A few of my favorites...

[manaheim]

I would have gotten a straighter shot on the 1st image to make it look like a door. Have seen this shot before but it was straight on.
2nd shot is the favorite though , nice colors .
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Shoot well, Joe

Oh god, no, straight would have ruined it.

 

[joealcantar]

I would have gotten a straighter shot on the 1st image to make it look like a door. Have seen this shot before but it was straight on.
2nd shot is the favorite though , nice colors .
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Shoot well, Joe

Oh god, no, straight would have ruined it.

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Remember seeing this shot straight on in a magazine at sunset and it almost looked like a door way to ????... This is why I recommended it. If it was worthy of a few pages in a magazine believe it was not a ruined shot. If I run into it again when looking will post a link. Just giving the OP options for the next visit , does not mean they have to do it.
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Shoot well, Joe

 

[cassandra]

Hey these are all pretty good - my two cents on each one:

#1's kinda been covered - the composition is great, just needed a little cropping and a lot of contrast. Great shot!

#2 is one I really like too - there are parts that are blown out (overexposed) but it just works in this shot and actually serves to really highlight the leaf. It doesn't distract me at all.

#3 I think is my least favorite of the bunch, and there are a couple things I can point out. First, try to make sure your horizon is level - in this shot it's slanted just a tiny bit to the left. Also, since the sun was behind your subject, your subject turned out pretty dark. Typically I'd say, "fill flash" but let's be honest, this was a nature shot and a shot of opportunity and I doubt the bird would have stood there and watched while you set up a softbox. The focus actually looks just a touch soft to me as well.

#4 I can't help but think that it would look better as a portrait crop, with the branch on the right side of the frame cropped out entirely.

#5 I love it, but this time I am going to complain about the blown highlights. Dropping the exposure down by a stop or so would have retained more detail in the mushrooms and given a bit more shadow depth to the grass, in my opinion.

Nice work and I look forward to seeing more!

Thank you, this is exactly what I need! Addressing a few of your points..

For #3, yeah, it could have been a little straighter, but I wasn't thinking too much about photo techniques at the time to be honest haha. And while I like that the subject is darker, I can see why others wouldn't. Maybe I can fix that somehow...

I never thought about making #4 a portrait shot before, but I definitely see how that would be better. I'll try it and repost it later

As for #5, I'll see if I have anything that I can use to adjust the exposure a little.


For the comments regarding #1, I'm quite happy with mine the way it is, with the exception of the edits here. Maybe cropped a bit, but certainly not shot straight on... In fact I tried my best to avoid that while I was shooting.

#'s 1 and 2 are really good, especially the edited #1 pics every1 keeps doing Tell the truth, I really love the look of #2. It has potential, but I would like to know what it is

It's a leaf in a fountain

 

[OrionsByte]

For #3, yeah, it could have been a little straighter, but I wasn't thinking too much about photo techniques at the time to be honest haha.

You got about as close as I tend to get; it's hard to hold the camera PERFECTLY level but it's really easy to fix with software later.

 

[christian.rudman]

I'm going to branch out an say that #2 and #3 are my personal faves. #3 just has so much potential if you had used some fill flash or a reflector it's impossible to ignore.
Already covered #1 in your other thread about it, but I like Kerbouchard's edit the best, great work.
#2 is perfect. Good composition, great edit (if you did edit, even better if you didn't) and a really great subject.

Lets see some more so we can tear them all apart too!

 

[cassandra]

Flash? Reflectors?

1) I couldn't very well ask the pelican to sit still while I set up reflectors, and this was a spur-of-the-moment walk anyway.
2) I was trying NOT to scare it off!

 

[manaheim]

Oh god, no, straight would have ruined it.[/QUOTE]
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Remember seeing this shot straight on in a magazine at sunset and it almost looked like a door way to ????... This is why I recommended it. If it was worthy of a few pages in a magazine believe it was not a ruined shot. If I run into it again when looking will post a link. Just giving the OP options for the next visit , does not mean they have to do it.
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Shoot well, Joe[/QUOTE]

I would have gotten a straighter shot on the 1st image to make it look like a door. Have seen this shot before but it was straight on.
2nd shot is the favorite though , nice colors .
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Shoot well, Joe

I reacted because one of the things that a lot of people have to get by is centering stuff, and places like this tend to encourage it. Having things off-kilter can be extremely awesome, so telling someone to center it makes me yack.

The other reason I reacted is because you're telling someone else what their artistic interpretation should have been. This bothers me. It was his/her choice. If they wanted it centered, they would have centered it.

Mind you, you could also argue that my boosting the contrast was doing likewise... however, it seemed clear to me that the lack of contrast was a technical miss of a less experienced photographer, but the composition to me was not a miss at all... if I had to guess, that's what they were going for, and bravo to them for doing so!!

 

[RichardsTPF]

Like your editing on #1. On question, what caused the original #1 so washed out and how avoid it?

 

[D-B-J]

#2 is actually my favorite, but since everybody else is editing #1, I'll play along.

For what it's worth, I would have cropped it, but it would have removed your logo. As it is, there is a bit of dead space to the left and at the bottom.

Nice edit.

 

[Kerbouchard]

Like your editing on #1. On question, what caused the original #1 so washed out and how avoid it?

It was most likely lens flare. As far as how to avoid it, use a lens hood and/or don't shoot directly into a bright light.

 

[RichardsTPF]

Thank you.

 

[cassandra]

Like your editing on #1. On question, what caused the original #1 so washed out and how avoid it?

It was most likely lens flare. As far as how to avoid it, use a lens hood and/or don't shoot directly into a bright light.

I'll definitely remember this next time. Thanks!

 

[Kerbouchard]

#2 is actually my favorite, but since everybody else is editing #1, I'll play along.

For what it's worth, I would have cropped it, but it would have removed your logo. As it is, there is a bit of dead space to the left and at the bottom.

Nice edit.

Thanks.

 

[Art Photographers]

#2 is my favorite in this bunch. I love the color of the fallen leaf and the anticipation I feel as its about to go over the falls.

 

[joealcantar]

Oh god, no, straight would have ruined it.

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Remember seeing this shot straight on in a magazine at sunset and it almost looked like a door way to ????... This is why I recommended it. If it was worthy of a few pages in a magazine believe it was not a ruined shot. If I run into it again when looking will post a link. Just giving the OP options for the next visit , does not mean they have to do it.
-
Shoot well, Joe[/QUOTE]

I would have gotten a straighter shot on the 1st image to make it look like a door. Have seen this shot before but it was straight on. 2nd shot is the favorite though , nice colors .
-
Shoot well, Joe

I reacted because one of the things that a lot of people have to get by is centering stuff, and places like this tend to encourage it. Having things off-kilter can be extremely awesome, so telling someone to center it makes me yack.

The other reason I reacted is because you're telling someone else what their artistic interpretation should have been. This bothers me. It was his/her choice. If they wanted it centered, they would have centered it.

Mind you, you could also argue that my boosting the contrast was doing likewise... however, it seemed clear to me that the lack of contrast was a technical miss of a less experienced photographer, but the composition to me was not a miss at all... if I had to guess, that's what they were going for, and bravo to them for doing so!!

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Yep this shot looks like it was ruined by shooting straight on.
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Idea is for folks to grow and think hmmm , maybe next time I will give it a different look and see if they see something different. Of course it involves getting up early now since they are on the East coast and maybe experimenting with ND filters to get a similiar shot, but when you have places like this near you and you like shooting them get creative and make it better each time. Sorry I did not find the link sooner to get the point across.

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Try Something Completely Different - Outdoor Photographer | OutdoorPhotographer.com
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Shoot well, Joe