glivingston

Theresa, This a very good capture. The bird is razor sharp in focus and the color is very good. You might try cropping a little on the left keep to the rule of thirds. Great job!

 

 

This is a very good action shot. He looks like he's having fun.

I think you want to keep more on the left than on the right but you could crop just to the left of the rope on the ground. Try that and see if you like it.

 

In a Mexican charreada, this event is colas en lienzo or bull

tailing, although the animal is really a steer. The charro chases

the steer along the side of the arena on horseback, wraps its tail

around his leg, and pulls the steer down. It does not hurt the

steer.

Escaramuza is the only women's event and the only event with military roots. During the Mexican Revolution, women traveled with the men. Often before a battle, the women rode their horses onto the battlefield and stirred up huge dust clouds that the soldiers used as a screen from which to attack the enemy. Escaramuza is a demonstration of precision riding and excellent equestrian skills.

 

Deborah: This photo really tells a story and I agree with the prvious comment that it is the sort of thing we see in magazines. At first I thought that you should crop the bench out, but as I look at it more, I like the way the bench and the skateboard frame the boy. Leave it as it is. Good shot!

Shot in the Big Bend area of west Texas. She had a baby calf nearby

parked herself between me and her baby. Thanks for looking.

Mexico, the left bank; Texas, the right bank.

A charreada is a Mexican rodeo. Unlike rodeos, the charreada is a team competition, with some of the events having historical roots that go back 400 years. The San Antonio team comptetes with teams from Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, and teams from Mexico. The team from San Antonio team has its own keyhole-shaped arena on the southside of San Antonio. All proceeds from ticket sales go toward maintaining the arena and renting the livestock, except the horses which the performers own. All performers are amateurs and are not paid for the performances. For more information go to http://www.sacharro.com/

This is part of the shrimp and oyster fleet on the Texas coast. I

used Ilford Delta 3200 and a red filter. I like the graininess

created by the film and would appreciate any critiques.

Excellent details and great focus. I've tried almost this same shot with teleconverters and I haven't quite got it.

Tiff, I think that if I were you, I'd crop this one and not your other one. I'd crop out everything on this one except the bird in the middle. The other two are out of focus and distract from the one that is interesting. Crop the top part too. I can't get a larger view on my computer so I'm somewhat limited. You're correct these are very hard to do. To shoot birds, you need to use a tripod and a cable switch. You also need fast shutter speeds with a big telephoto lens. These are very expensive but some people rent them or borrow them and sometimes you can find bargains on ebay especially if you're willing to get a manual focus lens. Anyway, keep after it--these kinds of shots are fun to do. Hope this helps.

 

 

"The largest all-female mariachi band in the Rio Grande Valley."

This was shot at the Aransas NWR in Texas on the Gulf coast. Any

comments are appreciated. I do not what variety this bird is, but if

anyone can help, please let me know. Thanks.

I like this shot very much. I clicked on the larger view and it shows very good focus. It's too bad that you couldn't get it on a clear day, but the white clouds give it a unique appearance. I think these shots are difficult. I have a few in my portfolio on photo.net and a lot of rejects that are not in the portfolio! You can add a black or gray frame in PS or another software package. Good work!

I wish I had the bull's tail in this, but when the action is this

fast, you get what you can get. I appreciate any comments.

I shot this a few weeks ago on the beach near Corpus Christi, Texas,

using a Pentax 300mm 2.8 with two 1.4x converters at 1/180 on a

Pentax ist-D. This got the effective focal length to 882. I

sharpened it little with PS. I have done very little

astrophotography, so would appreciate suggestions and comments.

Thanks so much.

Deborah, You have good focus here. The hair on the legs and body are very clear. I think you should--pun intended--take the leap and let it out of the jar. I think you could improve it by photographing it on a different background.

I did not see the original version, but I like this cropping very much. Excellent!

This is a photo that I put on this site for critique a few weeks

ago. After reading the comments and looking at it some more, I got

rid of some of the graininess (shot at 3200 ISO) and did some color

correction. I like this one better and I'd like to see if you agree.

The first one is in my portfolio for comparison. I appreciate all

comments.

View on "larger." Comments are appreciated.

Juan, No need to apologize for your photo-we all are experimenting. I think your photo is overexposed. I'm not familiar with that camera, but you probably need to use a faster shutter speed, especially if you are hand-holding the camera. Try several combinations of shutter speed, ISO setting, and F-stop until you get an exposure that you like. Hope this helps!

Comments are welcome and appreciated. The judges scored this rider

high and he won the event on the day I shot this photo.

Friend Brian Turner is an Austin, Texas, attorney five days a week.

This is what he does on weekends. Your comments and critiques are

greatly appreciated.

This bull rider did not last the required eight seconds. Yor comments

are appreciated.

Norman,

Thanks for checking out my photo. I appreciate the suggestion on lighting.