Day 11: July 2010 Photo-a-Day Thread

[rick55]

So, I think your construction of the foreground works.

You certainly may be right, Donald, and as Rob says, it would feel tilted without it: Rob, do you have room to add a bit more to the bottom of the crop so that the plant to the right isn't left on it's own?

Cheers,
Rick

[Antonio Correia]

[Dave Humphries]

Hi all,

I went back to one of my favourite stretches of river today, here's a small selection from the shoot.

Started off with the dragon fly again and got a decent new angle on him/her.



Nikon D5000 + Nikon 70-300mm VR: 1/2000s f/11 at 300mm, iso400
Link to see bigger: 1680 x 666 px


Quite a reasonable close up (mostly crop) of this little critter, I think they are called Waterboatmen and hang just beneath the surface, or swim beneath it and hide in weed.



Nikon D5000 + Nikon 70-300mm VR: 1/500s f/11 at 300mm, iso400


Acouple of non-Macro-esque shots; I'm not absolutely certain, but I think this is a Reed Bunting.



Nikon D5000 + Nikon 70-300mm VR: 1/750s f/11 at 300mm, iso400



and to finish up, Grey Heron and Moorhen.



Nikon D5000 + Nikon 70-300mm VR: 1/750s f/8 at 300mm, iso400

Quite a productive morning's shoot, but insufficient time to process and post anymore tonight.

C&C welcome, particularly on composition/cropping as I have broken a few rules with some of these and it would be handy to know if they 'work' for you, or whether I should have tried something else. Thanks.

[PopsPhotos]

This is a volunteer, which came up just next to one of the irrigation sprinkler heads. I've held off getting water to that patch, so the force of the water wouldn't break the stem. Today I couldn't put it off longer, or I'd lose the rest of the ground that sprinkler covers.



Pops

[rick55]

Very nice, António: I like the mixture of natural and man-made, and the way the scrollwork on the right echoes the flow of the greenery and the shape of the brass in the background. A beautiful composition.

Cheers,
Rick

[rick55]

Wow! Productive is an understatement, Dave. Four beautiful shots. The composition and crop seem fine to my eye: the only suggestion I might make would be to cut out some of the space on the viewer's right in the heron/moorhen shot. I'm not sure of what rules are being followed or broken in the existing crop, but it just feels as if there's a little bit too much space to the right (and perhaps above).

Cheers,
Rick

[rick55]

Beautiful, Pops: I like the colors, and the composition is very nice, including the shadow as balance.

Cheers,
Rick

[carregwen]

You certainly may be right, Donald, and as Rob says, it would feel tilted without it: Rob, do you have room to add a bit more to the bottom of the crop so that the plant to the right isn't left on it's own?

Rick

No, I didn't crop it at all, the image above is as it was shot. I was standing on a bench to get this (looking over a hedge). I did consider getting my penknife out and cutting down the growth on the right, but I had The Botanist with me, and a suggestion that I cut down any living plant is likely to elicit a verbal and physical response that would prevent me from writing this now!

However, I can do it safely in Photoshop...

PS: I am allowed to cut the lawn, but only under strict supervision.

[PopsPhotos]

Beautiful, Pops: I like the colors, and the composition is very nice, including the shadow as balance.

Cheers,
Rick

Thank you. That is specifically why I waited for the "wrong time of day." I wanted that shadow across that log. I'm pleased with it.

Incidently, that is right out of the camera, except to crop at 4/5.

Pops

[James G]

Rick, Rob,
thankyou for the comments. Having seen some of the images you both generate, I'm pleased you liked this one. I was pleased with the end result, and it was probably the best of the day. The field is at a National Trust site and being managed using traditional techniqes. The poppy was rife in amongst the barley? (I'm not good with grains, need to study more )

I wasn't really geared up for lanscapes so I started using a ridiculously long 170-500 mm Sigma lens. I had an idea of he effect I wanted, (Rob, I remembered the shot of a harvest you took recently, which I liked enormously). As with all these things, just one of the shots had the 'just right' touch to it.

God knows what I'm going to pull from the hat for day 12!

James

[Crovean]

She keep me busy!

[rick55]

I'll admit it: you (and Donald) are right. Without the plant, it feels as if the hill wants to slide out of the frame. I should have tried it myself, but I was lazy. I just tried cloning in a little of the ground cover, and it gets too distracting, so even if you had added more, you probably would have cropped it anyway.

Couldn't you try to convince The Botanist that trimmimg the top is healthy for the plant? Kind of like thinning herds?

Cheers,
Rick

[rick55]

Such eyes, Chriss! Too cute. But why did you cut off the "daddy"? The most important thing.

Cheers,
Rick

[Crovean]

Such eyes, Chriss! Too cute. But why did you cut off the "daddy"? The most important thing.

Cheers,
Rick

She started crawling towards me when I took the shot.
btw here's the full image of the bib

and YES, its one of the most important things on that image.

[JK6065]

To stay a bit in the FIFA World Champions mood I have a shot here. (sorry I'm late but I was quite busy yesterday)

I couldn't resist posting it because it's quite funny to mention that these flowers are called "afrikaantjes" in Dutch, which means something like african people in English. And the great thing is: they're orange! Go Dutchies



unfortunately the dutch team lost the finals.

[peterb533]

[Antonio Correia]

Very nice, António: I like the mixture of natural and man-made, and the way the scrollwork on the right echoes the flow of the greenery and the shape of the brass in the background. A beautiful composition. Cheers, Rick

Thank you Rick

[rick55]

Sorry, I get so far behind on this stuff!! Beautiful shot, Peter, very striking.

Cheers,
Rick