perry_yu

I couldn't help pressing the shutter when I saw these two young

ladies run under the fountain, get all wet and dripped, and display

a natural youthfulness and vigor, in the sizzling summer heat of

Florida.

The indoor lighting in the afternoon provides the natural backdrop

for a briefly melancholic shot of this otherwise cheerful child.

Everyone is looking up, and we see two photo buffs so it must be something worth looking at and worth shooting. I was the only one shooting backwards at the crowd. It took me a little while to get everyone in my viewfinder synchronized in looking up; the result was all the more satisfying.

What to look up

In perspective

I'd crop off the left most firework streak so the photo format is more rectangular, and the eye will stay more at the center of action. Nice color complements in the tower's lighting and the fireworks.

The tilt to the right throws me off balance. More water at the bottom may add to the expanse and spaciousness of the foreground.

I like to do what you do too, though it's more of a chance than a preying upon. Check this one out, taken also by the sea, but from where I stood, I could only get a silhouette:

http://thumbs.photo.net/photo/2226353-sm.jpg

Nice sky color you've got. And what do you mean by a duck's view? Did you place the camera on the grass, lens facing the sky, and set the self timer for the picture? The grass has to be tall enough for the camera or you have to use a wide angle. I've only placed the camera near horizontally on the grass:

http://thumbs.photo.net/photo/2271040-sm.jpg

I've got to try your way some day.

I wish there's more lighting contrast and a tighter crop on the left. I like the composition of juxtaposing the fluffy gossamer ball of the seeds and the Priest's Crown (the bare hemispherical receptacle with drooping remnants of the sheathing bracts after the ball of seeds has been blown off).

Hauling my camera along while playing golf at a seaside course in the late afternoon, I was finally rewarded with interesting photo subjects such as this lone mushroom on the fairway. Mushrooms can emerge from thatch mixed with soil and which has built up over time under the grass. This single mushroom (Smooth Lepiota, Leucoagaricus naucina) must have emerged after a rain from one of the many spores dispersed from the mother colony. With herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, and even fungicides being applied on the grass, there is no room for weed plants like daisies, dandelion, buttercup, clover, nor pests, worms, insects on the course. Only the resilient mushroom can make its occasional emergence. As I took the photo, I almost lied down on the grass and gained a rare perspective - that of the fungus - viewing the fairway at the grass level.

I like the relection effects adding colors and lines to the forest floor.

I can appreciate this as I have also taken an image of the sky's reflection. It's not a reflection from the forest floor but from - hmm, I'd better let you see it and figure it out:

http://thumbs.photo.net/photo/2246935-sm.jpg

I think the blue color of the reflected sky really complements the wheat yellow/light brown colors in both your and my photos.

I changed this originally colored photo to a monochrome so that the

tonal variation of the roofing and the background can echo the more

dramatic tonal variation among the white birds. BTW, I always admire

the natural but always graceful poise of these birds, even when

disturbed or threatened.

Lizzy the lizard in remembrance... I've taken this picture just a

few months before he died after some 15 years of life and as

endeared companion to one of my nephews. He shows much defiance but

still lovable in this shot. Casual photo yet offering invaluable

memory.

That's a little girl's attempt to pose the attention! stance under

the national flag. There are actually two flags - one the national

flag and one the Hong Kong Special Administration Region flag. It's

difficult to take the photo catching both flags open on this fine

but very windy October day.

Here are a few kids playing at this playground all the way into the

dark. I put on a long exposure without using flash and captured the

sliding kid's motion. Because of the lighting and the exposure, the

kids are not readily spotted in this shot. The colors captured

originally were also less than ideal. However, turning the photo to

a monochrome has created an almost ghostly effect, certainly

different from the usually colorful and playful mood in a playground

shot. What do you think?

A little lost on the theme. Eye wonders around on photo in search of the subject. Waves somehow are distractd by the striations and the shadows. Maybe a tigher crop on the left and bottom would help.

I won't mind a bit tighter cropping on both the left and right to make Nrisimha more prominent. And thanks for explaining the traditional Hindu ceremony for Nrisimha Deva on this 4th of May festivity. Many of us would not have understood or appreciated this interesting portrait had there been no such introduction. Great shot and thanks again!

It's always difficult to decide whether to include a foreground tree trunk such as this one in this scenic shot. It's not inappropriate here as there is sufficient light on the tree trunk and the white patches on the bark alows the tree's colors to blend into the toned down but still colorful spring river scene. However, the foreground still seems a bit too strong to this viewer. Perhaps stepping back a few steps to obtain an even larger area of the background compared to the tree foreground can improve the composition? Or tighter cropping at the bottom to have a more horizontal layout can help as well?

There is good highlight on the Celtic sign, which draws the viewer to look at it more closely. Definitely it would not be an interesting picuture if there was not such sign drawn on the tree. The cropping could be tighter on the right and the bottom while maintaining the ratio to further highlight the tree sign.

Almost a monochrome, if not for the tainted glass window, which lets

one see the light. Comments on composition, lighting are welcome.

This photo was taken inside a cave under very dim light conditions.

I must say my grotesque hosts at the cave did not make the most

pleasant photo subjects. The visual image does remind me of the

aural experience inside the cave - I can recall vividly the grouchy

sounds my hosts made from this silent visual. If this image makes

you feel uneasy, it sure has exerted its effect.

Literally head above water: Here's a non-competitive swimmer doing

her routine round, showing her drive and determination nonetheless.

During a stop in a traffic jam, this photographer inadvertently met

the hard-pressed face of his van driver through the van's side

mirror. It's a relection of a tough life, no doubt about it. As I

took this photo in an almost surreptitious manner, I felt all the

more compassionate with the driver, without even knowing the details

of the life story behind.

I like the clouds in this photo, especially the ones on the left - they are an essential counterpoint to your gorgeous mountain subject.

On a fine day with clouds in the sky, I would prefer having dramatic, sensational, thrilling clouds to plain, fluffy, patchy ones. They can be the main subject by themselves.

That's why I am overjoyed in seeing your Valdez photo as I recall having taken one photo similar in subject and composition:

In my photo I used an ISO 100 setting but deliberately underexposed to successfully capture the full range of tones and shades in the clouds.

Let me have thy hand:

Further this act of grace; and from this hour

The heart of brothers govern in our loves

And sway our great designs!

- Antony in Antony and Cleopatra II.ii

A barren river bed in the dry winter season, but not exactly. I was

attracted to this scenery by the budding vitality of a new spring

season just round the corner - witness the patches of green

vegetation and shades of dribbling streams. The weather was gloomy

but I could already imagine a clear blue sky and a rapid bubbling

flow of the river very soon indeed.