Forest Preserve - Round 2

[PuckJunkey]

After three solid days of rain (basically), the weather let up around lunchtime today and I got a chance to shoot some more. This time with a tripod and telephoto lens. In general the light was mediocre, but I really wanted to go back and shoot some more, so I did. I will say that when I crunch these down for web sizing, they get very soft. There seems to be a barrier at about 800 pixels wide where below that the crispness just disappears.

I guess that's my only disclaimer (that the original landscape shots are quite a bit sharper). Meantime, I am interested to know what you guys think of these compositions. I've done a little bit of cropping and tweaking but that's about it.

[kkraczek]

Hi Puck, these are very nice! Now, you have been very helpful with my posts in the past, so I'm going to do my best to give a good critique. BUT! As you know, I am still inexperienced, so you may want to take what I say with a grain of salt. ;)

I think that the first two could probably use just a little less sky; I think that if you cropped a bit off the top it would bring the eye more to the center of interest. I like the third one the most... it is definitely the sharpest of the three. I was just wondering what it would look like cropped vertically?

Again, I love all of the shots, and I hope that I am not stepping on your toes... this is just what I'm thinking... of course I could be wrong! ;)

Thanks again for all of your helpful advice Puck!

[PuckJunkey]

Greetings. Believe me you're not stepping on my toes at all. I think your suggestions are good ones and I appreciate your willingness to be honest. That's why I will continue to post shots here; without some real critiquing a person wouldn't learn much by just posting their photos for sport.

Cheers!

[gahspidy]

Hey Puckjunkey ( Digital Man) ,
Glad to see you getting the most of your D70. I think all 3 are ok, with the second being my fav. I was going to say the last one of the bird was the one I liked most but after looking and studying these for some time, I have come to like the second one more. I like all the different trees and textures and great depth that is there.Also the blue of the sky really offsets the greens and gives a nice mood, almost like a storm may be brewing or has just gone. looks like a great place to spend some time.
The last one of the bird I like that you put it down in the left bottom of the frame and the dof is right. I think maybe just a crop from all sides , evenly, just to bring out the sbird a bit more and lose some of the empty space while keeping the bird in its same position of the frame.
The first pic,top one, has me wanting to stand up on my toes, or on my subwoofer next to me so I can see more of the water. As far as the sky goes, I think both pics have the horizon placed right and if there were any less sky, I would wonder why include the sky at all. I think that aspect is fine.
I do feel that the two landscape shots are looking a bit flat or washed out somewhat and would like to see a bit more vivid and contrasty, not alot more but I think something is needed to bring them up.
Keep em coming, i like what your going for.

[darkrainfall]

I would have to agree with gary on these, the landscapes seem to need brightening, more contrast.
I like the last one of the bird, the only small problem is the fact that it's looking off frame, which tends to not be the best composition. Otherwise I like the color and sharpness there.

[PuckJunkey]

Thanks Gary and Rainfall for the suggestions. One of the things I'm still trying to figure out is how far my camera over-, or in this case under-exposes my shots when I use the Auto White Balance (which seems to give more consistent results than the mode-specific settings. When I bring them into ACR I almost always have to increase the exposure a little bit, but obviously things are still a tad flat. Maybe what I'll do it bump the exposure a little less and the contrast / curves more.

I had a chance to shoot some amazing thundercloud formations last night. In point of fact, the same system spawned two funnels a little south of me but none touched down. Still a little scary though when the horn is going off a few miles down the road... I'll post those in another thread shortly.

BTW Gary you hit the nail on the head regarding the second shot. The reason I left the preserve was because of a storm that was percolating (though different than the one mentioned above).