Arboretum Walk (Now armed with the 55-250mm!), CC Welcome :)

[Redeyejedi]

#1 great subject, decent sooc, but nice with the post exampled....but perhaps crop more of left and leave more to right of image to broaden the "concept" of the shot by opening up the view the bird had.
#2 is ..eh...for me as squirrels are a dozen dimes a dozen out here but..the tree detracts, boughs are nice, a tad blown highlights, but sharp and focused.
#3 appeals to me as it seem this guy is saluting/singing pledge of allegiance, albeit lil fokker got his lil arms backwards...but you scored on the foreground branches not being too much of a nuisance on the overall. but again, sharp and focused.
#4 if that is truly your first attempt at macro and you nailed intent, and i applaud your effort and give mad dap to that one, very nice. although the flower bud, which is also in focus, is a tad distracting from the faux-bumblebee, whiich i assume is the subject.
#5 is ok, but i get lost in what the story is. perhaps if one of his books were laying on his chest telling a hard day of study, or a woman/partner next to him signifying romance, or a pet depicting companionship.....but i get lost in the message/meaning/pictory...
good work toga, me likey.

 

[RxForB3]

Personally, I think the squirrel in #3 looks like he's trying to say the Pledge of Allegiance

 

[Austin Greene]

Personally, I think the squirrel in #3 looks like he's trying to say the Pledge of Allegiance

Thats it! I'll have to photoshop him up for when presidents day rolls around!

 

[RxForB3]

Just be sure to flip it so he's using the correct hand

 

[Austin Greene]

Here's another shot of the same bird. I'm not too sure about the composition since he's missing part of the tail, but it allows a bit more detail to be seen until I get the time to pull everything out of the other photo.

 

[RxForB3]

Again, newbie, but personally when I look at a picture, I don't immediately jump to the technical aspects and composition and all that. I just go off my first impression. The more I'm on this forum, the more I feel that moving toward the technical side, but I still go with my gut first feeling and where my eye is drawn to. I never would have noticed the tail had you not mentioned it. To me, I like the picture because I get this odd feeling of an "old soul." Like the bird is deep in though. To me, that's important. Not the tail...

 

[Austin Greene]

To me, I like the picture because I get this odd feeling of an "old soul." Like the bird is deep in though. To me, that's important. Not the tail...

A point well taken, and one that I'll have to keep in mind. I can be pretty harsh on myself most of the time when it comes to my photos, but its nice to know that in some cases they're better to others then they first look to me

 

[hartz]

Its my new years resolution for 2012 to be able to hold up one of my photos in front of a pro and have them say its either A) decent, or B) good.

Hmmmm. I met a Pro once. Charged me a pretty penny too. She had a camera practically glued to a set of settings and sighed every time she checked whether it was time to change the card yet. Had a bunch of helpers who changed the backdrops and props in sequence. Produced perfect photos.

Maybe once, a long time ago, when she started to collect those props, she had imagination too. Now she just holds still and fires when the model smiles. I'm exaggerating of course, but I'm seriously bothered by all the pro Pro threads and comments!

 

[Austin Greene]

When I say "pro" I mainly mean one of my friends who is a photographer for Nat Geo, or possibly a couple others I had in mind. They are by no means easy on me, and thats how I prefer it when it comes to critique, its what reminds me that I have a long ways to go. Luckily they don't follow the example of the person you just mentioned, she sounds miserable!

 

[cgipson1]

but I'm seriously bothered by all the pro Pro threads and comments!

Thats funny! I am seriously bothered by all the idiots that got a camera for Christmas (like in 2011) and are now already hanging out their "PRO" shingles!