How long did you have to wait for #1? Nice series.

The compositions of #1 and #3 are the best. I like the bokeh on #1. The rider is not the subject, the horses are, and they are tack sharp. The railing adds drama. Man, are they close. That fact that you can make out some of her facial expression tells me she thought so too. Out of all of them, this one portrays a story the best. For a brochure, #3 would probably translate better. However, the HDR is slightly overdone. If you could back it off just a tad to kill the halo it would be great.

I just drooled all over my keyboard!

Hi Photophile. I lived in Rocky Hill for a couple of years, and am familiar with Weathersfield cove. Small world isn't it?

Thank you Jacklpine. It's been a while. Good to be back.

From my archive a spring flower. Not much new life popping out in Idaho yet.

Definitely headed in the right direction. I'm not sure what software you are using, but if you could darken the hillside in the background, I think it will make the rock formations in the foreground pop out.

I have the same issues with some of my landscape photography too. This photo is definitely one I would keep and work with in post. The vastness and depth we see with our binocular vision can have a difficult time translating to a two dimensional medium. The rock formations are beautiful, and you have followed the rule of thirds well here. With landscape photography, catching some foreground will add depth. You have done this. However, in this case nature did not provide a lot of foreground definition, so the depth is lost. Bringing in more foreground and a little less sky (although the sky is beautiful) so that your mountains are in the top third of the photo instead of the bottom third might help. Eyes are drawn to the light. I find mine being drawn to the cloud instead of the mountain. Having an object in front of the mountain to compare size to might also add some depth. Another thing you can try is limiting the subject by zooming in on some of the rock formations. There are some very interesting shapes and textures there. The last thing you might try is converting to B&W and boost the contrast. Think Ansel Adams. There's a lot of potential here. You're on the right track.

There Has Always Been Basketball

Thank you, Sirius. Candid shots of kids are so much fun.

Thank you, Judy. I hope to be a regular.

Guess what I'm looking forward to...

Thanks. When I posted them, they came out much darker. Not sure why.

It is not written that the tripod must be fully extended. Lowering the tripod makes it considerably more stable, and you can still use sandbags/bag of rocks, etc. A lowered tripod can also give you some very interesting perspectives and composition.

Great subject. If I may, there are a couple of things you might try: The angle of the hill behind the tree, and the tree branch on the right are the same. That will have a tendency to flatten the image. Perhaps a little different angle so the branch cuts across the angle of the hill might help. Also, I would recommend opening the lens up to reduce the DOF and give a nice soft bokeh for the background. For this shot, the background is not adding anything to your subject. You might also try darkening the background a tad in your editing software. If you shot this in Raw, it should be pretty easy to do. That will increase the fore/background contrast to help the tree pop out. Lighting is always an issue with desert shots. If you can, try shooting it either during the "golden hour" or on an overcast day. There's a lot of potential here. You're on the right track.