Kicking Back — America's Most Popular (In)Activity
by GeneralE

Comment by cutout:
now thats cozy 10

Some Assembly Required
by GeneralE

Comment by giantmike:
Nice photo of what i'm sure is a fun kids activity.

Mud Flats at Night
by GeneralE

Comment by Purple_Girl:
A nice vantage point and but the noise in this image is majorly strong, a good denoising would have helped this shot along.

Mud Flats at Night
by GeneralE

Comment by Ammie:
Very difficult to shoot something like this at night.

Mud Flats at Night
by GeneralE

Comment by Melethia:
A nice composition, but it's a bit hard to see the mud flats. There's quite a bit of "blotchiness" and color noise which detracts from the overall quality of the presentation, but I the city lights on the hills beyond.

Burnt-out
by GeneralE

Comment by mitalapo:
the grain make it for me.

Mud Flats at Night
by GeneralE

Comment by Neat:
Oh dear, this looks over processed to me, still I can see some potential in the scene, but the PP, not good.

"No Doubt About It, I Gotta Get Another Hat"
by GeneralE

Comment by CNovack:
Voted earlier, coming back to leave comments.

'Hats' off you to for the humor (pun intended):-) I am not convinced that the desaturation of all elements except the banana really work. The image has potential but needs some work. First off I think it would have been better to have a black background for the white of the 'gloves' and the magician's sleeves to pop off the backdrop. The challenge would be to light the black hat so it does not blend into the backdrop. Easy enough with some small lights (flashlights or small desk spotlight) that can be hidden behind the hat. It's best to make sure that you have some distance between wall and hat (say 3 feet) and hat and light (7 to 14 inches). This will help illuminate the hat by 'outlining' the edges; separating it from the black backdrop. You will also have to have a light on the front of the hat and magician to keep lighting balanced. There is a lot of 'noise' or grain in the shot. Shooting with a faster ISO introduces that noise. The options are to shoot with a lower ISO 200 or less OR run the image through a Denoise program such as Topaz Denoise or Noise Ninja. Lastly, when composing your image make sure that you have all the necessary elements to complete the 'illusion'. The rubber gloves just don't speak of a magician. It ruins the imagery of a young, inexperienced magician being frustrated at not mastering the magic of the hat.

Walking The Dog
by GeneralE

Comment by sfalice:
Dang, that's a good shot of that tree. It's way far off from your vantage point and your hand-held shot was sharp and spot on.

It could be on the moors of a distant land, but no, it's in the heart of San Francisco.

Columnar
by GeneralE

Comment by Strikeslip:
Old graphics card? :-(