A flower's tale
by hkpdso

Comment by Lydia:
Hahaha! Well played.

video pastimes
by hkpdso

Comment by kewzoo:
I love the lighting. It's interesting, because the picture makes me alternate between feelings of isolation and then those of coziness.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by primabarbara:
A quaint little pond!
Unfortunately the horizon is tilted to the left. The shadows could use more light and the sky is too light. This might be a result of the Position, the sun being a little bit too frontal.
I don't know the local conditions but maybe a short walk to the left, with the sun coming from behind would have helped? If the library itself is an interesting building the picture might have benefitted even more.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by roz:
my first thought was .. that at a different time there may have been picnicers and children playing in this lovely scene ... it looks like a late afternoon shot and i'm almost feeling that end of the day feel ..
of course this could be early morning which changes that feeling entirely .. lol ..
a lot of feels going on .. !! .. ;)

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by Dennisheckman:
I have to think the pond is the main subject here. But if it is, then getting closer to it would be a good thing. Would like to see some details on the lilly pads.

Adding more to my comment: Looking at the image, there is a leading line and a more interesting subject. The water line to the left of the pond more or less points at the large tree in the upper middle right. If you were to frame the shot with a low point of view and aim the camera at the large tree, you have a much more dynamic image. The image as it stands has no dynamic feel at all. The shady side and the sunny side don't balance well and the sky is pretty much totally blown out with no details at all. Getting a low POV in front of water, especially very still water, gets you reflections that you miss being so far from the water.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by JulietNN:
For myself, I can see a potential here. If it was cropped really tightly and had the outline of the pond only, then sharpened and contrasts added, I think this could have done really well. You would have the shadows and light playing out and really brought out the lily pads. In the Standard rules, you could have cloned out teh piece of concrete pond barrio and had the grass going down into the pond, That would have made it look more the other side. Sometimes when I am looking at a photo, I will go old style movie person and make a round tunnel with my hand and look through it and make it wider or smaller, to see if a crop would be a good idea. Sounds silly, but it works most times. IF this was a free study I would have given you a 2/3. As is for now a 5

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
So I see a nice little pond with still water and lily pads, and I ask, "Is that all you're trying to show me?" You're shooting into the sun but that type of lighting serves no purpose here - like I'm not getting a ray shooting through the tree or anything so I'm left wondering why you shot from this angle except to get out of the sun. What you're showing us is a blown out sky with what appears to be a road or a parking lot in the distance. I'd throw a 5 at this and move on quickly.

As I've said in other comments when I see a shot like this I'm left wondering what it is you're trying to show us and why do you want us to see it?

Not knowing where you are or what's around you I can at least see that there's something to the right that's catching light from the sun, so why not move to the left around the pond and catch its reflection in the water, or the reflection of the library instead of the empty sky and a couple trees?

A photograph should catch and keep your eye, and there's nothing here that does. It's as if this simply fulfilled a need ("I have to take a shot for the challenge. Oh, this pond is pretty.), but it's not showing us anything. And that's the goal isn't it? Sure, every one of us has stumbled into a breathtaking scene where all we have to do is press the shutter and you're done, but the rest of the time you have the camera in your hand your job is to make a picture!! There's one there but it's hiding and your choice is do you care enough to spend the time finding it? You have the camera in your hand, so it would be a shame not to.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by Janja:
There's a lot of contrast here. The sky seems overexposed especially at the left side, while the grass in the lower left side is in a heavy shadow. As the grass still contains sufficient detail, you could have tried a lower exposure (to get more detail in the sky) and increase the exposure of the shadows in pp.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by streetpigeon:
There's a comfortable amount of depth and breadth here. The reflections in the pond are appealing. The overall green and light blue are harmonious. The choice of scene seems arbitrary. It's always a personal choice. Personally, as I began to enter photos in the challenges it dawned on me that I need to ask myself why I'm taking this particular image. The quality of entries is often high and it takes some extra effort to draw out interest, enjoyment and appreciation in others. With time and practice the habit of concentration did develop for me, though I can't say my results often attained my goals. It's completely fine to find beauty in everything, though the voters' may not always share this aesthetic. Better results in terms of these challenges, if one so desires this, can come from expressing one's own feelings as gleaned from the vast world.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by GolferDDS:
I would have liked to have seen more color in the sky. Maybe even clouds. Nature doesn’t always cooperate. Also, since it is a nature scene, I would have cropped out the poles in the background. Taking this picture at a different time of the day might have made the shadows more interesting.