Hope everyone is having a fantastic 4th holiday weekend.
Carol, this is some nice stuff. Your earlier comments seemed to lament the fog, and lack of sunshine. However, I think you negotiated the fog well. It gives many of your images a nice, moody, "Maine" look to them!
Photos from Maine
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faxmachineanthem
- Posts: 160
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:11 am
Wow, Carol, you did a great job. I can see a difference between your photos now and even a year ago. You are improving. 
My favorites are #9, #27, #35, #69. I like the shallow depth of field on #27. Unconventional for a landscape photo but I think it was the right choice to bring attention to the log. I've been trying to find situations to use shallow DOF in landscapes myself. It's too easy to just set it to f11 and leave it.
Are you using Lightroom? I've been using it lately and feel that I recognize the "look" in some of the photos. You really did a nice job processing. The, white balance, saturation, and contrast look very natural but vibrant. It's a fine line to walk that I struggle with sometimes, especially since I have two monitors that I work with and they look different.
#69 is just gorgeous and needs to be printed large!
My favorites are #9, #27, #35, #69. I like the shallow depth of field on #27. Unconventional for a landscape photo but I think it was the right choice to bring attention to the log. I've been trying to find situations to use shallow DOF in landscapes myself. It's too easy to just set it to f11 and leave it.
Are you using Lightroom? I've been using it lately and feel that I recognize the "look" in some of the photos. You really did a nice job processing. The, white balance, saturation, and contrast look very natural but vibrant. It's a fine line to walk that I struggle with sometimes, especially since I have two monitors that I work with and they look different.
#69 is just gorgeous and needs to be printed large!
Hey FAX and Carol: I am betting Carol did some "pre-" post processing in ACR before bringing the image into PS. Some of the controls are similar to Lightroom Controls (e.g. the Vibrance slider). I also like the ability in ACR to adjust the color temp to your liking. I think there are a lot of similarities there.
And, I agree. Carol has always had a nice eye for composition. I don't remember the number, but the image with the red kayak in it is "as good as good can be."
And, I agree. Carol has always had a nice eye for composition. I don't remember the number, but the image with the red kayak in it is "as good as good can be."
Andy
If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .
If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .
Carol: Your photos speak to me of the Maine that I grew to love as a child and where I vacationed for many years as an adult. These photos just sing to me! They are the real Maine!!!
So many have impressed me that it's hard to name my favorites. I do have "one" special one that I will save to the end for the drum roll but here are some that I just have to point out!
10: Lobster buoy bedecked boat house with American flag and reflections on the water.
38: Full moon (need we ask why
) reflection on water.
45: The red color of schooner Margaret Todd against the blue sea and sky.
46: Egg Rock Lighthouse with crashing waves and gulls.
48: Immature bald eagle on Egg Rock: simple and poignant! Loved it!
75: Window of summer color with lupines.
39: Albino flecked deer in stance in woods staring at you! Wow!
Drum roll:
My ABSOLUTE favorite:
37: Albino flecked deer on beaver dam in marshland
Just OUTSTANDING!
Great job girlfriend! This is your best set yet!
So many have impressed me that it's hard to name my favorites. I do have "one" special one that I will save to the end for the drum roll but here are some that I just have to point out!
10: Lobster buoy bedecked boat house with American flag and reflections on the water.
38: Full moon (need we ask why
) reflection on water.45: The red color of schooner Margaret Todd against the blue sea and sky.
46: Egg Rock Lighthouse with crashing waves and gulls.
48: Immature bald eagle on Egg Rock: simple and poignant! Loved it!
75: Window of summer color with lupines.
39: Albino flecked deer in stance in woods staring at you! Wow!
Drum roll:
My ABSOLUTE favorite:
37: Albino flecked deer on beaver dam in marshland
Just OUTSTANDING!
Great job girlfriend! This is your best set yet!
CT - Board Admin and Moderator for Scenes of Vermont
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Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot
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Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot
Carol, until now I've only had the chance to give your Maine shots a cursory review. Now though I've looked at them much more closely. I think you've made some really nice photos. I made my list of favorites, studied them to narrow it down further and made my final selections.
Here is my honorable mention: I loved #53, maybe because I was eating dinner in front of my computer. The lighting on the lobster is great. I only wish you would have turned it around so the sun was on the lobster's head and the drawn butter. There are some distracting things in the photo such as the the plate and the bowl and the patio floor and chairs, but this one had a lot of potential.
Number 3 almost came out on top but ended up #3. I liked the unique perspective and the black and white worked well with the fog. The thing that knocked it out though was there is just too much negative space above the light. Had you cropped it so the top of the light was near the top of the frame, it would have finished number 1.
I really liked the lighthouse in #49. The composition is excellent. The eye is drawn right to the lighthouse. The color and movement of the water and the gulls really add to the atmosphere, It is #2 on my list but it was a tough call but my number 1?
Since I'm a big picture guy and I love landscapes, my top choice is Number 70. The stillness of the water and the reflections of the clouds in the water are really nice. I would hang this on my living room wall. I have two minor criticisms of it. I think it leans a little to the right. Did you use a bubble level in your hotshoe? The other is the foreground. I think you should lighten it up a bit, especially on the right side. While you are at it, you might saturate the reds in the flowers. Otherwise, it is an outstanding photo.
