that's the only thing we decide on, here. We do not decide whether a picture should be included in the encyclopedia or not! Read the very first sentence on this page: Featured pictures are images that add significantly to articles, either by illustrating article content particularly well, or being eye-catching to the point where users will want to read its accompanying article. Get the idea? --Janke | Talk09:19, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Blechnic, you do not seem to understand the point of this page. This image would be perfect for featuring on Commons, but is not appropriate for featuring on Wikipedia. Whining about being an "outsider" isn't going to change that. Kaldari (talk) 18:44, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
My apologies. Please do enlighten me precisely how a 40-year old cell diagram "added significantly to an article either by illustrating article content particularly well, or being eye-catching to the point where users will want to read its accompanying article?" The picture, although scientifically inaccurate was so eye-catching that the facts didn't matter? I would love to understand. Now I find out even more on Wikipedia that even if the pictures are crap, it doesn't matter, they should remain in an article. If it's wrong it doesn't matter, it's worthy of featured picture. It just has to be eye-catching enough, except in the case of this picture, it has to add encyclopedia value. I think I get it. If you like it, it's perfect, even if wrong, if someone who isn't you likes it, it's wrong, even if it's eye-catching. Got, it Kaldari, how idiotic of me to think there was a policy. --Blechnic (talk) 04:55, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I suggest you take this to the talk page Blechnic, but if you do want to discuss this further, can you be specific (ie link to) regarding the 40 year old cell diagram you refer to? Bleating on and on and inaccuracy without actually providing any evidence is not constructive. I don't recall seeing it and therefore can't comment on why it is a FP. Generally, if it is genuinely and confirmed wrong, we would want it delisted, so please do bring it up on the talk page or nominate it for delisting with thorough rationale. Regardless though, that is a completely separate issue to this image. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)16:32, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
comment I wanted to support, but this image has heavy compression artifacts which are visible at 100%, in particular look at the childs forehead, the texture is caused by jpeg blockiness Thisglad (talk) 08:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. As a picture, it would actually be much more poignant and better structured without that lamp. This has nothing to do with cell diagrams. Motmit (talk) 12:37, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose It is a very nice shot, and it has exactly the minimum required resolution. However, the tops of the two tallest buildings look washed out, and, for stationary images city views, I expect much higher resolution (which is often accomplished with multi-shot panoramas, although that would be hard with the reflecting water). In this case, I really want to see more detail in those two buildings (what's on top of them?), of the buildings in the distance and the in red bridge. Great image, contributes well to the article, but I don't think it is featured picture quality. - Enuja (talk) 00:43, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - a good scene and well taken but there is something wrong with the quality. As a general point, rivers are "living" things and an opportunity is missed to show some life and add value (another pic of the river in the article about the town has sailing boats in it). Motmit (talk) 12:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
File:295189351 304eb88223 b.jpgOriginal - Smog fills the skies of Delhi, India. Measures like CNG-run buses and Delhi Metro have decreased the pollution-level of the cityEdit 1 - original was AdobeRGB, this is converted to sRGB and has corrected pincushion distortion, CA and perspective distortion
Reason
Is a wonderful example of a Smog picture. And provides a high quality of how smog fills the sky in cities full of air pollution.
Oppose. Unnecessarily small, odd fringes on the right edge, and most importantly: the overuse of HDR makes it impossible to get a realistic impression of how smog looks (which supposedly is the whole point of the picture). --Dschwen22:55, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose This is just too artificial. It looks like a 3D render. In other words, way too much HDR. It's not very big either. I like the image, but the enc. has been reduced by the artistic modifications. TheOtherSiguy (talk) 00:30, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose As the subject seems to be 'smog', this picture doesn't really show me that. The buildings in the middle seem to be the main focus of this photo. crassic![talk]02:35, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support I think this has merit. Look at the article - all the other pictures could just be fog - to me, the blurring of the sun here shows dirty atmospheric pollution. The Sim city buildings are interesting and tell me something I did not know about Delhi. The juxtaposition with the Monet in the article is brilliant. And this all goes against my immediate negative reaction to the picture itself. Motmit (talk) 07:46, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment agree with the above re: technical concerns, except Janke's worry about composition. I think this is a marvelous composition for the subject, as the progression of divers off the edge of the image evokes a sense of falling into a void. If they had, by contrast been clustered at the top of the image, it would have conveyed hovering, which is less encyclopedic. M.2.c. deBivort14:08, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I still agree with Janke. When I look at the image, I can't help but wish that the jumpers were closer to the top of the frame, showing more of where they were falling to. I'm not suggesting clustering at the top though - just a slight shift of perspective, with around the same space currently visible at the top at the bottom instead. It would be only a slight difference, but I think it would do wonders for the composition, in the same way that it is generally preferable in composition to provide more space on the front side of a person/animal/movement because subconsciously, you want to see what they see or where they're going. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)16:24, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per Janke. The composition of a parachute jump image would definitely be better with free space below to fall into rather than above the subjects. Mfield (talk) 16:11, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose It should have been cut to make a better composition as per Janke/Diliff, but there would still be a problem with the cloud background. The pattern seems to replicate the pattern of the jumpers which ought to work, but unfortunately in this case it seems to confuse rather than complement. Motmit (talk) 16:09, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Shaded relief map of Antelope Island State Park, Utah, United States showing predominant features.
Reason
I have put many hours of work into this map. This is my second map that I have made for Wikipedia (more are coming as time allows). I feel this map meets the criteria for selection. This map shows predominant features on Antelope Island. I submitted this first to Picture Peer Review for feedback and Enuja helped out a lot.
Comment Nice, but some of the text labels (e.g. Buffulo [sic] Scaffold Canyon) seem to cross up on the lines they're marking. I'd make it so the labels don't overlap, and is that spelling correct on Buffulo? And on the Tin Lambing Shed Basin label, it looks like the letters don't line up quite right. Other than that it looks great. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 02:25, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support I'm taking the accuracy of it on faith, of course, but it's a fine, professional-looking map. Not entirely sure I like the green colouration for the mudflats, but saying that, any change would make it inconsistent and probably look worse. Have a personal dislike for some of the fonts. Both are piddlingly minor issues in a truly superb work. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 07:17, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment, I don't know too much about how you access the data from your sources. But, is it possible to give more specific information about them? grenグレン10:13, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I'll probably only ever produce maps for Utah, due to the wonderful resources provided by the State of Utah available both to me in my professional career and personal endeavors (Wikipedia). Ive included links/credits to all resources used to create the map both on the image page and on the map. Justin Morris(talk, contributions)17:42, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. What is the significance of the brown line around the perimeter of the main island and the small southern island but that is not used around the causeway or the mud flats on the bottom right? Spikebrennan (talk) 13:36, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I uploaded a new version that removes the bathymetric symbolization (as commons had a concern about it). I will upload an SVG as soon as I figure out how to embed the hillshade. Justin Morris(talk, contributions)15:00, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment (copied from Commons' nomination) -- ArcGis is a powerfull tool and the result of your work is nice to see. I won't vote because I have no effective way of assessing the accuracy of the map. But there is one aspect that I think could be improved, which is the representation of the relief. There is a quite steep slope in the east-west direction (an average value of about 30º 12º) which is not well illustrated. In the map, it seems that the terrain is quite flat from the coast up to very close to the mountain's top, which is not the case (see the aerial photo in Google) -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 20:46, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Uhh, I didn't make the data, and it's not inaccurate. Know what though? Nothing seems good enough for some people, so fuck this site. I withdraw my nomination. And yes you do have the ability to check it. Go here and to download the DEMs/NEDs. Looking at an aerial from, of all places Google Earth, one cannot determine the accuracy of slopes. Justin Morris(talk, contributions)03:47, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - In this case a fancy elevation scale, taken from the ArcGis default options, was used. That was a quite poor solution, as no quantitative information can be taken from that scale. It would have been better to use a monochromatic sequence complemented with elevation contours (and shadows). As for the slope, it can be calculated from the map itself, by dividing the height above the water (at the peak) by the distance to the lake. Anyway, the author has withdrawn the nomination and doesn't look very interested in constructive technical advice. -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 10:19, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That's a pretty nitpicky (and subjective) criticism if you ask me. Last time I checked, maps on Wikipedia were not required to show quantitative elevation information. The shading scale seems perfectly fine to me. Kaldari (talk) 17:36, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not nitpicky at all. For a map with this large scale and empty space, I see no valid reason to use this kind of qualitative representation. That would be appropriate for a small scale map or a thematic map. But here the topographic information, in general, and the relief, in particular, are of primary importance for the purpose of the map. A map is not just a beautiful image, especially a featured map. -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 20:29, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The only beastly comments around here are your own. Please stop being rude! If my English is poor, maybe you prefer to shift to French or Spanish, or maybe... Portuguese? -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 20:18, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed we are. And as wikipedians on the english wiki, perhaps it's our duty to *help* those with problems over their language dominance rather then bash them with nonconstructive remarks, for no point other then to try and get a point across, in no way helping the process. Please refrain from such hurtful characterizations in the future (it's rather unpleasant to have a comment called "beastly" and "a disaster". Even if it were correct, it should have been better worded to avoid offense.) as they help noone. Cheers. --Mad TinmanTC23:33, 22 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, per Alvesgaspar and being JPG. We should make sure the problems with this map are clearly listed on the image page so it doesn't mislead anyone. grenグレン21:49, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Objections that led to above unsavoury exchange noted, however significant majority support, and concerns re elevation scales are not applied to other maps. Delist nom is available. --jjron (talk) 08:00, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I'm not on a calibrated monitor right now, so I'm with-holding my vote, but this shot seems to have an awful lot of cloudy sky and open water for being a picture of a mill. It could very well be my bad monitor, but most of the mill seems to be obscured by shadow or trees; I can't even make out a wheel. Matt Deres (talk) 14:34, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose (as creator) - I put a nice picture of the Water Mill onto wikipedia when I went to do some hobby photography at it. I need to go back and shoot one we can consider encyclopedic - Matt, the wheel's internal and not visible from outside. --Joopercoopers (talk) 14:42, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Since you're opposing as creator would you like me to withdraw the nom? We've probably got enough here to satisfy the user who requested the nom. --jjron (talk) 14:47, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Have to agree with Joopercoopers. He's got a good eye and this is a very moody and artistic shot (almost looks watercolour paint from the thumbnail), but not encyclopaedic enough. By the way, whatever happened to the edits you were working on for the Chester Cathedral? I think that with a bit of subtle work on the colour temperature/balance, it would have been a pretty good candidate here. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)14:45, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry Dilif, been v. busy in real life - I finished it and uploaded it I think, just need to find some time to put it up for discusssion again. --Joopercoopers (talk) 14:58, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The image is of high technical quality: good contrast, neutral colour balance. The subject is in focus, and the framed against a distant, natural background. The image is also of high resolution. It is also amongst wikipedia's best work, better than the other existing images of the painted stork. The encyclopedic knowledge it adds is indisputable, the image clearly illustrates the colours in the plumage and of the different parts of the bird's body.
