lmcinnis37

Very descriptive title, and a very poignant image of childhood. But, the image suffers from too much information. I suggest squaring up the frame, cropping out some of the "extra" information, and then sharpening the image. Since the image wasn't tack sharp to begin with, it may not respond well to enlargement, so don't expect anything more than an 8x10, and, even then, be prepared for specular artifacts in the image from the sharpening. Regardless, this will be a special memory for years to come. (Trust me, I know.) Let's hope they will always be this close and this loving to each other.

Eye-popping beautiful colors and great visual overall. Really great work.

The ruins are very dark in shaded areas. I suggest lightening them by selectively isolating those dark areas and then using the Brightness-Contrast control to lighten them. Also, cloning out the metal posts and one sign makes the ruins look "original". I have an example to show you. Overall, very nice image, framing, and exposure.

You have a good eye. You have to "see" it in person or in your mind before you can capture and show it. I particularly like the posterizing which makes the foursome become more like the mural behind them. The complimentary colors are great! Very nice work!

IMHO, the balance of the image could be improved by moving the flower back from the drapery and more toward the center of the frame. Everything else is perfect and a tribute to your imagination and creativity. I am attaching an example of my suggestion. Regards.

IMO, the displayed image does not offer the whites and richness of color that are available. It looks murky to me. The capture itself is amazing. It just needs some tweaking to elevate it to where it should be. See an example of what I mean.

Excuse me for taking license with such a beautiful sunset, but I wanted to see more of the detail than your image allowed. I am glad I did, as the magenta blooms hardly show up at all on your image as shown. I lightened it and cloned out some of the disturbed sand (from footsteps no doubt which made it look like a stomping ground). This is merely another view using your masterful work. I hope you don't mind the liberties taken. Congratulations on your excellent image.

Beautiful child, great smile, great color impact, exposure good. The lighting is less than optimal, seeming to come only from the right, and leaving the left side of the facial area with less exposure, and a distracting shadow (of the red material) on the right side of the face. The generally red-hued skin color shifts to a bluish tint around the left eye, as well. The subject's general facial tones seem to me to be redder than normal. When correcting facial color in an image with a disproportionately strong surrounding color (red, in this case), it may be preferrable to isolate the facial area on your monitor when determining the best post-processing color adjustments. I used the white of the hat and the facial area to choose what I felt to be the best color tones. This eliminates the color bias from the predominately red outfit and provides a more "clean" choice for the "correct" facial color. Grated, this is largely subjective, and, having seen the subject, it gives you, the photographer, a decided advantage in the color selection process. But, another which is easier to see and correct are the sleeves which have a decidedly dingy, off-white coloring. When compared to the bright white of the hat, this becomes more noticeable and demanding of correction. Finally, the decorations on the garment are not sharp and lend specular highlights which look a great deal like sloppy processing. It isn't, but neither do these specular highlights contribute to the portrait. I would suggest editting them out, particularly where they are not recognizeable. These highlights I did not address in my example, however. See it as an attachment.

Great colors, textures, and contrast, but frame competes with the image's textures IMO.

The preceding is on target, and I won't add to that. I took what you displayed and slightly darkened the image, added a little aqua color to the water (to help minimize the brightness of the falling water), and toned down some (but not all) of the lighter stones. The wetted stones, due to the reflection of the sky and surroundings, naturally would not be the same color as the dry stones . A tiny bit of added saturation will bring out the richness of the unwetted stones, and cropping some of the foliage at top may be beneficial, but I Ieave those modifications to your discretion. My thrust was to make what you have more acceptable. I hope it works for you..

Basic agreement with the prior critique, but his attempt made the subject too dark, also. I removed the pole, walkway, and railing, extended the sleeves, and darkened some other hotspots (rocks, etc.). See my attempt.

 

This is a cute image which IMO would be better with a re-crop to remove the dark area in the top right margin and a little brightening of the entire image to bring out the dark reddishness of the squirrel's coat. I thank you for being a friend to this little guy by providing a bit of winter sunflower seeds.

Interesting and creative technique. Nice work. I do feel that the motion blur should be behind the arms and bat (and ball) rather than the body. A little motion blur is often good and helpful to an image, but it distracts when it's overdone. The body blur may fall into that trap. I don't think your grandson will care about any of this, however. All he will be thinking is what a great grandfather he has! You get my vote, as well..

A few days earlier the leaves may have been in full fall colors rather than in brown. An increase in saturation provides colors that makes it appear that the shot was taken earlier and on a mostly sunny day rather than on a cloudy-dull day. Granted, my modification may be too saturated for your tastes, but IMO any saturation will improve the richness of color and impact. It depends on what you wish to convey--reality or impact.

Her weathered countenance shows a happiness and kindness and a genuine love of life that is captivating. The lighting is excellent and your subject cooperated beautifully. Congratulations!

A bit over exposed. If you darken the image somewhat and increase the contrast, you would have an image which displays better. And, if you have the opportunity to re-shoot when clouds are in the sky this would be a knockout image.

This is subtle and nitpicking, perhaps, but the ripples are not parallel to the framing. IMO, doing a litttle digital distortion, allows the top ripples to become parallel, increasing the interest. See the sample. Regardless, I can only echo the laudatory comments offered earler. Great image. Good eye.

I love the ambience of the scene, but a suggestion which IMO makes the image display better is to place a narrow dark border (stroke) around the image to separate it from the white frame and the lighter areas at the top of your image. See what it does in my sample.

I find this version a bit too pastel and without any supporting interest...kind of like it got caught in a West Texas sandstorm. I liked the technique, however. For kicks, I put it in PS Auto Levels and found it much more interesting, at least to me. See for yourself.

Ask anyone who has tried insect macro and you will find the problems are many.

In this image you seem to have resolved any potential problems and produced an excellent image with great sharpness and detail from wingtip to wingtip and head to tail. The colors appear true and the composition flawless. The background is natural and one which provides habitat for this dragonfly. Excellent work, and I heartily congratulate you for this wonderful image.

This image is somewhat flat. Suggest using an editing program like PS and isolating the sky (Magic Wand), then introducing clouds (Select sky colors, blue and white; use Magic Wand to select the sky area. Then, Filter, Render, Clouds.) Use Brightness and Contrast to correct to your taste any sky problems . Next, change from sky selection to the mountain and flower areas (Select, Inverse). Use the Brightness and Contrast levels to bring out the richness in color and contrast.

You should get something like the attached image.

I am sure your image is accurately exposed and on color. But, it sure doesn't

look impresive due to the dirt color of the eroded canyon walls. I tried to "jazz it up" a notch with some rich colors. No, it isn't what you saw or photoraphed, but it may be more colorful on your wall. Take a look and see. Regards.

You have at least two other good cropping options, one horizontally just below the upper cloud, and, after that, vertically at the dip in the big lower cloud. All make good images. Very nicely done. Simple, but elegant in that simplicity.

Your petunias deserve better display. The bald sky leaves you with little to show in the flowers. PS can come to your aid to fill the sky. First, select your sky-cloud colors--I used blue and white (how original!). Use the magic wand to isolate the sky and then go to Filters, Render, and Clouds. Then adjust the brightness and contrast of the clouds. You may also adjust the flowers By using Select, Inverse and correcting them (brighten, etc.) before you go to Select, Deselect. See my suggestion image.

If you just have to have the image, PS can come to the rescue. Sorry, but I used "artificial" clouds and sky. Still, it is far better than the darkened image you posted. Maybe you can use this one. :-)