2017 Project 52 - 2nd QTR - Sandy(Skitterbug)

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Originally Posted by Wavelength

Excellent close up :)

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Thank you Nandakumar!

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Originally Posted by Urbanflyer

I like your frog crop. Do you have any sharpening tools? If so, try them! I enjoy seeing you work out problems, the best way to learn! I was born in Columbus..what part of Ohio are you from?

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Hi Judith ~ I expect that one of these photo programs probably does have sharpening tools included, now if I have the ability to use them and not over do it! There's the question? :) Thank you for your encouragement!

To answer your question - I was born in Cincinnati and lived in the area until I was 9. Then my dad decided to move north to a 120 acre farm. I loved the freedom to roam the acreage! I still live in north central Ohio but no longer on a farm. How did you end up in Seattle? Lovely area there for sure!

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Originally Posted by skitterbug

Hi Randy ~ I really enjoy daffodils. They are a happy flower to see.Thank you!

So I had a bit of time and decided to give your suggestion a try. And I also tried cloning that twig in front of Mr. Bullfrog as well as the edge of the black flower tub. Took a bit of "shiny" off his nose while I was at it and fiddled with the exposure, etc. and here's the new Mr. Bullfrog. It changes the original photo quite a bit and is a different presentation but I like it.

This is when I'd really enjoy having a lens that could get "me" up close and personal without having to crop out so much of the photo file. Later when the days are much warmer, Mr. Bullfrog won't be so inclined to jump when I want to capture a photo of him and I'll be able to physically get closer but for now, I reckon this will have to do.

Thank you for your observations!

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Sandy, I like the crop, and the other post-processing work you performed. Excellent job.

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Originally Posted by RandyRFJP

Sandy, I like the crop, and the other post-processing work you performed. Excellent job.

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Thank you very much Randy! You made me smile! :)

I really like the close crop of Mr Bullfrog. Well done!

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Originally Posted by joebranko

I really like the close crop of Mr Bullfrog. Well done!

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Thank you Joe! I would have totally missed this display of Mr. Bullfrog if I hadn't been encouraged to crop it closely, be rid of the twig and such not. I appreciate all of the suggestions and encouragement that I get from everyone here in CiC.

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Originally Posted by skitterbug

Hi Judith ~ I expect that one of these photo programs probably does have sharpening tools included, now if I have the ability to use them and not over do it! There's the question? :) Thank you for your encouragement!

To answer your question - I was born in Cincinnati and lived in the area until I was 9. Then my dad decided to move north to a 120 acre farm. I loved the freedom to roam the acreage! I still live in north central Ohio but no longer on a farm. How did you end up in Seattle? Lovely area there for sure!

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Moved to Seattle in 1957--Dad could not deal with Ohio summers. Love it

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Originally Posted by Urbanflyer

Moved to Seattle in 1957--Dad could not deal with Ohio summers. Love it

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I chuckled because our Dads moved us in the same year - we moved in 1957 too.

So for week 15, I hope to show some fruit tree blossoms and am watching for that “perfect” display. In the meantime, I have two I want to present for comments.

#1. 1/1600ss – f/5.6 – ISO100 – 250mm
One flower is shaded but I was concentrating on the main one that had light enough and left the one in the shadow for interest.

http://i68.tinypic.com/msf6e9.jpg

This is one of our nut trees.
#2. 1/1600ss – F/5.6 – ISO100 – 250mm
http://i65.tinypic.com/sm6qt5.jpg

White flowers in sunshine are always problematic, Sandy, so you have done well with this image.

I wonder about actually cropping out half of the shady right side flower? That would also remove that bit of overly bright background as well and concentrate on the main flower plus bud. Maybe end up with 4 x 5 ratio or go square?

The second scene looks fine.

beautiful...!

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

White flowers in sunshine are always problematic, Sandy, so you have done well with this image.

I wonder about actually cropping out half of the shady right side flower? That would also remove that bit of overly bright background as well and concentrate on the main flower plus bud. Maybe end up with 4 x 5 ratio or go square?

The second scene looks fine.

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Hi Geoff ~ I appreciate your praise! And then I wanted to give your suggestion a try. So I am interested if what I did to the fruit tree blossoms made any improvement? I had the 4x5 crop applied to the original post so it was only a matter of moving the crop in a bit. And then because I can't leave anything alone, I had to tweak my adjustments until they look right to me. :)

http://i63.tinypic.com/15yc9zr.jpg



I have to add another pic that made me chuckle. It seems that the daffodil is looking down “his nose” at the hyacinth as if to say “Why don’t you clean up your foliage? You are a mess!”


http://i68.tinypic.com/309681f.jpg


I hope everyone is having a good week! :)

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Originally Posted by Ganesh Mahadevan

beautiful...!

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Thank you very much Ganesh!

That crop is maybe just a fraction tight at the top now? You can get away with having a little bit of 'blank space' on the left. Perhaps crop half way between this and the original?

The daffodil and hyacinth look good; nice colour and no over exposure of the yellows. Possibly I would clone out that out of focus leaf in the bottom right corner?

If this is a crop, I would, once again, leave a little bit more space at the top. Just a tiny bit more would make such a difference to this scene.

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The daffodil and hyacinth look good; nice colour and no over exposure of the yellows. Possibly I would clone out that out of focus leaf in the bottom right corner?

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+1

Hi Geoff and Jean ~ I'll play with the cropping a bit more and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions!

It was much easier getting a pic of the daffodil and hyacinth than it was the white blossoms. I'll keep working on lighting issues since that is the chapter I'm on, in the book I'm using currently for this project. I haven't mastered it yet so I'll keep plugging away. <chuckle>

Okay, here's another try for incorporating suggestions of improvement. Is this closer to the mark? The little extra space seems to help for both but opinions are definitely appreciated!

Fruit tree blossom 2 crop
http://i64.tinypic.com/mlmfsk.jpg

Daffodile.hyacinth 2 crop

http://i63.tinypic.com/33xa25l.jpg

Very nice pics Sandy. The clone of the OOF leaf made a significant improvement!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Thanks Joe! My photos are always a work in progress! LOL I want them to be as natural but of course "brilliant and perfect" as possible. Now all I have to do is learn how to get to my end goal! :D I appreciate the feedback! Have a great day!

Both of the edits are looking good.