"Family" is a history of moments shared...
by Bear_Music

Comment:
This is what "Basic Editing" is all about. It's a stunning shot. The still water and reflection beyond the silhouettes is marvelous. Congrats Robert.

Dietes Grandiflora
by tanguera

Comment:
Great idea and a superb image resulted. Congrats on the red! It's probably good that you didn't have the time to think too much about shooting this.

Visitation
by jomari

Comment:
Go Marion! Wonderful image! It's been a joy to watch your progress and to share comments on photos with you here at DPC.

N E C K
by ScooterMcNutty

Comment:
Excellent! Congrats on your new blue!

Rest in peace
by Glanni

Comment:
The light looks like car headlights, shot at dusk or dawn. I like this because I like the scene, and the old dragline. The muted colors do it justice.

Defoliated
by TrollMan

Comment:
I would have titled this one "Achoo!!! . It fits the theme of the challenge nicely.

Hot Air Ballon
by tonywan

Comment:
This one looks to be straight from the camera. Some minor adjustments to contrast and color would have made a big difference in the impact, and in the voting.
Ballooning is one of the most enjoyable adventures ever. I hope that your whole flight was this nice. This is a magnificent scene!

painterly
by timfythetoo

Comment:
Bravo for you Tim! This one's totally out of your normal box (usually a box with a ribbon in it too, I might add,) and shot with your phone cam.
I can feel the happiness in driving a nice wooded road in the fall in it. Thanks for sharing.

Long Limbs
by LoVi

Comment:
I'm guessing that the voters didn't like your shadow in this one. Most of the voters don't take time to check the titles, esp on a vertical shot where they have to scroll to see it. I do understand how you set up your shadow to mesh with the line of shadows.
Generally, if I'm shooting with the sun at my back, I try to move into the shadow of something, so my shadow is not a part of the image.
I like the leading line/curve in this one, and the pretty sky.

Island Cottage
by BAMartin

Comment:
I'm not sure what happened when you shot this one. It looks like possibly camera movement during exposure. With the exposure time being 1/200 with the Canon, even at 135mm it seems that it would be sharper than it is.

Some of my photos were looking pretty soft like this a while back, and I found that the rear element of one of my lenses had some kind of ick on it. Cleaning that up improved it a lot.
Check that lens by looking thru it with the aperture held open. I think that there is a way to take it off the camera and keep the aperture open wide so you can inspect the glass for any smudges or mold spots.

I found when shooting with my older non IS/VR lenses, that shooting from a car sitting still with the motor idling was making my photos soft due to the vibration of the motor running. Shooting with a tripod on a bridge with any traffic on it can do this too, because of the vibration.

Two other things, 1, check the diopter setting for the viewfinder, esp if you were using manual focus for this one, and, #2, keep shooting.
I hope that one or more of these suggestions will help at least some with finding a way to correct the softness for future shooting.
My last entry crashed and burned, but it don't make a big difference in the way life will be a couple of months down the road.
It's a bummer about the low score with this one. It's a very nice scene, and one that I would greatly enjoy seeing in person.

ETA, I thought about one more thing, shooting with a tripod and having IS turned on can do this too. Check the lens manual about it.

Message edited by author 2011-11-14 00:40:36.