Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Iguanasan]

I'm entering one of my photos in a photo contest at work and I was kinda wondering what people thought of them without getting into the whole detailed critique thing. Just a general yea or nea please.
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Regards, Iguanasan

[Mad Aussie]

Does the comp have any particular criteria you are supposed to meet? Snow or Winter for instance? If it's "get the most ducks in one shot" you have it won hands down!! :D

Don't Canadian ducks know they are supposed to fly south for the winter?? :confused:

[AcadieLibre]

Nice photos, my Favourite province to go on a road trip ....

[Iguanasan]

Does the comp have any particular criteria you are supposed to meet? Snow or Winter for instance?

Doh! Yes. Winter shots with 3 categories, these ones are intended for "nature".


If it's "get the most ducks in one shot" you have it won hands down!! :D
Don't Canadian ducks know they are supposed to fly south for the winter?? :confused:

Hehehe. I had to stop the car and get out and shoot when I seen them all there. I think there are some ducks that are partially domesticated because people are always feeding them and they get lazy.

[Marko]

Without the in depth critique then, I might yea only shot 2 and would try to lessen the blue cast and apply more selective sharpening.
Hope that helps - Marko

[kiley9806]

all three images look quite soft to me - like you missed the focus... shot 2 has the best comp, so it gets my yea.

[kat]

I'm with the second one as well. I prefer it's composition to the others.

Good luck! I have some photos in a local contest and hoping they do well too!!!!

[Mad Aussie]

If I knew who the judges were (especially if they are not photog's) I would go the ducks then. Sentimental awwwwwww factor. If not the 1st one for me because it doesn't have a crap sky showing through the trees.

[Iguanasan]

Without the in depth critique then, I might yea only shot 2 and would try to lessen the blue cast and apply more selective sharpening.
Hope that helps - Marko

Ok. I can feel you want to say more. Have at it. I've been overloading on all things photography lately and feel like I already know what I have to do but still find I have quite a bit of difficulty achieving it.

I'm trying to do this all "in camera", a Canon SX110is. The idea is very little PP other than cropping really.

I think I did fairly well on the composition of all three shots. I also believe that the exposure is more or less correct as I watched for highlights on screen and checked the histogram as I was shooting.

If you can help me get to the next level, then by all means, critique... I was just a little gunshy when I posted but now you have me curious.

Regards, Iguanasan

[Marko]

Ok then....but most of what I suggest has already been suggested by others so I'll just do it in short note form if that;'s okay

Shot 1 -
- First and foremost, it's soft
- blue cast too strong
- water could use lightening

shot 2
- It's also slightly soft
- again cast too blue for me
- water could use lightening
- might burn the mid right side so that the eye follows the water more
but overall it has a good flow and it's a pretty scene

Shot 3
- My least favorite by far because the ducks/geese are too small, too soft, and the foreground (bottom inch or so) is in shadow.

Hope that helps and wasn't too harsh,
Marko

[Iguanasan]

Ok then....but most of what I suggest has already been suggested by others so I'll just do it in short note form if that;'s okay

Shot 1 -
- First and foremost, it's soft
- blue cast too strong
- water could use lightening

shot 2
- It's also slightly soft
- again cast too blue for me
- water could use lightening
- might burn the mid right side so that the eye follows the water more
but overall it has a good flow and it's a pretty scene

Shot 3
- My least favorite by far because the ducks/geese are too small, too soft, and the foreground (bottom inch or so) is in shadow.

Hope that helps and wasn't too harsh,
Marko

That was not too harsh at all. I shouldn't have been such a wimp and just asked in the first place. Sorry.

With respect to the softness of the photos I wonder if it's a problem with Picasa export? Or was it a focus issue? They are all handheld shots but at 1/500, 1/250, and 1/1250 of a second I find it hard to believe I would have moved enough to mess up the focus or am I wrong?

Please compare the above with the Web Albums version and let me know if you still see the softness. The ones on Picasa Web Albums look sharper to me (maybe it's my eyes ;)

Pic #1 (http://picasaweb.google.com/eulothg/PotentialContestEntries#5297917742071232002)
Pic #2 (http://picasaweb.google.com/eulothg/PotentialContestEntries#5297917906292186594)
Pic #3 (http://picasaweb.google.com/eulothg/PotentialContestEntries#5297917824142672258)

I'm trying to learn how to get the right exposure in the camera so the blue cast could have been helped by using the custom white balance feature, correct?

Maybe it's time for a podcast on Winter photography or did I miss it? While I could dodge/burn etc., I'd like to figure out how to do this without relying on the computer to fix my mistakes.

I agree, #3 is not composed very well. Jumped out of the car and didn't take enough time to think about the shot.

Regards, Iguanasan

[kat]

Ohhh..I like that critique! Nothing like getting to the point and telling it as is!!!

I get that blue tint all the time too. Drives me nuts!

[Barefoot]

Ohhh..I like that critique! Nothing like getting to the point and telling it as is!!!

I get that blue tint all the time too. Drives me nuts!

Do you dial in +1-2 exposure compensation and use spot metering?

[kat]

I haven't tried the spot metering yet. But in the couple shots i've taken since first learning I have altered my exposure.

I'm waiting for a day I can get out and experiment my heart out to figure out how to get it all together!

[Marko]

ok hmmm - somethin' going with sharpness - these are softer and a different filesize than the picasas. Ok then strike the softness part of the critique....hmmm

[Iguanasan]

Just uploaded this photo which was 321KB and it shrank to 113.7KB so the board software resized it.
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Huge difference between what I uploaded and what actually showed up. Here's a link to the Picasa Web Album

http://picasaweb.google.ca/eulothg/PotentialContestEntries#5297917906292186594

Am I doing something wrong. It's late and I have to to work in the morning but I'll describe what I'm doing tomorrow night.... nighty-night...

[Iguanasan]

12 - Snow photography - http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=26... I'll have to go back to the archives... iTunes only had #36 through to the current one and I've listened to all of those. Time to start downloading!

Regards, Iguanasan