A really beautiful image!

Me alegro que le haya gustado esta fotografía Sharon, es un paisaje muy típico de esta tierra. Saludos

Maybe this is in color.

Anyway, I think it's lovely and it really sets a mood.

I'd like to know your thoughts about the right side, The small trees and branches are an interesting chocie,

The composition is nice; the trees guide your eye to a diminishing point in the background.
The values seem too gray, have you considered increasing the contrast?

I agree on the contrast increasment. And the trees to the right on the front are a bit distracting. But elsea good shot!

Nice perspective and landscape.
But I would increase the contrast to give more perspective and interest to the picture.

you need to add more contrast to the photo!
all in all a good image!

I think this shot has a lot of potential. The composition could be stronger though, and I think a wider range in tones would help too, it looks a little gray.

Well, in the interest of encouragement: your composition is a little static - find a more interesting approach to and for the subject. Was it a deliberate choice to have no foreground? Suddenly we are right in the middle of your tree! You have centered your beautiful tree and this, of course, usually promotes little in the way of a dynamic. Move around a little bit - experiment with different framing and cropping ideas. Spend time looking at what others have done with similar shots. There is a world of great photography available to be studied and admired - much here at Vazaar!

Keep shooting - this isn't a bad shot, but could be much more interesting and engaging with a little more work.

Best to you,
Jon

Brennan and Jon,
Thanks for your comments. I'm sure you can tell I'm new to this. I will keep your advice in mind when taking future shots. Jon, it's my neighbor's tree and I was shooting over a stockade fence. That's why there's no foreground... Bad choice on my part.
-Pete

Sorprendente color rosa.
Saludos

Is he playing dead? Its good colour and detail, I maybe would have preferred to see the face of the seal, if that was possible of course.

Over all its a good image.

Elephant seals at the Piedras Blancas seal rookery near San Simeon, CA. They are in their molting stage where they just seem to lay about like dead fish. Once and a while one will scratch herself like this one or toss some sand up in the air or "bark" a bit. One guy in the upper left is also scratching. The males are gone for the season and only the females and juveniles are left. They will leave after molting. They come back in the late fall and mate, giving birth in Dec. or Jan.

Fascinating creatures, really interesting shot, but maybe I would have tried to change up the composition a little bit. Nice detail on the wrinkles though.

Ahhhhh! California!!! What a great representation of a state I'd love to live in! I remember this scene well as I drove down the coast! Life is good!

Well.. nice subject, but the composition is not very interesting imho.

- the background is very disturbing,
- subject completely centered
- we can't see her eyes/face...

would have been better with a bigger aperture, too blur the background AND the subject face in the frame, OR, a wider angle, with a graphic repetition a the seals.

Great shadows. I also love the clouds and the beams of light from the sun, There are a few things I would clone out. there is a red circle in between the clouds and something green in the cloud on the left. Besides that, it is a nice capture.

I agree with the above comment - this is a beautiful capture, but the red circle and the green something are definitely distracting.

Best,
Jon

Ditto the red and green. THough to add I would say that the big clouds need a bit more definition so as not to weigh themselves down. Great job though with the sun.

The red and green are from a very understandable and expected lens flare. Almost impossible to avoid when shooting right into the sun. The temptation is to paint these out, but I don't recommend that. I like this one. This might have been a good opportunity to do split toning or possibly even HDR. Did you bracket this at all?

Picture was taken in Savaii, Samoa.

Good silhouette.

thanks syam

Picture taken on the island of Maui, Hawaii.

la profondeur de champ semble un peu courte pour une image de ce type.

Love the shadows in the foreground - well done.

Best,
Jon

I agree with Jon that the shadows are wonderful in this shot. Overall, I think that the composition is very strong, with a good use of dof to make the subject really pop while still giving a great sense of place.

Love the contrast of the delicate flower on the weathered wood.

Muy buena idea la de mezclar las dos texturas, la suave y delicada de la flor con la fuerte y aspera de la madera. Buen resultado. Enhorabuena. Saludos

I also love the contrast between the flower and wood. The different stages of the flower also look good, but i think it lacks a certain zing. Might be the contrast or the color of the flower being almost similar to the wood color...am not exactly sure...

I agreed with PraDeep.
If the flowers white, was white, then this shot would seem to pop!

try putting it on a colored background next time...might help with the "white" being "white"

the swan is placed in a very awkward position in the frame,
i would have have liked it in the lower half of the grid,on the left,with respect to the rule of thirds,thats if i wanted a wide frame,
the other way would be a tight portrait like composition....

Thanks for your comments. I have just discovered the world of taking pictures as a hobby. I learn daily from this site, especially when my photos are looked at. Again, thanks.

Cropping out some of the excess water may bring the swan closer revealing more details.

I agree with all of the above comments - I would add that the water is beautiful, however...it would have made a nice capture apart from the swan.

Best,
Jon

I agree with jon on the water, it's great!