Time to make some improvements!

[DevC]

Alright, last time i posted photos here I got some great feedback (Thank you community!) and i've been working on improving my composition a bit. Currently lighting/ post editing skills I am working on, but I've noticed severe flaws in my composition which i have saught to work on.
I'm also doing alot more exploration in my area to try to find "interesting in the average". Do any of you have tips for doing this? I want to shoot things in my area that are typically overlooked by people and put an interesting feel to this.

Most of my shots are on a d90 with a kit lens and a prime af 50mm. Some are with a 55-200mm dx but bleh. I'm saving my money for a d800, possibly some gear.

I know some of my edit work isn't the greatest, but i think with more practice it'll get there.

I'll post the ones i'm most happy about to start and then go down in order.
I'll also give in my comments and my own critique of the photos.

^^I was playing with bigger aperature for landscapes. I wanted to put a bokeh without so much detail in the background and i feel i failed a bit of that here. Further, I did not have a tripod to shoot this photo (my manfrotto broke...damnit)

HEavy edit work. Some i'm proud of some i'm not...eh

Bleh....zoo. I'm gonna try shooting animals again at the philadelphia zoo this weekend. I'm gonna use a monopod (did not use this last time) to try to keep the camera more still in my hands.

This one, i'm the most dissapointed by thus far in terms of composition. What i envisioned as an interesting shot in my head, did not come out that way. I wanted to ensure my photo obeyed the rule of thirds,and at the end of the day, that composition did not help achieve my results. Note, this intersection was busy, so it was consistent of shooting a few snaps then walking back...lol I wanted to have the sign at the road viewable at the same time. I could not find a proper composition to do this with, without causing some severe bending of the sign to the point where the sign is not legible. I did a compromise here, and this is the best i could achieve...ugh.

 

[IzzieK]

What else can I say -- when you already know what is wrong with your shots? Anyway, #3 would have been good with lesser wood and more up there to complete the top of the trees. #4 -- if you moved back a little bit, the top of the bird's head will be more complete. A bit too much foreground in my taste for #1. There is nothing to excite my fancy for the last one.

 

[Designer]

DevC; you don't have to wait until you have 5 pics to post. You can just do one at a time. In fact; only one per thread is preferred.

A couple of these you offered your intentions, which is good, but you didn't do that for all of them.

 

[DevC]

Thanks both of you.

i mean I posted my own critique and flaws for my own photo after taking a nights rest and trying my best to view it objectively. I try my best to be as least biased (harsh or polite) towards my photos so I can see clearly what I need to improve on.
anywho feedback from others from what I missed is always great.

good to know about the foreground on the first one. I didn't think of it at first but you are correct izzie. I did not want to capture too much of the further background becuase it was all fully dumpsters...and a pretty disgusting background. Would you believe this was shot near a junkyard? about the bird, I guess I just haven't found my animal cliche yet. Is there a good way to approach animals such as birds gently ? I'm gonna excitement more at the zoo this weekend.

Designer, I understand. I guess Maybe I should just keep this thread open and continue to post pics continuously? I'll try to add some of my own (least biased) views a day or two after.