A lovely image!!! she really is a beautiful young lady. You must be so proud. Norman

Hi,

I believe that photos of animals, children should always be taken at their level. In other words, get down on the ground, even consider lying on the ground. An image shot at the from the right level will almost always be better !. Additionally, select your location and aperture carefully. To great a depth confuses the viewer with some much being in focus, it makes the photo just too busy. Try to choose a location where there is little in the background to distract from your subject, open up the aperture to throw the background out of focus. Hope this helps a little. Norman. NB Nice dog by the way !

Hi,
I take the attached comments onboard. I give you my word that I did not intend to offend or critisice you in any way. I genuinley only wished to help. My apologies if I have overstepped the mark. You have produced some wonderful images. My only intention was to offer what I believe would help. Norman

Hi Jim,
I have taken the liberty of spending a few mins on your photo.
1) Re-cropped it to what I believe looks more appealing with less distraction from other items in the scene.
2) Straighten the verticle lines on the feeding basket.
3) Added a small catchlight to the eye, this always seems to add life to an image.
4) Added a border. ( the colour was taken from the back of the bird).
5) Just slightly tweaked the histogram the applied minimal sharpening.
6) Slightly burned in the corners and some of the highlights to send the viewers eye to where you want it
Hope it gives you some ideas. The bird now is the main part of the image. Norman

Hi JS,

Hope you don't mind, I have tweaked Number 1 just a little. ( straightened the vertacle and made slight adjustment to the histogram, minimal sharpening and put a border). See what you think... Nice pics. sometime in the future when these buildings have disappeared , folks will be asking for your images. So save them for posperity ! Norman

Hi Gary,
I am a Canon user, and have been for may years. My personal advice , if you are considering Canon equipment, is whenever possible go for Canons 'L' series lenses. I have attached photograph of a small bird that I shot from about about 50 or 60 feet away. The lens I used is canon 70 - 300mm L series lens.
What can't speak can't lie! as the saying goes. Look at the image and ask yourself is this the quality I want ?.
I'm sure that Nikon also have higher quality lenses but I'm afraid I cannot help you there. Good luck with whichever you decide. Norman

Robin

Hi Phil and welcome to the HOG.
The decision as to which body to buy is entirely what feels good in your hands. For me,as long as it comes with a full frame sensor and at least 16MPs and full manual control when needed I couldn't care less. The part that I believe is the most important is that piece of glass at the front !!!!!. I will ALWAYS buy the best lens that I can afford, Personally I use Canon and use their 'L' series lenses, expensive ? certainly, the best quality?, without a doubt. Good lenses are available on the second hand market but you really will have to look long and hard to find what you want I would finally add that almost all camera bodies these days, are functional reliable and have good service back up, just buy which ever feels right in your hands. Good Luck with your purchase. Norman

Hi Karen, Welcome, I have, I hope, some constructive comments for your pics........
1) Too close to the flower heads, and too many, having partial images disappearing out of the frame is never a good idea. if you could isolate one bloom and open the aperture up you would achieve two things, the first is that the viewers eye will be taken to exactly where you want it. and secondly the background foliage will be a little softer.
2)The image of the squirel, you shot this one in very high contrast lighting, the result, although there is detail in the shadows, the highlights are clipped or burned out. The problem is wildlife sits where it decides it wants to sit, so unless you can change your viewpoint you are stuck with the light you've got. I believe the aperture you set is just about perfect for accurate DOF, well done!
3)Again , part of the image disappearing out of the frame on both sides, The dog's tail and the stem of the flower, so easy to clone them out with an editing program,by doing so all the images would be transformed.
I have taken the liberty of having a quick go at ChiChi, however, as you didn't down load the original in the tick box there was only so much I could do.
I hope you don't mind my comments and that I may have given you some ideas. Norman

Hi Shursts,
A great idea that should solve all your questions about DOF.
If you could re-shoot these images, using a tripod, from the same position you took these. Turn to Aperture Priority and take several exposures at different f stops. Make a note of the apertures you use, then when you later view your images you will see the effect that changing the aperture has on the image.
These are two great images to use for this excercise as they contain a lot of detail disappearing into the distance. Just make sure that you focus on the nearest light and don't change the focus point while you shoot at the different apertures.. Good Luck. Norman

Hi Dunatic,
I think the skin tones are fine!. The background needs , I think , to be a little less 'in your face', it's too busy. A very pretty young lady, Love to see more photos of her. I have had a quick go at modifying you image just a little including just tweeking the eyes ever so slightly. I hope you don't mind. Norman

Hi Thistle,
Great pics. I like number 3 the best , for me, I would have cloned out the top of the pole that disappears out of the frame. But a lovely image all the same. Norman

Hi Viscount driver,
A really good, well exposed image. You have managed to capture the texture of the lighthouse walls ( white is never the easiest to photograph). On a personal note, I would have been tempted to clone out the power lines invading from the top right, but that is purely a personal thing. Perhaps, if you had not cropped so tightly, the image may well have looked a little better so that the structure on the top did not disappear out of the frame. Never the less, an accomplished image by an accomplished photographer .
Magic!...... Norman.

Hi macro,
You say that was a studio shot. I think that this a is a good shot. The only criticism I can make, and I hope you will take it in the spirit it is given, is that the D of F is slightly too short, the black ground is good, having no detail at all, which only shows that you could have used a slightly smaller aperture and reduced the softness at both the front ( feet) and the back ( the top of the head). You probably think that I am being very 'picky', well, you are right I am, but with your obvious talent and technical ability, I'm sure that you won't be offended by my comments. Best wishes. Norman.

Hi and Welcome,
Lovely pics. You do live in a beautiful place, We have some special scenery here but, boy, would I like to see the area you live.. Magic Photos. Norman

Hi Lynn,
Welcome to the HOG. The purists will tell you about the faults. For me, however, I really really love them. So atmospheric.. Lovely. Keep em coming. Norman