squirrelman

Nice detail and textures. Perhaps a bit washed out tonally and color-wise, you might try adding some black to the neutral tones, reds,and greens (PS).

Good use of subject placement and short depth of field, although I would have liked a little more DOF in the foreground so there was only a blurry edge going into the background.

Thanks for your kind comments, Edith.

Hi Janine. Hummingbirds are a very difficult subject to photograoh unless you have a special flash set up that can freeze the action. Focus was good on the head and bill. However, not sure if you used a flash here but in any case the subject is significantly overexposed. I believe if you are using a flash setup you need relatively low lighting which absent strong backlighting.

Young lab having a great time retrieving every ball in sight. Here

she managed to carry two, but at one point she briefly had three!

A beautiful purple grackle looking in the direction of the grave to

its right. Historic Greenwood Cemetery is heavily populated by both

ravens and crows, a close relative to the grackle and sometimes

mistaken for them. The blurred grass effect is due to a combination

of short DOF, the long lens, and a stiff breeze.

Thanks to all those who lefts comments and ratings.

These little gals are often around but nearly impossible to

photograph away from a bird feeder. I had been trying for two years

without success until today. This is the one keeper I got in about

fifty frames -- they move so fast, never stay on a branch for more

than a second, and are usually partially concealed. I got it by

guessing the next branch it was going to hop on! It was here about

one second, and in fact I assumed I was too late with my snap but was

pleasantly surprised! I don't think they are much larger than a

hummingbird.

Marc, I really can't understand why you converted to, or originally shot this one in, black and white, as the lighting was already rather shadowy and backlight. Color would have really helped make the bird more visible. With a better exposure and in color this would be a very nice catch.

Beautifully posed and composed, Jim. It does indeed have a painting like quality to it. The subdued, sepia-like tones also work nicely. I do think you might consider trying to bring out some highlights in her hair, and perhaps also in the eyes.

A nice pose and the man has an interesting expression, Gonga. I don't think the background adds much to the composition, and would suggest a much closer crop.

This one doesn't quite work for me, Laurie. Perhaps it was intentional but nothing seems to be in focus and the center of the flower is glarish and overexposed, as often happens with reds in flowers. I also think that the empty space on the sides doesn't really help the composition, if you are going to center it you might as well crop it closer.

A nice image, Jeff, with good subject placement. The subject is a bit small in the frame, I think I would crop somewhat closer to increase the size of the bird. As far as identifying this sparrow, it's either a swamp sparrow or a white throated sparrow, but it's too small in the frame and not at the best angle to make a positive ID.

It's not often you get close enough to one of these guys in the wild,

although I only had a fraction of a second to compose as this guy

landed right next to me without realizing I was there, and then

spotted me. I was actually trying to shoot a golden crowned kinglet at

the time.

A colorful shot, but a bit too soft in focus and a bit too busy in terms of the background making it difficult to isolate the subjects in the foreground. Might have worked better had you gotten closer to the foreground subjects.

This magnificent looking red tailed hawk has just captured an unlucky

local rat. She -- I think it's a female -- caught it almost right in

front of me on the ground in a heavily shaded area just inside the

Grand Army Plaza side of the park. To eat in peace, she took it up

into the tree, and was kind enough to let me take about 100

photographs. This was one of the more dramatic shots.

A tiny hermit thrush looks for worms near the base of a large pine

tree in Prospect Park.

The pose is rather interesing, but the strong backlighting against the much darker subject led to some underexposure and poor subject highlight detail. Some post processing to lighten the subject and bring out the highlights would enhance.

A dramatic catch of a Sharp Shinned Hawk with its prey, an unfortunate local pigeon.

She is seen starring over at two squirrels who, believe it or not, approached in her direction by climbing down branches of a tree on the left but just out of frame. They appeared to taunt the hawk briefly, and then retreated. The telephone pole the hawk is dinning on is a popular squirrel look out post, and is likely scent marked, so perhaps the squirrels were reacting territorially. Not a good idea, of course, except they probably realized that the hawk already had its meal for the day.

More Background:

Taken through my living room window (opened), believe it or not -- I live in the heart of urban Brooklyn in the Park Slope section. I had suspected that this hawk was around, she (I'm guessing a female as female's are larger than the males and this one is quite large) had hunted around here before near the bird feeder downstairs, and I got a fleeting shot of her in a nearby tree about a month ago.

About 13 minutes earlier, there were perhaps 100 or more birds gathering around the newly filled bird feeder when they suddenly bollted into the air in unison. All apparently but this one pigeon. I did not see the actual kill.

Very cute catch and the water coloring is fabulous. I would have preferred the subjects to be a bit more to the left of the frame with more space on the right.

Awesome landscape with very attractive color and lighting. Perhaps a bit darkish in the foreground, some careful shadow adjustments would enhance.

I love the lines and circular swirling patterns. While one usually likes to avoid centering of subjects, here it seems to work very well. Might this be a copper head rattler?

This little fellow was very interested in my camera and 400mm lens. I

believe he thought it might be the source of those almonds I was

tossing around!

Here's an edited copy with some highlights/shadows adjustments, some sepia toning, and a little sharpening:

Hi David. Welcome to photo.net. You recorded a sight that most Americans tune out and walk by every day without noticing, as if said individual was invisible. Documentary-wise, this is a nicely timed catch. However, the lighting is a bit problematic because the subject was half in shadow and half in sun, and it's hard to see any detail in the man's face.

 

Anything you can do to bring our more detail in the man's face would greatly enhance. I'm also thinking that the conversion to b & w might have reduced the available detail.