mmarengo

I didn't apply, of course, any color correction to this image when converting from raw, to

preserve the red tint on the bush. Is it too much or a more "natural" color was preferable?

Warm portrait and nice use of soft focus. I like the crop as it is.

No need of fill light. There is enough light in the head to see the details of the eye, which is what counts. The warm sunset backlight makes this photo very good. I bit too blurry, true, but ok at this resolution.

Nice soft warm colors.

The light falls flat on the background (there are no shadows to give the sense of distance, try to convert to B/W and you won't see much detail there). Not your best photo in my opinion (some of the B/W fotos in your folder are instead quite excellent).

Nice texture in the sky, and nice warm light on the ground. I like how the light falls on the white construction on the left, otherwise in shadow.

Good subject, but the exposure is slightly off (too much light taking out details on the right side) and a darker background would have probably been better.

You chose a difficult subject at a difficult time: there is too much light in the background and on the street, which your film cannot possibly cope with. As a result too many details in the bright areas are washed out, while the dark areas are flat.

This is very good. The light on her shirt is a little washed out, but the exposition on her face is just right.

It is a good shot that put in evidence what it should be highlighted: the beautiful eyes of the model, which are very sharp and in focus. I don't line very much, though, the use of soft focus that you did in this case. It makes the photo a little blurred, without succeeding in removing all the small skin imperfections that everybody has, which is the main reason soft focus is used in portraits, and which you have done well in other of your portraits.

When the photo appeared in my browser I though: oh, no, another boring tree in the mist. Then I scrolled down and I saw the light reflected in the water ripples. Well done!

Quite scary indeed. It is a very good idea and the death carrying the angel is shot in a really realistic way. I guess you pasted the figures on a separate image of a cemetery. I am not totally convinced about the choice of the cemetery, though: I am wondering if there isn't too much light. Maybe a photo of a cemetery at dusk would have made for a better atmosphere, don't you think? Alternatively, why not making the two figures semitransparent as if they are ghosts?

I wasn't sure if submitting this in the portrait or street category. I shot this while this

group was playing in a street in Paris (I later found out the group is called "Prelude de

Paris" and plays in the Metro and other public places), so I had the usual constraints of

street photography (no setup, you shot with the available light at people that are minding

their own business). On the other hand these people played for more than one hour, so I

had time to move around and do some experimenting. The main problem was that it was

dark, these people were moving a lot and I didn't have my tripod. This is what I got with

my D100 and an equivalent ISO 800, while looking for a close-up portrait-like shot. Any

comment?

This photo suffered from a strong contrast between light and shadow areas, because of

the strong sun and the haze around the far mountains. Basically, the colors were a tad

washed away because of the haze, and the shadows were too dark and losing details. I

tried to get the full color and tonal range back with PS (selective dodging and burning with

curves and masks): what do you think of it?

These constructions are called "Gias" in the dialect of the Italian Alps, in the southern Piedmont, not far from Nice in France. They are the places where seasonal shepards keep their tool, prepare fresh cheese and sleep during summer, when they stay in the high pastures with their cows and goats. The one with the grass on the top is old and has been replaced by the tin-covered one which is still in use in Spring, before the shepards move to even higher pastures.

 

The rocky wall on the background is called "Pis du Pes". Behind this wall there is an extensive system of caves (one of the largest in Italy). The caves contain subterran lakes, that in spring fill up and overflow through a system of conduits in the middle of the rocky wall, generating a powerfull fall that lasts a few weeks (usually in April - May). I have actually been in one of the caves of the system (these are not turistic caves, you can only access them with special gears and trained cavers). The name of the wall "Pis du Pes" means "Piss of the Pesio" where Pesio is the name of the river in the valley whose springs are at the bottom of the wall.

Funny! A very passionate kiss, did she left a mark ;-) ?

This was a difficult shot, because of the sun flooding the foreground with light, and the

dark background washed away by the summer haze. In the end I liked how it turned out,

though, with the haze being a plus for the blue shade given to the background. Do you

agree?

Nice. I was going to say that maybe you should have cropped closer to the drop, but then I like the blue gradient, so I guess you did just about the right composition.

Scary but I like it. The blurr helps in this case. The eye on the right is a bit too dark, though, a slightly more balanced light maybe would have helped?

Good capture. What about cropping more on the left?

Excellent exposure able to get at the same time the details in the moon and in the lamp post. Not sure about all this negative space, one would espect something to happen on the right. Wonder how it would have been with more of the lamp post in the frame.

What are the little spots?

The problem I see in this picture is that the tree has the same colors of the background, and does not stand out from it. Selective focus may have helped, but I guess you wanted to preserve its texture. Also, the bushed in the bottom right have too much highlights?

Nice panorama, well composed. Light is very strong though, I would have preferred a softer capture with less contrast between dark and luminous areas (did you enhance contrast in photoshop? At least on my screen dark areas have lost details)

Interesting the pose of the guys on the fence: I would be probably scared to death by what is happening, and they are just there quietly watching as if nothing... Nice capture, and humor...