Last Day
by Keith Maniac

Comment:
I like this, so natural and kind of intimate, something you must see everyday.

darkroomart.jpg
by grigrigirl

Comment:
That is one awesome note on the back of the print. :)

wintersleep
by messerschmitt

Comment:
I'd never seen this before its awesome!

Downtown - they call this place "Oasis"
by tamatama

Comment:
I like this one alot too, I am surprise it didn't finish higher up in the challenge.

Silver Streak
by Ken

Comment:
I think you must rent this place out, there never seems to be anyone else there. :P
I really like the smoothness in this, its a nice calm.

Short Story
by JuliBoc

Comment:
Thats funny I had thought of using this exact same story line when I saw this challenge. I am glad you did and were able to finish in the the top 20!

Against The Machine
by pawdrix

Comment:
I was wondering where this photo went during the month. :) I am glad you decided to use it for the Free Study.
smokes and lighter-check
open container-check
battle axe-check
:)
cool photo

What's Up Here?
by heavyj

Comment:
quite underrated, I gave you a nine. But look at the vote of the commenters :)

DSCF3232_1.jpg
by rbryan22

Comment:
a few ideas that may help you.
Most lenses are not sharpest "wide open" which means with is its largest aperture. For your lens at the wide end it would be 28 mm at 2.8 or 70 mm at 4.0. Also zoom lenses "sweet spot" is generally in the middle of the zoom range and stopped down a couple stops, maybe 50 mm at 5.6-8 would give sharper results.
Another thing to consider to get sharper shots is your shutter speed. look at your focal length and multiply it by 1.5 to help you have a shutter speed that won't be affected by camera shake. For example at 70 mm*1.5=105. This means a minimum shutter speed of 1/100, 1/125 would be better.
So in this photo If you zoomed in to 70 mm your shutter speed is a little too slow, you are at f/4 which may be a little soft and accentuated with the slow shutter speed. I would recommend a little higher ISO, maybe 400 or more, I think your camera can handle noise well and would still gives you very nice results.
Another tip is to get closer to your subjects and try not to crop at all to give you more details to work with. May not help with your current lens issue but will help with prints and the less you crop the better you will hold details.
I hope this helps. If you are looking for a nice portrait lens the 50 mm 1.8D is a great buy but may not be the best for group portraits. It is one of the sharpest lenses I own. :)
Happy Shootin
Joe

IMG_6068.jpg
by halopes

Comment:
looks like the end of that yellow brick road is a dead end. :P