Activity for User 69 - Tom Pickering - info@photopicks.net

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1433 Comments / 1336 Replies Posted

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Group Round C/R Comment Date Image
24 Nov 22 Comment Most ICM I see is straight horizontal or vertical. Your using rotation adds a different “twist” to the technique for me. Very interesting. Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Comment I have always enjoyed these tiny blossoms, but have never been in a position to bring some inside to my studio. I must see if I can plant some next spring.

The yellow flowers are the star here, with the red ones merely supporting players. If you had used a smaller aperture or tried a focus stack, you could have gotten more detail all the way through.		 Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Reply I quit competing years ago. I found myself forcing my images into someone else’s concept of what was worthy and finally realized I was losing my own vision. Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Reply I did find it comical as well and wondered if anyone would notice. d;¬{D Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Comment My eye was confused by the lack of a definitive POF, forcing me to study more to appreciate the total experience. Not my style but nearly ready for the wall nonetheless. Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Comment Very soft and soothing colors, Fred. My only issue is the open bud on the right being cut off. Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Comment Marvelous image, Carol! I have little to suggest - love it just as it is. Perhaps doing a bit of dodging and burning to bring out more dimensionality, but this is wall worthy already. Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Comment Gotta love orchids - so intricate and fun to study.

Your 2nd replacement background works much better and helped the flowers to become the focus - the green speckled replacement was swallowing them.

It's definitely important to use a smaller f-stop for orchids. The one you chose softened the front and back.		 Nov 20th
24 Nov 22 Reply It works. I didn’t want to boost the vibrancy too much, but you’ve shown it can handle a bit more. Nov 9th
24 Nov 22 Reply Here's the flower with a black background. Nov 7th
24 Nov 22 Reply I typically use a black background for just that reason, but have gotten comments recently that it's too stark. I will post one that way shortly. Nov 7th
6 comments - 5 replies for Group 24
53 Nov 22 Reply Way cool! Nov 20th
53 Nov 22 Comment I agree with Rick about the colors and had a go at boosting them a bit. Thoughts? Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Reply As convenient as it is to take images with my phone, I'm finding the quality is not quite up to par with my DSLRs, so I'm trying to use my phone for photos less. Yet, carrying all that gear is a definite pain. d:¬{( Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Comment I agree with Arabella about the background being a distraction. Another issue is the wall to the right which appears slanted.

I straightened the image, using the wall as a guide. Then I desaturated the wall and darkened the greenery in the background. Thoughts?		 Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Comment Wow, Rick! That’s so very creative and has a lot of movement.

Can you share a little about how your distorted the irises?		 Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Comment Lovely scene you’ve captured, Miriam. Arabella did a great job removing the slab. For me, it looked like that slab could be a pedestal for a statue. I added one of a dragon. Thoughts? Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Comment What a fun capture! Great stories found here - the imagination is really piqued.

To give it that extra punch, I suggest some extra contrast, pops of color in the shoelace, the water, and darkening the hydrangea. Thoughts?		 Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Comment This image has lots of potential, with distinct zones. I do find that there is a tiny amount of tilt and the green hills and sky appear rather flat tonally.

The best area to level from is the buildings in the middle ground, as they are the focal point of the image.

I had a try at giving a bit of tonal pop to the scene. Thoughts?		 Nov 19th
53 Nov 22 Reply Not a bad idea about adding some blur to the background. Good catch! d:¬{D Nov 9th
6 comments - 3 replies for Group 53
95 Nov 22 Comment Nice capture. The shallow DOF really got what was important, so the soft legs don’t really take away from it.

My suggestion is to rotate the image slightly to strengthen the composition. Thoughts?		 Nov 20th
95 Nov 22 Reply They are quite wild here. I see about one a year here in the midwest. Nov 20th
95 Nov 22 Comment I love these flowers and have many captures of them in my collection. I would love to see a 1:1 of it, though.

I did some dodging and burning to add a bit more dimensionality. Thoughts?		 Nov 20th
95 Nov 22 Reply And another with a partial rotation for a diagonal: Nov 20th
95 Nov 22 Reply Here's a rendition with it rotated to the left. Thoughts? Nov 19th
95 Nov 22 Comment The problem with photographing crystals is their transparency confuses the software as to what is in focus and what is not. More manual refinement is necessary to get the front faces sharp. Nov 19th
95 Nov 22 Reply I usually have my first image be slightly in front of where the stack should start and end well past the back end. Before merging, I review the images at the front and back and leave out any that don't have sharp information to work with. Nov 19th
95 Nov 22 Comment Fantastic Subject! So much to see and study. Great find.

I had a try to sharpen and darken that area in the top left. I also removed most of the specular highlights. Thoughts?		 Nov 19th
95 Nov 22 Comment Fascinating subject. Can you tell us more about it?

I wanted to see what it looked like rotated 90 degrees to the right, and leveled. Thoughts?		 Nov 19th
95 Nov 22 Reply I get what you're saying - it didn't totally wow me, but I couldn't say why. No crop - this is how it was framed. Nov 15th
5 comments - 5 replies for Group 95
17 comments - 13 replies Total

285 Images Posted

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