I'm afraid not. The original image is of the same height, only broader. The picture was cropped as the rest of it did provided no extra detail. It should be noted that the photograph was taken from a boat in a river. Emeldil (talk) 10:01, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Oppose. Unfortunately I disagree with above - the contrast isn't great, as there are significant parts of the bird that are completely overexposed and burnt out (the back and legs mainly), The image seems slightly soft and blurry and of course the fact that the legs are obscured doesn't help. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)12:49, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose mainly because of the overexposure on the back feathers which has destroyed all the detail there, if you turned up the contrast afterwards it might have made it even worse. Thisglad (talk) 14:37, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - trying to avoid any inadvertant puns, the fundamental problem is that it is not a complete picture of the subject and in this case it needs to be. End of story. Motmit (talk) 16:14, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm curious. This bird, like most water birds, would spend much of its time standing in water (As it is probably doing here.) If the picture stretched down till the surface of the water, would that somehow negate your objection? Emeldil (talk) 16:30, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As you say it is "probably" standing in water, but we don't know from the picture, and that is the problem. I'm curious too, and the picture does not give an idea of how long its legs are - which it might do if the cut off were caused by the water surface. Others oppose it for overexposure and blurriness which for me do not seem anything like as significant. Does that make sense? because I do like the picture and the colour relationships are really effective, and so I find the cut-off a real shame Motmit (talk) 23:38, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have to weak oppose because of the blown white on the back of the bird, but some of the comments above puzzle me. For example, I can't count the number of Great Blue Herons I've seen, yet the only time I've ever seen their feet is in flight or when they lift a foot out of water to take a step. Motmit, you seem to think the cutoff is especially a problem; would you care to elaborate why this cutoff is so egregious to you? Matt Deres (talk) 18:48, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose comparatively small on the y-axis and overly compressed. Not much detail. I would be interested to see a less reduced original though. deBivort19:29, 11 April 2008 (UTC)][reply]
Oppose. Great thumb, but a let down at full size. Also the red channel is blown considerably (and so are the other channels in most of the lights), so I'm not entirely convinced that the full size version (should it exist) would be a suitable candidate either. --Dschwen20:07, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Would have benefited from some HDR or exposure blending - or indeed from being shot half an hour earlier - as the contrast is too high between the background areas and the brightly lit areas that have consequently become blown out. Mfield (talk) 20:18, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose on the grounds of the black-out. Could be anywhere. And the darkness gives a negative message for something which is about "building bridges" between East and West. That said the daylight shot in the article does not provide the answer either. The subject needs a bit of ingenuity. Motmit (talk) 23:33, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A young paper wasp queen (Polistes dominulus) is founding a new colony. The nest was made with wood fibers and saliva, and the eggs were laid and fertilized with sperm kept from last year. Now the wasp is feeding and taking care of her heirs. In some weeks, new females will emerge and the colony will expand. Detailed explanations inside.
Reason
Encyclopaedic and high quality illustration of some significant steps in the formation of a new colony of social wasps
Info - It is the same female and the same colony, but the order is not exactly chronological. The older (#1) is from 12 March, #2 and #3 from 4-5 April and #3-#4 form 12 April. This is not relevant as far as the "story" is concerned because the wasp has been repeating these actions for a long time. The choice of the pictures was motivated by quality and clarity reasons -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 16:36, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - it is chromatic aberration, remember that it only happens with certain wavelengths of light and is not so noticeable in dark areas. the CA is also visible on streetlights and a few building corners in the bottom left. Either way, it's not high enough quality for FP. On the image page it's fine, but a really stunning photograph of fireworks needs to be taken on special equipment, or taken so that the fireworks themselves aren't completely blown but the background is way darker. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ09:09, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You shouldn't need special equipment. Just close the aperture more (to avoid blowing the fireworks) and cover the front of the lens with a black cloth when there aren't fireworks in the air (to ensure that the background is not distractingly bright). Thegreenj19:53, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, even if this is the full image it reminds me of a poor cropping job. Far too tight on some of the fireworks, unfortunately. grenグレン15:42, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Don't like having them all cover one another - cramped feeling. Have seen better comparison diagrams than this. --Janke | Talk07:38, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, unreferenced, perfect candidate for SVG, or, at least much higher resolution. I also think the key should be on the left instead of far away from the rest of the image. grenグレン11:23, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I've seen the overlap method used a lot for dinosaurs, simply to keep the size of the image down. Here is an example found from Google Images. I would not object to the overlap method, but to the lack of detail in the image. It is more useful not only to be able to compare the overall sizes of the creatures, but to also compare the sizes of their different features. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-14 18:27Z
Oppose. Sorry, but it's basicly four colored shapes slapped on top of one another, lacking all detail and value that makes a fp. Spinach Dip08:39, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose and I don't mind the idea of this being facade only. But, I think it needs to be a little sharper and also needs to be higher resolution--probably a bunch of images stitched together. grenグレン11:25, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Conditional support if the tilt is fixed. I'm OK with the sharpness and the resolution (it's almost 4000x2000) but the tilt is a bit annoying. Time3000 (talk) 11:56, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Can't help but feel we would be better off with a much higher resolution and sharper portrait format image of one doorway and its carvings rather than the current aspect with three doors and the sidewalk etc. I think as an architectural detail shot it is trying to include too much to be visually interesting as an FP. Mfield (talk) 15:37, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This has been stitched? I figured it would get more detail than this if it was multiple shots--but, I suppose that means it's a pretty good stitching job. :) --grenグレン21:27, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - El Charcol was an observatory with its doors aligned to view the vernal equinox, the Moon's greatest northern and southern declinations, and other astronomical events sacred to Kukulcan, the feathered-serpent god of the wind and learning.
Reason
This picture if from spring break when my family and I went to Cancun. I would have liked to stick around and wait for some more interesting light but the area closed well before sun set. As is, the picture is well framed by the tree at right and the light, while simple, is pretty effective at illustrating the subject. Based on composition and sharpness/size, I believe this image is among wikipedia's best work. Hopefully I'll have a nice composite of the main monument at Chichen Itza on here by Sunday.
Comment. At this size I'm guessing it's a stitch? If so, you wouldn't be able to get it with just a little bit more at the sides would you - the steps are a bit cutoff at the left, and a corner at the back right appears to be just clipped. --jjron (talk) 10:30, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support One could certainly nit-pick at this, but I think this is a nice, attractive image which obviously illustrates the subject very well. The most obvious fault is, as Jjron mentioned, the corners are just a bit cut off. A forgivable flaw, in my opinion, though others may disagree. Could a better picture be taken? Perhaps - but even a perfect shot would only be marginally better than this. faithless(speak)10:34, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support per nom. I'm not convinced there's a tilt to the picture; there's an apparent CW tilt, but this building has been standing for a couple of years now and may simply have shifted slightly. I could be convinced otherwise. Matt Deres (talk) 18:04, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately I did not get there. For most of my week in mexico (in touristy Cancun) my family and I were taking a SCUBA course... I know what you are thinking, don't worry, a vacation like this for me is very rare... I only made it to Ek' Balam and Chichen Itza I still have to send all those pictures through my workflow but the volume of pictures I need to handle for my high school newspaper is enormous... I have a 3 month backlog on pictures all the way from a trip I took to New York City in late January, I hope I can get time to stitch some panoramas of Uptown (although I did get my tugboat and Grand central terminal FPs from that trip) I also have a panorama from Red rock canyon outside of Las vegas that needs stitching. Not that you needed to know all that =P - save that hopefully you will be seeing some more nominations soon. Do you have any photos in the works?? I myself was thinking about re-shooting the Oregon Convention Center from the fire escape of the Red Lion Inn, going to Portland International Raceway some late afternoon and maybe going to the Oregon state capitol for an exterior shot. You should nom some of those bridge panos you have, most I would definitely support. -Fcb981(talk:contribs) 05:22, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, I think the angle is a little weird, the tree is a little distracting (possibly impossible to avoid...), and it's a little too close so it cuts off the stairs on the left and some of the back on the right. grenグレン15:45, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - perfect encyclopedia shot - clear, bright, good composition - ticks in all the boxes. It's probably a good thing you could not get at it when it was darker. Looks good in the articles and lifts them. Sets an example for all we point-and-clickers. Is that enough? I shall leave that for others to say. Motmit (talk) 23:17, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lighting is a little harsh but great detail. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-15 00:18Z
Support. Question: How did you get this without all the tourists? When I was at Chichen Itza, there were people all over everything. howcheng {chat}23:28, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
well, this I just got lucky and had a friend of mine who I was traveling with look menacing around where I was taking the shot. With the later pictures of the main monument at Chichen itza I'll almost certainly need to clone some tourists out. -Fcb981(talk:contribs) 04:19, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A female subimago of March Brown Rhithrogena germanica which is a faunistic rarity and on the red list of endangered speciesEdit 1 - Cropped out excessive empty space to make image more suitable for use in articles
Strong support - is that a horsetail? If so it's highly appropriate to go with a mayfly, both evolving early in their respective lineages. deBivort18:57, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support very interesting and enc. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-11 16:24Z
Support Some bits are a little out of focus, but completely forgivable given the magnification. You should have waited for her to fly away and snapped another pic for the horsetail page ;-) Matt Deres (talk) 18:11, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A cube emitting a stream of differently colored hair strands from 5 of its 6 faces (1000 strands from each face). Modeled in Blender and rendered in YafRay.
Reason
Criteria 1. It is of excellent quality with little noise and no distractions
Criteria 2. It does not meet criteria 2's limit of 1000px
Criteria 3. It has perfect lighting and is aesthetically pleasing.
Criteria 4. Is protected under the GNU Public license
Criteria 5. This picture is the best example of a particle emitter on Wikipedia.
Criteria 6. It is supported by the facts in the article
Criteria 7. The caption accurately conveys the subject in detail.
Criteria 8. It does not avoid digital manipulation (It is nothing but digital manipulation)
Oppose. Criteria 2 is kind of an important one, and it doesn't even come close to being 1000px wide/high. Given that it is computer generated, theres absolutely no reason why it cannot be larger. Judging by this image though, the model would have to be a lot more detailed for it to be realistic looking. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)17:26, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Can be recreated any time with sufficient resolution. This size is completely unacceptable. --Dschwen`
Comments It looks great at the thumb size but way below the minimum 1000px requirement. I do not think it should be speedily closed - Let's give it a day or so, so that that the nominator can know of the importance of the size in such a case. Muhammad(talk)20:48, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No, not for the whole week, but I feared that if the nomination would have been closed very quickly, the nominator may not get the chance to view the comments. Muhammad(talk)13:11, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The nominator should have this subpage on his/her watchlist. This is one of the advantages of using subpage inclusion. --Dschwen13:26, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I think that the image looks fantastic, but it's tiny. I think that the author should render it at a much higher resolution (as big as is possible to upload to wikipedia - obviously this varies depending upon the content/compression in the image). The problem with this is that it may take a considerable amount of time to render, therefore I would recommend rendering it with the Big and Ugly Rendering Project (BURP). BURP is a non-commercial distributed computing project using the BOINC framework. It is currently under development to work as a publicly distributed system for the rendering of 3D graphics, and currently supports Blender, which the image was created in. Hope that helps. --Dave (talk) 23:26, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm no expert on 3D rendering, but by the looks of this image, the model just isn't detailed enough to stand up to high res scrutiny (if each face has 1000 strands, that makes it only 31 rows horizontally and vertically - how good will they look rendered at 3000x3000, for example?), so I'm not sure that merely re-rendering will make it a particularly photorealistic example. I know that isn't necessarily what it is trying to be, but as-is, the model just looks a bit dated and low-fi to me. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)23:52, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment The nominator seems to have mistaken 1000px as a maximum, not a minimum. I suggest that we suspend the nom until a larger version can be rendered and uploaded, or else we can be sure that it isn't going to happen.--HereToHelp(talk to me)01:38, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
We could argue either way I guess, but to me saying "It does not meet criteria 2's limit of 1000px" means the nominator knows it doesn't meet this requirement. Either way it's pointless suspending - the suspected creator has been inactive since December and the nominator clearly has no 'inside line' to the creator. If a new version becomes available, it can be renominated. --jjron (talk) 07:04, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Let me count the ways: Blown highlights, unsharp in full size, tilted horizon, distracting foreground, cramped composition... This is a "news" photo, not a FP. --Janke | Talk13:36, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak support if only partially to counteract the overly harsh response from Janke... this seems like a relatively rare photo (I don't photography is ever first priority on missions like this) so I will give it a fair amount of leeway. However, I think it is right on the cusp and if we find there are many more photos like this then I would change to oppose / weak oppose. grenグレン15:38, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment as stated it suits the article well, and it is a very interesting picture but probably for the wrong reasons. The composition creates an Escher-style endless staircase illusion which drives the eye round in circles, but when you open it up there is a bloke staring straight at you which is distracting and annoying. It prompts a lot of questions not least of which is why bother to try to put it out - especially with badly aimed water jets and the quality is questionable as per Janke Motmit (talk) 11:53, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Janke makes a good point. The tilting could be caused from the ship being tilted, though. But still, it's not good enough. SpencerT♦C11:06, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
FWIW, I'd say its not tilting, rather its distortion from the camera being pointed downwards and maybe partly from a cheap lens, the right side is curving down too, its just hidden by the smoke. Mfield (talk) 18:56, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Clipped highlights, faded colours, sunlight from above, to far away from the action - faces not visible enough, unnecessary foreground, ugly jpeg artefacts when viewed in original size. Cambrasa00:59, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - The oldest surviving depiction of the Madonna and Child in Western manuscript art is this page from the Book of Kells (Irish: Leabhar Cheanannais) (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. [58]). This illuminated manuscript is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure. Transcribed by Celticmonksca. 800, it contains the four Gospels of the New Testament in Latin, together with various prefatory texts and tables. The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells combine traditional Christianiconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts together with intricate knotwork and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours enliven the manuscript's pages.Older lower res version scanned from different book by someone else
Reason
Very high res image of a page from the Book of Kells, a masterpiece of medieval manuscript illumination and one of the national treasures of Ireland. High encylopedic value, as this is the oldest surviving manuscript image of the Madonna and Child in Western art, in addition to the inherent significance of the manuscript itself.
