Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/U.S. Army Sniper Team

Reason: I have two main reasons for nominating this image: 1) It dispels the myth that army snipers move to the ragged edge of a window or door to snipe, as you can plainly see in this photograph, the sniper's back is up against the wall; and 2) this shows a sniper with an observe in tow, which is usually not the case when photographed off the battlefield. Observers are frequently assigned to sniper when out in the field, but not when the sniper is shooting at dummy targets (like on a firing range). Togather, these two reasons create a unique image that I feel deserves to be featured.
Proposed caption: A U.S. Army sniper team from Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) scans the horizon after reports of suspicious activity along the hilltops near Dur Baba, Afghanistan, Oct. 19, 2006, after a medical civic action project was conducted by the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Cooperative Medical Assistance team.
Articles this image appears in: Sniper, M24 Sniper Weapon System
Creator: U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Bertha Flores

Support as nominator TomStar81 (Talk) 07:18, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The sunlight from the window and its reflection off the floor are blown out and distract focus from the subject. MER-C 08:25, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Agree, if somebody could do something about this reflection, the image will look better, but I stil Support it even the way it is.--Mbz1 13:51, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, while war pictures are always needed, this picture, with its not very interesting subject and low technical quality, is not some of Wikipedia's best work. --Aqwis 14:09, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Interesting composition and subject matter, but the blown sunlight is just too distracting. SingCal 16:25, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Interesting composition and subject matter, but too blurry. Spikebrennan 16:57, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support. The content is suffuciently compelling that it makes the technical nit about the burned-out window unimportant by comparison. -- The Anome 19:43, 3 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. It's not just the blown window; per MER-C, there is also a large reflection on the floor. Together, the two occupy a large and central part of the picture and make it very difficult to look at. Not among wikipedia's best work. --Malachirality 21:53, 3 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Is there any way to fox the problems, or is the image beyond all hope? TomStar81 (Talk) 00:03, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Blown highlights are, by definition, unrecoverable. You can try to cover them up, but that's about it. There's nothing we can do about the window. MER-C 02:03, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. Aside from the huge blown sunlight areas, the main subject -- the sniper and his gun -- are just out of focus. It's a striking image in some ways and is not without encyclopedic utility but we need greater technical quality for featured. --Dhartung | Talk 05:35, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - I have to agree. The main subjects of the image (the soldiers) are completely out of focus. The window is very distracting. If it weren't for that I would have supported Booksworm ^{Sprechen-sie Koala?} 21:15, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Focus issues, sunlight hindrance, questionable quality, etc. --Shark face 217 22:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not promoted MER-C 02:30, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]