101 Years and Still Counting
by talmy

Comment by DrAchoo:
A really tough technical shot, so don't feel bad that it didn't come off.

You mention trying to keep the sky from blowing, but unfortunately you didn't succeed. At least on my monitor there is no detail. A graduated ND filter would have helped, but you have the issue of the tombstone sticking right up into the middle of the sky, so I don't know how it would have ultimately come out. And while Oregon rocks for its beaches, I have a really, really hard time making fir trees look good on a picture. Here they sorta look like a blurry blob. Blech.

The fill flash was a good idea, but I wonder if it wasn't too strong. Personally if I can, I use flash as little as possible. I often try to light with natural sources like candles or such. The color hue is so much prettier. Speaking of color, since there is so little, I would have gone with B&W here. Or even sepia to try to give that old look. I pulled your pic into PS and it looked like the blue channel made the tombstone more contrasty than it is in color.

Keep trying. If I come up with an answer for those fir trees, I'll let you know. The best I can do so far is sharp sillouette. You could have tried that here by upping the aperture to f/16 or f/22 or something. (you would have needed a tripod then.

Looking Skyward (with Paunch)
by talmy

Comment by Blue Moon:
hmm, not ver attractive to the eye. different model next time?

101 Years and Still Counting
by talmy

Comment by indridistefans:
Tilt seems odd

101 Years and Still Counting
by talmy

Comment by whitewolf:
old stone

Technology Provides the Answer
by talmy

Comment by Car54:
unique-- i like it

Technology Provides the Answer
by talmy

Comment by LucidLotus:
Good lighting, though the left side looks like it is a bit darker than then right. The electronic dealy has an interest to it with all its gadgetry but I think the image could be stronger if you had done something more to the composition, added more than just light to what was already there. 4

Cherries
by talmy

Comment by drydoc:
Wow! I just had a bowl of these not 2 min ago. These taste even better!!!! Very nice contrast and crispness for an out of the box shot. BOL 8

Cherries
by talmy

Comment by freakin_hilarious:
Mmmm...they look good enough to eat! This is a very nice photo, but I would like to see a bit more light and a little shallower DOF to help emphasize the cherries.

101 Years and Still Counting
by talmy

Comment by Kemptonreporter:
The flash shadow puts me off this photo, and it kills (pardon the pun) what could otherwise be a good idea.
Also, the column of the headstone would benefit from being pictured straight on. The skew angle is off-putting.
Other than that, it also seems slightly over-sharpened.
But good luck none-the-less.

101 Years and Still Counting
by talmy

Comment by atupdate:
The hint of color in the treeline begs for this image to be in B&W. It's a nice shot as is but it doesn't produce the emotional attachment it should. 5