[zhenya]

Hey Mike,

Shot some pix of the brewing storm last week ( Ernesto ) and figured I'd post some here for your critical eye> I'd apreciate your "no hold back" critique, good and bad.

[zhenya]

Few more just for fun.

[Poseidon]

I'll check these out more when I get home Gene, I'm on dial up at work... So far I like the ones with the horizon NOT in the center....

[Poseidon]

Were all of these taken from your balcony Gene? This one is my favorite:

Picture by Zhenya:


My biggest nit pic is that I can see the palm tree, but it is not connected to the ground. All the pictures are properly exposed, and the comp is good on the "off center" horizon picturtes, but overall they are so-so.

Maybe a tripod and a slower shutter speed to show the movement in the waves? The sky is very imposing, and the waves look violent, but they are frozen.... I think a little motion would go a long way with these. Either that or maybe a little post work in the sky to cast an ominous red shade.

As for the "city scapes" I like the first best, but it has to much balcony in it, for my taste anyway. I think you could crop that out and it would be a stronger image.

Overall I like them, but I know you can do BETTER!!

[charlie]

Wow Gene, tough crowd

[zhenya]

Mike,

Thanks for your comments and I want to make sure that you know that I really appreciate you taking time to look at those.

The picture you liked was taken from about 100-150 feet away ( I couldn't come any closer because of real strong wind and water and salt, and sand blowing right into my eyes. I had to wipe the lens every 30-40 seconds to take a shot. I used that 60mm EF-S lens for all of them as anything heavier would not be possible to hand hold. Tripod was out of the question as well due to strong wind gusts, I could barely hold my balance and this is why some of the shots looks like they may be out of focus.
I need to work more on my compositions for sure.

I know what you meant by movement in the waves and if I could use a tripod I could probably do it, however, given what it was such strong winds I couldn't use one. My tripod is really light and would've been flying in the air...

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Wow Gene, tough crowd

Yeah, you know? You have to understand that I asked for it, Charlie...

[charlie]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Yeah, you know? You have to understand that I asked for it, Charlie...

You are just a glutton for punishment
You notice I didn't ask him about mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't mind tho, I could probably use more tips than you Gene. What I think is funny is, the more time I take, the more I screw the pic up. Thinking just isn't my strong suit.:slap::slap::slap:

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

You are just a glutton for punishment
You notice I didn't ask him about mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't mind tho, I could probably use more tips than you Gene. What I think is funny is, the more time I take, the more I screw the pic up. Thinking just isn't my strong suit.:slap::slap::slap:

You maybe right and I am a glutton for punishment, but how else would I learn? Mike is not the only one who notices poor composition in my images and I need to pay more attention to this and all the little details that make a great shot.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by zhenya

I know what you meant by movement in the waves and if I could use a tripod I could probably do it, however, given what it was such strong winds I couldn't use one. My tripod is really light and would've been flying in the air...

OK, lets make something clear here, Mike? When you said that waves needs some movement in the image, do you mean something like the water in the image I'm attaching?

[Poseidon]

Yup, that is what I mean.

I didn't think of the wind or salt spray, I'll bet that would pose quite a problem. As for keeping the camera from moving, you could suspend a sand bag from the center of the tripod between all the legs. That should help quite a bit.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

As for keeping the camera from moving, you could suspend a sand bag from the center of the tripod between all the legs. That should help quite a bit.

Wait a minute,Mike..Are you telling me I should've hauled a bag of sand with me to the beach?

J/K of course, but I really was on a boardwalk, though. The beach itself was pretty much off limits with the camera due to the saltspray and sand flying with the wind. I will definately try your idea next time, though.

[Poseidon]

LOL! Nope, maybe just the bag. I'll bet you can find some sand, somewhere! Also a ziplock bag makes a pretty good rain/spray coat for the camera, just poke a hole big enough for the front element to stick out... That should help keep the moisture down...

[zhenya]

Hey Mike,

Couple more for you to critique... Don''t hold back and let me have it.

It's basically two subjects shot with different settings.

[Poseidon]

First off, the first 4 are very good, and I will be splitting hairs here.

1) I really like this one. The color and vibrance are incredible, my only nit pick is the stamen, if it were more in focus then the image would be FANTASTIC!

2) This is my favorite! Again excellent color and saturation, There is excellent contrast between the subject and the background.

3) This one my least favorite of the first 4, it is a cool picture to look at, but I find my eyes wandering around the image. I know these images are very hard to pull off well, and you are close. I think the contrast between the red, yellow and pink are so vibrant that my eye is pulled all over the place. When my eye is pulled to the red it is out of focus, then back to the yellow where there is some in focus, and some not....

4) This one is very good, I like the color and contrast, your subject is clearly defined and with a slightly different crop I think the image would be even better!

5) Nope, I don't like this. My eye is drawn to the rose by the vertical and horizontal lines in the background, but when it gets there the rose is soft. This image also lacks vibrance, the color is dull compared to the others. I'll bet this image would benefit from not being posted with the other 4. Your others are so much stronger, that this image is the "so what" type picture. The concept is good, but if you found the same vertical and horizontal "leaders" in nature it would be much stronger.

[almostdiva]

Gene,

I am a HORRID photographer... let me say that up front. From sheer "wow! these are really cool hybiscus shots" point of view, #s1 and 4 are my faves. The roses are OK, but don't knock my socks off. Maybe it's that intese fuschia coloring on the hibiscus, contrasted w the yellow stamen. The rose is just -- well -- red.

Rebecca

[Frag Hag]

I'm photo challenged as well, but I'm going to have to post my vote for 1 & 2! Gorgeous!

Shay

[zhenya]

Thanks all! I appreciate all of the comments, and Mike, I really appreciate all of your critique and pointers. I;m hoping to learn one day...

On a side note,it;s been three days since my father's funeral and I decided to take a trip to the park with my granddaughter, just to get out of the house. Just in case I took a camera with me and as it turned out there was few opportunities...
Most of the following images were taken in RAW format and then converted to JPEG. Some were shot with my EF-S 60mm macro lens and some with 70-210mm f4.0 lens. Hope you like them as much as I like taking them. It was one of the most perfect days of the year weather wise, but quite nighmarish for picture taking due to the bright sun.

[zhenya]

And now on to some pictures of birds( ducks and geese mostly) and the small lake where you can find plenty of interesting creatures to photograph.

[zhenya]

And, if I didn't bore you to death yet, here are few more random shots.
There was very interesting fountain set up with some Koi in it and plenty of water lillies and such. I thought they did exellent job with that disply considering the size of it. Here's some images to illustrate.