SS ... I just posted a photo of an Eagle at 500px. It's the best shot I've ever gotten, but immediately after posting it I felt dissatisfied. I want one of those shots with the eagle flying straight for me! You described this feeling perfectly .. who wants a shot of a football player just standing there? Well ... some of the ladies might enjoy that! :wink:

But, I would not discourage photographers from going out and getting those static shots of animals. For one thing you learn things about finding them. I look at my static wildlife shots as excellent scouting trips. I often learn something about animals while I am out and about. I have a plan now to scrape a dead deer carcass off the road and haul it into a spot I know of with my decoy sled. I have to wait for snow so I can slide that thing, but it's below zero now so if I find a dead deer it will keep for a while. I would not have thought of all these things if I hadn't been out in the wilderness noticing what attracts these animals and noticing where they live. For instance .. I know where a pair of foxes raise their babies in the spring.

That bridge shot is amazing .. not only was it a once in a lifetime shot, but you handled the light perfectly and you were creative with the crowd. Some people may have been discouraged by that crowd .. you used it very effectively. You were ready, you were prepared, you were experienced enough to handle all the challenges of that shot when it came along. That's another reason why I say get out and shoot, shoot , shoot .. even if you don't have that once in a lifetime shot. What you learn is what will help you get that shot when it comes along.

It's been a great 10 days! I would never have imagined this much participation! Maybe we can get through the New Year!!!!
We've looked at about 5 elements that we can easily identify in our pics. It's time to mix them in to create a complex pic to tell a lot of story, or to keep it graphic and simple and let the viewer fill in the missing pieces.

A few observations. I've heard the word mysterious a few times. Personally and as per my training, mysterious is an aspect that we were unable to deliver on and put it under the label of mysterious. Such as areas that are too dark. Or too much Dark underexposed negative space.

Nature can be included in this section. A word on nature. I view nature the same way as I view sports. You wouldn't want a pic of the second baseman just standing on the field with his arms at his side. Not very thrilling. Why would you want your birds to be doing that? In nature we want to see the animal doing something or some of its environment. We want to show it's habitat, otherwise it could just as well be in the zoo for all we know. When shooting nature or sports, shoot angles that will provide that.

Travel needs to show us enough of the environment so that we can see its not in our hometown. We need anchors to let us know possibly what country or region we may be in. That's why it's travel.
But remember that one mans faraway place is another mans home. So we can shoot at home.

Sports is no different. I think you're getting my drift.

I'm going to post a few shots so that you can get an idea what we will be trying to accomplish.
I'll post one each of Travel, nature and sports.
#1, the tower bridge is easily recognizable. It's decorated as it never will be again, making the shot unique and the people make up the environment so there is no mistaking that it's a big event.
#2, is an Acorn Woodpecker, It shows him guarding his grainery tree, that's were a colony of woodpeckers store their acorns. He is in his natural habitat so we can see he is a wild bird. And he doesn't have his arms at his side!!
#3, is a sports shot of the mens 20 kilometer walk finals at the Olympic Games. We can see by the environment that there are huge excited crowds. Their number bibs tell us a little of each athlete, the country they are from and the event. The colors of their uniforms shows us their countries colors. I am close enough to see the whites in their eyes.

Closeness will always give a shot detail and add a graphic quality as you can read faces or body English.
Also with a strong enough foto, story becomes primary and technical will be less important. The less elements in a pic the more noticeable the technical flaws. Think Capa.

So lets start posting some pics. You can explain them or let your pics speak for themselves.
Also we should hopefully be able to explain special circumstances such as a special set-up or lighting in the case of a lighted portrait, especially if asked.
Remember that this is not critique, It's about learning to assemble multiple elements that we have already learned to create stronger compositions beyond the rule of 1/3's. Remember the rule of 1/3's?!
So lets have some fun with this, we've been studying for 10 days now! :lol:
Don't feel intimidated. Some here may know more than others but we all wore the same shoes at one point. Time to grow into a bigger pair. There is NO right or NO wrong....
SS

The reason that I picked up this photography habit two years ago, is because I wanted to share what happens to me while I'm out in the woods. My husband and my boys are not as obsessed with the wilderness and wildlife as I am. I go out in the woods everyday and everyday I would come home and describe the things I saw and the crazy things that happened to me while I was out. I wanted so badly for them to go with .. to hike with me .. to experience the magic of the outdoors ... but I would just see their eyes rolling back in their heads.

At first they laughed because they didn't think mom could ever figure out how to use a DSLR. They bought me another point and shoot and tried to talk me out of my rebel. Now .. they are starting to pay attention as my skill level increases. So no ... I don't take pictures for myself .. though I do enjoy them very much. I take them to share the magic of the outdoors .. to share the deep feeling I have for the outdoors with the people I love and others as well. I work hard at this because I know that seeing the wonders and then capturing them in a way that will convey my wonderment are very different things.

Here is a shot that I think best conveys my wonderment of swans.

Mr. Smith, I believe you're talking about the difference between a James Patterson who came from the advertising world to become the best-selling author in the U.S. and a William Kennedy who writes prose as if it were poetry and was pulled from obscurity by a Pulitzer Prize. The Depression-era photographers and Robert Capa did not compromise on subject and style to achieve their goals. And think of the the beauty of Robert Mapplethorpe's photos.

When art is beauty, no matter the style or subject, I think it's a shame to keep it to one's self. To think that your photos will remain in your computer is, to me, like someone buying a van Gogh, who never whored to the public even though his own brother was an art dealer, and keeps it in a vault, is heart-breaking. We have seen museum-worthy photos on this thread. Just my opinion.

The reason that I picked up this photography habit two years ago, is because I wanted to share what happens to me while I'm out in the woods. My husband and my boys are not as obsessed with the wilderness and wildlife as I am. I go out in the woods everyday and everyday I would come home and describe the things I saw and the crazy things that happened to me while I was out. I wanted so badly for them to go with .. to hike with me .. to experience the magic of the outdoors ... but I would just see their eyes rolling back in their heads.

At first they laughed because they didn't think mom could ever figure out how to use a DSLR. They bought me another point and shoot and tried to talk me out of my rebel. Now .. they are starting to pay attention as my skill level increases. So no ... I don't take pictures for myself .. though I do enjoy them very much. I take them to share the magic of the outdoors .. to share the deep feeling I have for the outdoors with the people I love and others as well. I work hard at this because I know that seeing the wonders and then capturing them in a way that will convey my wonderment are very different things.

Here is a shot that I think best conveys my wonderment of swans.

Edie, what you say is very true.
A quick story......when I was building furniture and selling it at crafts fairs, a young woman bought a piece and I was to deliver it. She was wearing a really beautiful ring with what appeared to be a diamond but it was to large. So, being me, I just asked her if that was a real diamond?! It just looked like a huge piece of glass or zirconium.
She pulled the ring off and handed it to me! It fit my pinkie! She proceeded to tell me that her grandmother and Louis Tiffany had been an item, and he had made that ring for her. It was his signiture cut and had Tiffany's signiture on the inside and her name. It was a 2 1/2 carat flawless diamond. When I delivered at close to midnight, she was still wearing it. In the dimly lit room, the facets were so large it actually cast prism rainbows on the walls. It was just me and her. If I had snatched it, I could have retired. She had insured it so she could wear it every day. She though just having it in a safe-deposit box was a waste of the ring. She thought everybody should be able to see it. It was impressive. ;-)
SS