Miserable cow
by P-A-U-L

Comment by timfythetoo:
Too close! TOO CLOSE!!! ;) But seriously, probably a bit too in focus to be considered soft/blurry and probably stretching it to call it high key. Perspective is cool (did he lick your lens?), but it is not grabbing me for this challenge.

Miserable cow
by P-A-U-L

Comment by tnun:
I am definitely not a serious person. I love this.

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by P-A-U-L:

Originally posted by tanguera: Although I agree with most of the observations, I'm in agreement most with Mike and feel it is the pp'g which doesn't match the delicacy of the scene. I even love that the bubble obscures her face, but captured her laughter. I think you could crop this square and take out an inch on the right without losing anything compositionally. Then start over with the pp'g, going the opposite direction, softening up the entire scene, maybe adding a bit of blur to the bg. MAYBE even try some glamour glow, if you have it.

Thank you tanguera. I like the idea of trying a square crop - I think it would work well. I can't remember what processing I did - usually just a Topaz adjust preset and a few tweaks:) The glamour glow sounds interesting - never heard of that. I will google it.

Many thanks for the feedback. It is really helpful to get advice like this.

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by tanguera:
Although I agree with most of the observations, I'm in agreement most with Mike and feel it is the pp'g which doesn't match the delicacy of the scene. I even love that the bubble obscures her face, but captured her laughter. I think you could crop this square and take out an inch on the right without losing anything compositionally. Then start over with the pp'g, going the opposite direction, softening up the entire scene, maybe adding a bit of blur to the bg. MAYBE even try some glamour glow, if you have it.

Predator
by P-A-U-L

Comment by lensman67:
Really like the bokeh here. Good shot.

Home is where the heart is
by P-A-U-L

Comment by Jutilda:
Oh I just love that thatched roof!!!

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by P-A-U-L:

Originally posted by mike_311: i feel the choice of processing inst right for this image. the oversauration enhances parts of the image which should be left as background and pulls the focus away from your subject. i'd prefer to see a more subdued color set, while still slightly pushing the reds (but not much) to drive the focus to the girl. when you post process you have the ability to control where my eye goes and right now it goes right to the hill and stays there.

Thanks Mike - I totally agree and was not happy with the processing though it was better than some of my other Topaz preset attempts:) And you are spot on about the lack of focus of attention. I recall attempting to add a vignette to try and focus more on the subject but it looked terrible and my arsenal of post processing tricks is quite minimal:)

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by P-A-U-L:

Originally posted by bsluijk: If I may add: I recognize what has been said and agree. Great bubbles, lovely scene, great expression on her face. Lovely shot. The "window to her smile" is very a nice touch, but I DO miss seeing her eyes ... As to the overall composition: I like the hill to the right, not to keen on the boat in the background (would probably have cloned that away) and I would be curious to see the effect of a little lower viewpoint. And I hope I would have straightened the horizon. But criticism is easy - first I would have to make a picture as nice as this one ;-)

Thanks bsluijk - feedback much appreciated. I agree that seeing her eyes would have been a nice addition especially as she has fantastic blue eyes. I think this shot was the best of a bad bunch. Here are a few others. Note these have no processing apart from cropping.







Good point about the horizon - I always forget this one and it makes such a difference.

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by P-A-U-L:

Originally posted by jagar: Actually I like the bubble on her face, it's like a window to her smile.

What a superb description. If you don't mind I am going to rename the image:)

Bubbles
by P-A-U-L

Comment by Mike:
i feel the choice of processing inst right for this image. the oversauration enhances parts of the image which should be left as background and pulls the focus away from your subject. i'd prefer to see a more subdued color set, while still slightly pushing the reds (but not much) to drive the focus to the girl.

when you post process you have the ability to control where my eye goes and right now it goes right to the hill and stays there.