Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Sky lanterns

 
Original - Sky lanterns deployed en masse during the Loy Krathong festival in northern Thailand.
Reason
Although a little busy as a thumbnail, the larger version is captivating. It adds to the article because it's the only image in the article that shows the visual effect of a mass deployment of sky lanterns during a festival. the other images are of single lanterns. There is a blurry gentleman in the foreground but i think it enhances the image by providing some perspective. the lanterns themselves are in focus and the lighting is good for such a scene. note:There is an alternative version of this without the left side cropped off. I think the crop is tasteful, but if the other version is preferable, I'd be happy with either.
 
uncropped version
 
higher resolution version
File:LK loy krathong yi peng san sai HR2 Edit.jpg
Edit Aggressive NR on the high res version
Articles this image appears in
Sky lantern
Creator
Takeaway
I contacted the uploader and he provided a higher resolution version. His comments on it: "The photo is a bit grainy as the Nikon D80 doesn't really perform very well in dark situations when using settings above 800 ISO. The smoke of all the lanterns going up in the air also contributes to what might look like grain." - Lambajan 14:53, 6 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, had a look at the bigger version and a quick play to see what I could do, but sadly the quality is just not there for mine, just too noisy; looks like the camera can't really handle the ISO 1250. Doubt my camera wouldn't do any better I must say. Maybe worth a try at VPC? --jjron (talk) 16:36, 10 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A fairly aggressive noise reduction and a black point adjustment worked pretty well imo, there isn't much fine detail to loose. Unfortunately cameras are at their weakest with dark areas and high isos though.

Not promoted MER-C 12:41, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]