Comment I don't understand...is it a scan of a photograph of the page, or a scan of the page itself? I ask because the right side of the page (especially the top right corner) seems to suffer from barrel distortion. Also, for some reason, I feel like there's the slightest bit of motion blur...but maybe my eyes deceive me. —BrOnXbOmBr21 • talk • contribs • 06:48, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, because I notice the same things as BrOnXbOmBr21. If the errors on your end then maybe a rescan can work. If they are that way in the book then we will need to find another source. grenグレン15:36, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment It's a scan from a book - the problem may be in the original photo; the pages are distorted. I'll see if I can rescan, may not be today. - PKM (talk) 19:44, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment The apparent barrel distortion is in the original photograph, as is the uneven softness. As you can see from the second, lower res image (the one we had in Commons prior to mine), which was scanned by someone else from a photo in a different book, the rectangular portion of the image does not have straight lines. I assume the distortion is an artifact of the actual 1200 year old manuscript itself. I would not want to artificially correct for it. - PKM (talk) 02:39, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not sure what to say. I'm looking at two good full-page photos in :
Walther, Ingo F. and Wolf, Norbert, Masterpieces of Illumination (Codices Illustres); pp 82-3; 2005, Taschen, Köln; ISBN382284750X (a dps which shows the whole opening all the way to the outside edge of the book cover), and
Nordenfalk, Carl. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting: Book illumination in the British Isles 600-800, p.118, Chatto & Windus, London (New York: George Braziller), 1977.
The "barrel distortion" is because this comes from the middle of a fat book, last unbound in 1953 - all photos share it (this is a left hand page). My two photos have, as usual, very different colour values, of which the Nordenfalk ones seem the most harmonious, and therefore one imagines the most accurate. There the dark carmine of the Virgin's upper robe is much more clearly a darker version of the carmine below, and round the edge. But the greens and ochre/oranges are less vibrant - I think they may be overdone here. The interlace patterns, especially in the left border, are much more coherent, and the unpainted vellum in the face etc is less blotchy. Both are on the whole more attractive and clearer than this (on my screen of course). But this is clearly a great improvement, and certainly a very important image. I'm not sure where that leaves it by FP standards. Johnbod (talk) 17:18, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment That probably leaves it out of the running. :-) I haven't seen the Book of Kells in person since it was in San Francisco in the 1970s, but my recollection is that the image I scanned (from the catalogue to that exhibit) is close to the actual images under the sort of lighting in which I saw it displayed. But that was 30 years ago. I don't suppose you are in a position to get a scan from either of those books...? Has anyone been to Ireland recently? - PKM (talk) 18:07, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not a good enough one (scan), and that page is only on display some of the time - not sure how often. The colours look bright compared to the Book of Lindisfarne, which I've seen more often. I know from proofing colours against original works how hard it can be to get the balance right (even from a 30 megabyte image), and often the results of comparing a museum's own catalogue to their original are alarming! It is certainly a big improvement anyway, and I'm sure as good as can be got by scanning from a book. Johnbod (talk) 21:25, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Iris germanicaEdit 1 - went back to originally uploaded and QI'd version, selective NR, slight local contrast enhancement, no pseudo DOF backgroundEdit 2 - went back once more from scratch and reworked the entire thing. The flower retains high detail as it is not blurred at all.
Reason
A high resolution, visually appealing picture of a well classified image
Oppose per above, though the masking extends around pretty much the whole bloom (jaggies in upper right). Also, I don't know if it's the masking or the light, but the bloom appears to faintly glowing. Matt Deres (talk) 03:44, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There's still parts where the cutout is visible. Suggest you need to go right back to a much older version and work on how you originally made/feathered the selection rather than trying to blur it back in. Mfield (talk) 04:18, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This is just PP taken past excess. To be honest, the original looks far better than any of the edits; gaussian blur makes the backround look fake, the contrast and colors are unrealistic, and the flower is still glowing. Looks like it got the glow in the third upload, like a gaussian-blur level was lightly blended with the whole image. Noise reduction is one thing, but this is something else. When I need to reduce noise, I usually start by applying creating a new layer with a low-radius, medium threshold dust and scratch filter, then, if necessary applying a small gaussian blur. I then blend it back into the original at 70%—I find the lack of noise more disturbing than the presence of it. This takes it just a bit overboard. I'd recommend taking the original and starting over with a more conservative approach. Thegreenj04:22, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - badly masked and blurred (and there's still bits missed off the mask, if you have Photoshop CS3 try using the Refine Edge tool on the selection). There's still bits missed from the mask too. Is it really impossible to just go back and take the photo on a lower ISO speed with a wider aperture to get the DOF? —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ
Comment, can you upload the original non processed version and see if maybe a lighter hand can bring that up to featured? Because generally this is a well done picture. And can you more explicitly state on the photo page how you've manipulated this image so we have a clear record using Template:RetouchedPicture. grenグレン21:20, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I definitely think that is better... but, I'll put Neutral for alternative. But, I definitely like the photo and think it should be used in the articles. grenグレン15:40, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Added an edit from the version originally uploaded (and QI). Performed different levels of NR on the flower and the background to try and retain as much detail in the petals as possible. Slight local contrast enhancement but no saturation boost as in 'Original' and left the background unblurred. Mfield (talk) 23:02, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This should have been uploaded as a new image rather than over the top of the original as now the existing votes do not refer to the image they were judging. Mfield (talk) 16:36, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
But while we're at it... I think that you need to re-evaluate what you are trying to accomplish by editing this image. Going from the original to the newest edit, I see a huge loss in texture (bad for encyclopedic value), a gaussian blurred background (looks unnatural), masking edges and errors still (soft brushes are your friend), and a general sense of over-editing. I find it impropable that the image would pass QI in its current state. IMO, you are best sticking with the original until you have an end goal in mind, whether for improving the enclopedic or aesthetic value, or both. Remember that users are not expecting an ideal or noise free image, and I think you've still gone a bit too far sacrificing things we are looking for (detail, natural foreground-background transitions) for things we're not. I'd take a closer look at Mfield or my edit, both of which show a more reasonable amount of editing. The best thing, however, would be to get it right at the start; when the flower blooms again, set your camera at a reasonable ISO and f-stop to get a more realistic-looking effect. Thegreenj21:39, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
While I have the flower for this year, I might as well try my best with the editing. I went back (again) from scratch, and produced Edit 2, using a 1px feathering tool to select the image. The flower is not blurred at all, thus retaining detail, however, I might add, de-noised. This time around, I hardly tampered with the original colors of the flower and left the saturation relatively untouched excluding a few minor spots. Please reassess, thank you. -- penubag (talk) 02:30, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Give this a week or two, then renominate the last edit - with all the edits and such, it's probably gotten too complex for a simple picture to get voted on fairly. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 19:45, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose unsharp - inexplicably so for 1/2000s - and inadequate DOF. Mfield (talk) 16:43, 17 April 2008 (UTC) Downsampling is not going to fix any of the issues this image has. Mfield (talk) 19:52, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Pascal's triangle is a geometric arrangement of integers representing the binomial coefficients in a polynominal equation of the format (x + y)n. The formation also demonstrates many other mathematical properties, such as listing the entire set of the natural numbers in the first diagonal rows. This phenomenon is named after Blaise Pascal in the western world, however was studied in detail before his time in many Asian countries, and is alternately referred to as "Khayyam's triangle" after the PersianOmar Khayyám. Each number is the sum of the two directly above it. This animation shows this relation in the construction of the first four rows, however the pattern applies for an infinite range.Edit 1 - Following changes made: *Fifth row added (1-4-6-4-1) *Cleaned up formation *Cells containing 1's filled in at start *Actual animation better demonstrates construction *Image is slightly smaller due to file size *Addition caption at bottom removed *Font changed to something cleaner-looking
Reason
Self-nomination. This image demonstrates how Pascal's triangle is generated, by adding the two numbers above a cell to generate the contents of the cell itself. The article on the triangle mentions this, but fails to actually demonstrate it through the use of a picture or animation (until now). The animation here runs for 1 minute in length, with 1.5 seconds between each frame. Color is used to better demonstrate how the triangle is constructed, using white for unfilled cells, blue for filled and uninvolved cells, red for the "source" cells, and green for the cell being filled. The image is only 350 pixels wide, but in general this is going to be used in thumbnails only, and the full size image is more than large enough to get the point across. Should this need any touching up, please let me know. It was just created tonight, completely in Photoshop.
