Activity for User 502 - Murphy Hektner - mhektner@frontier.com

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838 Comments / 243 Replies Posted

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Group Round C/R Comment Date Image
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Richard: A very nice close in portrait of the Egret with soft lighting as to not burn out detail in the white feathers. Exposure seems spot on to me and your composition is pleasing with the beak on a diagonal. YES, a good idea to go back and work this fine subject. Mar 10th
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Neal: To start out with a very colorful image, the out of focus orange background blends with the color of the Damselfly. The background is kinda bright, you could darken it down somewhat however this would be a personal choice. Pleasing composition with both the subject and the stem it is attached to are both on diagonals which is pleasing. The use of f/20 has provided good sharpness on the fly as well as the stem it is perched on. There are some digital artifacts that are present near the back end of the fly, and also in the wing. Mar 10th
63 Mar 22 Reply Hi Charles: Thanks for your positive comments on the Maple leaves and pleased you liked the image. The leaves of our Western Maple trees are a very light green as portrayed in my picture. Your slightly darker version shows a bit more contrast and texture very well, thanks for sharing your darker version. Also monitors can vary slightly from each other even if they are calibrated which mine is. Cheers !! Mar 6th
63 Mar 22 Reply Hi again Priscilla: After more study of your picture I see you very likely on purpose have the little bells on each side in reverse order in the way you set them up, they are set up opposite on each side which was an interesting idea. Mar 4th
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Barbara: Photographing white flower petals in the sun is always a challenge, certain species of flowers seem to have petals that burn out quite easily unless the photographer takes means to keep this from happening. Most of your white flower petals in the sun show some texture and detail; then the shadows also show detail instead of ending up jet black. Your basic exposure is about as good as you could get it.
Some may object to the shadow at the lower left corner, however this does not bother me. I suppose with some very careful cloning at 200% you could blend in the shadow if you wanted to match the background color. There may be some various opinions on this. Your thin white border frames the picture very nicely. Good Work !!		 Mar 3rd
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Charles: Your finished version of the Glory Pea is a vast improvement from the original as you found it in the garden. One of the major problems in photographing flowers in their natural habitats is messy and distracting backgrounds. It is always a challenge to work on the background so it compliments and supports the main subject and not distract from it. You have done a great job of cloning out "junk" in the background and smoothing it out and yet maintaining a natural look. Just a "thought", you could even darken the background a little further and make it a darker green, but that would be a personal choice.
Some nature "purists" will object to fixing the background, however my goal is to present the flowers in the most attractive manner possible without distractions in the background. In my humble opinion a good clean background is so vital to the success of any flower image.
If you go into a higher end fine art museum featuring flower pictures the artist always blends in the background to enhance the flower grouping, and not distract from it. 		Mar 3rd
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Alane: An interesting kitchen item a person may see in an antique store, but this one was special to you as it was your Grandmothers. As presented the old eggbeater just seems to float in space against a jet black background. I have looked closely and cannot see any division line from the black plexiglass and the background. A creative idea and very well photographed in all aspects. Should have placed 1st !! Mar 3rd
63 Mar 22 Comment Hi Priscilla: A very creative picture using various "props" you found around the house. This picture is a very good example of just how successfully a dead centered composition will work, the rule of thirds some photographers are enamored with would not work in this picture. Your choice of soft lighting was ideal for this set-up, and the color palate you have chosen is so very pleasant. The background yellow is a slightly darker yellow than the foreground yellow at the bottom of the frame which is very effective. Excellent work! Mar 3rd
6 comments - 2 replies for Group 63
6 comments - 2 replies Total

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