American Bittern bokeh
by snaffles

Comment:
Hi from the CC CLub,

Well, peek a boo to you too!!

I really like this shot, I like the fact that there are reeds in teh way of his face. Now the reason she is doing that, is she has noticed a predator (ie You) and is trying to be a bulrushes. They stick their heads up like that and blend into the background and become very still until they sense the danger is over.

Oh the photo, well, it is a very good capture of something that hides a lot and a rare to actaully see. The bird is in sharp clean focus and the eyes are brilliant as they pop right out. The bokeh is a little underwhelming because of the strong foreground. In PP a little D and B on teh feathers, especially teh whites may have brought this out a little more.

This shot will not do so well on DPC as it is not isolated, too much stuff in front of it etc. But you give this to any bird lover and they will think you are the bee's knees.

Well done on this excellent capture

Message edited by author 2009-08-09 10:02:45.

Battle of the Bulge
by Gman17

Comment:
Hi from the CC Club,

Nice title!!! When it comes to macros, you need to have your subject tack sharp. Your bee's are out of focus, they can move pretty fast so a faster shutter speed is needed. I am not sure why your ISO is so high, where you in the shade or was it later on in the evening that you took this?

You shot could have been helped with a wider DOF. In post processing, a little bump in the colours would have helped and some sharpening too.

Blue Flower
by izzy181

Comment:
sorry double post

Message edited by author 2009-08-09 13:40:22.

Blue Flower
by izzy181

Comment:
Hi from the CC CLub,

It is a lovely weed or flower, I would like some down here in the desert!!

So you have a lovely shot of a blue flower, it is too centered and could do with an interesting angle to make it more appealing. The background is spot on, very very good blur there. The pink is distracting in your border, I know it is another flower, but it really pops out there. In post processing, you could have really popped that flower off the page with a little contrast, some curves and selective colours. a little dodge and burn may have helped too.

Remember the rules of thirds when shooting.

Keep on shooting and drop me a line if you have any questions.

Family of Ducks on the Rideau Canal
by adamslight

Comment:
Greetings from the CC Club

I like your title, it took me a moment to see why you titled it, cute!

Now I am presuming that you took this at night time or very late in the evening? Your ISO is way up there. Your high ISO will give you a fair amount of grain to start off with, and then you added grain. Obviously you like the grain or your wouldn't have done it, so I will stop talking about the grain!

There is a lot of dead space at the top of your shot, a closer crop would have drawn more attention to what you wanted the people to see, which was the three boats and the surrounding areas. You have lost a massive amount of details when you added the grain. You have 5 leading lines in this shot and none of them are really that dominant.

When taking a shot like this, you have to have a focal point in mind. I can not find one that I want to look at, rather I am scanning all over the place to find something. I am finding the angle a little hard to work with also.

If you get teh chance to do this again, do so, because it is a gorgeous scene

Great Blue Heron
by Drake

Comment:
Hi from the CC Club,

What a gorgeous Heron, amazing capture.

As you wrote in your notes the head is not as sharp as it could be, but it is pretty close to it. I believe that this shot is just a tad bit too bright. The foreground and background are so bright that they are almost over powering the bird. Toning down the greens a little in Post processing would have made the bird pop off the page.

Dodging and burning would have been your friend in this shot. Saturation sponge/selective colours, curves could have brought out the intense colours of the bird.

I think you did an amazing job for sitting in a rubber boat, I could not capture this with a tripod on land.

Well done

The Sentinel
by JimiRose

Comment:
HI from the CC Club,

Stunning shot!!

You have a great focal point in the horse on the left, with the leading lines going down to the rest of the herd. The clouds are dramatic to say the least.

You have two strong leading lines going on here, one is the path the other is the clouds, then the three focal points are the horse, the tree and then the herd. The cloud line leads to the tree, the path to the herd. It is difficult to keep your eye in one spot I am searching all over the shot. A tiny closer crop on the horse on the left, would have made him more of the focal point i believe.

The left horse's body is fairly bright compared to her face, maybe bringing in a little more of that brightness into the face would help as well. Your horizon is a little tilted too.

Your shot, is sharp, clean and clarity is stunning. I have enjoyed looking at this

Message edited by author 2009-08-09 08:54:08.

Volcanic landscape
by drengur1

Comment:
Hi from the CC Club,

the first thing that my eyes are draw to are the lovely hills all misty fading into the background. then I look more closely. the scrub land has a few problems, the rest seems to have clumped together and there are no details in them. They look over processed and too sharp.

I would crop a 1 and 1/4 inches of the bottom of your picture, so that there is still scrub land to see in this interesting round pattern. If you do that, then you will also see a lovely leading line going up to your hills.

In post processing, I would tweak with the selective colour black , shadow and highlight as well, just to pop those hills out

if you have any questions, please pm me

Different life on Miami Beach
by thomasjessen

Comment:
HI from teh CC CLub,

I think what this shot is sufferening from is a bright background that overtakes teh forgreound. A closer crop on teh left may have helped a little as well. This could definitely do with some contrast and or exposure sliding. He has such a happy face and that needs to be brought out, you have so many details that could be brought out with a little dodge and burn, some tweak in selective colour, shadow highlights.

play around with it and see what you come up with!

Simplicity
by power47

Comment:
Ho from the CC club.

I love your cool tones you have going on here with just a splash of pink against the purples.

I like the photo, but I believe that you need a just a tiny bit more of the wire to be focus. At the moment the only story your picture is telling is that there are these two hook type things hanging in space.

I think maybe just a little crop on the right hand side would give your leading lines somewhere to lead too. Your horizon is tilted as well,

you are nicely sharpened on your hookey things though

and the simplicity of it all is refreshing