shots from around an LSU lake...

[hawk232]

 

[Undo]

Nice shots! They seemed a little dark, but they're still excellent. Nice job!

 

[Frequency]

Yes, dark though; they are well shot....

Congrats

Regards

 

[LaFoto]

Unfortunately all I could really think (before I even read any of the comments before mine) was "Subject in darkness, way too dark".

But I like the snake! That one looks like it's soon going to shed again.
Only is composition of those two not at its best. There is quite some room for improvement which would then not bisect the frame into two parts - which is not only NOT pleasing to look at as it is boring, but which in this case even captures two totally different subjects (snake and ducks), which even compete with each other, even though the ducks were thrown into a mild blurriness.

The bird photo is not quite so good, either. You missed focus, you totally centered your photo (eye almost smack-dap in the middle), left very much unnecessary headroom, but cut off the bird's tail. Vertical camera orientation might have helped. And a fill light to compensate for the bright sky in the background.

 

[hawk232]

Unfortunately all I could really think (before I even read any of the comments before mine) was "Subject in darkness, way too dark".

But I like the snake! That one looks like it's soon going to shed again.
Only is composition of those two not at its best. There is quite some room for improvement which would then not bisect the frame into two parts - which is not only NOT pleasing to look at as it is boring, but which in this case even captures two totally different subjects (snake and ducks), which even compete with each other, even though the ducks were thrown into a mild blurriness.

The bird photo is not quite so good, either. You missed focus, you totally centered your photo (eye almost smack-dap in the middle), left very much unnecessary headroom, but cut off the bird's tail. Vertical camera orientation might have helped. And a fill light to compensate for the bright sky in the background.

Thank you!!

I always tend to darken things up a bit, not sure why! probably my untrained eye thinking that darker looks better than lighter!

as for the composition with the snake and the two different subjects... the intent of the shot was to oblivious the ducks were to the snakes presence. I tried to keep the snake in the lower part of the frame and the ducks towards the upper, but that left the "ledge" right in the middle! I would definetly appreciate suggestions on what I should have done to improve compostion.

the bird: i always instinctively center my wildlife unless there is something else interesting in the frame (as with the snake/ducks). Again, maybe its because i am too new to this, my instincts are wrong haha. i have other pics of the bird in all different postions, i just liked this one most because his mouth was opening! I will get one of the others up...

as for the snake, he is almost assuredly about to shed again. I got a real closeup of his head and his eyes are so cloudy they almost appear fake!

also, in all of my descriptions above, if it appears as though its my ideas that are flawed, dont be afraid to tell me! tough love is the best way to learn!! lol

 

[hawk232]

here is a close up of the snake

 

[EricD]

Love that head on Duck shot...well done!