mike_hodson

This was taken up near Mt. Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park.

This shot is superb. My Grandfather has published a book filled with his water foul (and other) photos and this shot rivals them all.

 

http://www.calwaterfowl.org/cowan_book.htm

Very nice photo.

 

I believe this is called whore (sp?) frost. Rumour has it that it is supposed to rain exactly six months after you see it.

This is a very nice portrait. Well done.

It looks a bit grainy though...is that from the scan? or a tight crop maybe?

Oh ya...now that I look at the other photos in the folder...

 

Nice work all around.

Hey Lou Ann,

This one looks nice, I like the frame. The scene is quite beautiful and you captured that very well. I think that this one is better than the usual "I was here" vacation shots.

 

If I was to nit pick (as I tend to do)...The horizon is centred and the open sky is kind of dead space. It is a nice blue sky but there is just too much of it in the frame. One thing to try here would be getting closer to the ground and including more forground...especially if you had something really interesting really close. But then it might compete with the other subjects. Another idea, would be to zoom in (or close crop) to only show the lake, town & mountains. Once again, I think a polarizer would have helped this shot.

 

Still, I really like this one...one of my favourite from your Alaska series.

Great color. You really seem to have an eye for color photos.

The colors are bright and vivid. I find it hard to pick out much detail though. The lighting is a little too harsh I think. Nice idea though.

 

I have also experienced the hardships of macro and very shallow DOF. I have read that people will mount the camera on a trolley or something and then move the whole camera & lens closer and farther from the subject rather than try to use the focus on the lens. I have not tried that but I have done this...I just close down the lens to max out my DOF and use a tripod. It's not perfect but it does help.

Lighting issues aside...this is a good shot. That filter of yours makes for great double exposure shots. You could come up with almost endless creative photos this way.

 

I like that you are holding your hand out the same way in each pose. Are you holding the remote for your camera? I keep thinking that you are holding a TV remote and are watching TV while a copy of yourself is watching you, watching TV.

 

Good shot.

Another creative self portrait. I like the idea and it is pretty well executed. The lighting on your face could be a little brighter and the reflection is a bit noisy but that is forgivable for this great creative shot. Well done.

This one is better than the last one, to be certain. You look a lot more comfortable in this one. I don't need to mention the background ;) but the DOF is nice for this shot. The lighting is pretty good too. Did you use any lighting other than the on-camera flash and ambient light? It may be a little flat and could use some side lighting but still pretty good.

 

I think the cropping (framing) is off. I don't know if tighter or wider would be better but I just think that it could be better.

 

Getting better...good job.

Interesting. Simple yet not ordinary. The front of the stage is not level with the frame but otherwise it's a great photo.

Very creative. Nice work. The only thing I don't like is that the sun on your face is very bright which caused some overexposure and looks like it made you squint.

 

Great Shot.

Good practise of technique by using a dummy (stuffed animal) to pre focus. You stopped the aperture down enough to make sure that you were in focus but I think that hurt this shot. The chair is not an ideal background but it does have a nice pattern that would make for some nice bokeh if it were out of the DOF. I think that if you opened up the aperture to blur the back ground and then put yourself in the proper place for sharp focus...this photo would be that much better.

 

A few other things. Turn the camera or move it so that the whole background is the chair. We can see past the chair in the upper corner of the frame. As mentioned, some side lighting might give some more depth to the face. I may be getting too picky but your expression seems undefined. Are you smiling? Are you grinning? Are you a deer in the headlights? Your expression seems to only be saying "I hope this picture works" ;-)

 

Good Effort, nice shot.

Very well done Omir. This is a great picture. I think you did the right thing by converting it to black & white...it is much stronger than the original.

 

I had though about trying some long exposure portraits but have not had the time yet. I hope I can come up with something as good as this shot of yours.

 

Nice work.

Very interesting...I like it. At first glance, I thought it was a picture of Big Foot taking a leak on a tree ;)

 

I like that your shadow is very strong and defined. I think that the space on either side of the tree could be cropped...or somehow blacked out.

 

Nice shot.

I like the high-key lighting and over exposure. Maybe a small light in front of you to create some "eye shine"

 

Well done, definitely an interesting self portrait.

Did you mean for it to be that grainy? I think sharper would be better in this case. I think that I might like it if this shot was cropped down to just the TV screen. Just a thought.

I think this portrait is OK but it has the same problems that your last two had. The background is distracting. Also, they are all shot in profile which makes them look a little like prison mug shots.

 

The smoke is interesting, as is the dazed look on his face. This shot has a very dark theme to it...the smoking, dark clothes & hair. If that is what you were going for...good job. Other than that, I don't get much from this shot.

Great shot. I agree with the other comments. A little more DOF might help but very well done, none the less.

Nice shot. I like this one. Good on you for being opportunistic.

Very nice. The theme is well communicated in this photo. Nature adapting or overcoming industy...that's what I get anyway.

 

I like the way this looks. What did you do to this image between taking it and posting it here?

 

The only thing I don't like is that the web is very faded near the top. Great shot.

I started to read the thread you started about how you don't like the 50mm. Interesting that there are so many different views.

 

You may be right that it is an in-between focal length that is not idea for landscape or portrait photography. I read a tip somewhere that suggested this lens for the following reason.

 

It is a good lens for beginners because it will help teach them composition. Zooms are for lazy people who don't want to get closer or farther away from their subject. A fixed focal length will force the photographer to move himself to get the composition he wants or learn to look at the scene differently. It may not be convenient but we usually learn more when we have to put more effort into things.

 

Besides that...you can't beat the quality for the price. Forget the focal length...it is said to be the best glass for the money available. The 85/1.5 is five times more expensive than the 50/1.8.

I like this one better than your other portraits. It does work better because you are on her level. As mentioned, she is green and it's not very sharp. I do like the side lighting (front lighting from her perspective) it gives depth to her features. The person in the background does not fit. Similar to your last shot, the background is visible enough to be distracting but not visible enough to really place the subject. I think this could be a very intimate portrait of her...except that there are people in the background.

 

You are definitely improving, keep it up.

I was playing around with this image in MS Picture It (I don't have Photo Shop).

 

I don't know that this is any better but it is different.