DSCF4176a.jpg
by rbryan22

Comment by Dirt_Diver:
What happend with this one? Looks like you zoomed in too far and because the image was smaller than you wanted you just enlarged the photo size??? Anyway your other shots are very good.

DSCF3232_1.jpg
by rbryan22

Comment by jdannels:
a few ideas that may help you.
Most lenses are not sharpest "wide open" which means with is its largest aperture. For your lens at the wide end it would be 28 mm at 2.8 or 70 mm at 4.0. Also zoom lenses "sweet spot" is generally in the middle of the zoom range and stopped down a couple stops, maybe 50 mm at 5.6-8 would give sharper results.
Another thing to consider to get sharper shots is your shutter speed. look at your focal length and multiply it by 1.5 to help you have a shutter speed that won't be affected by camera shake. For example at 70 mm*1.5=105. This means a minimum shutter speed of 1/100, 1/125 would be better.
So in this photo If you zoomed in to 70 mm your shutter speed is a little too slow, you are at f/4 which may be a little soft and accentuated with the slow shutter speed. I would recommend a little higher ISO, maybe 400 or more, I think your camera can handle noise well and would still gives you very nice results.
Another tip is to get closer to your subjects and try not to crop at all to give you more details to work with. May not help with your current lens issue but will help with prints and the less you crop the better you will hold details.
I hope this helps. If you are looking for a nice portrait lens the 50 mm 1.8D is a great buy but may not be the best for group portraits. It is one of the sharpest lenses I own. :)
Happy Shootin
Joe

DSCF3220_1.jpg
by rbryan22

Comment by Citadel:
Be careful with your composition and be aware of what is in the background. In this case you've allowed a tree to grow from the girl's head.

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by jjsmom:
Welcome to the "Brown Club" I got my 1st (and only, I hope) not too long ago. I wasn't even trying for it either. I'm learning, but very slowly. Hang in there!

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by J-Me:
Congrats on the coveted "Brown Ribbon"! Add it proudly to your profile! Seriously! It's an accomplishment that a lot of people try to achieve on purpose.

This shot was better than it got. Peeps in here are often overly critical on shots that don't deserve it and allow those that do to go to higher ranks in my personal opinion. *smile*

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by boyd2000:
Nice idea, but the lighting and focus are not good, and a single girl reflection would be much better than the double reflection

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by AndyMac24:
Neither the reflection or the fish are really in focus. I like the idea though.

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by menele:
Little too blury/grainy to convey the concept

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by one2one:
Who's peeking on who?

Reflections
by rbryan22

Comment by tootsweet:
I'm sorry, this just doesn't do much for me. I have racked my brain to figure out why, so as to be constructive. My biggest "issues" aren't really your fault...taking a picture through glass into water. You have no control over the cleanliness of the glass at an aquarium, so it's not worth mentioning (or voting you down.) I like the fact that there are actually two reflections of the girl. Just overall, I am left feeling ho-hum with this. Again, I don't think you should take that as criticism, just as an example of how art "speaks" differently to different people.