Dennis Newman

Nice pose! You can sense his anticipation. My experience with Green Herons is that they're notoriously skittish. I'm surprised you got so close.

I agree it's beautiful lighting, and great exposure. But it looks like so many other photos I've seen before of the Grand Canyon. Hard to be truly original when you're shooting an icon.

Overall I think this is beautiful. But the rock in the bottom foreground is very distracting to me. I think you intended for the focus to be on the trees, but my eye keeps wandering back to that rock. Cropping it out makes it a stronger image to me.

I think it's a nice image, good balance between the sea grass and the clouds. Lovely detail and color.

I don't think it's as interesting as many of the other images in your portfolio. In fairness, I think this is a difficult location from which to get a good photo. At least I've never gotten a keeper from here.

Wonderful lighting and a very expressive face.

I love the lighting and the details.

A clear vision of a foggy scene. For some reason I wish the sailboat was headed in the other direction, but I don't know why...

Please leave a comment.

Shot in the Oregon Cascades, hours before the first snowfall of the season.

A young boy gets up before dawn to be the first to fish along the

Chattahoochee River near Atlanta.

Please comment!

I found this at the Portland Rose Garden. I love how the rose

appears to emerge from nothing. Did very little work in Photoshop,

just some levels to bring out the color of the rose.

 

The rose has a slightly soft focus. What do you think of that?

Comments please!

I like this one better. The foreground pool is more interesting to look at, and still leads us into the frame. But I think the harsh light works strongly against you in both images.

There's a good idea hear, using the line in the shore to lead our eyes to the rock. But the strong, harsh light overpowers the image. A lower sun might have brought out more detail in the shore, giving us more to look at. In this image it appears washed out.

 

And while this represents some strong thinking, I agree with some of the other posts that the subjects are not so interesting to look at.

A stunning shot. I disagree with suggestions to use fill flash. I think seeing more detail in the diver would subtract from the simple beauty of this image.

Technically this is an excellent photo. I'm impressed you were able to capture this without using filters.

 

Artistically, I don't think it's nearly as good as many of the other photos I see in this folder. What I like about your work is that you usually have strong concepts behind it, and you know how to arrange the elements of the photo around the concept. This photo is lacking the strong focal point that I see in so many of your other images.

 

Overall strong composition. The clouds lead our eyes to the ruin, and it's well placed to grab our attention. I think the foreground has too much contrast, I'd like to see more details in the shadows to make them less distracting.

I like this a lot. I feel as if I've stumbled across these two boats during a hike. They're almost inviting me out for a row. The arrangement of elements is good, surrounding the boats in a circle of foliage and rocks creates a serene and natural feeling. Some have suggested moving the boats more off center. I think that might have helped. But this version is well done.

I don't find this one as interesting as your other images. It feels stuck between being an image about a stark landscape, or an image about curves, without being a complete statement about either one.

 

 

I like this because it's so different from the "beauty" shots that dominate outdoor photography. This has a dumpy, trashy, worn out feeling about it. I like the added touch of the muddy soil in the foreground. The diagonal line of the boat adds impact. The only thing I find distracting are the reflections in the water. I might like this better if the tones in the water matched the "darker" concept of the image.

No one has commented yet on the lighting, which I think is one of the best things about the image. You have the blue skies with puffy clouds in the background, but diffuse light on the foreground to bring out the patterns in the stones, and warm light to bring out the colors of the stick. I don't know if you were lucky, or knew how to take advantage of a good situation. Either way, job well done.

 

I like the overall design, but like others I think the stick lacks impact. A different stick, maybe larger, maybe with a more interesting shape, would make this more appealing to me. I don't think it needs changes in the composition.

Don't be so hard on yourself for a perceived lack of originality. This image leaps off the screen with a beautifully simple design and wonderful colors. I wish all my photos were so "unoriginal".

I prefer this version. There's better detail in the rocks, I like seeing more of the whitewater. But the sky is overexposed. If this is a twilight shot, why expose it to appear as if it were shot in the middle of the day?