|
| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks Arne
The reason I posted this was I thought everyone would find it interesting. Even in the USA people outside of Florida never really see this. So outside of general human interest I still thought it is a good Nature Story. I got a good image for next month also---most will not have seen this up coming image either. |
Aug 26th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks for your thoughts. I've been looking and enlarged the image and do not see the halo you refer to. |
Aug 26th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks Barbara I've been trying to get this type of shot for several years. These clouds are not always present and often when they show up I'm not in a location where i can get the photo without man made objects in the scene. There always isn't time to make the run to the everglades. This year everything just fell into place. |
Aug 21st |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Did you try using Photoshop AI to generate some space on the left side? I've been told by several people that it works pretty good. |
Aug 19th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks Bill
These dust clouds can extend for miles and they do move faster than the lower clouds on the horizon. If you leave, for example, your car parked and these clouds pass overhead you will actually find brownish dust particles on the surface of the car. Since these clouds original in Africa it makes me wonder just how much dust ends up in the atmosphere. |
Aug 19th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
Thanks Diane. I believe a photo should not need an explanation as so almost didn't post this. In the end I thought it might just be interesting. Those low clouds on the horizon are our daily summertime storm clouds that form over the everglades. |
Aug 14th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts. I wasn't going to post this shot but figured most non-Floridians would likely never see this sort of thing and they would learn something. |
Aug 14th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
I've been going back and forth between your image here and the one in group 83. In the end I think I prefer the monochrome image and only because the sign on the back of the chair is not black as in the color image. While the image is technically sound to me the center of the image just feels congested. To me is seems like the chair is trying to hide the lake and the center of the image feels cluttered. This feeling is enhanced by the extremely deep shadow areas on each side. Maybe it those shadows were opened a bit so there would be a difference between the lake and the shoreline trees it would open the image.
My comments are based partly on the fact that I much prefer simple clean images. But that is likely my bias. I'm just not a fan of deep shadow areas. |
Aug 13th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
I feel this is a nicely captured record of the ancient temple dedicated to the god of the forge. The slight enhancement of warm tones to the structure make it feel like either sunrise or sunset and makes the image more inviting. I understand that when you straightened the image the building became more cramped in the frame but even in the original it seems a bit tight. For me I would have a larger frame and move the structure a bit to the right as the left side of the building visually seems like the front so adding some space for the viewer to enter from on the left would make for a more comfortable image. |
Aug 10th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
Whether it is the clouds or blowing snow this image just makes me feel cold. Granted I'm sitting here in south Florida where I'm in a perpetual sauna, but the clouds, snow and color tones make me feel quite cold. I feel the light striking the great peak draws the eye, but the light on the lower peak on the right moves me across the image. While there are areas of snow that are a bit overexposed they somehow just seem like slabs of ice that are supposed to be. In the end the tones just work well together. |
Aug 10th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
The first thing that strikes me is this is so much better in monochrome. The impact is greater and the mood is likewise stronger. Looking at the image I feel both cold and small in the scale of so much majesty. Monochrome always enhances structure and thus the drying racks take on greater visual weight. I feel the crop works well but for me the lower left corner feel a bit cluttered as detail seems to lack clarity. |
Aug 10th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
First a hardy congratulation on completing the 50 state visiting challenge. Well done!
I am a sucker for images that use a limited color palette such as this. I also appreciate the manner in which the clouds seem to mimic the flow of the ice and water in the fore and mid ground. The addition of bits of ice floating in the foreground adds interest and makes the mountains seem more vast. While it is not a show stopper, I can look at this image for quite a while and not lose interest. There is just a timeless quality to this scene. |
Aug 10th |
| 36 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
You will get no argument from me as you possess at least one more image of the aurora borealis than I do. Since no two images of this event are ever the same the presentation using only one color just add a different look to the image. Is that a shooting star on the left side just above the trees or is it something man made? As you noted you were fortunate to have the moon absent. I would like to know the source of the light ray rising in the center of the frame. |
Aug 10th |
7 comments - 6 replies for Group 36
|
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
First off, please take care of yourself. If you don't have a photo for next month it is nothing to worry about. This group needs you to be healthy and taking more shots like this
This is really a quite dramatic action shot. I like the environmental background as it also keeps the subject well separated from the background. The image does look better after you reworked it. Also the addition of the contrast makes the birds look sharper as well. You also proved something to yourself in that using a bit of extra DOF really helps with images where your subjects may not be exactly in the same plane. That is something that is hard to remember when the action gets fast and furious. Shutter speed you remember, aperture--not so much. |
Aug 19th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks. The yellow around the eye is there in full daylight, it just does not show up as well.