Comment: I'm not sure how to go about putting {{FPC}} on this one, since the image is actually on Commons... if someone wouldn't mind doing so...? Hersfold(t/a/c)04:03, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I don't think we need animation for a concept as simple as Pascal's triangle. A still image of a somewhat larger triangle explains it better, with higher numbers visible, too. Not to discourage you, but "It was just created tonight" - this has been a problem with FPC for some time, your image may even be removed from the article by some editor - it has happened many times. With new diagrams, you really should wait a while, to let things "stabilize"... --Janke | Talk07:17, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I think it's a safe assumption that the first and last number of every row is 1. How about starting with those filled out (or fill out quickly) and then proceed to interesting middle of the triangle? (Just an idea.)--HereToHelp(talk to me)01:30, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Although pretty, the best diagram to explain a concept is also the simplest. There is no need for animation, and it doesn't allow for different comprehension levels. A static diagram is much more useful on all levels. This is an example of a usefully complex diagram. ProfDEH (talk) 08:55, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Edit 1 - I tried to incorporate all comments in this second version. Another row has been added to the bottom to extend the demonstration. The font has been changed to Tahoma to clean it up. The formation in general has been improved, with cleaner line widths and all. The side cells containing 1's are already filled in, so that the only actual animation takes place in the more important center. Finally, there is now actual animation to make the whole thing less "boring." In reply to ProfDEH, this animation is intended to show mainly how the triangle is constructed. I feel that throwing a massive array of numbers at a reader could be somewhat overwhelming. This animation is intended to simplify the process, and more easily get across how this triangle is put together. To everyone now, please note that I am unable to add any more rows (even to the more static animation) without making the entire image substantially smaller. You'll notice edit 1 is already less than half the size of the original, unfortunately. Hersfold(t/a/c)21:06, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment The new version is a big improvement, I would say it now communicates the basic principle without any other source of information, and certainly deserves a place in the article. ProfDEH (talk) 05:48, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Say I've never seen a Pascal's triangle before. It looks like it stops after a certain number of rows for no reason. Is there was way to show that it continues infinitely? 76.205.74.106talk00:34, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The caption mentions that the triangle can be continued on infinitely - the animation here, and the depictions given in Pascal's triangle, stop after a time because it's not practical to carry this on too far. This page is for discussion relating to this image meeting the featured picture criteria, however - comments such as that belong on the article's talk page. If you wish to contribute here, we ask that you log in. Thanks. Hersfold(t/a/c)02:45, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I agree about the tilt.. but, had this previously been cropped? With a little more side-of-the-racetrack the tilt could be corrected. grenグレン19:51, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Oppose I don't think it's a particularly good illustration of panning - there's much better images out there. You really need a background which "streaks" a lot better. Because on the image description page it's not really obvious it's a motion blur photo - it only looks like a car. And at thumbnail size (which is what it is in the article) there is no indication it's a motion blur. For examples of what I mean by "streaking" have a look at [3][4][5][6]. The tarmac in this photo looks the same despite the panning as it doesn't have any details. Even this I think is a better example thanks to the sharply defined straw tips. --Fir000206:24, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose. Nice picture, just not the best possible panning example. Agree with Fir, nice examples by the way! Those guys should be recruited for Wikipedia ;-). --Dschwen16:12, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A female Goldenrod Crad Spider (Misumena vatia) paralysing a fly. This species is an example of superb camouflage as they have the capacity of changing their colour depending on the flower they are hunting in.Previous image in article Not for vote
Reason
A high resolution and good quality action shot showing spider behaviour and clearly illustrating the camouflage capacity of the species
Weak support Weak, because of the somewhat muddy look - can probably be corrected. DOF is always a problem in macro shots. High enc. --Janke | Talk14:54, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose The original taxobox picture which you replaced, with your picture in the article seems to be better. Muhammad(talk)
Support. More detail and less distracting background than the other image, and sufficiently sharp. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-18 16:06Z
Weak oppose. Although it is a good illustration of the insect(s) here, but brightness and sharpening is needed for the spider to stand out from the background. Jingshen 16:15, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I get the point that it's camouflaged, that's why it's debatable weak oppose. But I'd rather see the insect and the flower clearly standing out, than having them flattened and only the black insect sticking out to my eye. Jingshen 02:47, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Panorama of a cliff in Greenland covered with white bird droppings and orange lichen of the family Teloschistaceae. The cliff, which is the most prominent feature of the uninhabited Nunâ island situated between Upernavik and Aappilattoq extends 270 m above sea level. The lichen are of the generaCaloplaca or Xanthoria and specially adapted to the nutritious environment provided by the bird droppings. The cliff hosts a colony of gulls with a very pale plumage, most likely Iceland Gulls (Larus glaucoides) or Glaucous Gulls (Larus hyperboreus). The panorama is a composite of 17 handheld images taken from a drifting motor-boat and stitched in Hugin. The image is retouched. See the image page for details.
Reason
I think it is an eye-catching illustration of how specialized lichen (orange areas) can influence the visual appearance of a bird colony. The Teloscistaceae family of lichen is unfortunately not yet described in Wikipedia (I do not have the knowledge needed for writing such an article). As a non-native speaker I would appreciate if obvious grammar errors etc. in the image caption would be corrected
Comment Very nice image of a rock, but it took me awhile to find the gulls. It does not show them very well at all, and I think most people will hold that against the image. I recommend using the rock as the subject.--HereToHelp(talk to me)23:20, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think that is a good point, although cliff is probably more precise than rock. I have now restructured the caption such that the cliff and specialized lichen aspect of the image becomes more prominent. -- Slaunger (talk) 06:37, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. A literal reading of the caption suggests that this 'cliff' (personally it's not what I consider a cliff) is 270m high. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no way the top of this is 270m above the level of the water. Can this be explained properly? Also I'm really struggling to see any more than very minor EV for Greenland, which is the only article it's in. --jjron (talk) 08:23, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your observations, jjron. The cliff is actually 270 m high and almost vertical, at least according to the official map I have of the area. It may not appear that high in the image due to the projection used in the stitching software. In a normal photo, the DOF would have given a clearer indication of the greatly varying distance from the camera to different areas on the cliff. Here I have taken advantage of stitching many images taken with different focal distance to acheive an apparent DOF which is, I guess, beyond what is possible with a single shot with the smallest aperture. As for the EV for the article Greenland I agree with you that the EV is not so great in that specific context. If that in itself is a showstopper (I am not that familiar with the circuitry here), let me know and i will withdraw the nomination. IMO the image would have been great in an article about the lichen family shown (Teloschistaceae), for which more than 100 different species are officially known according to ITIS. As a non-native speaker I am a little unsure what the formal difference between a cliff and a rock is? Would you be so kind to pinpoint to me what it is in the image which makes you say that the term cliff is sort of a bad match? -- Slaunger (talk) 09:02, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I won't say too much, as I think Diliff has summed it up pretty well. I was tossing up whether it would be better termed a rock-face. On the other hand if it is nearly vertical it may in fact be a cliff as you say, it's just it doesn't look "nearly vertical" here - as Diliff says, it looks rounded. I also based my size perception on both the relative size of the gulls flying above the cliff, and the size of the ripples on the water - a relative comparison to either of those doesn't suggest 270m. I mean, I believe you if you've got good evidence that says this is the height, but I'm just going on how things appear in the photo. Re the EV, that is a personal bugbear of mine, but I wouldn't say it's a "showstopper" as general rule - for a classic example see the voting on this image that's still on this page. In other words don't withdraw just because I say the EV is minor; this is my number one criteria, but my standards with this seem to be higher than many other people's. --jjron (talk) 08:39, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I understand your reasoning with the appearance, and that this is important from an enc POV. Quite frankly I am also going thorugh this to get a better understanding of the similarities and disimilarities between COM:FPC and WP:FPC (I think you know why) and I begin to appreciate both aspects. Concerning the perceived appearance, I have tried to go back to the original material and try out other projections. Although some result in an appearance which is slightly more representative of a steep cliff, the improvement is quite marginal. So I guess Diliffs remarks about the too close proximity to the subject is a valid point. -- Slaunger (talk) 15:48, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Perhaps the projection used isn't ideal for an image of this sort, since it is probably important to have a sense of scale for an image of this sort. Preferably, you would have taken the photo from far further back. From my experience it almost never makes a very good panorama when you photograph it from this close, as you simply have to bend everything too much for it to be encyclopaedic. It isn't at all obvious that the image is so distorted and that is a bit of a problem.
As for the difference between a cliff and a rock, without looking at the respective articles to get a textbook definition, I would say that a cliff is a rock formation in which at least one side is vertical or near to vertical, and a rock is a very vague term that describes the many types of mineral in the Earth's surface. I think the reason why there was some confusion about whether the image shows a cliff is simply the result of the panoramic distortion, because the cliff looks rounded, and not vertical.
So to summarise, there is probably some overlap in meaning, but the word cliff is specific and refers to a geological formation, and rock is general and refers to what the Earth's surface is made of. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)13:58, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Diliff. Thank you for your detailed review. I see what you mean concerning the projection. I could go back and restitch it in an equirectangular projection or something like that just to see if that makes it look more realistic and thus EV. It is quite some months ago I made this edit and I recall it as the technically most challenging stitch I have ever made as the photos were taken from a drifting boat (parallax tweaking, too deep to anchor). I think I have used a total of 20 editing hours to achieve what you see (which may as well be indicative of my lack of editing capabilities, lol). Anyway it seems like no reviewers really find the EV is high enough for this image, and if this is the predominant opinion, I think it is probably not worth the effort trying out other projections. Although it seems I have not been able to present the scenary optimally, it was one of the most spectacular and impressive sights in my life. As for a sense of scale there are the flying gulls, but maybe these are not prominent enough in the photo. As for the cliff vs. rock it is now clear to me that it is a cliff, but it apparently looks more like a rock due to the projection. -- Slaunger (talk) 19:08, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
"any" EV huh? This is part of Greenland, it illustrates that part of Greenland. That this has a minimum baseline encyclopedic value is indisputable. deBivort18:20, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per Kaldari. I'll comment on the following question: I don't see anything really special about the certain cliff in the photo. Is the cliff was a major tourist site, or the southernmost point in Greenland (or something else notable)? If yes, I'll reconsider. 2nd edit: If you create a Nunâ Island article and use the image to illustrate it, I would definitely reconsider my vote. SpencerT♦C11:09, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your comment. Just to clarify on the notability of the location. It is not a known place at all. It is placed in the middle of nowwhere in a district the size of UK with an accumulated pop of 3000-4000 people. Only locals pass here occasionally going from Upernavik to a nearby settlement and most of these do not even know the name of this place. For me the value of the image is primalily that it is a nice example of the orange specialized lichen of a particular family found in bird colonies in the arctic (the only one available on Commons to my knowledge), and thereafter it is a typical representation of the landscapes you can find in North-western Greenland. Some of the worlds largest bird colonies are found in this area. It seems like I have made a very bad job in writing a caption which graps what this is all about (sigh). (Not your fault, just frustrated by my own lack of ability in explaining what it is all about). -- Slaunger (talk) 11:51, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose It's a good quality image and the EV is there ... but the birds flying in the background is a takes a little away from the rest of the image. crassic![talk]23:42, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The birds add to the EV if anything - it is showing a rookery after all.
Support people seem to have a backward understanding of encyclopedic value on this nom. This photo shows what part of greenland looks like. Period. No single photo could capture all of greenland, so being representative is what counts, not whether the site is famous or touristy or any other silliness. deBivort02:32, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Come on Debivort, you know better than that. I could take a photo of the footpath outside my house, whack it in the Australia article, and say that's what part of Australia looks like, and presumably you'd then agree that it had good EV. I mean, what I learn about Greenland from this is that there is water and rocks there, as well as some distant lichen and gulls - I reckon I could have guessed all that. As Spencer points out, if there was an article on this location, then EV would be far higher. And as the nominator has said several times, he sees it more as an illustration of the particular lichen, but there's no article for that, thus its use in Greenland. Look, it's a good photo (even if the projection is perhaps not ideal), but I don't look at it and think 'Oh, now I've got a better understanding of what Greenland is like.' There's many places within less than 100km of where I live that don't look too dissimilar to this. --jjron (talk) 08:31, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If your backyard was representative, then yes, it would have high EV. I wouldn't have guessed greenland had large 500 foot rookeries - I assumed it was mostly glacier, so, I, for one, did learn from this photo. What I said isn't incompatible with the idea that if there was a more specific article the photo could have higher EV. It is interestesting to learn that greenland and australia, with their radically different climates can have such similar looking coastlines - goes against conventional wisdom. deBivort13:40, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What we anticipate to see when thinking about North-Western Greenland is apparently very much depend on the specific user, which is highly interesting for me. Before I had the possibility to stay there for some months last summer, I must say my idea of the place was quite in line with your initial one, Debivort. I had never anticipated that only 1900 km from the north pole, I would experience such an intense summer, where even at midnight it feels warm. I think a good quality landscape picture of North-western Greenland including gulls and specialized lichen, which are so typical of the area has significant EV. Except for Milas work, I am not aware of other significant contributions at all on Commons, from this geographically enormous area. 1. Its hard to get there, 2. You need some luck with the wheather. -- Slaunger (talk) 21:04, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support. The quality the picture is indisputable and it has at least some Encyclopedic Value. I agree with the other editors on the height-distortion issue, but I do not believe this warrants a full Oppose. NauticaShades02:24, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (2005:08:29 17:24:22), showing Interstate 10 at West End Boulevard, looking towards Lake Pontchartrain.Alternate = re-edit of original version, selective noise reduction only, no downsample
Reason
This is a nom of an edited version of an image that failed its previous FPC nom. The nomination closed shortly after Debivort posted this edit. The edit improves the graininess of the original. I think that this edit is worth another look.
