ramamohan_pai

Very nice picture. Never seen one with so much difference in lighting.

 

Reg the shooting location and associated problems, suggest checking the pic and disc in this link out : http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=30596&b=vg6&st=0&la=199&ph=31&sid=9969&u=9969

They are Lily Pads. Its very common for Birds (the ones that catch fish) to stand right in those pads. The pads being big can easily take the weight of medium sized birds. You can see a similar scene here in one of my pictures. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1527622

 

Its certainly a waxwing. There are two varieties - Cedar Waxwing and Bohemian Waxwing. There are subtle differences between them. Bohemian is supposedly bigger than Cedar.

Dhruba, Actually it lacks contrast. It may be due to the early morning fog or due to scanning.

Vibin, You have done your best given the lighting that was available to you. To be able to take some killer shots of this beautiful place, you need to be there during the "golden hour" - around sunrise Or sunset.

Nice shot, Matthew. A slightly off centre composition+use a polariser (??) to cut off the glare from the leaves would have enhanced the picture a lot. A lower shooting angle perhaps would have also helped.

 

And its a water lily and not Lotus.

This is simply awesome. Love it. It has a dreamy feel to it.

Pradeep, You asked for feedback, feedback, in one whole paragraph. And you got 15 ratings without a comment. I am not into portraits either but from my limited knowledge gathered I can tell you the following :

 

The hair falling on her left eye is a matter of personal taste. Works for some, does not work for some.

 

Very little of the jewellery on her right ear is visible. Either show more or dont show at all.

 

Most people into portraits try for a soft feel and a smoothened skin. They however sharpen the eyes pretty well. This link http://www.robertbiggerstaff.com/skin.htm (its not working right now as I type, could be a temporary problem) gives you some details to achieve that effect. Some even whiten the teeth if needed.

 

A slightly blurred background could help, but in my opinion its not too distracting in this picture.

 

Its extremely important that you get your white balance right (Sorry, I dont know much about Canon G3 whether it permits setting of white balance or not) for a good capture of skin tones. (I am assuming that a proper exposure setting is something that everyone knows).

 

Position and size of the catchlight is also equally important if you are working with flash.

 

Use of reflectors is also highly recommended if the situation warrants.

 

Hope this helps.

I know colours and tones are at times a matter of personal taste. I do see a blue cast here and it can be corrected as part of post processing - if you do see a need for it.

 

Else its a great shot and I like it a lot.

Nice shot. You have captured the action very well. By the way these are not fly catchers (in a way yes) but Bee-Eaters. They come in different colours.

Good job and a lovely scene. However the water is a little over exposed.

This flower is also called Spider Lily, very commonly found in Asia. Nice shot, sharp and clear. You managed to get all the stamens into the frame.

By any chance, Nusa Dua resort in Bali ?

Neville, There is generally a strong co-relation with low ratings and people with Zero Uploaded photos. In this case again, the person who gave a rating of 3 does not have anything to showcase on his own.

 

Dont worry about it. Take advise in the form of comments more seriously than the ratings. Only the comments will help you improve.

 

Good Luck.

It looks too good to be just an output from the Camera. Can you pls share what exactly you did with this one ?

I am assuming the petals of this flower is pure white in colour. There is a strong blue-ish green cast in this picture which is making the whites a little muted. It can easily be fixed ini PS. I tried "auto levels" and whites became more natural than seen here.

Great details. If you had isolated just the two of them in the centre (looking towards you) it would have been a great shot.

Well done candid, Neville.

Beautifully done. I like the black background here which really makes the flower stand out.

This is a very nice image. You should have shown a little more of the foreground in the frame to signify some more walking space for that man with the basket. Also; it would have been nice if you had placed the road slightly off centre. The picture however has great potential.

This image can take some more contrast. A crop from the left made it look more pleasing to me. Take a look at the attached pic.

A great capture just like your previous one. Can take some more contrast and sharpening. If possible I would also go in for a slightly off-centre compo.

Beautiful. Only wish the background was clearer or thrown out of focus. But still, it has great appeal.

Oh, Yes. I have the humility to accept it. Regarding ratings on photo.net, I dont have much to say.

There is a lot of difference between post processing and manipulation. Yes there could be many photos in here which are manipulated, but it requires a lot of skill to be able to do a good job. It appears as if you are still climbing the learning curve and it shows rather clearly in your digitally manipulated photos.