[Tigerotor77W]

[Bedivere]

Thanks for the input! I can't believe I missed the horizon... This is a crop from a slightly larger image, so no problem to go back and fix the horizon while retaining these proportions. The original image was even flatter/more washed out than this. I kind of felt the softness of it would lead to the feeling of it being a rainy/stormy day but I'll give it a little more contrast bump for grins. BRB..... EDIT: Here it is with a touch more contrast and the horizon evened out.

And here it is as a B&W with even more contrast added in and some tweaking to even out the exposure. I'm really liking this one.

[Gil]

[JPH]

Here's a few from a trip earlier in the fall. Any tips or suggestions how I could get more out of my pics would be awesome. Looking back at the album I defintely went heavy on the veritcal cropping... I just use a lumix point and shoot (DMC-ZS10), so that's what I'm working with.

lower lake shore

Maude and a larch

Lower lake outlet

Carne Mtn meadow trail

[Bedivere]

Gil - I don't mind at all, that's a great suggestion. I'd like a little more breathing room around the wave though so went back to the original image and took an 8x10 portrait crop out of that. I like it, but still working on it. Also cropped the landscape version a little tighter to reduce the amount of dark rocks on the left side. Will post up versions of these later.

[Jim Dockery]

Willi, I really like the black & white, Gil's crop is also nice (but I also like the horizontal), and the frame adds another nice touch. The only problem I see now with the increased contrast is the rocks loosing detail in the lower left. To add contrast I'd open up the original then add a levels adjustment layer, turn it up to emphasize the wave as needed, then brush it out in the rocks to bring back some of the lines over there.

[Gil]

Chainsaw, just passing along some complements on your photo from Bob Noble and Richard Alton over on flickr.

[GaliWalker]

For what it's worth, Gil's crop is the one that works for me. It somehow manages to focus attention on the impact point of the wave, as well as the birds. It does change the feel of your photo though, so I can understand if it wasn't what you wanted.

[GaliWalker]

[Jim Dockery]

JPH, those are all good, can't see any technical flaws. I esp. like the first one because the lake frames the trees, and the lines in the shore lead the eye back there. Good light too. I like the second one also and see what you were doing with the lines in the dirt leading up, but that area is still a bit too bland for me so I'd either crop it tighter, or on location zoom into the rocks more. Good depth of field in the stream, gotta love the small sensors for that!

[JPH]

Thanks for the input! I took another shot at a couple of them. I think the stream one is a lost cause regarding different cropping...I guess I'll have to go back to the lakes to re-take it. I got rid of some of the dirt in the foreground. Originally I was trying to get the drainage pattern under the rock, but I can see that it isn't all that clear. I think this looks better than the first crop.

tree original

tree cropped

I cut down on the area above and to the right of the lake this one.

lake original

lake cropped

Any better?

[Gil]

Wow, that last photo shows just what a good edit will do for a photo. The image leaps of the screen now. Well done. On the image of the waterfall, I would crop down from the top to just above the flow that's directly facing the camera. I think that might improve the prominence of the flowers at lower right. Do you by chance have more of the flower at the very bottom center in the original image?

[JPH]

The first cropping was already at the bottom of the picture, so I can't do much with that. With my first crop I just tried to get rid of the washed out area above the waterfall. Here it is cropped down more:

original

new crop

You definitely see the flowers more, but that last bit of the waterfall is pretty lack luster. It might be a lost cause...

[the Zachster]

I know it's all in the eye's of the beholder but is this one too soft?

Rhody Park

[Jim Dockery]

Zachster, I wonder if it isn't soft enough. I'd choose which side I want sharp - the green leaf, or the right side flower (I'd vote for the flower since the leaf isn't that interesting and partially obscured), then blur everything else so that the subject stands out more. Right now my eyes jump back and forth between them.