Oppose Original, Support Alternative Downsampling. Noise is not that much of a concern that detail and resolution should be thrown away in the quest for the smoothest possible image. There are foreground objects such as damaged powerlines and road sign gantrys that have lost all detail in this edit. Try simply running the original through NoiseNinja and you end up with a more usable image. This file is much reduced in size (from 1150 to 900 wide) to the point that it is now bordering on the size requirements. I can upload the NN'd version if you want to see. I have uploaded an alternate with noise reduction only, no downsample. Mfield (talk) 16:34, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Due to the fact that it seems that this photograph was taken from a helicopter, I am unsure whether many shots of this caliber exist documenting the events of Katrina. NauticaShades02:11, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Jews living within the boundaries of the Warsaw Ghetto are forced to leave their homes and head for the Umschtagplatz where they await deportation to an extermination facility as part of the Holocaust.
Reason
OK its grainy admittedly, but the photograph speaks for itself, its almost the picture that represents the Holocaust and for that reason, I think it should be featured; its also high resolution which is fantastic
This one being nominated now is clearly superior IMO. It has better black levels and the dust/scratches have been removed. Seems to have been done well, I can't see any problems with it. My vote would be to Replace the existing FP with this one. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)07:37, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment This is a restored version I did a couple of months ago. At Commons the consensus promoted it, but at en:Wikipedia the editors preferred the unrestored version. So actually right now the two projects have featured different versions of the same photograph. DurovaCharge!20:55, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Clarification. To set the record straight, NONE of these versions is actually the featured version. In another sign of what as best as I can tell is Commons magnaminity, our featured version Image:Warsaw-Ghetto-Josef-Bloesche-HRedit.jpg was wiped and replaced with the version MER-C links to - see here for where it happened. That's why there was no FP or POTD tags on any version (FWIW I have added them back in to the MER-C version, as that's nearest to the actual featured version). And clearly there's the solution for "Delist and replace" nominations - just do whatever you feel like. --jjron (talk) 08:23, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually the United States Holocaust Museum uploaded the current high resolution featured version when the original upload was nommed for delisting due to size issues. So depending on how the first delisting request is parsed, the current featured version is probably legit. The second delisting was a delist/replace discussion I opened at about the same time the restored version got promoted to FP on Commons. DurovaCharge!22:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The original FP wasn't nommed for delisting - it was transferred from Wiki to Commons, then deleted from there. When MER-C saw this he notified us through a 'delist' here, which then saw first the original reuploaded to Wikipedia, then a higher res version uploaded. A slightly edited version of the hi-res was promoted to replace the small original. This is the version that I link to. The images actually showing up in the nominations aren't exactly as they went through, and as I said the actual FP version is gone. The version I've reattached the tags to is close to it, but I think it may be in unedited form, to be honest I couldn't really care anymore; it's near enough. If you want to replace it with your touched up version, then I guess go ahead. --jjron (talk) 07:30, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for filling that in. I put this restoration into consideration once and the community at Commons agreed while the community here didn't. It was surprising to see this subpage had been opened and there seemed to be some confusion about the versions, so I tried to clarify. It's the event that matters and we're lucky that this important image - unlike so many others of the Holocaust - is in the public domain. DurovaCharge!09:55, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Motivational posters like this one are intended to inspire confidence, or in some circumstances, to poke fun at the obvious.
Reason
I think the image sort of speaks for itself, but for the sake of policy I will say that I am nominating this image for its outstanding effort at convaying motiviational sentiment, and for being brutally honest.
Well, we wouldn't want to offend policy, would we? This fails criteria 1, 2, 3, and 5, and it doesn't meet the minimum size requirement. Recommend speedy close; I've already given this nom twice as much attention as it deserves. Matt Deres (talk) 03:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
[[:Image:Tom Lee Memorial.jpg|Original - Tom Lee Memorial in Tom Lee Park, Memphis, Tennessee. Tom Lee witnessed the M.E. Norman capsize in the Mississippi River on May 8, 1925 while he was heading upriver in his 28 ft (8.5 m) skiff. Although he could not swim, he rescued 32 lives from certain drowning. The bronze memorial was erected in 2006 to honor the hero, it depicts the rescue of a drowning man.]]
Reason
Image size is appropriate and there are not many compression artifacts. Photo was taken on a cloudy day to underline the dramatic situation of the sinking of the steamboat with the Mississippi River in the background. The angle from which the photo was taken puts the viewer in the position of the drowning man, in desparate need of help. The angle, light and shadow enhance the faces of both persons depicted in the memorial. Tom Lee, a black Memphis resident, rescues a white man without regard for his own safety or life.
Oppose I'm sorry, this isn't of featured picture quality. Although you praise the composition, I am bothered by the facts that I can't see the whole sculpture, the angle is a bit disorienting, and a tree is sticking up out of the boat. As far as the technical quality goes, the background is blurry and the sculpture isn't sharp. Thanks taking this image and uploading it, but it isn't going to be a featured picture. Take a look at the page of currently featured images of sculpture to see the expected quality. - Enuja (talk) 05:13, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose an easily reproduced image such as this should be much larger, sharper, and have less noise. I would be nice to see the whole sculpture as well. Cacophony (talk) 06:02, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Speedy close This sculpture was created in 2006, and is in Tennessee, where there is no freedom of panorama. As such, the sculpture is copyrighted and the image non-free, so ineligible for featured picture status. Also, the resolution of the photo should be reduced accordingly. Mangostar (talk) 12:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Wilkins Peak, located in southwestern Wyoming, USA.
Reason
I believe this image brings out the detail of the geology of the area surrounding the peak as well as what it looks like from the west. It also gives the viewer an idea of the topography of the region as well, and some sense of what it would be like if they were to be standing there at that very moment.
Oppose I can see what you are trying to do (which is more than a "snapshot") but the mushy colour effect and busy sky counteract that. I suggest you put your earlier picture back in the lead as it shows the peak more clearly. Motmit (talk) 11:01, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Oppose Horrid quality; poor color, terrible noise, and bad cropping. Next time, I would recommend cranking up the ISO and using a lens better suited for low-light situations. Sorry. --WN1971... A Symbol of Freedom21:27, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - African-American soldiers of the Union army, American Civil War, 1864.
Reason
A photograph from the American Civil War showing two African-American soldiers guarding a post near Dutch Gap, Virginia, 1864. Encyclopedic topic, high resolution file. What makes this click for me are the body positions of the soldiers: one flattens himself against the ruined farmhouse wall while the other takes cover behind a barrel. Restored from Image:DutchGap.jpg.
Support, with request Obviously, a superb and encyclopaedic photo, well-restored. However, could the bayonet on the musket of the standing soldier be sharpened a bit? Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 02:16, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've gone ahead and done a slight sharpening on that bayonet. Hit refresh to see it. What it looks like we're dealing with is technical limits of the camera. Notice how the barrel is in sharp focus while the crouching soldier is in softer focus; that suggests a long exposure time was necessary. DurovaCharge!21:19, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hard to say. I reviewed the Library of Congress files for the Dutch Gap and found a few other shots of this farmhouse and its posted guards. Those were more casual, which could mean either that this was a composed shot or that an alert had gone up in the minutes before this shot was taken. Without greater written notes than we have it would be hard to tell. I can say, having served in the military myself, that these soldiers are good at taking cover. If this is a posed shot it's well done. DurovaCharge!21:19, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Very encyclopedic, and of a high quality considering its age. For what it's worth, it looks like it's posed to me, but I know nothing about photography or the military. J Milburn (talk) 12:36, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Excellent find. Given the age and overall quality, the flaws noted above are not nearly big enough problems to spoil a very encyclopedic, attractive and valuable image.--ragesoss (talk) 17:12, 4 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
weak Support it would have been better if the right stereograph has been stitched on, placing the soldiers more in the center of the picture Thisglad (talk) 14:16, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I stand corrected. Serves me right for taking over a month to finish the edit. The reasons I selected this crop had a lot to do with how Wikipedia presents images in articles. The main interest is the two soldiers - ruined farmhouses are mundane sights - and those soldiers would get lost in a 200-300 pixel thumbnail of the full shot (which was certainly large enough for cropping). Purists who want the original context can get to that pretty quickly from the image page. Some people would articulate this crop in terms of the rule of thirds; I'm more intuitive. Those soldiers need somewhere to look. Their faces and postures are more engaging in a crop that emphasizes what's on the other side of that corner wall where they're hiding. DurovaCharge!18:19, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Oppose. Come on, what is going here? Quality is low, and I do doubt the EV. This photo is most likely staged. The soldiers are taking cover, but the photographer has plenty of time to stand in the line of fire, handling is bulky apparatus with gelatine glass plates, shooting a stereograph!?! So what do we learn from this photo? Where is the historical significance? Who was making history here? --Dschwen16:45, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A large percentage of combat photography is staged even in modern times, it's kind of difficult for someone to stand out in the open to take pictures Thisglad (talk) 01:29, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Even if you think it has no historical significance, that is not the sole requirement for a featured picture. Brian0918's comment points out a few reasons of why it has encyclopedic value.: "Any encyclopedic value would be from the content of the image itself, not the historical significance. It shows the uniforms, poses, and weaponry of the time." Louis waweru (talk) 05:58, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And a high resolution well exposed color museum photograph would certainly do a better job illustrating these things. Sorry, this leaves nothing in favour of this pic. --Dschwen15:12, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Except that the museum photo does not show its content in context, whereas this photo is closer to reality. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-18 16:10Z
Oppose. Largely per Dschwen. Poses of soldiers are entirely unconvincing that they're in battle - they scarcely look interested, much less utterly focussed or scared as would be expected. To me this means EV and historical considerations are marginal. Overexposure on the left is almost painful to look at (note, I agree with Durova though that the composition is quite good, with the soldiers at right of frame looking to the left). --jjron (talk) 10:06, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Of course they're not actually in battle. Are you forgetting the exposure time on photographs back then? Any encyclopedic value would be from the content of the image itself, not the historical significance. It shows the uniforms, poses, and weaponry of the time. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-11 16:47Z
Comment The picture, overall, is just not good quality – I have seen better quality photos from this time period. The encyclopedic value is high, I'll agree. But the photo is extremely over exposed and nothing – except maybe the barrel – is in focus. crassic![talk]05:52, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
they didn't have autofocus or rangefinders in the 19th century, most images from this era actually look more out of focus than this Thisglad (talk) 09:48, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Correct, there's hundreds of great photos from the ACW. Re Brian, a lot of the comments seem to be tossing up whether or not they're in battle - the point I was trying to make is not only are they most likely not in battle, it's not even a convincing act. I was actually referring back to the nominator's reason which referred to the body positions of the soldiers, and pointing out that to me it's not convincing. To illustrate uniforms and weaponry doesn't need a period picture, and there's lots better anyway. To illustrate the poses, well as I said the soldiers aren't that convincing, so firstly do I really believe their poses, and secondly are their poses really that amazing? --jjron (talk) 07:21, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Janke is likely right, given that the soldiers haven't moved between the two exposures that constitute the stereograph, and the overexposure suggesting long shutter time. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 11:14, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose, being staged doesn't bother me so much but the blur on a staged photo does. I'd support if there was no better image of African American soldiers during the Civil War but I think there probably are. grenグレン21:32, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support; encyclopedic, quality issues go with the time, historically relevant, and utterly unreproducible. If someone else comes along with a better photo of black soldiers in the Civil War, will support replacing this with that, but til then... --Golbez (talk) 16:06, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support - it's pretty good for that time, not to mention it has a pleasant composition (not counting the tech. quality of course), and its EV. diego_pmc (talk) 16:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. I'm still leaning towards a portrait format cropping. The expanse of sand to the left doesn't really add anything compositionally or encyclopaedically. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)19:06, 16 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support - just about, although the crop is a little close for my liking. Guest9999 (talk) 22:11, 16 March 2008 (UTC)Neutral until encyclopaedic value can be established (or otherwise). Guest9999 (talk) 17:35, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A crop never adds to image quality and nobody claimed that it did. ;-) I'm not sure that the composition is particularly good in the original though. The bird is perched a bit high up in the frame (it is usually preferable to have the subject's feet closer to the bottom of the frame than their head is to the top of the frame, no?) and while it is of course subjective that the overall composition is better, encyclopaedically there is nothing to gain from having the subject take up such a small portion of the frame when there is nothing else except sand. Especially important since, even though we are not judging its suitability as a thumbnail, it is better to have the subject more visible in the thumbnail if possible. Just my opinion though. