From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by Senay:
I liked this shot, reminds me of a tree near the Detroit river that I used to always go to as a child.

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by MinsoPhoto:
Wow that is one big tree. Not sure I can really add to what these great minds have already said, just keep on shooting, love to see what's next from you.

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by vlado:
Commenting as part of my Team Suck duties...

I think the last four commenters have said it all, and said it well. "Cluttered" and "undramatic". A different angle, or a different approach could have worked, or if you'd included a point of interest to compliment the branch... a person or animal. it's not a bad image, not by any definition, it's just not interesting enough, especially for the DPC crowd. They're tough!

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by northebound:
It is not a bad picture, but in my opinion, I found the photo to be too busy yet, undramatic. Nothing really brought me into the photo and I seemed to be held off by the unfocused foreground of the photo. The colors, while natural, didn't evoke any sort of emotion and I felt like I was wanting more. I guess, to say it short, the photo was kind of bland.

Looking at the tree (from your notes), I can possibly suggest a couple perspectives that would have made the photo more "active". For instance, an off-balanced, tilted shot from the trunk, moving down the branches w/ a shallow DOF could produce a more interesting feel to it. The branch could have provided some leading lines, rather than just being in the photo. Having the picture done at some "colorful" time (sunrise, sunset, night) may have also helped out with the colors to it.

These are just my opinions, of course, and not by any sort of professional knowledge.

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by Covert_Oddity:
You say it's difficult to get a clean shot of this tree, so why not go in the other direction, include elements of the town in the shot and show how the tree is part of the community.

I think your problem here is lighting and composition. The shot is cluttered, the focus is on the branch in front, but what are we looking at that's interesting about that branch? Bear in mind that most of your viewers don't have the same emotional attachment to the tree that you do so to them it's just a branch on a tree.

I think you have an interesting subject here, go back at different times of the day and try taking it from different angles. Try it with backlighting, eg, setting sun, try it with long shadows, try a whole bunch of different things that you think wouldn't work. Take hundreds of photos of it, examine them, find the angles and positions you like and go take hundreds more like them. I'm rambling slightly now, but that's how I find good pictures of difficult subjects, it may or may not work for you :)

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by h2:
Composition is a bit clutterd. As already said, cropping off the bottom might have helped. I addition, the lighting is quite flat, bw-conversion along with a push in contrast might have been a way to add impact.

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by Lonni:
Great sharpness and tones. The light here is a bit flat, but somehow beautiful and compliments the moss. The problem with this shot is the composition. The bottom branch detracts dramatically, and it is like you didn't really know what you were focussing on with the image.

Not sure specifically how it could have been improved without being there, but perhaps more around a little, looking through the viewfinder constantly until you get something that is pleasing. Keep the concepts of leading lines and the rule of thirds in mind.

From The Ground Up
by Luci11e

Comment by JokersSoul:
I think cropping this a bit more from the bottom would be better. The out of focus branch on the bottom is distracting to the feel of the image (IMO)

Evil
by Luci11e

Comment by MattO:
A couple of things about this image bother me. The first thing I notice is the ghosting from using slower shutter speeds and iTTL(I think that is what Nikon calls it) flash. Your ISO is low enough that the flash is essentially your only light. So the preflash it uses to meter the flash actually shows some of the image, and then when the actual flash goes off it records it again so you notice the movement, most notably in the bottom wrestlers head and the legs of both players. The framing of the image bothers me as well. Dead space ahead and cut off feet at the bottom and the legs as well. If you are going to cut off limbs go ahead and go tight with the shot. I don't need to see the behind of the guy in the background. :D

To cure the ghosting issue, you can go full manual with your flash, determine a setting that works with it speed up your shutter a bit and raise your ISO. When I shoot wrestling I go full manual mode on the flash and settings. I generally try to use these settings, and yes I realize they may not work on your camera but gives you an idea of my mindset

1/300(my flash sync speed on both cameras) F2.8-F3.5 depending on which gym I am in, ISO from 3200-5000 again depending on which gym I am in. Flash at 1/8-1/4 power zoomed to 70Meters at 45 degrees with a diffuser on it to spread light more evenly. Stofens is my choice for wrestling, sometimes with a gel under it to match WB settings. Confused yet? I hope not. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hope
by Luci11e

Comment by poser:
I think you are right on with how to change this. I'm not a doll person either so I'd be right there with you :~)