Jaz looking down
by David.C

Comment by pcody:
The light is nice and soft and gives a good modeling effect on her face. I like the pose, it's comtemplative,which is something unusual for an active kid. It seems that she is absorbed in a task. The background color really complements her skin tones. If I could offer one little bit of advise, I'd clone off the spot on her lip. It's the only thing keeping this from being a perfect portrait.

Alex profile with waterfall
by David.C

Comment by suemack:
I think this is just wonderful...his face in focus against the blurred waterfall and grass in the background, the lovely soft lighting on his skin tone....I love it.

sue

Still Useful
by David.C

Comment by fulcrum:
The on-camera flash really flattens the subject.

Still Useful
by David.C

Comment by admart01:
a tighter crop would help

Still Useful
by David.C

Comment by orussell:
Composition: Subject Placement, Cropping, Background 7
Technical: Focus, Exposure, Lighting, Processing 7
Appeal: Is it Interesting, Motivating, Etc. 5
How well does it meet the challenge: 7
Total Averaged Rating(Rounded) 7

Knowledge
by David.C

Comment by soccerdad:
Just happened upon this again.

I would have preferred fewer books. I was a double EE as well, and could fit everything I needed for a day in a backpack. (Also, they made me take Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Diff EQ sequentially, not simultaneously. Must be why you were so much better at math than me ;) )

Still Useful
by David.C

Comment by kaenmey:
Great idea, great title and great shot. Love the DOF making the nest crisp and the background blurred.

Still Useful
by David.C

Comment by autool:
Composition: Subject Placement, Cropping, Background 6
Technical: Focus, Exposure, Lighting, Processing 7
Appeal: Is it Interesting, Motivating, Etc.? 8
How well does it meet the challenge: 5
Total Averaged Rating 7 Dick

Peaceful Park
by David.C

Comment by David.C:
Thanks for the comments.

I was running out of time on this, as it had been raining all week. Sure there are a few places in this town that look better wet than dry (rivers look better with water than without ;D ), but all of those were flooded -- way too much rain.

Just before sunset on the final day I thought of trying this park. It is newer than the other and there are many who still do not know it is there. I arrived just as the sun finished sinking below the horizon, and had about 15 minutes to shoot the shots in the after glow of the sunset.

This was not my first choice of the 14 exposures I took (most my card will hold at max resolution), but partway through the shoot I slipped on a wet metal bridge and jarred my camera on the railing. This caused it to reset all settings (including the date and time). Not knowing this at the time, I ended up with a choice between this one and a close-up of one of the geese (seen after they swam away from me in the picture).

By the time I realized this, I had very little time to prepare the image before submitting it. Not that having more time would have helped, I overexposed trying to compensate for the very low light levels. Besides, the only thing worse than my photography skills are my photoshop skills. :P

David

Knowledge
by David.C

Comment by David.C:
First a late thank you to all the commenters.

bill_hk2002: I have degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science, but started out in Electrical Engineering (did not last long before math pulled me in :D ).

BTW: would you have preferred more or fewer books?

David