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)21:45, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, this is definitely a cultural "Commons" bias, where the aesthetycal component is much more important than here (though not always prevailing). You are righ that a little more space over the head (and a little less under the feet...) would be better. Anyway I think the crop is excessive, the bird needs some air in front of its beak to breathe -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 10:48, 18 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Neutral, while I like the original, it is true as Diliff and Alvesgaspar say that the bird is in the first one perched a bit too high in the picture; however, the alternative is far, far too tightly cropped. There should always be some space in the direction that animals (even items) are looking, in this case to the left, and also more space above the animal than below it. --Aqwis (talk – contributions) 10:03, 24 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Isn't just adding it to articles ignoring the issue raised by the person who removed it from the original article - that as an atypical pose it's not a good representation of the bird and adds little encyclopaedic value. If anything couldn't it be misleading if that is the case? Guest9999 (talk) 17:35, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. I can't see how this is suitable for the Least Concern article, except that it is one of a myriad of creatures about whose conservation status there is little concern. Anyway, a photo doesn't magically become encyclopedic (and therefore feature-worthy) just because someone adds it to an article. Pstuart84Talk19:10, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed you are correct. The least concern was a stretch and I have removed it. About the removal from the original article - I believe that it referred to the positioning of the photo in the article ? It seemed almost stuffed in there . The profile view allows for a pretty clear view of the bird, it's yellow beak (which was the characteristic that gave it it's former name) and so on. However , in the Pied Cormorant article it didn't add anything significant. Cheers. --Mad TinmanTC20:16, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per EV concerns (FWIW). Sure the photo quality is good, but I couldn't understand why such a weird pose of the bird generated such support. I thought maybe everyone else knew something about these birds that I didn't, but that doesn't seem to be the case. If it can't even find a spot in the article about this species, then I think it fails the No 1 criteria re it being encyclopaedically valuable - fine on Commons, but not here. --jjron (talk) 14:51, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
OK, this is going nowhere further. Let's make a decision on it (I'd close it, but I've voted). Summary: positives - good quality, has required majority for promotion; negatives - low encyclopaedic value, unlikely to remain in articles, most 'reasons' for Support votes are flimsy with no consideration of EV. --jjron (talk) 07:45, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment It is a picture of a creature. Whatever it may be doing must be enyclopedic. Can someone include its actions in the article with this picture? Muhammad(talk)15:55, 17 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Due to it's strange behaviour this is a poor representation of the species. A few seconds more and it would have been a decent shot. Although even then there would have been too much empty space which could only be solved (as in this photo) by cropping to a level where it is too low res. I think it's a fairly common bird and a better shot could easily be taken (in fact I think I have taken a good shot of a cormorant about a month ago when I went to Healesville which I'll eventually have time to upload). --Fir000206:27, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
FWIW, I see no such 'strange artifacts' - is your monitor/graphics card OK Crassic? There's some really bad pincushion distortion that's almost incorrectable and a far bigger issue than the easily fixed perspective tilting that it is compounded with. Mfield (talk) 19:10, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The graininess of the picture is most noticeable at that sharp demarcation between the dark edge of the towers and the bright sky. I don't think that a JPG compression problem. Incidentally, when I zoomed in on the image using Firefox's image zoom, the relatively minor... whatever you want to call them... discontinuities... became very distinct jags of darkness that aren't visible when zoomed using a proper graphics app. Matt Deres (talk) 21:48, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That was part of my worry - people sometimes seem to oppose on problems that I don't see in PS on my calibrated monitor. Judging an image with a non ICC aware browser using its zoom function is of course completely to be avoided ;-) Mfield (talk) 22:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Australian Army recruitment poster, 1914-1918. Restored version of Image:Trumpetcalls.jpg.
Reason
Australian history is underrepresented in Wikipedia's featured pictures. Taking a step toward remedying that with this World War I recruitment poster: 2,213 × 3,000 pixels, a good example of its type. Restored version of Image:Trumpetcalls.jpg.
Conditionally weak support The recruiting posters we tend to select for FP are the iconic ones. How iconic is this in Australia? Weak support barring some statement on that issue, change to full support if it is Iconic. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 18:24, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Being Australian, I can't say I remember seeing this one specifically before. Thats not to say it isn't iconic, I just don't know. But I do think that it is of a very high technical standard, well restored, historically important and contributes to the articles. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)08:05, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I'm not entirely happy with the reduction in resolution during the restoration (3,172 × 4,301 reduced to 2,213 × 3,000). I assume this was done to increase sharpness, but greater sharpness at the cost of resolution does not seem worthwhile to me. That said, I'm otherwise impressed with the restoration. Time3000 (talk) 16:37, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The original LoC file was 75 megs. After cropping away irrelevant background (the original poster had been photographed for archival purposes), I usually resize to 3000 pixels on the long axis, which is small enough that size doesn't interfere with uploading. I've never received this complaint before (1000px is the standard minimum for Wikipedia's FPs), but if there are serious concerns I could consider going larger. Bear in mind that I restore these images at 300%-700% resolution, so a 40% increase on the long axis represents a lot of labor. DurovaCharge!16:48, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'll make it a support then. I admit that if I came across this image while browsing I'd be surprised that it wasn't FP and probably nom it myself, so it seems silly not to support it just because a higher res is available. Time3000 (talk) 16:15, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure theres any more real detail available anyway, as you can already see that it isn't pixel-sharp in this version. A larger image would likely just appear softer and not contribute anything except a larger file size. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)17:03, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Would be eye-deal if it included slightly more of the tear duct, but this is a gvery good quality capture. I know, because I've tried to take a similar shot before. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)17:44, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
weak oppose It's, er, eye-catching, but the "pose" is unnaturally wide and as Diliff noted, the tear duct is cut off. Since the EV is based on its use in eye color, I think a shot of several different colours would make have more value. Matt Deres (talk) 18:32, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support You need a somewhat wide "pose" to get the full iris. Great quality, but wish there was a little more space near the tear duct. SpencerT♦C19:10, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support Good picture. Pose not quite natural and quite a bit of in-camera noise-reduction that smeared out detail (like all point-and-shoots), but very nice photo with reasonably high enc nonetheless. --antilivedT | C | G12:24, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. Skin tone around eye, especially in lower left, is very washed-out. Is that unavoidable? Also, I think the image would be more encyclopedic (and could be used in more articles) if the tear duct were shown. How did you avoid having the camera reflected in the eye? Spikebrennan (talk) 13:07, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Only on the grounds that it would be so easy to recreate this shot and fix the existing problems. Would gladly support a new one. SingCal07:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Side shot of the River running through Breganze. Note the bullet holes in the wall and the plaque commemorating World War II.
Reason
Shot of Breganze. Note the plaque on the side of the wall and the bullet holes in the side of the building, cause of a World War II battle that took place across the river..
Opposespeedy close (i can't remember the template so someone else can do it pls), appears in no articles. more reasons further down Mfield (talk) 03:38, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I'm torn here. On the one hand, I think this is a very attractive image which would certainly catch my eye and make me interested in the article. On the other hand, such an easily reproduced image has to be perfect; the most glaring fault, IMO, is the overcast sky, as aclear sky would certainly be preferable. On another note (and nothing personal against Mfield whatsoever), it really bugs me when someone opposes solely because the image doesn't appear in an article. Yes, the nominator should make sure the image appears in one before nominating, but in most cases it is quite easy to find a suitable article which would benefit from having the image. Again, this isn't aimed at any one editor, and no offense is meant at all, but rather this is a plea to others to, when faced with this situation, look for a suitable article for the image. There's no point in blindly following procedure when a little extra work would benefit the encyclopedia and help out a fellow editor. :) faithless(speak)04:51, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Point taken, although I don't think it should be up to a reviewer to find a featured place for a featured picture nomination. Furthur reasons for opposing then - the sky is completely blown and I don't find the composition very appealing, the horizon is too centered and it feels like there should be more river than sky and in general more space to the right of the buildings, i.e. a wider FOV Mfield (talk) 05:00, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The whole point of this picture is not totally the beauty. Some of it lies with the historical significance. On the left you see a civilian house, riddled with bullets, and a plaque commemorating it. Take this into account along with the beauty of the picture. Thanks, ṜέđṃάяķvюĨїήīṣŢDrop me a line§05:31, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. I don't see the significance of the photo. You mention the bullet holes and the plaque, but the plaque is illegible there is no explanation for the bullet holes, either in the caption or in the article the image appears in. What makes this scene significant? Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)07:21, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment There is nothing wrong with snapshots if they are encyclopedic and well composed. Like Faithless I am torn - it is an attractive picture and supports the article, but would be better on a brighter day. Also the composition is six of one and half a dozen of the other - it needs either a better focal line down the river or a better alignment of the buildings. The bullet holes only show up at full size - perhaps there could be a close-up cut out to make the point. What I do find puzzling is that the nominator goes to great lengths to explain the background on a transitory page, but hasn't added the information to the article itself. Motmit (talk) 10:43, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Sir John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the engraver of the piece.
Reason
Sir John Tenniel was one of the most popular illustrators in 19th century England and his most famous works today are his illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice series. This picture of the Caterpillar is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible.
Oppose I think we could find (or scan, since many of us have the books) another of Tenniel's illustrations that would be much better - here, we see only the eyes of Alice, and the back of the 'pillar! --Janke | Talk17:31, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment This is the only illustration Tenniel did of the Caterpillar. Thinking about it now, a second illustration would likely destroy the carefully crafted ambiguity of this picture. Matt Deres (talk) 17:53, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This is arguably Tenniel's most famous illustration. Indeed, I imagine many people would consider it one of the most famous book illustrations of all time. Kaldari (talk) 00:36, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
CommentSupport - I would like to support this nomination except I can't understand why this is saved as a JPEG. Black and white illustrations such as this should be saved as GIF or PNG files. Kaldari (talk) 00:36, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Info The short reason why it's a JPG is because that's the way it was scanned in by the uploader. The longer explanation is that GIF files are supposed to be used for animation only and I wasn't sure a 50% file savings was worth the bother of uploading a PNG image; I'm not even certain of how I'd supersede the JPG version smoothly. I'm not sure why that's even an issue (the picture isn't going to get any better), but if someone can point me to a tutorial, I'll do the work. Future voters please note that the image is not intended to illustrate Alice, but to illustrate Tenniel's work (and the Caterpillar, of course). I wouldn't be opposed to nominating more of his pictures, but this is a good scan and one of his more interesting pieces of work. Matt Deres (talk) 20:13, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's unfortunate the person who scanned the image chose to save it as a JPEG, but as you say, the image "isn't going to get any better". Oh well. Kaldari (talk) 23:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
*Comment Conceded, this is iconic for inclusion in Caterpillar, but my oppose still stands, also per above. (I'd prefer Alice at the tea party, or coming through the looking glass, but that's not for the 'pillar article...) --Janke | Talk07:16, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The "Toyota Aurion" article features many images showing the raw details of the vehicle. What I felt was needed was an eye catching, descriptive info box image that depicts both the visual style of the vehicle and the "feel" of the vehicle.
Some may consider the background a distraction. The juxtaposition however is designed to place emphasis on the vehicle. The viewer's eye will be drawn across the image, the technique arguably enhances the viewed comprehension of the visual stimulus. It is a more deliberate and measured composition than the many images on Wikipedia showing vehicles with far more distracting backgrounds and claustrophobic cropping.
The digital manipulation is a possibly controversial factor, however, reason exists for the manipulation. The vehicle is available in several colours, each shows the vehicle with a different character. The simplicity of this image, black and white, allows the viewer to appreciate the design of the vehicle without the colour influencing the viewer's perception.
