2017 Project 52, First Quarter by Joe/ Joebranko

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[Cantab]

Joe, an interesting set of photos. Snow on the ground but no ice on the lake, so it presumably was hovering around freezing.

In the third photo, the fence is definitely a distraction but your choice appears to have been to include the fence or don't take the photo. I wonder what the photo would look like if you cropped off almost the entire right half so that there was no fence and only the more interesting tree?

[Kaye Leggett]

You had a nice clear day with lovely light. The first and last mages are particularly appealing

[Geoff F]

They all work well for me, Joe. You have overcome some potentially tricky exposures and produced nicely sharp focus on real life moving water. Good compositions as well.

[skitterbug]

Hi Joe,

Good series of nature scenes. Out of these, I think my 1st choice would be #1 because it seems balanced and of course I really like the water rippling over the edge and the calmness below the fall.

#2 works but for me however I like my water with a bit more crispness rather than the soft texture. But that's a personal choice of course. Seems like we all look at water scenes and want to show something that we like about them so some show the water as crisp and some show it as smooth and soft! <smile>

#3 I like the tree and its reflection but I don't like the fence and table along the RH side.

And in #4 the brush and down tree at the bottom of the pic are distracting for me. But again this is just my opinion and how I'd set up my shot.

Over all, your pics are sharp, clear and interesting. And I always enjoy water shots!

[joebranko]

Two Mallard Ducks enjoying a swim in LaSalle Park.




The male with his distinct colouring



and the female

[Urbanflyer]

Joe, are you still actively working on composition? Your two mallard shot might be improved by putting them on a diagonal from each other rather than stacked up. You could achieve that by moving your position slightly to the right. Are you out from under snow now?

[joebranko]

Joe, are you still actively working on composition? Your two mallard shot might be improved by putting them on a diagonal from each other rather than stacked up. You could achieve that by moving your position slightly to the right. Are you out from under snow now?

Thanks Judith. I am always working on composition. However I was looking for something to post along with the male and female I posted. This was taken from a larger scene I had cropped to exclude three other ducks: they were where they were. However, good point. Diagonal would have been better.

[skitterbug]

Nice photos. It looks like the mallards were cooperating with you! I like the male in the second shot with his foot pushing off the water behind him.

[joebranko]

Nice photos. It looks like the mallards were cooperating with you! I like the male in the second shot with his foot pushing off the water behind him.

Thanks Sandy. The colours of the male are very vibrant!

[joebranko]

This was taken at LaSalle Park a park 15 min from home where many swan and ducks and geese like to hang out and chill.



I particularly liked the reflections. However I could not quite get the colours right and thought of switching to mono. In the end I de-saturated the colours and I quite liked the result below:

[skitterbug]

My first comment (to myself of course - lol) when I saw your LaSalle Park photos was "Oh wow!". Even though the colors may not be to your standards, I prefer the 1st pic over the second simply because I do like color pics. The blue is showing up nicely on my monitor. Well done!

[Geoff F]

Nice subtle shades with the colour version.

I think I would consider cropping a fraction closer with the monochrome; particularly at the top because those blue tints are lost and without having more definite contrast there appears to be too much rather bland sky now.

[joebranko]

Nice subtle shades with the colour version.

I think I would consider cropping a fraction closer with the monochrome; particularly at the top because those blue tints are lost and without having more definite contrast there appears to be too much rather bland sky now.

Thanks Geoff. Very good suggestion. I was concerned about that expance of sky in the mono. It was not noticeable in colour and now I understand why.

[Shadowman]

Post 151, nicely composed and captured.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Joe I like the male duck in post #146. Nice composition in post # 151 and the color version looks nice to me . Some more PP might improve the image as the highlights are a bit too much and the shadows might need just a little lifting, but it is difficult to say without seeing.

[joebranko]

Hi Joe I like the male duck in post #146. Nice composition in post # 151 and the color version looks nice to me . Some more PP might improve the image as the highlights are a bit too much and the shadows might need just a little lifting, but it is difficult to say without seeing.

Thanks Binnur.

[joebranko]

Another shot from LaSalle Park. This one looking toward a home of one of the more well to do residence adjacent the park. My intent was to capture the landscape when into the frame swam this swan. I did not object!



Same swan, different pose.



Both shots taken in bright sunshine. In the second the back of the swan is overexposed and I lost some detail in the feathers on the back.

[Urbanflyer]

Another shot from LaSalle Park. This one looking toward a home of one of the more well to do residence adjacent the park. My intent was to capture the landscape when into the frame swam this swan. I did not object!



Same swan, different pose.



Both shots taken in bright sunshine. In the second the back of the swan is overexposed and I lost some detail in the feathers on the back.

Do I remember you have lightroom? Using the clarity slider will help bring back some of the detail in the swan's back. Nice composition on this one!

[Geoff F]

The swan in the first image is nicely positioned and really adds extra punch to the scene.

White birds, or flowers for that matter, in sunshine are a real problem aren't they. With flowers I can sometimes add a bit of shadow to the area; but nothing really helps with larger subjects like a swan, and under exposing to that level simply causes more problems with the shadows.