aussiebarbara

I’d go to work with the clone tool (or the content-aware delete in Photoshop) and get rid of a lot of distracting and irrelevant detail, particularly on the bench and behind her right leg. Cropping the bench would help – I’m less concerned about the invisible wall behind her. I don’t think you would want a white window frame there.

I would…[Read more]

… all of the above and shoot RAW. You might get more details into the blown-out areas. Please post your new shot!

For this to work the spider needs to be really tack sharp. Judging by the file name it looks like it’s stacked from several images. Might be worth going back to the original images and see if the spider is sharp in any of them. 1/4 second is also fairly long exposure for something that is not perfectly still. Was it hand held? Might be worth…[Read more]

I agree that the bridge is blocking the pathway (visually). If you could have taken a step to the left, the pathway would lead you through to the interesting archway in the background, and into the light.

I’d also try cropping a bit off the path in the foreground.

It would be great to see your next attempts at this and hear what you changed … this would be helpful for everyone. Good luck with it!

You definitely need to bring the glass out more, and you might be able to get a little bit more light through the liquid in the glass. I’d have another go and move the lights around to see the different effect. I’d be trying one from slightly behind the glass.

I think the whole shot needs a little more exposure, but playing with the light…[Read more]

Since I’m the only person who mentioned HDR, I take it that your comment was aimed at me.

I don’t think HDR is a “sin” in photography – quite the contrary – I use it a lot to extend the dynamic range of my shots. What I think is a “sin” is when it’s used to ruin an otherwise good photo.

My point was that a stormy looking sky was unnatural…[Read more]

This is a beautiful tree and the leading lines are great. However, the sky looks unnatural, especially given the bright light on the tree trunk – HDR?

No doubt the shot lends itself to HDR since you were shooting into what was probably a very bright sky, but if you’re using Photomatix there are settings that don’t give you that dirty grey. I…[Read more]

Agree with comments above. I’m also puzzled about the reflections in the water – it looks to me as if the harder shadow is the real one and the other one has been burnt in. If that’s what you’ve done, then try and clone out the first one. Then you would have the symmetry you are possibly looking for?

If the bridge is the main element of the…[Read more]