Finally, a technical note. This image may well be one of the highest resolution single exposure images (as distinct from stitched images) on Wikipedia. Originally taken using a 21MP Canon 1Ds mkIII, the final image uploaded under free license is still around 5MP and saved in maximum quality JPEG ensuring technical quality.
In summary, it shows the subject of the article in a visually informative and engaging way, free from distracting reflections and bias factors such as colour and will enhance viewer comprehension and recognition. This image is a change from the norm, but I believe a positive one.
Oppose This would be a good photo in a magazine ad, but not in an encyclopedia. The building is the eyecatcher here, so enc value is low (one editor removed this image, reasoning Fixed picture to focus more on the car since this is a car article.). Also, blown highlights, and what looks like some odd, soft filtering, i.e. this photo too "artsy" for a technical article. Try Commons instead... --Janke | Talk09:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support While this doesn't have a chance of passing at this stage, I thought I'd say something in favor. The most important criterion for a FP candidate, IMO, is that it be a visually arresting image which captures the reader's interest and draws him/her into reading the article. I certainly believe this is the case here. The above arguments are all legitimate, and this is more fitting for a magazine advert than an encyclopedia article, but I feel the picture is good enough to warrant at least some support. faithless(speak)10:29, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The criteria for a FP on Wikipedia states: "An image's encyclopedic value is given priority over its artistic value." Please familiarize yourself with these if you plan on voting here often. Pretty sunsets and artistic B&W portraits have a place Commons FP, but here we the first and foremost and foremost concern is illustrating an encyclopedia. Cacophony (talk) 03:07, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, where to start - okay, first off, your tone is condescending, insulting and not at all warranted. Second, I regularly participate in these discussions (last time I checked we don't "vote" on Wikipedia), and am fairly familiar with the FP criteria. Does the fact that I saw some value in this image really warrant such a vehement disparaging? As I said, I know this didn't have a chance of being promoted; but as the nominator/creator is new around here, I thought I'd give him a bit of support to let him know that he and his contributions are appreciated. I've honestly been left speechless here - not an easy feat to accomplish, but your rude, snide and totally uncalled-for comment has done exactly that. You may want to familiarize yourself with WP:CIVILITY. faithless(speak)20:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I hate to nail this just on being obsessive over having a "traditional" composition, and I sort of understand what you're getting at by each color reflecting a slightly different car, hence b&w. (You couldn't get a line of every color and take a picture of all of them?) However, the artsy composition does it in for me, despite a fair point by Faithlessthewonderboy. Sorry.--HereToHelp(talk to me)23:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A Swallowtail butterfly on a flower in Italy. Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies which form the family Papilionidae. There are at least 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of Australia (genus Ornithoptera).
Reason
A great shot of a Swallotail butterfly with Full Resolution.
Oppose sorry but very low in detail - looks like it has been oversharpened in an attempt to compensate - and the background is suffering some very unappealing and distracting bokeh. Mfield (talk) 21:19, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose With no clear cut subject, and poor color, this photo falls far short of FP status. The quality leads me to believe this was taken with a cell phone. Lipton sale (talk) 14:31, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - Bombylius is a large genus of flies belonging to the family Bombyliidae (the bee-flies). The genus has a global distribution.Edit 1 Tweaked histogram in the blacks
Reason
very detailed picture where you can see the typical hairiness and the impressive sucker. This species lives in forrests close to warm clearings. Its very hard to do a picture of this species because they abscond at the tinies motion in their environment. Feel free to Google around, where you will find out that there are no pictures available in this quality and size.
Support original - One of the best insect pictures in Wikipedia. I confirm the extreme difficulty in taking a decent shot of this species. But Richard didn't explain yet how he got the critter asleep... -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 11:50, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I dont understand the term asleep, do you mean a pause ? Like every insect they have periods during a day when they are less active, based on the species and many other circumstances. When i was doing the observations on this beauty (for 10 long days!) i recognized that they are only active when the sun is really bright, otherwise they back-out in the forrest. This was my chance then on a changeful clouded day. I found a look-out on the forrest ground, heading outside to the clearing and was waiting for 4 hours. In the meantime i found out something interesting. There was a flower 20" left to me on the border of the clearing, and on this afternoon (a period of aprox 4h) it was heavily visited by 12 different species. This project now has totally changed my behaviour in photographing insects. Before, my strategy was "run and gun" on everything which is tiny and moving, but now i think its much better to setup the camera (with a tripod and a infrared remote-control release) on a nice place and wait motionless. They come along its just a matter of time --Richard Bartz (talk) 02:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The term asleep was, of course, a joke as I never saw these critters still. Yes, I also thought of that strategy but it takes too much time from my work... -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 07:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Full support My first thought: is that black line the snout, or a wing in unfortunate angle? Should be mentioned in the caption. (If it's the snout, and the caption is corrected, then I'll strike the "weak" from my support.) Also, let's hope this image encourages someone to do something about the article it appears in - it's a one-line stub at the moment! This photo would also be appropriate in Bombyliidae, a (slightly ;-) longer article... PS: This is one of the few pictures that look fuzzy in thumbnail, but get sharp in full size! --Janke | Talk12:15, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Janke, if you look at the alternative image (in the image description), you'll see that it's the proboscis. I'd change the caption, but I'm unsure whether the large size is characteristic of the genus, or just the one species. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 12:50, 22 April 2008 (UTC) Prefer original. Alternative feels faded. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 23:31, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support and Comment. I've gone ahead and expanded the article a bit. That proboscis is characteristic of the genus indeed. By the way, does anyone know how to make the little *show*\*hide* option ? I think that'd work well for that big species list in the bottom of the article. Cheers. --Mad TinmanTC13:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Excellent macro. I'm surprised by the large DOF considering the aperture used. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs) 15:43, 22 April 2008 (UTC
Support either with preference for Edit 1. There isn't much in it but Edit 1 has slightly better black levels/contrast IMO. Would be happy to support either though. Diliff | (Talk)(Contribs)12:54, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support Edit 1 Nice photo with great sharpness - my only problem is what looks like poorly done focus bracketing at the tip of the wing. I say focus bracketing because the entire wing is in focus and the leg closest to it is out of focus - and I say poor because the leg and area surrounding the wing edges is unpleasantly out of focus. --Fir000208:46, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support either, slight preference towards original. Edit 1 is a bit glare-y to me; original is a bit easier on the eyes, IMO (possibly due to my monitor?). faithless(speak)10:24, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A view from the Portage Viaduct overlooking the High Falls of Letchworth State Park near Rochester, N.Y., taken in early July with the greens in full bloom.
Reason
Excellent image; large resolution; high level of detail; adds great quality to Letchworth State Park; Free License; Limited manipulation; is among Wikipedia's best work (if I do say so myself)
Inquiry -- I could fix many of the issues noted by TheOtherSiguy (lighting, chromatic aberration, noise) to a significant (though not perfect) degree. Would doing so change anyone's opinion? I would be willing to submit a corrected photo if that's the case. If not, I will concede defeat on this one. Lumbergh (talk) 02:35, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, but if you could reshoot it then you should submit that but the problems with this image are not fixable by PP to a degree that would pass FP. The original simply does not contain enough detail. The lighting is a photographic decision which means shooting the subject at the right time of day. You will not be able to correct that in PS. It's the reason why a lot of photographers would be better off spending their next $50 on a better alarm clock rather than another PS plugin :) Mfield (talk) 04:48, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The time of the photograph has less to do with alarm clocks than it did the time it took us to get there. And one of the things that really hurt was that he simply did not have a dSLR at the time (which is responsible for a great deal of the noise that has already been noted). I personally like the lighting in this picture, though it's clear that I'm a minority in this opinion. Lumbergh (talk) 06:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - one of those views, I fear, that probably looked wonderful at the time, but the camera was unable do justice to. I think the photographer tried hard to frame it by excluding the sky, but it ends up as a large gash between uniform shrubbery (giving connotations that were probably not intended). Would there be more variety in the tree colours in Spring or Autumn. Motmit (talk) 20:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There is actually a second picture (that the photographer himself prefers) that does not include the sky. I personally prefer the perspective offered by including a bit of the sky in the picture. Unfortunately, I live in Florida and he lives in Alabama, so a trip back up to New York to reshoot with his new equipment at a different time of day is not feasible. Lumbergh (talk) 06:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting viewpoint. This triple image was decided upon to obtain a sequence of action from vintage still photos. Only when the result turned out to be so bold was Featured Picture candidacy considered. Prior to bringing the photo montage here I had no idea what criteria were necessary for FPC. Binksternet (talk) 17:13, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I absolutely think that we need more musician FP's, but this isn't it. The image quality is somewhat disappointing, and you can barely see the drumset, which is my biggest concern -- where's the EV? SingCal07:35, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Interesting, historical, necessary, but not of FP quality. There is no wow factor. There is nothing unique about this print (they were relatively common in the period). Sorry, Madman (talk) 01:57, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
weak oppose This is a beautiful shot; it's a shame that 70% of it is empty blue sky. None of the other pictures on the article page look nearly so pretty, but they have more encyclopedic value because they actually show the topic in question. Try Commons. Matt Deres (talk) 23:34, 21 April 2008 (UTC) Oppose edit1 The original at least had some aesthetic appeal; the edit is a shot of blown sky and the silhouette of a bridge. Matt Deres (talk) 01:25, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
support original, weak support alt - this image is 2000 pixels in the X-axis. Having 70% sky does not detract from the totally adequate number of pixels dedicated to the lagoon. That sky helps give the thumb a nice composition, and does not take away from the detail in the full size. deBivort05:20, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. I think Matt's comment was about composition rather than size criteria. And at that, I have to agree: the blue sky doesn't add to the picture. Neither original nor crop is particularly encyclopaedic. For an encyclopaedic picture about the spa, I think we'd have to see more of the facilities (cf. this image). Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 09:59, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support original per de Bivort (despite blown sky at right ;) I'd say that it's the lagoon itself and the surroundings that's important - spa facilities are the same the world over... --Janke | Talk12:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And, er, what colour is the sky the world over? ;) It just strikes me that, pretty sky aside, this photo was taken with the wrong orientation. Matt Deres (talk) 01:22, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - a beautiful image but too me the composition seems a bit off with the cut to the left and I think that a (perhaps less pretty) shot with less of an artistic bent might add more to the article. Guest9999 (talk) 14:41, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Oppose Neutral. It's a very beautiful image, but I believe that taking the photograph at sunset detracts from the Encyclopedic Value. NauticaShades02:16, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Um, why would the evening be less Enc? You can see all the details, and the photo catches the mood of the place perfectly, to which I can personally attest. deBivort03:46, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose You have significally reduced the value of the Blue Lagoon article by replacing two enc pics and sending them to a gallery. Its a beautiful picture but too esoteric?? - would make an excellent book cover. It needs all the blue sky, but I am not sure about the left cut-off. It looks fine in the Iceland article but is too large - (set to default with upright tag?). Motmit (talk) 11:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment What do you define as 'encyclopedic'? It's a word thrown around here without any concrete meaning. I replaced the two other photos because they were snapshots, and not of any photographic quality. This is the lagoon, is it not? As for the composition, I made the sky the majority of the photo for a reason. The composition would not work as well any other way. I have photos of the bridge and other elements centered, but they also look like very simple snapshots and that is why I am putting this photo above them and nominating it for featured picture. Besides, I based the composition off early modernist works of Monet, Manet, and Cezanne. They had a similar style to their paintings - with an off center subject and a large void in the pane. This, in turn was adopted from Edo japanese woodprints, among other works. I'm sorry if you prefer that I have a more traditional composition, then sorry. It's just that the world's greatest impressionist era artists figured out that kind of stuff just doesn't work as well. Nothing about the photo is an accident - I did everything I could to not only capture the lagoon, but to convey its mood and atmosphere. Lipton sale (talk) 05:04, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This is an encyclopedia not an art gallery. As an editor I am looking primarily for pics that support the text - if it's an active spa then the pics need to support that - I am afraid this pic does not tell me enough. Although I have brought a Monet into an article, it was only because it was a scene that Monet painted and I was discussing this and not because Monet had illustrated the details particularly well. I note the word shapshot seems to be a term of abuse in this forum, but countless people are putting in a lot of effort going out and trying to illustrate articles the best they can. This competition should be about encouraging people to think more about their "shapshots" rather than just replacing them with pure artwork. I think you missed my later comments as I did not criticize the composition. I said it was beautiful and I agree with you wholeheartedly that the picture needs the sky (as I said before) - cutting it off destroys the composition and does not make it more useful. I was just a little concerned at what was happening on the left at the end of the bridge. You have captured a mood and atmosphere - indeed echoing the Japanese illustrators, and again as I said there is a place for a mood and atmosphere pic in the Iceland article, but I do not think it illustrates the the Spa adequately. (and "Wow" to me is something people say when they see a firework with no enduring value) Motmit (talk) 20:03, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support Original, Oppose edit: The pic with the blue sky still retains the wow factor ... the edit isn't as eye catching as the original. --
Support Original I'm also curious what this "encyclopedic" nonsense is about. Looking at the old pictures, they showed more snow than lagoon. This picture conveys that it's a lagoon and it's blue, and the fog shows it's active. It's a clear, well composed image that not only conveys "Blue Lagoon" but is also more engaging that previous photos. Maybe you've never actually read an encyclopedia, but those are all professional images taken by artists that are not just meant for readability, but to make the article engaging to the reader, something this picture does in spades. 98.216.158.111 (talk) 00:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder who is this IP from NJ who has made just this single edit to Wiki. Sure encyclopedias use professional images but they are there because the editors commissioned or selected them, not because the professionals pushed them in. Wiki is at some risk because it does provide an unrestricted platform to display a commercial photographer's portfolio - that is not denying good faith in this or any other case. Motmit (talk) 12:05, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This semi-formal portrait of a historical celebrity of his day:
is technically a good photograph, with lots of detail, sufficient contrast and razor sharp where it matters;
is of print quality;
is well over a 100 years old and shows little sign of damage;
has a good composition, focusing on the subject, but with just enough (out of focus) background detail to place the man in context;
is historically and artistically a unique picture showing the hero of the First Boer War at the worst of times, being the first Boer general to be defeated in the Second Boer War and taken prisoner by the British; the sadness shines through in the look in Cronjé's eyes;
is of historical importance because no copies of this private portrait are known to exist (anymore).
