[matthew]

Here are three of my favourites from the past month or so. Comments and critiques are welcome.

[shuttertalk]

Hi Matthew, and welcome to Shuttertalk!

Thanks for sharing those - they're wonderful!

My favourite is the 1st one - very nice leading line and composition, and the birds are very nicely "spaced". Nice monochrome treatment too.

#3 is very interesting too - the frame of the bridge makes a nice frame for the image and I like all the intersecting lines in the photo.

Whereabouts did you take these, may I ask?

[Petographer]

Whereabouts did you take these, may I ask?

Look at #2 more closely.

Welcome to shuttertalk Mathew. Glad to see another frost-bitten Canadian boy here.
I agree with ST on the first. Nice image and dof. I like the composure but the white is blown in the 1st gull. But I not likely need to tell you. #2 is focused on the street more than the jogger. Panning would have changed everything here as my focus needs to be on her. I keep looking at a meaningless sign. Unless there is something about what it says that is more understood by the photographer?
I like #3 for how the C.N. Tower and Sky Dome are framed by the overpass supports as it leeds my eyes straight to the tower. Would it have been a good shot without the structures framing? Maybe. One might think it too busy with the structure framing and wires along the top. I would like to have seen how this would look with a shot of the tracks below leading to the tower and dome.

[matthew]

Thank you both, it looks like a nice place you have here.

The first gull in #1 was blown out in-camera, which was too bad. The cameras' metering is conservative, but it didn't take much to lose the crucial highlight. I actually adjusted and sharpened that gull very, very carefully to retain as much as I could, but when it's gone, it's gone. The high-contrast B&W is an acceptance of that. (City Hall, Toronto, Canada.)

#2 was taken while I walked to work in the Fashion District of downtown Toronto. It was framed and focused without the jogger; much of my photography is based on my obscure sense of humour. The concrete of the sidewalk is cracked and broken, and the signs are for the Department of Roads Purchasing Department. ("The cobbler's wife always has the worst shoes.") The jogger adds a human element, but I didn't want to focus on her (literally!) and I generally shoot at a 1/125 shutter speed to let people blur. I don't cary model release forms, and I prefer the anonymity in this photo. She's just a cute woman out for a morning jog, and doesn't need me taking advantage of that. (Other photos do feature portraits, but the subject is aware and has the chance to decline.)

#3 - here's another version with the same vantage point but no bridge. I have another one around here somewhere with the struts mirroring the shape of the buildings...

[Petographer]

That shot with the map in the back ground is interresting. Nice shot.