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I took this portrait of my daughters at my Sister-in-Law's wedding a

few years ago. I usually don't shoot people, but I think this turned

out well. I'm interested in other people's thoughts. Thanks in advance.

This is an amazing shot: the beautiful color gradations of the mountains leading from the foreground hills to the snow-caps is fabulous, especially when contrasted with the ugly (in my opinion) man-made tower and propeller.

 

To my eye there is slightly too much sand in the foreground leading up to the tower: a little bit of croping from the bottom and top may make things more balanced.

 

Nice shot, and great eye.

This statue provides a wealth of possible compositions: Thes imple straight-on shot is one. There is a lot of emotion tied up in the bronze though, and I think you could do more to capture it. Here are some ideas:

1. What about a tight focus on the flower in the statue's right hand, perhaps at an angle and depth of field to capture the bindings.
2. Similar composition of the left hand (what can I say? I'm a sucker for hand studies)
3. Getting above the statue and shooting into the defiant face, probably at a relatively wide aperture.
4. Getting low and trying to follow the gaze of the statue from behind, almost shooting over his shoulder. It may have been too bright for that though, but with the right cloud pattern it could be quite powerful.

Just some ideas: take them as you will.

I love the gradation of grey tones you've achieved coupled with the high-lights on the water in the foreground.

 

Increased contrast might work. Burning in above the waterline to to make the frontmost hill almost black and those behind darker might make it even better.

I salute your ability to capture the water drop, given the lag in most digital cameras. My question, I guess, what you are trying to convey with the picture? Nothing about it (beyond the actual technical aspect) speaks to me.

This is a nice composition: I like it. The red tie at the end of the rope caught my eye and was unexpected... it was a surprise.

 

I think some fill light would improve the exposure a bit: the highlights on the right edge of the rope is much too bright compared to the shadow detail. Nevertheless, the shadows aren't completely unexposed, so it works.

Jin Ru,

Thank you for your comments and questions.

Abutting the Great Meadows NWR is the Concord Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant. While hiking in the NWR we came to the plant and wandered around a bit. A ways beyond the main plant buildings was the "grave yard" of old hydrants, telephone poles, water pipes, wire, cable, and various other things I couldn't identify. Like you, I had never seen an uprooted fire hydrant and was intrigued by them.

I only had an 80mm normal lense with me on that trip, which greatly constrained the framing I could do. I wanted to capture the dirt encrusted pipes as well as the chipped paint on the hydrants themselves (the poles extended perhaps 15-20 feet below the hydrant itself). The angle you see was the one I felt best provided the view I was looking for given the direction of the light and the constraints of the lense I had with me. A wider angle might have helped, but there was a lot of extraneous scrub and concrete around the pipes that would have detracted from the shot.

I may go back there some time with more film and more lenses to specifically study this subject.

When I came across this retired telephone pole I thought it would make

an interesting picture. You comments are appreciated.

The picture was taken with black and white film, it was not "made" B&W as some way to avoid the shadow.

Very nice: the XP2 gives a wonderful feel to this shot: the tones are fantastic.

I don't like the flat effect of this shot. The framing isn't bad, but I dislike the 'painted' look.

A smaller aperture might have kept the right foot in the plane of focus.

Fabulous color. The luminosity of the sun behind the clouds is wonderful.

Nice shot: I'm not a big bug fan, but this is good.

Nice shadows.

I like the contrast between the vertical lines and the horizontal bricks. Nice interplay.

Interesting textures.

You captured the translucency of the petals nicely. Good shot.

Creepy indeed. Very nice.

 

Stage productions are a horror to shoot: I think this is an excellent shot given the lighting and the film speed. The deep shadows set the mood and make it very dramatic. The C-41 gives a softer feel to the image than a traditional B&W emulsion, but that helps here.

Nice silhouette.

I really like the composition, especially the larger reflection showing the mast of the fore boat.

I like the soft focus in this shot, it suits the process.

Lovely definition on the flowers: the texture is great. The composition is very nice too. Perhaps a little more lightness would be good, but it isn't essential.

Very nice: the IR filter gives a very nice feel to composition.