Rustic Charm
by sherpet

Comment:
Great capture of textures. I don't like the reflection in the rusted metal, but I'm not sure if anything could be done about it. I'd like to try something like this (if I could find this kind of subject) with a polarizer filter to see if it would eliminate or at least reduce the reflection.

"Old Friends Gathering"
by Thai

Comment:
Looking through your images, I've found a couple that are slightly out of focus. As I've mentioned on another one it might be that you are attempting to hand hold your camera at a shutter speed that is just a little too slow for shooting without a tripod.

As for the orange cast, this can be taken out in post processing if it is not intentional. It could be avoided in the first place by adjusting your white balance in camera before taking the shot. Or...the white balance could be adjusted in post processing IF you shoot in RAW mode.

And wow! regarding your camera. I just checked the specs to see if it has RAW capability (I see that it does) and I like the sensor that they put in it. I have a Sony F707 as a backup and I really like it. Your camera looks like a fantastic point and shoot!

"We may be small but we're Ten in all"
by Thai

Comment:
Good idea and creative. I didn't see the number 10 at first though, maybe because of the spacing between some of the bears. The subjects seem a little soft on the focus and I'm trying to figure out why. I might be wrong, but my guess is that you hand held this shot. If you did, then that is probably why it appears soft. It is difficult to get a clean, sharp shot with a shutter speed of 1/8s without a tripod. Was it hand held or am I way off base?

Wild waves on ragged rocks
by Thai

Comment:
Great location for a picture! Agreeing with the others, I would have moved to the right a little to get more of the water and the ends of the lines of rocks. Focusing on the distant water and the rocks and leaving the frame of the hole in the cliff out of focus and without the flowers (too much in the picture) would have made this better.

To add another suggestion, try playing around with your aperture to see what the results are. I shoot 80% of my images in aperture priority mode so that I can control my depth of field. It might have been possible to get the foreground AND the background in focus by changing the aperture to something like f/13 or even f/22. This would have the effect of slowing your shutter speed however, which would require the use of a tripod to keep the image sharp.

"I may be old and small but I am full of spirit"
by Thai

Comment:
Wow, definitely a nice shot and huge improvement over the first one. I would like to have seen Southern Gentleman's post-processed version to see how that improved it further. I think that it could benefit greatley from either a curves or a levels adjustment. Levels is easier to learn and helps a lot.

BTW, I just looked through the tutorials and was very surprised to find that there is not yet a tutorial on levels.

light-sunset.jpg
by naplesmusc

Comment:
Even before I read your comments regarding the composition, I was going to say that I like your choice to place the pier right where it is in the frame. It's a great sky, and the pier sets it off just right.

darker-sunset.jpg
by naplesmusc

Comment:
Nice choice of time delay to get this sunset shot.

'Hot Rod'
by talj

Comment:
I thought, when I saw this photo just now, that I had already commented on it. Now I remember, I posted this one in the thread "Pick your favorite pic from the person above you".

I like the simplicity of this pic along with the striking contrast between the red and the white against the black background. I also like the diagonals starting with the stem in the bottom left corner, leading towards the centered flower with the two parts of the flower also reaching diagonally towards the opposite corner.

Damselfly
by Imagineer

Comment:
Nice shot, good composition and great detail, especially in the wings.

Blue Skies & Golden Sands
by sherpet

Comment:
I like the colors and the composition in most of the photos from your vacation. However, they all look a bit over-processed. They seem very soft, but at the same time oversharpened. The colors appear to be over saturated or the contrast levels boosted too much. I've noticed that this will have a detrimental effect on the sharpness of the final pic. This is the most evident in this one and it looks like the Shadow/Hightlight tool was used a little too much also.

In a lot of your more abstract works this can be done with good artistic results, but when it comes to capturing beautiful landscapes, sometimes you've got to let the camera do most of the work. You've got a good camera, so in this case, I think "less is more".

I don't know for sure what your post-processing steps were, just that this is the way it looks to me. I apologize if I'm way off here.