Staying dry will be a problem if I'm to follow Richards suggestion from the above comment. |
Aug 19th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Funny you should mention using 1/160 second to catch rain drops. I've been playing around with that concept with birds. Have not come up with anything that is show worthy as yet. But I like the idea.
|
Aug 19th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
OK, what happened? I know I posted a comment on this image earlier, did anyone see it?
I'll repost when I get home.
|
Aug 19th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Even in my prime I could not out run a gator. They are very fast for the first 30-40 feet. I could NEVER get up if I was on both knees. |
Aug 10th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
I always say that the eye is drawn to the light and the bright parts of the image. In this case the sun in the sky. This draw might be a bit more powerful in this image because of the near monochrome color palette of the rest of the image. As Cindy noted the sky is really not all that interesting so I would crop out the sun entirely. The rest of the image is quite strong, especially the color palette. The foliage clearly shows the size of the sand dunes and tht helps to tell the story. you might consider running the foreground through a bit of sharpening to increase their detail. |
Aug 10th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
You certainly got your money's worth with a shot like this. Getting a "snow" leopard in the "snow" is a plus as is having the leopard in beige rather than white. The crop you show is just way to unbalanced and to me it looks like you were shooting tight and just missed the shot due to movement. Personally I would go with Cindy's second crap sample. I know the tail is long but the extended diagonal works well and the two black rocks add context and interest as well. |
Aug 10th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
This is a well done environmental portrait of a bird that is quite hard to capture. His perch on the tree make him appear majestic. Any time you get into heavy cropping and can preserve some detail you have been successful. There are a few spots on the tree and the top of the bird's breast that look to be a bit hot. Regardless of what the camera meter says I would suggest stopping down a bit when you have a bird with white feathers and bright light. The camera meter always works on an average of the entire scene so the whites will almost always be blown. Maybe stop down 1.5 stops to make sure to get it all. |
Aug 10th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks Cindy. You hit all the major things I thought about when taking this image. I felt camera angle to be important especially for the raindrops. I find it amazing that the yellow rim of the eye does not show in daylight but it low light it is quite dramatic. I was hoping he would slightly open his jaws so the teeth would show, you can just see the tips of a few. |
Aug 10th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
In camera. But you can also use the in camera meter as a spot meter |
Aug 5th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
Your 600mm lens really got you up close to the subject and with a little help from the bird's position nicely blurred the background. I would have thought f6.3 would have gotten a bit more of the bird's body in focus. even the back leg is soft. I do love the sharpness of the face and insect. That is what makes the image work. While you did a good job with the background I would still crop off the green at the top likely leaving just a little hint of green where it is lowest.
In this image the sharpness of the eye, face and insect is so strong it pretty much overcomes the lack of sharpness in the body. Nice work with this one. |
Aug 5th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Thanks Susan
This image was taken in the in early evening on a very gloomy rainy day. It wasn't exactly dark. Note that the ISO is really high at 2000. The image I submitted in April was taken in much darker conditions. It is still about getting a meter reading. For this month the settings were about getting a fast enough shutter so freeze the raindrop splashes.
Bull Gators when the bellow can certainly raise the goose bumps. Even more so when it is near dark. If they are bellowing you can bet there is a female involved. The big guys do NOT want to share! |
Aug 5th |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Comment |
Actually I like this image quite a bit. I'm a bit partial to flight shots and the "little Greenies" are a favorite of mine as well. Like Bud said the foliage "skewering" the bird are really annoying and are "crying" to be removed. For me when I get a shot such as this I first run my edit in Lightroom and then save it as a finished jpg. Then, if this is an image I may want to hang or gift to someone I will continue the edit and in this case I would remove the offensive blades. For the record I was doing this type of editing long BEFORE Adobe provided the current tools. Then I would save the image again noting it is a full edit.
For this image I really like the clarity of the bird and I like the framing of the wings so set off the bird's head. The blades if foliage help tell the story of the bird as this is where it spends most of its time. I do think there are two crops that should be made. just to clean up the image. There is a white branch on the right edge that could easily be cropped off (bright white distractions on the edges I think should be removed. Additionally there are those little tips of green along the bottom edge on the left side, those can be cropped as well. On my monitor the wings seem a bit noisy so maybe some noise reduction is warranted. In some ways the grass makes a nice frame for the flight of the bird. These birds I find really interesting and this is a wonderful shot. |
Aug 3rd |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
I also like the shot and when I saw it I thought about removing the reed. But as long as you are removing something I would also remove the one touching his feet. |
Aug 2nd |
| 67 |
Aug 24 |
Reply |
Hey, wildlife shooting is supposed to be "eye" level. But I'm NOT laying on the ground next to the big fella. Besides I was not wearing any "fishy" deodorant. |
Aug 2nd |
7 comments - 8 replies for Group 67
|
14 comments - 14 replies Total
|
