Hey Dennis,

This is a good portrait. I would say something about the frame, but you deflected that in your note. I've made my opinions about funky frames known in the past and I won't rehash that.

For a first portrait, this is pretty darn good. To me, her arm seems a little awkward, but not uncomfortably so. Hands and arms are tough to compose and I still have a lot to learn myself. I'm really in no position to critique someone else in that regard.

I prefer my portraits more natural, so the skin smoothing is somewhat over the top for me, but that really is a personal decision. Some like it, some don't.

Another personal decision is DOF. While I don't find your background offensive in the least and think you did a good job with it, my preference would have been to pull Ashton away from the background a couple feet to place the rocks and moss outside of your DOF. That would have blurred them and really made your model pop out at us. Again, that's just preference and what you did was fine in its own right.

Good work, keep it up!
skot

Hey Beverley,

OK, I'll be the first one to buck the trend. You asked for critiques, no?

I don't really find this image particularly interesting. Technically, it's spot on. The light is good, the focus is good, and the DOF is good. It just doesn't jump out at me.

This image seems to be conflicted on whether it wants to be part of a sweeping landscape or architectural study. You almost seem to be stuck in some middle ground between the two.

I haven't been to Wycoller, but I imagine that ruins like this are not an infrequent sight. There doesn't seem to be anything unique to note in this once grand hall.

Even the description seems a bit contrived to me. This is a place several miles away from the Bronte home where they may have had a look around and used bits of it in a book (admittedly, I'm not a Bronte fan, but I don't think that would be of note even if it were from one of my favorite authors either).

Maybe a closer view of something of note in the ruins or, if possible, a wider view of the ruin in its landscape would help.

I must say, though, I am amazed at the quality of light in this image taken at noon. Being down here in Texas, we don't get to see light like this until very late in the day, even in winter.

I would love to see a second effort if you get back that way again.

I hope I haven't come off too negative here. This is still a good photo, but I think there is more to this scene than you captured in this particular frame. Having seen your work on here before, I think that you have much stronger images in your library.

Thanks for sharing,
skot

Hey Sandy,

Ketchup or beer bottle, this was a good find.

I clicked on it partially because of your title. I love seeing creative uses of everyday objects. Even if the original item is undetermined, I still think this is a great image of something we might see every day.

I would have never guessed that this was taken in a puddle. In fact, if an artist were to put this in a gallery of impressionist oil paintings, I wouldn't question its presence.

The shadow in the corner doesn't bother me too much. It adds to the mystery.

Good work.

skot

Hey Margy,

How serene and innocent. This is a great capture of childhood. Your granddaughter's expression is priceless.

To make this image perfect, it would have been nice if your grandson's face were at least partially visible. I know it's not something you really could have done much about without ruining the mood of the photo, but it's that one piece that would have put this over the top.

I love the POV here, looking through the grass. It's almost a child's perspective and completely adds to the photo.

Great, great work.

skot

Hey Brian,

Good post processing here. I'm not generally a fan of HPP images, but this one's pretty good.

Great technique in cutting out the plane. I'm terrible at cut outs, so to see something this clean impresses me.

The shadow puts the plane on a different plane (whoa...), but the con trails seem to be on the same plane as the sky. Not that one would notice casually looking at the image, but it's something that I can't un-see now.

Impressive work.

skot

Hey Daisy,

Great processing work. Subtle enough for me to look at the thumbnail image and wonder, "could it be real?"

It is a little dark on the bottom third, though.

Wonderfully creative work.

skot

Hey Damien,

I really like this image. I think the vertical lines of the water droplets makes the entire photo. They are obviously not formed by rain which is the best part. They take this image out of a natural capture and into a graphic study.

Lovely work.

skot

Hey Mike,

I'm so honored to have inspired you.

Rew is right, you captured beautiful light here. Great composition for a shoot-from-the-hip portrait. Was the tilt added afterward? Regardless, it adds to the extemporaneous nature of the photo.

It must be nice to be left alone for a few days with your camera.

skot

Hey Dennis,

A pensive Pit? I wish my pup were so thoughtful, but I don't think he has the mental capacity. :-)

Dogs are great subjects to work with. They can make striking photos and keep you on your toes so you can get really familiar with your camera.

I'm a bit surprised that you had to blur the background on this image. With f/5.3 at 66mm, you should have had enough blurring. I would have considered backing up a little bit (if you had room) and using the longer end of your zoom, that might have blurred it a little better in the camera, giving you less to worry about in post processing.

Your exposure here is very close. In fact, I don't think your could have gotten it any better in the camera due to the backlighting through the window. I don't know PSP, but I'm sure there is a way to selectively brighten your pup. Bring that up to the same exposure as the window and you're spot on.

Good PoV, but I'd also consider moving the camera up a touch, to be on the same level as the dog. That will bring even more attention to her eyes. Right now her jowls steal a bit of the spotlight.

Good work.

skot

Hey Bri,

Let me start out by saying that I'm not a fan of HDR in general, so take what I say appropriately.

Looking at your photo here, I fail to see the rationale behind the HDR processing. It looks like you had pretty even lighting, without too many dark shadows. Your subject matter wasn't high contrast, save the sheeps' faces, but they are really too small to worry about here. Why the HDR?

Again, I'm not a fan of the style, so I hope that wasn't the reason behind the decision. It looks like you had a great shot with the meandering valley, the stormy skies, and the sheep in the foreground. I'd love to see one of the original exposures processed as a workshop.

Great eye and wonderful composition let down by over processing.

Truly, though, thanks for sharing. I may not agree, but I can still appreciate.

skot