natureslight

Jim - this is a beautiful image. I'm not great at id-ing birds, but I think this may be a blue wing warbler. Their summer territory is mostly along the northeast coast of the US. If you don't already know, Cornell has a terrific website where you upload a bird image and get help with an id. http://birds.cornell.edu/onlineguide/

I well appreciate the desire for feedback while learning new skills - I'm always in the same place. Please keep in mind that I'm viewing this on my laptop which isn't calibrated, so I'll stick to composition rather than color balance. Personally, I'd prefer if the image showed more of the trees instead of just showing their tops. If at least one of the birds were sharp, then you might crop the trees out completely. However, because the birds are not sharp, the image lacks focus (eye focus, not "sharp focus"). The key to composition (I'm not an expert by any stretch, so I'm simply quoting what I've been taught and what has worked for me) is to consider your scene as a story and then compose to that story. Here you have the tops of the trees and the birds in what appears to be evening migration or nesting. If they are heading to nests, then showing the trees ties the image together - birds nest in trees at night. Showing the entire tree(s) may help balance the image with the birds overhead. As I said, I don't trust the color showing on my laptop; however, I think a bit more contrast in the sky would help add punch to the image. Hopefully, this feedback will be of help.

Irene

When I first looked at the image in the standard "small" frame, I didn't fully recognize what was going on here - yet another reason to always look at the larger image. This is a wonderful image! Personally, I wouldn't crop on the right, but cropping some of the left "empty" space might add even more power to the image. I have one question, if you will - what type bird is this and where did you capture the image? (I guess that's two questions!) Overall, very well done and congrats on having patience.

I'm American, but years ago, I spent seven weeks in the Scottish Highlands and the Orkney Islands. I fell in love with the beauty and history of the area and remember Glencoe well. I like how you captured the moodiness I remember from my visit and how the tree twists toward the moody sky. I also like the accent of the red stones in the foreground. Well done.

Here's my two-cents worth: we get so caught up in "have-toos" that sometimes we forget photography is supposed to be fun (even if it is how we earn our living). I love this image solely for it's fun factor! Thanks for sharing it and making me smile.

This is quite good. Not completely sharp, but it is so hard to capture small flying insects in flight and manage to get everything completely sharp. As is, I think this turned out well enough. One hint: (taught to me by an entomologist) try photographing these insects early in the morning before the day has gotten warm or try again in the late afternoon, not long before the sun goes down. At these times, insects are generally slower and thus easier to photograph.  If you have the time to sit and watch insects in their natural environment, you will begin to see patterns of behavior and this can help you capture better images. Finally, I also use as high a shutter speed as I can while still obtaining maximum sharpness. Of-course you will always trade off depth of field for faster speed, but after some practice you will learn what works for you.

Beautiful yellow bracket fungus, or are these yellow "tree ears"? Whichever, I like the image. However, what is the green out of focus line near the bottom? I would either do a bit of pre-capture "gardening" or remove the unsightly line post-capture.

Irene

Grayham is, of-course, quite correct and I am quite embarrassed! For some stupid reason, I assumed the image was made in North America and thus this would be a Great Blue Heron, not a white faced crane (we have no such bird in my area of the US). This was a case of speaking before thinking, for which I apologize. Grayham, I do like this image!

Irene

Hi Grayham - just so you know: this is a Great Blue Heron, it is NOT a crane. Also, as a hint for next time - I don't know where you are located, but in areas where these birds have grown accustomed to people, either on foot or in cars, if you have time, you may want to hang around for a bit. Once the birds accept your presense, they will often come much closer, if you remain quiet and still. I've managed to capture a number of GBH simply by sitting on a rock or waiting inside my car until the bird considers me a part of the landscape. Of-course, this only works in areas where many people pass. .

Hi Joseph - I was hoping someone with more experience might chime in with some advice; however, since that has not happened, yet, I will share a few things I've learned when it comes to photographing wildlife. In particular, I'll try to help with the issue of photographing birds. I live just about a mile from a wild life refuge famous for birding, so I tend to do a lot of bird photography.

Much of what I know I learned by making mistakes and having other people tell me how to correct them. In this image, it appears as if you shot this image with the sun in front of the ducks, shining onto them and the water, thus washing out detail and color. One of the first things I learned is that if you are going to try to capture detail of birds or or near water, you really need to time your shots appropriately. I try to photograph water-birds when the sun is low in the sky and at an angle to my subject so that light is less likely to produce washed out color and detail. Side lighting is often extremely effective as is back-lighting when it is at a low angle to the subject. Front lighting is the most difficult for capturing color and detail, at least this is how I find it. Attempting to capture detail of any subject in full sun is difficult and when you are attempting to photograph birds on water in full sun, you are inviting trouble. In some situations, a polarizing filter will help by reducing reflection and saturating colors. Strong sun and/or strong reflections from the water will almost always produce the silhouette effect you have here. This is not a bad thing, if this is what you are aiming to produce. In truth, I like this image and how you framed the ducks. However, if you are looking for greater detail and greater sharpness, experimenting with different light – at different times throughout the day – will help you learn what works best for your subject.   

Hi

Interesting subjects and atmosphere. Personally, I think it might have worked better to select either the frog or the tree and then eliminate the other. Here you have two competing subjects vying for the viewers attention, which keeps the eye flashing between them. Had the frog and tree been closer or more complimentary this might have worked. The other issue is neither subjects is critically sharp, at least on my monitor. The lighting appears to be flash or other non-natural light which is tough when you have two subjects of such differing tones and distance. I really like the tree and believe it would make a great subject on its own. Had you been able to isolate it and lit it softly, it might look really cool - it looks almost like a hand here. Anyway, this is only my two cents and others may have a different opinion.

