chrisalmerini

Remove the limb from the top of the photo- very distracting, not sure it adds anything. Clone that sky! Great capture and another voe for right small door to white. Chris

William,

 

I love the idea here. The improvement I would suggest(if possible) is to figure a location that elimates the tree on the right. The wires from the bridges are enough lines in the image- the tree really makes it too full. My take-a-way focal point is the Empire State Building in the background but my eyes look at the clutter on the right edge. I hope this helps. Chris 5/6

Ray sorry I missed this one in the photo critque forum. GREAT IMAGE! The clouds really turn this into a great image. Once again the contrast and tone of the image is great. VERY NICE! Chris

Once again- WONDERFUL IMAGE. You can always tell a 7/7. This works great! Chris

What a great capture and more importantly I loved your new 'bio' piece about trip to Death Valley. Very nice! Chris

My feeling is that #2 is slightly better. The opinion that matters most is yours. Glad to see you try and gives us a choice. As for your comments about the cropped deer- shot was from a moving car as we were leaving a morning shoot at a State Park in NC. Also, that is about a 130% crop off the original. I had my 18-200 lens, but not much time to set up in the moving car. Thanks for the comment. Chris

I love images like this that draw you into the image. Another vote for DOF. I was disappointed when my eyes followed but then blur. Great composition, go back and do it again at say f16 or more f/22 may be ideal. Tripod too to help. Chris

Thanks for sharing and more importantly thanks for knowing how to use your camera for this difficult set up. You captured it perfect! You know a '7' when you see it- this is one! Chris

Very nice! Sometimes it is harder to get quality images of iconic places since so many images have been seen of the same area. You have overcome that threshold here and made a truly unique image. Chris

Welcome! And thank you for being brave to have others share their ideas about your images. There will be good advice and some not so good advice. Pretty close to real life. The best advice I have for you is this- if you like that is all that matters. If other like it too, even better. What out for the 3 rater who leaves no reason. If you leave a comment or a rating that is under 4, leave a comment as to why. It is okay to have a different opinion but very nice to know what your thoughts are behind the rating. Just my personal idea about the ratings system. And yes you will know a 7 when you see it. The work is outstanding here for the most part you will find your work rising to meet the great images here.

I really like simple images, very good! My only suggestion is to crop some ground from the lower portion. Just an idea, the image works well either way.

Chris 6/6

We must enjoy the same area...I am from Winston Salem and frequent Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain often. Example from my files of Lower Cascades...Enjoy!

Chris

Great shot! We call these birds pigeons in the USA. Chris

Crop some of the sky out.

A couple of comments to consider since I have no idea what you were challenged with when you composed the shot but I hope it may help explain the low ratings. The exposure is fine. The tree/bush on the left side draws my eye right away and not towards the covered bridge (my guess as the focal point). May be there was no other suitable position to shoot from but my eyes follow the bridge to left then stop at the bushes. I am not sure what other options you may have had but just a couple of thoughts to help out- rather than those who just leave low ratings without explaination. I did not rate. Good luck! Chris

The image is so well done! Congratulations! As for the above comments on the sky gradient...Could it be as the darkness was over taking the light from the day; the sky was darker on the left? It really does not matter here- the image works very well. I am also a big fan of the Sigma 10-20mm lens. Chris 6/6

This truly an amazing capture. Very good! You captured a very special moment, that may never happen again. Chris

You have a great composition here...Why not make it B&W? The sky & water will provide beautiful contrasts. Just an idea to consider. Chris

Simple can be great & that is what you have found here. As a continous learner of photography; simple shots really inspire me to find nature at it's best.This one makes me want to go get my camera. Very nice again! 6/6 Chris

Thanks for the comments on my deer behind the tree. Your crop really made a difference.-- Comment on your post here...Glad to see the details in the shadows. I think it improved the overall feel. Chris

Some ideas to consider...all black and all white areas are not good since they loose the texture of the composition. Check your shadows- they should be dark but not completely black- leave them to show some definition. The same for white, like the water, a little less on the highlights would still keep it white...just with some definition. Also consider faster shutters when you may think you would like to convert to B&W. Use the channel mixer if you can in CS3 to do this or similar feature in your software. Images that covert well are very high contrast images. We all have a lot to learn and posting your stuff is a good way to get better quickly. I make mistakes too with this type of conversion, I hope you get some good ideas back. Good Luck! Chris

More of the same- Great Shot and Great Colors! Very nice capture. 6/6

This photo reminds me of the great crab cakes I ate at the Suicide Bridge Cafe after a long day shooting eagles at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Some ideas for improvement...Watch your corners. Clone away the bear branches top left- they distract the eye. May be a little more exposure to allow some details in the black. Flat black and flat white areas are touble. If you have all black areas try and use them a little as possible in relation to the overall photo. I think the fixing of the black areas will also clean up the sky behind the trees- a little to much saturation or contrast there. The exposure fix may help this area. Very good idea overall. You have a great backyard to find tremedeous images.

Others have said it all almost. Good try! The sky looks cut and paste in. The color saturation is over done by a lot. Where are the shadows? Keep trying, follow the light. This looks too perfect with colors blown overboard.

I love these shots. A very good eye to notice the reflection. Dust spots on bottom center? Or just stuff in water? Check it out. 6/6