Ok, Be gentle it's my first time.

Karen_esmerelda · Jan 28, 2009

Believe it or not I have never had a group of photographers critique my photos. The most I get out of people are oh that's good or I don't really like that one. So I am putting a few up for general inspection. I would love thoughts, ideas, and just overall more than the general answers. I am picking three that give a general idea to what I do.

tirediron · Jan 28, 2009

Welcome... Interesting images. A few thoughts:

1. I really like this image. It's unusual in composition and execution, but very strong nonetheless. Everything works very well for me except the focus. I can't find one sharp spot on the image. I'm guessing this was due to the low shutter speed. As a rule of thumb, 1/60 is about as low as you should hand-hold a camera, and never hand-hold when your shutter speed doesn't exceed your focal length.

2. This one almost made it; unfortunately you have two issues here. One is a too-shallow depth of field, rendering the right forefoot and leg out of focus. As well the pose doesn't really work; animals are invariably best photographed at their eye-level, and with them looking toward, ('though not necessarily right into) the camera.

3. A nice composition with this one, and good overall exposure, BUT again, a couple of (IMO) issues. 1. The sticks in the left and right foreground are rather messy and distracting. 2. This image is screaming for the use of a polarizng filter; this would have increased the overall contrast and removed the over-bright reflections from the water. Good work on the use of the slow shutter speed to give the water a soft appearance, but in general, you need speeds of 1.5 - 3 seconds to get the really soft look.

Overall, some very nice images, with minor issues. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing more.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Karen_esmerelda · Jan 28, 2009

Thank you for your input. I finally did get a polarizing filter as well as a UV so up til now most of my photos will be that way. Depth of field I have always need to work on. I appreciate you taking the time to look them over.

Ron Evers · Jan 28, 2009

"I am picking three that give a general idea to what I do. "

The first pic would suggest you are a "cut-up". Sorry but that was an open door!

I tend to agree with John with the exception I like the water to look like water & not plastic, so I would be inclined to up the shutter speed to show less blur.