Thanks for sharing this image.

Irene

Hi Sheila - Imo, yes, there is too much blue in this image. On my monitor, the blue looks unreal. Personally, I have a lot of trouble with HDR, particularly when I attempt to include sky and water in the same HDR image. The problem I've found is managing to get a sky that looks realistic while also attempting to capture water that appears close to natural. Here, the sky and water have similar tones, but neither appears natural. I know some people enjoy HDR for the super- saturated colors and deep contrast; and, in some type images I like the same effect. However, in images of natural subjects -such as this river and surrounding land - I greatly prefer a more natural look, at least for the sky.

Thank you for posting this image. By viewing images made by others, I'm learning what bothers me in my own HDR images and learning how to make HDR work more effectively.

Irene

Hi Cynthia -

This is one of favorite parts of the world, so I'm always drawn to view images made in the area. I like how you include the mountains in the far distance to give a sense of scale not only to the flock of sheep, but to the broad emptiness of the plains. Personally, I would prefer to see the sheep larger and closer to the front of the image. Because of the current scale, the sheep are small specks against the background. Perhaps if you went to move closer you might capture more of the sheep. You might also lower the camera angle to include less of the sky and give the proper perspective to the mountains. Because of the current angle, the mountains appear much lower than they do in reality. One of the aspects I enjoy about this area is how the mountains (Pryor??) dominate the landscape and seemingly reach up into the sky. That perspective is lost here. Thank you for sharing this image and for reminding me of the beauty of this area.

Irene 

Hi Kieran - the color of this Lilly is beautiful and I also like how you placed the Lilly off center with the curved petals leading across the frame. Unfortunately, on my monitor this appears quite soft. You may have been trying for a soft effect; however, in my opinion, it would work better if at least part of the flower were sharp and the petal at the bottom of the frame were sharp or out of the way. I would also like to have at least one stamen sharp - the one pointing outward toward the front of the image would be my choice. Thank you for both seeing and then sharing this image.

Irene 

Hi Terrence - this is really bugging me - I've looked at this image several times and cannot figure out what kind of "Robin" this is. I know it's not the standard "American Robin" and it's not the much less common "Yellow Breasted Robin", so what is this anyway?

BTW: The image is quite nice, although I'd prefer it a tad sharper and perhaps having the Robin less centered. I do like how you include some of the environment, since, imo, this is important for showing the bird as natural as possible.

Irene

Hi Sean - I'm not a flower expert so I'll leave the identification argument to others. Although I love the simple beauty of these flowers, I wish the image was much sharper. The flower on the right is quite blurred. As an idea, that I hope will be helpful, you may want to rethink how to maximise sharpness while photographing this type subject. My first advice- get and use a good, solid tripod. Often times the difference between optimal sharpness and a slightly or even completely blurred subject, is the use of a tripod. The second piece of advice I learned the hard way - by making the mistakes: select a higher F-stop - the larger the F-stop number, the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field, the greater the sharpness across the image. In this image, you selected a very small F-stop = a wide open lens = minimal depth of field = the less of the image in maximum sharpness. Because there is distance between these two flowers (I'm guessing these are two separate plants) you may need to alter your shooting angle so that each flower is placed so that your lens is able to focus accurately on each flower. Then you might set the F-stop (aperture) to as large a number as possible (minimum aperture, maximum DOF = maximum sharpness) and then either set the shutter speed to match or select aperture priority and allow the camera to set the shutter speed.

There are times when you will want to isolate your subject from the surroundings, and this will require using a smaller F-stop. However, in this image, I suspect you could use the larger F-stop without creating a busy background. I hope this is helpful. Thank you for sharing this image.

Irene

Hi Anne-

What  a peaceful and pretty scene. I like the lines in this image- the almost matching line of trees on either side of the water, the distant land at the top of the image and the stones near the bottom all help to balance the image. When I opened the image I had to scroll down to see the entire image and in doing so, I cut the top couple of inches off the image. Personally, I prefer the image without the top inch or so, eliminating the somewhat messy branch in the left top edge of the image and a portion of the rather dull and too bright sky. You may want to try cropping this top portion off and seeing if this appeals to you. Thanks for sharing this nice image.

Irene

Hi Line -this is an amazing image! I love the soft colors, the circles upon circles spirling into one another and the lines running from top to bottom all coming together in the middle.  I do have a question, but I want to be clear: I mean no disrespect or criticism - is this something you photographed, or is it something you created in Photoshop or another program? Did you take a photograph and then use PS to further create the final image? No matter what you did, this is truly a striking, and to me, fantastic image. Great work!

Irene

Thank you for viewing. All constructive critique is greatly

appreciated.

Hi Oksana -

I like the colors in this image and the angle on which you placed the flower. The problem is there is a lack of sharpness across the flower. Personally, when I attempt to photograph a macro scene, I try to set my F-stop as high as possible [high F-stop= small aperture = greater depth of field] in order to ensure sharpness throughout the image. There are certainly times when I want to use a low F-stop in order to isolate details, but in this type image, I personally prefer maximum sharpness. This, of-course, is a personal preference and others may prefer other approaches. Thank you for sharing this image.

Irene