Abuse the new guy

[wvrocks]

New here and putting a couple shots out to get the ball rolling. So whatcha think?

#1 Wildflowers along the Pacific Crest Trail

http://bennett-andrews.smugmug.com/photos/494781973_5gTuK-XL.jpg

#2 Laurel at Blackwater Falls, Davis, WV

http://bennett-andrews.smugmug.com/photos/494782226_R5PNi-XL.jpg

Thanks, Darren

[redleash]

Darren-

Welcome to DGrin! Did you have to slow down your bike much to snap these? :rofl

I like the first one a lot. Lovely colors and clarity on the flowers. The second one just doesn't get my attention. The leaves are interesting but they compete too much with the background. It looks like those falls would offer some dynamic images on their own. I do very much like the mood in the photo!

Hope to see more of your work soon!

Cheers,
Lauren

[wvrocks]

Thanks for the input. I'm not sure I really like the compostion of the first one as the flowers maybe take centerstage a bit too much. Like you, iI do like the colors.

In the second image, I was trying to do something different with the falls. Most shots of them seem to be of the entire falls. This only shows about the top 5 feet of the 50 foot falls. I wanted something that was recognizable but not typical. Going to have to work on that some more.

Thanks, Darren

Darren-

Welcome to DGrin! Did you have to slow down your bike much to snap these? :rofl

I like the first one a lot. Lovely colors and clarity on the flowers. The second one just doesn't get my attention. The leaves are interesting but they compete too much with the background. It looks like those falls would offer some dynamic images on their own. I do very much like the mood in the photo!

Hope to see more of your work soon!

Cheers,
Lauren

[redleash]

I appreciate your explanations. I did wonder about the "overpowering" of the flowers in #1, but I decided I really like it the way it is. When I looked at #2, I did assume you were trying to include just enough of the falls to provide some drama and context. Maybe you could enhance the contrast and saturation of the leaves to make them really stand out? Clearly, you did what I keep hearing and reading about landscape photography: if you shoot a popular scene, do it differently than everyone else. You did that well with #2, but to me it just didn't have the impact you were probably hoping for.

Now, two caveats to all that I've written:
1. I'm no expert but there are plenty of them here so I'd love to see what they think about your shots.
2. As I have been told quite a few times, if I like the shot then that's the most important thing (unless it's for a client, of course.)

I'm looking forward to seeing more from you!

Cheers,
Lauren

[PremiumMalt]

I liked them. I liked #1 for the colors but also you can see that snowy mountain i the background.

[Chrissiebeez_NL]

I think you need to find your balance a bit more. Its good that you try to go for original views but the elements are 'overpowering' as mentioned earlier. The shots also look a bit too light on my monitor, but that may be just me or intentionally.

Thanks for sharing!:thumb