joe604

Kim, this is a very appealing pose for this little guy. In addition, you have excellent DOF and lighting. Congratulations. --Joe

Gaetan, this image has a great pose for the bird, good lighting, and great DOF. Congratulations. --Joe

I understand Jason's comment about the empty space. However, I think the crop does help convey that the ant is reaching out into empty space. The well executed DOF and the interesting pose of the ant are the two best features of this shot. Congratulations. --Joe

Comments are welcome. --Joe

His throat is extended as he growls. Alligator growling sounds like a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the distance. No, he wasn't growling at me -- he was answering rival gators. --Joe

Adolescent boys? Very funny! The camera angle and crop seem ideal to me. Congratulations. --Joe

Thank you for your kind words about this image and your honesty about the genre in general. I know it is tough to evaluate an image like flowers or waterfalls when someone has seen so many that he/she is too numb to the genre to feel much impact. I can live with that. My goal is not to entertain the masses here on p.net with something new and exciting, but rather to hone my skills at what I like shooting.

 

So, how do I evaluate an entry in a heavily represented genre? I ask myself, if I were doing an article on, say, the beautiful Nentahala River of North Carolina, is this image one that I would choose to illustrate it with. (And if not, then why not.) Thanks again. --Joe

See my comment below. Comments welcome.

This shot used 1/5 sec. exposure -- a little faster than I usually use for waterfalls. I think I like the sense of motion that this shutter speed gives, but I'm not sure. Let me know what you think. --Joe

Melody, this is an excellent shot. The child's half face is very expressive and perfectly captured. The tapering leading lines created by the candlelight take the eye across the image and back to the child's face -- a simple but effective composition. Unfortunately, the white spot at the top of the page disrupts the leading lines and is a distraction. The same can be said about the floating red spot. Have a look at your image with the white spot removed and also with both of the floating spots removed. It will be great. Congratulations. --Joe

Larry, very nice shot. I recognized this chapel immediately, having photographed it also, but I was surprised by your title. I believe the correct name is St. Catherine's Chapel located at the St. Malo Retreat. But it is a great shot by any name. Best regards. --Joe

Melissa, I saw this in the No Words forum -- very, very cute. --Joe

You're right, lol. I did not even notice the puddle! No, the puddle had nothing to do with the conversation. The 3-yo boy approached the officer just for a chat while waiting for the parade to start. I don't know what they talked about, but I think there is a toy in the boy's hand that he is showing.

 

Now I have a dilemma -- should I clone it out or not? It sounds like the picture has more drama with the suspicious looking puddle. --Joe

Comments welcome. --Joe

Here I go again, trying my hand with B&W landscape. This time the inspiration came from Arthur Yeo's fine work with his latest B&W. Since this was a sunrise shot with so much of the mountain in the shadows, I followed Arthur's example and did not use as much contrast as with my last attempt. I would like to know what you think. --Joe

Ramunas, well done. The composition seems well balanced. My eyes sweep down the waterfall, look at the foreground rocks, and then climb up the fallen tree limb to the smaller falls. There is no wasted space, no distracting elements, and everything contributes to the scene. You obviously know what you're doing, so all I can offer is a couple of ideas that you might want to experiment with: The tree limb has some warm yellow color in it that you might want to bring out to contrast with the blue of the water, either by warming the whole image or selectively the limb and maybe the rocks. Second, you might want to try a shutter speed around 0.5 - 1.0 s to give the water a little more sense of motion.

 

So, do we have enough waterfall images yet (or birds, flowers, mountains, etc.)? Lol, there is no quota on great images of any genre, and this one is great. Show more! Congratulations, 6/6 --Joe

Glad there was a barrier between us. Comments welcome. --Joe

Shawn, I saw this in a No Words forum -- very, very cute. Congratulations. --Joe

Thanks, Sarah, for your comment. Yes, "WOW!" is exactly how I felt when I first stood on the rim of the canyon and looked down. I'm frustrated that I cannot capture how grand it really is -- but this is one of my favorites. --Joe

Interesting tiles at La Villita in San Antonio, Texas. Comments

welcome. --Joe

Yes, Dennis, I can imagine how this dude's face must set the female baboons' hearts aflutter. He was sitting by the fence contemplating, I assume, the blight of the pathetic humans in front of him, and wondering how a species so bland in appearance could be aroused to propagate at all.

Thanks for the explanation, Carl. You say, ... the keys are meant to be a distant third in interest behind cabinet artwork and the piano's structural components. Unfortunately, the brightness of the keys is going to draw the eye to them whether you like it or not. Since your camera has captured the beautiful marbling, you might as well show it off. In any case, Carl, thanks for listening to my suggestion -- examining good work like yours is instructive. Best regards to you. --Joe

I agree with Marc G., I'd say "with" if it were bigger or higher up in the frame.

If you are not of the opinion that digital manipulation = corruption and debauchery, then you may want to consider moving or stretching the tree so that it is framed by and fills that bottom window.

Why is it worth saving this tree? As Salvatore said, the eye finds it after a while. When the viewer finds it, it is like a little reward for having taken a closer look.

Congratulations --Joe

Carl, I noticed that in this image, the marbling on the keys is not as evident as with the others of this series. I guess I prefer the hues and tones of the other shots because of the marbling in the keys; those keys are the feature that really grabs your attention. I pulled your image into PS to see if the marbling could be recovered to match what you got in the other shots. Here's what I found -- something you may want to think about.

Congratulations on a great series and good luck with your shows. --Joe

at Mission San Jose. There were five Franciscan missions built in San Antonio, Texas, in the early 1700's. The Alamo is the most famous, of course, but San Jose was the largest and is the best preserved. The church is still in use and hosted a wedding the day we were there. --Joe