Image Critique: Still and 'wild' life

I took these two images on a sunrise walk a few weeks ago, and recently submitted them to a local photo exhibition. However, I wasn't able to attend the opening, so I missed the opportunity for some in-person C&C. These were cropped to 8x10" format, but otherwise not post processed.
<div>


Thanks for your C&amp;C!


--John


"Troubled Bridge Over Water."


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/...90ac2214_b.jpg


EOS 7D, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 55mm, 1/2 s, f/13, ISO 100





"More Than I Can Chew."


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/...df64efd0_b.jpg


EOS 7D, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6<span style="color: red;"]LIS USM @ 400mm, 1/1000s, f/6.3, ISO 3200
</div>

<span style="font-size: 8pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"]Nice pictures you've got there. I really like the squirrel. Although I like the troubled bridge (I wonder how many will get the Simon and Garfunkel reference) I would prefer to see it in the portrait orientation and I wish the leftmost part of the bridge was not cut off.

I like the shots too mirroring the same thoughts at Mark. For the squirrel shot I think it would have benefited from a lower perspective. The higher perspective throw me off. The railingruns out of the picture at a weird angle. Beside that [Y]. And I also got the Simon and Garfunkel reference too.

Thanks for the comments, guys! You've highlighted an upcoming 'personal assignment' for me - take a series of shots in both orientations...

I really like the squirrel shot.


The bridge shot is lacking drama. Maybe a slightly more oblique angle shot at wider angle too. Maybe shoot it later in the day so that some sunlight hits the bridge causing some shadow that will give it more contrast. That would also help with the overexposed trees that are a little distracting.

Hey John,
your first image is technically and compositionally sound. Good Work with that, but if you don't mind my saying so I don't think there's anything that distinguishes it from the crowd, so to speak.


Your 2nd image is awesome but ISO 3200 is starting to kill you. Run some noise reduction or use a lower shutter speed.


Good Luck!


brendan

i love a good reflection , and the first image is flawless good job, nice warm tone too.


ahh i want the 17-55mm soooo bad.

Thanks Keith, Brendan, and canon-ball!


Keith, I actually tried a lower angle shot there (splayed-out tripod, near ground level), but I preferred the shot with more of the reflections visible. I agree that the overexposed trees are distracting, a necessity (without HDR or selective PP) since I was exposing for the reflections, primarily.


Brendan, yeah I wasn't happy about ISO 3200 for the American red squirrel. It was a grab shot - I was standing at the end of the bridge, shooting birds flying over the marsh in manual mode with those shutter/aperture settings (and auto ISO) when I happened to look down and saw that little guy in the shade.


Canon-ball, yes, the EF-S 17-55mm is an excellent lens - very versatile and IMO the best general purpose zoom for a 1.6x crop body.

Love the bridge picture. Nature is never that nice to me at a 1/2s! You know if you had a Full Frame with a EF-17-40mm, you'd a got the whole bridge. Just sayin';) I got the music reference too, but only because my Great Grandmother listen to them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andnowimbroke

Love the bridge picture. Nature is never that nice to me at a 1/2s!I got the music reference too, but only because my Great Grandmother listen to them.

---

Thanks! How early do you get up? That pic was taken just after sunrise, meaning a very early alarm. [;)] Maybe it's just easier for us 'old fogies' to get up earlier than you young whippersnappers... [:P] (This particular 'old fogie' hasn't hit 40 yet, mind you.)


That's the best time of day for reflections in water, since the air is often still so the water surface is smooth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andnowimbroke

You know if you had a Full Frame with a EF-17-40mm, you'd a got the whole bridge. Just sayin';)

---

That shot was taken at 55mm, the long end of my EF-S 17-55mm - I could have gone a lot wider, and even wider if I'd put on the EF-S 10-22mm (which at the widest end is the equivalent of 16mm on a FF camera).

My Dog usually let's me sleep in until 5:40am on aweekday. When I want to shoot, it's usually a little earlier than that to beat the Humans. They are thick in the spring and summer months! Just playin with the full frame thing. Thought I'd bust out the 17-40mm you almost tried to talk me into:) And ,sadly, I have the eight-track of S&amp;G.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andnowimbroke

They are thick in the spring and summer months!

---

True. I shot the bridge in mid-March, I think it was in the low 30s &deg;F that morning - you don't find many people out at that time/temp!


What's an eight-track? [:P] Oh wait, I had one in an Oldsmobile station wagon, along with a CB radio.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

"Troubled Bridge Over Water."

---

Nice one [:D] I kinda like it when people create great titles for their pictures. Mine are always boring, but correct... For instance: "white bird", "house in the hills", "sunset at..." I do feel that it makes me watch the picture differently. And your title is good!


I like the overall idea of the photo. Sure I can think of a few things I personally would try to change, but I still like it. Personally I think it's a nice photo, but misses out just a bit to become a great photo (in my opinion). It misses the spark.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

"More Than I Can Chew."

---

[Y]Great photo! Nice posing and composition. Too bad you used such a high iso. It looks like the 7D did a pretty good job though [A] But I guess you can't enlarge the picture too much without having more noise?


Anyway nice job. I hear a lot from you, since you're "pretty active" [:P]around here in words, I like to see some pictures from you [Y]


Jan