currents_serene

My first reaction was a good laugh. But then, as I looked longer, the stark expressiveness really moved me. WOW! And some of the previous comments don't even see the humor in it. I think this is a case where you did such great work that it transcends the humor. I absolutely love it!

This one is great! I love this one almost as much as Country Girl. I especially like how you decided to handle the background and the fade at the bottom of the portrait -- simple and aesthetic.

A vertical orientation emphasizes height, and since it looks to me like this rocket is blasting off to the heavens, that's certainly part of the story of this image. Besides, I don't see anything on the far left of right that is important. I also suggest that you put the rocket on the right 1/3rd of the image so that the hay bales fill the lower left quadrant. This makes a very nice composition to me. Very interesting shot, Matt.

Guilty of being too cute, lol!

What a lovely shot! I love the subtle way the dark mountain looms over the lake. As great as this is, there are a few things that I would suggest that you try. The most important thing I see is the potential contribution that the diagonal lines sloping downward to the right in the mountainside can make to the composition. They are too dark to contribute much in your image, but I would use dodging to bring them out just a little and let them point the eye downward to the bright leaves. I would also bump the saturation up a little after I correct the bluish colorcast with a little warmer colors. The last suggestion is that I would crop a little off the bottom -- it won't hurt anything. This will move the water line down a little further into the bottom half of the image and make the mountain above take on more importance.

Oh, my goodness! I'm so glad I stumbled onto this one. I'm not a big fan of the soft-focus style, but the pose raises "cute" and "adorable" to the level of masterpiece!

She has a very natural and appealing expression, and gives me a feeling of candidness and sincerity. But where's her earrings? Small, white earrings would have balanced the whites of her eyes and teeth nicely. Oh, well -- she's still lovely.

I love this composition! The way the dog on the left looks into the image, the way the footprints lead diagonally up to the man, the way the second dog's eyes connect to the man, the way the man's eyes connect back to the first dog -- it's all perfect. Even though this gives us the impression of a candid shot, the control over the little details show a masterful touch.

 

If I were going to change anything on this image, it might be to extend the scene out on both sides with landscape proportions in order to give more of a feeling of a wide, empty beach where the dogs are running freely.

 

Oh, by the way, you're one of my favorite B&W photogs; how does this one look that way?

 

I love this image. You have captured a beautiful landscape with fascinating patterns. But then you make it much, much better by having us see it through the eyes of a child anxious to run through the pattern. How wonderful is that!

A great image, Tim. This has all the tonal quality that I have come to love about your work. You handled the snow masterfully.

 

I feel like a fool to suggest an improvement to this shot, but I just can't control myself sometimes. Here it is: I think I probably would have cropped closer on the left side. This would move the dog slightly off of the boring center of the image and would consequently promote the man to a more important role in the composition. There, I said it; now I will shut up and just enjoy your work.

 

I love this. It gives me a wonderful impression of what this road must be like.

Not only does it remove an element on the margin that doesn't fit will with the rest of the image, but it will also move the main feature to the 1/3rd position where it belongs. It's a win-win. I hope this helps you. Great image, by the way.

I love images of fall colors, and this one is very nice. The pattern of tree trunks and the sweep of the branches carry my eyes to all parts of the composition. Since you have expressed an interest in improvements, I have a couple of things that I might do to enhance the wonderful shot that you have here.

 

First, I would clone out the pole that is sticking out of the person in the road. I would simply have to do this because that person is so perfectly positioned in the composition that the eye goes instantly to her. The second thing I would do is slightly decrease the color saturation in the grass, but not the leaves. What this would do is make the leaves appear brighter and more colorful by comparison to the surroundings. I hope these ideas are the sort of suggestions that you were asking for.

I think this is your best one so far, Todd. The lighting, the friendly smile, the tilt of his head, the bright wide-open eyes -- it looks perfect to me. No one can look at your image of this boy and not fall in love with him.

I love this composition. The repeating vertical lines of the drainage pipes pull my eyes through the image. The cat is absolutely perfect. It tells me the story of the special time of day when the inhabitants are at rest and the busy street belongs to cats only.

I love this shot. The foggy conditions tell me a story of a peaceful, subdued morning as the boatmen prepare for a busy day. Even the bird looks like he is patiently waiting for the day to start. I like the repeating pattern of boats and the way the line of boats leads my eyes over to the boatman on the left. But the thing I like best about the composition is the way the angle of the boats all point up to the building in the background. This pushes my eyes into the distance and gives me a nice feeling of depth.

 

There is one thing that I don't like, but is very easy to correct: The top third of the image is wasted with blank sky. What I would do is crop down at least half way to the bird. This way the horizon does not cut the image in half (yuck), and the building is lifted up to the top third of the image where it suddenly becomes very interesting.

You have captured this whirlpool motion perfectly! It appears that you captured the center of rotation just inside the left edge of the frame, and that is good enough to give me the feeling of completeness. And it's all part of a scene beautiful with or without the swirls. I love it.

What a terrific silhouette! I love this composition with the diagonal lines of fishermen, fence, and fishing poles. Even the way the streetlamp curves to the right is a perfect break to the strong lines sweeping to the left. The only thing I might do differently would be a more realistic yellow for the sky -- the red you chose is a bit odd with the sun still up in the sky. It just feels to me like this image is great without the need of an abstract sky.

This is a very nice image. This shows us the creative eye that you have. The harsh light and sharp shadows are usually not the best choice for a portrait, but in this case it helps because it tells something about the special setting. I also like the glasses because it helps to tell the story of the educational setting, but I wish that the left eye was not obscured by them. I would probably crop out some (but not all) of the black area on the right so that the girl's face was shifted away from the very center of the image. That would make the book and face balance each other. You have done a great job, and I hope you show us more as your talents grow.

I love this deep, rich blue. It immediately fills me with a somber, reflective mood. The horizontal layers of alternating dark rock and light waves carry my eyes far off into the distance. I just wish whatever was in the top part of the image had a little more detail -- I think I see something, but not enough to make out what I see. That is a bit frustrating for the viewer. But this is a real delight.

I love this pose. The way her body coyly angles away from the photographer but with her face turned forward is very expressive. The angle of her straight arm leading to her face is perfect. I also think the way the camera angle and wide-angle perspective uses the brick wall and tile flooring to frame her also adds to the composition. And she is very cute! Very nice.

This composition gives a very nice feeling of depth. As most of the comments have said, the blown highlights are a problem with this shot. This is mainly because these lost highlights are in the middle of the main subject (blown highlights off the main subject are more tolerable, of course). I guess these cliffs must require the same strategy as winter snow shots. You suggest that you might be able to recover the detail on the cliffs with selective burn. That sounds like a good thing to try first. I hope you show us the results. I wish you the best of luck!

This is a feast for the eyes. This image gives us so many different interesting zones, and they fit together so well. The fallen logs sweep my eyes from the waterfall and the pool up the colorful hill, and then my eyes move over to the bright Autumn trees, down the rock cliffs to the ferns and back to water. You have great control over the lighting too -- the trees aren't to bright, the cliffs aren't too dark, and the right hillside glows. I love it.

I love the way you framed this image so that the trashcan was part of the sequence of three elements. It is perfect symbolism for the story this image tells. To me, this is an example of artistry in street photography. Outstanding.

You have captured the scene very well. Your composition makes me interested in the patterns of water and sand and the rocks in the distance. Very nicely done.