I'm with Andy on this one. What research have you already done? We don't mind helping out but frown on having to spoon feed.

Caveat Emptor... 1 whole post.

Per chance did we forget something? Or am I just too early in my response?

In shot #1 my eye is directed to the subject, red rock sculpture, and is nicely framed with green foliage and cloud formations. Shot #2 leaves me to wondering exactly what is the subject. All elements, green foliage, red rocks, grey rocks and sky all seem to take equal proportion. I did scroll the photo up to lose half the sky and I did like the resulting panorama style shot. Just my 2 cents worth.

Correcting problems in post is one approach but solving the original problem goes much further. You say you used a flash and in the group shot I do see catch lights in the eyes but I don't see where the flash lit the scene. (shadows from overhead light source) By using A priority you ended up with a shutter speed of 1/40 second coupled with an aperture of 3.5 and 800 ISO told the camera that there was enough ambient light to expose the scene. Because of this the flash was more than likely set to act as a fill flash. I can find no tell tale shadows from the flash but do see the ceiling light shadows. You may have set your camera to ignore setting the flash sync speed in A priority. I would check that and if turned on, definitely turn it off. In the group shot the girl on the far left is out of focus and an aperture setting of f8 would have been a better choice to bring them all into acceptable focus. Hope this helps in the future.

Your meta data as follows:
Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) {0x829A} = 1/40 second ===> 0.025 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop {0x829D} = 35/10 ===> ƒ/3.5
Exposure Program {0x8822} = aperture priority (3)
ISO Speed Ratings {0x8827} = 800

Great idea Linda. One of the biggest pitfalls I see in the printing bus is that almost all photographers out there try and fit their art into a pre-sized frame such as 16x20. Adding to or deleting from the intended view of the artist.

Instead, they should be looking at their art and deciding what size format gives the best view and frame around those dimensions.

We all know it boils down to dollars and cents (sense) but if I built a Ferrari chassis and drive train and then stuck a Ford Probe body on it, how would that be perceived by the public? So it is with your art. I'm not saying you have to do this with every piece of art you shoot but those special ones... show them off with pride and class. The rest... leave them for FB, Flickr etc.

Did you also hear that Bill Gates wants to send you money?? What you heard on this inter-web thingy was totally bogus. Unless you have a film crew following you around you will have no problems. Back in 2015 I had 2 bodies, 4 lenses, tripod and my GigaPan unit. Not once was I approached by any authority figure but several passerby's asking about the GigaPan. My wife was with me but she stood back or did a small hike while I was photographing. Now I also did not set up the tripod in the middle of the walking path (or out of bounds areas) and disrupt the foot traffic either. Use common sense and you will do just fine.

As mentioned earlier there are thieves around but they tend to love the crowded areas. We stopped for a snack and I had my eyes on all my equipment with me but she put down her trusty P&S never to be seen again. Normally I wouldn't care so much but she had captured a beautiful shot of me with an eagle, wings spread, sitting on my arm. NEVER, while watching your equipment, turn your head for any type of distraction as it is most likely one of the group trying to pull your attention away so another can quickly lift the most accessible piece.

Have fun and enjoy.

I too have had several Blurb books all very high quality but my monitor is X-Rite calibrated. The OP's calibration was my first thought.

What everyone else said... but now that your head is swelling it's time to let a little pressure off. On close inspection there is definite camera movement on all the still portions of the shot and as you were shooting 2 second exposures I would have to assume you were on a tripod. My guess is that you did not turn the VR off and that caused the shake. Beautiful shot but I wouldn't get it printed as you will definitely notice the shake.

Me thinks many are taking this shot list too literally. It is not a "I want to shoot this and this and this" but more of I want to shoot this scene type with these parameters. For example:

My old way - walk down to the shoreline see an iceberg a ways out and snap... nice iceberg but same as everyone else's.

New way - on my list is to shoot an iceberg a way out but with a few rocks in the foreground and maybe some fishing shacks on the bay that can frame the iceberg.... nice shot that is unique.

If it doesn't happen then it is OK but the creativity was pre-planned and I have a goal in the back of my mind as I travel.

When I look at others pictures of an area, a great majority do nothing for me, but occasionally a photographer has a unique aspect such as the above example that ends up making me work the scene more than just to get a snap shot. It might remind me to get down on my belly for a low angle of a rushing river to give more of a sense that I'm part of the water rather than a yup it's a river shot.

Case in point, when visiting the Smokey Mountains a vista of the smokey mountains with God rays was on my list. We were there for a week but in my travels I kept an eye out for the right conditions and ended up with this. Yes, other photographers got this shot but I am pretty sure it was just luck that put them there at that time. I prefer to put some effort into the shots I make and not rely on serendipity.

Late afternoon in the Smokey Mountains

(Download)

Don't get me wrong, I still look for other shots as I go along but I do have specific goals in mind, that may or may not come to fruition. Before I started doing the shot list thing I got home and found I had a lot of the same old thing to show for my efforts. Now I find I end up with more unique creative shots that are definitely not the same old same old. Kind of like BBF, I'll never go back to willy nilly.

Of course it always helps to be in the right place at the right time camera in hand.

I just finished making my shot list for Newfoundland and I can't remember any mention of such here. I find a shot list invaluable for my many trips and it helps keep me focused on the end goal. When I have a location to research I go through all the photos I can find on that location and look for the "types" of photos that strike me, not to copy but to make it my own. Not just a "I need a shot of the Statue of Liberty" but more a "shot of liberty with sun behind the torch" kind of thing. Of course, I may not achieve that goal but how close can I get?

My question: How many here make a shot list (and use it) before visiting a location (not the local park that you walk in everyday) and how many just visit a place and do the "oh, that's cute...snap" thing?

If you don't use it, do you think it would be a useful tool to improve your photographic results?

I subscribe to a service called Windscribe and am very happy. With one account you can connect all your phones, tablets, laptops, computers providing they all reside in "your" family. It allows you to choose which area to connect to or a best choice for your area also giving you a Netflix workaround. On top of that it allows your browser to double hop. (the device is connected to server xyz and the browser then hops from there to server abc for a double hop) They also have a free service which I did try for several months but that entailed logging in and out to protect my allotted bandwidth. The prices are comparable to most others and I find this service to be quick and easy, not to mention unlimited. It works for me, YMMV.

I am humbled, yet again, by my error. Although I see that my mistake was starting with the sons instead of the wife. Mea Culpa.

5 sons X 3 shares = 15 shares
4 daughters X 2 shares = 8 shares
1 Wife X 1 share = 1 share

Total shares = 24

£8000 / 24 = £333.33

each son gets £333.33 X 3 = £999.99 X 5 sons = £4999.95
each daughter gets £333.33 X 2 = £666.66 X 4 daughters = £2666.64
wife gets £333.33

Total £8000 - (£4999.95 + £2666.64 + £333.33) = £7999.92 (£0.08 goes to bank fees)