So Carol, terrific work. I've looked at your photos of Maine and Fax's shots of Oregon and I'm reminded of two of my most favorite places. Thank you for sharing them with all of us.
Here is my honorable mention: I loved #53, maybe because I was eating dinner in front of my computer. The lighting on the lobster is great. I only wish you would have turned it around so the sun was on the lobster's head and the drawn butter. There are some distracting things in the photo such as the the plate and the bowl and the patio floor and chairs, but this one had a lot of potential.
Number 3 almost came out on top but ended up #3. I liked the unique perspective and the black and white worked well with the fog. The thing that knocked it out though was there is just too much negative space above the light. Had you cropped it so the top of the light was near the top of the frame, it would have finished number 1.
I really liked the lighthouse in #49. The composition is excellent. The eye is drawn right to the lighthouse. The color and movement of the water and the gulls really add to the atmosphere, It is #2 on my list but it was a tough call but my number 1?
Since I'm a big picture guy and I love landscapes, my top choice is Number 70. The stillness of the water and the reflections of the clouds in the water are really nice. I would hang this on my living room wall. I have two minor criticisms of it. I think it leans a little to the right. Did you use a bubble level in your hotshoe? The other is the foreground. I think you should lighten it up a bit, especially on the right side. While you are at it, you might saturate the reds in the flowers. Otherwise, it is an outstanding photo.
So Carol, terrific work. I've looked at your photos of Maine and Fax's shots of Oregon and I'm reminded of two of my most favorite places. Thank you for sharing them with all of us.
I think its great that you posted your critique, Al. I e-mailed Carol privately, but perhaps the real power of this photography forum would be if we did what you did. You have the art of giving a good constructive critique, suggesting real postitives.
I agree with the #3 lighthouse image. I held a piece of cardboard on the screen, cropping off the top. Carol, I don't think it will detract from the length of the columns a bit. Indeed, their size and perspective will suggest their height. And the crop brings your true subject (obviously the light) front and center for the viewer. I think you will like the crop. Don't be afraid to use a square crop on that one. I think it is pretty dramatic.
I think it, too, leans, as I noted privately to you.
Al, you will laugh. My primary comment to Carol on her Maine shots was that many of them seemed to lean where the horizon or important verticals were. I know I am guilty of that, too. I recounted for her your comment last fall on my reflection shot and your strong recommendation to get a bubble level. My eye (I'll bet most of us have this problem), on its own, "sees" level that is not truely level. The guides in PS -- and the bubble levels -- do not lie. My advice to her was to buy one and use it. I have and it does work.
BTW, for viewers, they are generally pretty expensive for a little plastic bubble level. Do a thorough search on eBay. I found them for about $1.50 and bought 4 of them (from China, but not too much risk at that price). Shipping was the same for 1 or 4 and the are small and susceptible to loss.
I agree with the #3 lighthouse image. I held a piece of cardboard on the screen, cropping off the top. Carol, I don't think it will detract from the length of the columns a bit. Indeed, their size and perspective will suggest their height. And the crop brings your true subject (obviously the light) front and center for the viewer. I think you will like the crop. Don't be afraid to use a square crop on that one. I think it is pretty dramatic.
I think it, too, leans, as I noted privately to you.
Al, you will laugh. My primary comment to Carol on her Maine shots was that many of them seemed to lean where the horizon or important verticals were. I know I am guilty of that, too. I recounted for her your comment last fall on my reflection shot and your strong recommendation to get a bubble level. My eye (I'll bet most of us have this problem), on its own, "sees" level that is not truely level. The guides in PS -- and the bubble levels -- do not lie. My advice to her was to buy one and use it. I have and it does work.
BTW, for viewers, they are generally pretty expensive for a little plastic bubble level. Do a thorough search on eBay. I found them for about $1.50 and bought 4 of them (from China, but not too much risk at that price). Shipping was the same for 1 or 4 and the are small and susceptible to loss.
Andy
If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .
If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .
Excellent work Carol. Makes me long to return to Acadia...
Sorry for not commenting sooner as I have been away for a while meself.
Sorry for not commenting sooner as I have been away for a while meself.
Charles Kozierok - DesktopScenes.com
View Autumn Scenes from Southern Vermont (2003), my free, 75-image foliage gallery!
View Autumn Scenes from Southern Vermont (2003), my free, 75-image foliage gallery!
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Rockwall Tim
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:43 pm
- Location: Rockwall, TX
- Contact:
Sorry, can't pick a favorite
My photography eye isn't as keen as the other posters and all the shots look wonderful to me. I started looking at them with the idea in mind of remembering my favorites, but each time I did so, another shot would supplant it.
So, let's just say I loved the lighthouses, the eagles, the deer, the coastline shots, and the Bar Harbor downtown shots. All of them!
So, let's just say I loved the lighthouses, the eagles, the deer, the coastline shots, and the Bar Harbor downtown shots. All of them!
II Cor. 4:17
