Your broad generalizations bring this forum to a level that is so unhappy. Not a bone of warmth or kindness left? No room for the possibility that things might be different than YOUR perspective of what you see? Life is hard and becomes hopeless for many people. It sounds as if you are nursing a bitter grudge. I hope it goes away.

The top one is lovely.

Nice portrait! I like the lighting, softness. Looks like he had just been to the salon, had a few highlights added with a blow-dry.

Nice job with both of the opus options!

Just throwing this into the ring . . .

I agree that the image you caught wasn't the one you thought you were getting -- doesn't mean it still isn't interesting. Her look is provocative. The young child seems to be coping cheerfully. The teenage son is worried, perhaps feeling responsible for not yet being an adult . . . who knows. You HAVE caught a moment.

I've always loved these quotes from Diane Arbus:

"I used to have a theory about photographing. It was a sense of getting in between two actions, or in between action and repose. I don’t mean to make a big deal of it. It was just like an expression I didn’t see or wouldn’t have seen.

The thing that’s important to know is that you never know. You’re always sort of feeling your way.

One thing that struck me very early is that you don’t put into a photograph what’s going to come out. Or, vice versa, what comes out is not what you put in.

I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse."

I agree -- her hands are too obviously "cut off" -- would crop to make it an intentional head & shoulders portrait.

The blue & purple tones are in competition -- between background, shirt, & skin tones.

And, the smoothing w/editing is too much. Perhaps try halfway between orginal and 2nd version if you feel editing is needed at all. I personally think the orginal version needs no skin/wrinkle smoothing -- she's lovely as is.

You've got a good start -- just keep fussing a bit more!

Thanks for passing these along -- from the news it sounds like there is a little rain now. A sad and devastating event.

Great article. I always appreciate people passing these links along.

That was sweet & fun to watch. I liked the words at the end -- tied the images together in a way. Thanks for sharing and great job!

An iMAC is the way to go. Do not get a mini -- you will outgrow it rapidly. I think the difference is dramatic between apple & pc when it comes to graphics and editing photos. You might as well do what will eventually need to be done . . . get a Mac.

Isn't it possible he's a hen? Or has he been crowing?

No comb to speak of . . . which is how we start to decide between the girls & the boys.

Looks like a Seabright.

We love our chickens and have had many personable, delightful seabrights. We just lost our lone hen of that variety -- she had always been helpful with yard work.

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."

"An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind."

And then where will photography be??

Wow -- this has been a depressing thread to read. Didn't it belong in a different category, like "chit-chat"?

I work as a nurse in a jail and sometimes take photos of the inmates. If threatened -- whether in the facility or outside -- I would not hesitate to use my "expensive" equipment to inflict bodily harm.

I'm sorry so many of you feel safer by carrying a gun. Be careful not to slip on a banana peel . . .

Lovely animals -- and the photos are pretty good, too! However, I do not agree with your perception about people . . .