GB111

Sailboats at anchor. A pretty typical scene here in San Diego California. The trick, which I've yet to learn, is to make the boat or marina image look as good as it seems in real life.

Wow that's a heck of a rainbow. I think the curved horizon is OK here, but I would remove that black angled thingie from the top left.

I find the sky much more interesting than the trees, I'm actually irritated that they block the view (but maybe that's because Monday morning is fast approaching ). Very interesting shade of blue.

Thanks guys. The latest ones do pop better. Mike, now that I think about it I think the lack of sharpness may be due to me using a strobe, with umbrella, which puts out soft light. Duh me! I can prob move the umbrella higher /farther away to sharpen the light a bit (the closer the light the softer it appears). Your jelly bean idea is good, but the background needs work; maybe an Easter basket?

Mike, I do see what you mean, and I’m not sure of the cause. This is a very sharp lens. I have noticed however that it does not hold its focus (anymore) when aiming straight down I had to hold it in position for this one, and it’s possible it shifted a bit. I will expt. thanks, GB

OK fellows, I tried the LAB settings. It definitely affects saturation and vibrancy (and I need to read more on WHY). Here's the adjusted shot w/ a lens blur variation, which may be the best of all (but you tell me!). So when shooting subjects like this, I've found that you have to be picky about any imperfections. My first shots were terrible because of all the broken and 'dusty' m&ms, the latter partially due to several of them splitting up into tiny bits. I needed to 'dust' each one off using a lens horse hair brush. And even then, many had imperfections - the image required over an hour of (tedious) PS cleanup!

Guys, I've def struggled with the color on this one. Have probably produced 6-7 different variations, not sure which is best. I also think I toned it down a little too much here, as it does seem flat. Below is one of the earlier ones - more colorful, do you think it works better? Anthony, I've never worked in LAB before. Can you tell me about it?

Comments welcome! GB

It's actually brighter, just not by a lot. Here's another version, hardly any cropping, and brighter (?):

Thanks fellows. I purposely made it a tad subdued to give it a 'in the shade' look, sorta like a rain forest, but will give it a boost if you think it will improve the shot. Dallas, I don't use Lightroom (hey, I think we had this conversation once in a post .. NO one liked LR ), but will give PS a try which often has similar controls. Edit -- just looked but didn't see it, so just bumped up the lightness. Attached here. It could still go a little brighter, but anyway, GB

Comments? Gb

Good captures, but I wonder if the shots would be more effective if the birds were a little larger in the frame. Try cropping in and see. GB

Greetings Sam, The flamingos are pretty, but I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to be looking at. I think it's missing that element - a subject. The birds are all soft here also, and none really form an interesting shape. Maybe if you could have hung out for awhile the situation would have changed there. Patience is definitely a requirement for wildlife. GB

Here's the untouched original btw, if you are interested. -gb