Comment: About the cropping and the signature. I regarded both elements as integral to the historic nature of the image. Signature makes the portrait even more unique, as it is the original signature of Cronjé. Besides, it does not influence the composition. Top of the portrait could be cropped to give more focus on the person depicted, but in this case I would want to keep the original layout of the photograph, as it is not disturbing and actually adds to the context: outside, in camp, subject behind fence. Michel Doortmont (talk) 06:13, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I agree on that, but I would not know how. The main damage seems to be foxing (discolorating smudges due to moist or dust damage) and Photoshop does not seem to offer a tool to tackle this problem. I have tried. Also, I do not have the original at hand to see what the exact problem is. Thanks for the support. Michel Doortmont (talk) 13:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder if what you call 'JPEG artefacts' is in fact the foxing on the original?
Why is the signature not appropriate for the Second Boer War [article]? Here I totally disagree. The signature as such might have a negative influence on the image per sé, but in the historical context it is a definite asset. Cronjé signed 'P.A. Cronjé. Generaal ZWC' for 'General South African Army Command' (Zuidafrikaansche Weermacht Commando), fundamentally commenting on his own position in the camp, and on the political position of the Boer republics as perceived by him: defying the British stance that the republics were already incorporated into the Empire. So, again, highly relevant I would say. Michel Doortmont (talk) 16:24, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's definitely JPEG artefacts - there are clear boxes of noise on the image at full size, and they're even more visible at 400% (look on his jacket). I see your point about the signature though, so I've struck that from my original comment. I still have to oppose because of the artefacts - I can't honestly say that I think it's "among WP's best work". Time3000 (talk) 16:07, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You are right, I was concentrating on the face, where it's less visible, but in the jacket at 400% they are quite visible. unfortunately it is impossible for me to rescan the photo in the near future, as it sits in South-Africa and I am in the Netherlands. Will make an effort to do that when the opportunity arises though. Michel Doortmont (talk) 13:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Signature in image, may have historical value but to me it is dirt on the image. Also, it is not cropped tight enough. Wasted space above and an akward view of his legs and the signature towards the bottom. Capital photographer (talk) 12:10, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - A Marmelade Fly (Episyrphus balteatus) visiting a flower for pollen. This is one of a very few species of insects capable of crushing pollen grains and feed on them. When in migratory swarms, this widespread hoverfly sometimes cause panic among people for its resemblance to solitary wasps. It is a quite harmless and beautiful insect though.Alternative, showing the band pattern in the upper abdomen
Reason
Very detailed and high quality depiction of a common hoverfly species adding value to the article
How can it be an encyclopedic shot of a hoverfly if it ain't hovering? ;-) Support either; the alt is a bit prettier, but I think the original is a bit more focused. Matt Deres (talk) 23:38, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - Please let me clarify a point. Competing at FPC is not the main purpose of my work here and at Commons. If it were I would have dowsampled both pictures to some minimal size, and use more aggressive de-noising/sharpening techniques in order to improve their apparent quality. However that would have lowered their encyclopaedic value as less detail would be available, especially for printing. These are, I believe, beautiful and high quality images, comparing favourably with existing insect featured pictures. Still that was not the main reason why they were chosen to illustrate the article, enc interest was. Marmelade flies are one of the very few species of insects capable of crushing pollen grains and feed on them, and that is precisely what they are doing in both pictures. Also these particular images depict clearly those anatomic features which are characteristic of the species. The comparison with Image:Hoverfly07.jpg and Image:Hoverflies mating midair.jpg is inaccurate and unfair. Inaccurate and unfair because the pictures now nominated have more than twice the area of those examples given by Fir002. Unfair, also because their technical excellence should not be taken as a minimal passing bar for other nominations. Finally, it should be stressed that this is an encyclopaedia, not a contest of photographic technique and skill. Alvesgaspar (talk) 16:20, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well that's all really nice and noble of you Alvesgaspar but even downsampling and sharpening this image isn't gonna save it - it simply hasn't got the quality. Go back and reshoot. The quality in macro is no different to anywhere else - do you think a building as blurry as this pic should go through? No way. FP is about the best wiki has to offer - not about the best an individual photographer has to offer. And to put it frankly this image is not the best --Fir000209:15, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It would also be more fair not to use your own images when pointing out percieved deficiencies in other pics. We already know you're good... --Janke | Talk17:52, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Probably because they were the only two hoverfly FP's on wikipedia?.. Why do you feel the need to stick up for this picture? We have plenty of insects FP's - why should the bar be bent down here? Wikipedia is indeed an encyclopedia but in many regards FPC is a contest of photographic skill - only the best should get through. And this should be true regardless of the nominator - or perhaps I'm being naive. Anyway back to the real world --Fir000209:15, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think Fir raises a fair objection. The pictures are good when viewed at small sizes but at the full size preview, appear unsharp. Perhaps you should downsample them a bit Alvesgaspar. Muhammad(talk)19:31, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support alternative. I really prefer the composition of the original, but the antennae (?) seem to slink into the background - more contrast needed here, and maybe just a touch of post-production sharpening. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 13:00, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support either, prefer first becasue the background is less distracting and you see the hoverfly quite clearly doing something other than simply hovering. Nice details on its underside as well. The freddinator (talk) 05:06, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Alves, I love the original and am using it as as a wallpaper, but at full view it does not look ok. There is no additional information and hence no increase in encyclopedic value. If the image is downsampled 60-70%, it would look much better. Muhammad(talk)14:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Some time ago I shared that opinion with you. Now, I think we should keep all available pixels even if the picture in full size doesn't look the best. This way we also keep intact all the the other possibilities, like priting the images in larger formats or viewing them in real big screens. Remember that every picture has an optimal distance to be viewed as a whole, which depends on its linear dimensions. That happens both with paper photographs and screen images. When we dowsample a picture, information is lost forever. When we keep the original resolution, we can always adapt its size to our use. The present picture is not perfectly on focus and suffers from some motion blur? Sure, I have still to work a lot before I reach the standards of Richard Bartz. However, I insist that we should not use them as a minimal passing bar for FP. Cheers, -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 16:47, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Agree absolutely. Downsampling to increase apparent sharpness is a horrible idea which seems to have been popularized at the expense of any thought about the final intended use of the media. Sharpening is something that should be done as a final step in a PP workflow, with the final output, be that screen or printing at a particular size - in mind. Doing it earlier will introduce artifacts that cannot be removed later. If the user wants to uprez for larger printing they will be forced to uprez further and deal with artifacts not present in an original. Why would you really want to be viewing an image at 100% anyway unless you are editing it? How does it look at 50% instead?. Leave things as large as possible so that other users have the most options open to them. Mfield (talk) 18:48, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
But 99% of users are never going to go searching beyond the featured image that is presented to them to find a better version. They should be able to correctly assume that the presented version is already the highest quality version available, and that means the highest resolution version, with as little destructive editing - such as downsampling and sharpening - as possible. Mfield (talk) 00:29, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Though downsampling never makes an image better, it doesn't always make it worse. Downsampling is not a panacea, but in a case like this, the image has a level of detail much less than its pixel resolution, and downsampling makes viewing the image much more convinient. Thegreenj02:22, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just for the sake of consensus-reaching, I fully support the view that images should not be downsampled to increase apparent quality. The arguments for this have been explored at FPC many times, but just to repeat: Downsampled images will always look much worse when printed at, say, poster sizes, and users should be able to assume that the "full resolution" version of an image is the full resolution version, not a downsample of the "original original". Rather, if sharpness at full resolution is an issue, images should be judged on the sharpness achievable if they were downsampled to the minimum quality still satifying the size criterion. If you don't know how to do this, you should ask. If you're not willing to make the effort, you probably shouldn't be participating in discussions here. I also think we should retroactively upsample FPs that were previously downsampled out of sharpness concerns. The term "destructive editing" carries a clear message in this respect. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 11:11, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Original - An early 20th-century sail wagon in Brooklyn, New York.Higher resolutionHigher resolution retouched
Reason
Engaging composition. The shallow depth-of-field gives it a dynamic feel. Presents a unique and fascinating object in a way that draws attention to the encyclopedia article (and provides an interesting contrast to the modern land yachts featured in the article). Excellent quality for a historical photo. It is on the small side (925 px) but it is the largest size available and the criteria seems to make allowance for historical photos.
Good catch. Larger image is 5700 pixels wide. I will upload the image and replace the file later today (about 18 hours from now). Other editors can vote under the assumption that the larger picture will be in place. Northwesterner1 (talk) 16:57, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'll have a go at cleaning it up, it has a lot of blotching on it so its going to take some time to remove properly. Mfield (talk) 21:20, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There you go, it still has a little blotching which is going to be difficult to remove further without smearing too much detail away - it looks like the left hand side of the image got wet/wiped at some point, or the scanner did. Mfield (talk) 22:08, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, not the greatest depiction of a sail wagon or of Bains... since... it's just published in his news service. Still a great picture, maybe try on commons? grenグレン21:54, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Support high resolution retouched version. Dynamic and encyclopedic. The one really big white spot on Bain's knee could have been retouched a bit better (I bet the fold in his pants there is straight), but it's overall a good and properly conservative job. - Enuja (talk) 05:21, 21 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Support Version 3. I hesitated to support the original low resolution image, but the large retouched photograph is quite impressive. It is quite encyclopedic, being a dynamic shot of an uncommon object. The sail is cut off, but this provides for an interesting composition, and we also all know how sails look anyway. NauticaShades22:52, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]