[Banded Drake]

Hello , here is a picture that i forgot about. I did a little bit of touch up on the color , ( like i said a little bit with this cheap program ) . This is one of my favorite places and there will be more when i get me camera back.

Please tell me what you think.

[Toad]

This is a very interesting photo with very nice composition - it looks like there is a lot of water on the ground - is this some sort of a swamp?

[Petographer]

I hope you don't mind but I have a few neg points to mention. There does not seem to be anything in focus. I assume that the bird houses are your main point of interest. The image needs cropping to bring the viewers attention to the houses more. The tree branches on the right are a distraction. A couple small leaves on the lower left should also be cropped or cloned. The photo also is over exposed resulting in area's that are blown out. The bird house on the right and the squirrel guard around the tree. The image is tilted and needs to be straightened.

I really don't like having to point out so much wrong in a photo as I don't want to discourage people especially when they are relatively new to the forum. Don't give up. The image is indeed and interesting shot and does have good content to make a great shot.

[Banded Drake]

thanks petographer,
to be honest with you i was hoping that someone would tell me some " negative " things about this shot. There is a story about the picture and the area is one of my " hangouts ".
I put it on here to see what yall would say because it doesnt do much for me ( the way it looks ) . I put it on another site and they said they " loved " it . I wasnt sure why. The picture needs alot of help and in due time i am going back out there to take some more to see how much i have learned.
I know that there is a better picture in this one if that makes since .

Yes Toad , this is a swamp . I am in an area that has a lot of them and i truely love the way they look.

Can i ask some one to do me a favor can someone take this pic and play with it in Photoshop ( or something ) and let me see it?

[shuttertalk]

Cool hangout, Shawn! Do you end up getting wet?

If you can, I would suggest using a tripod (I assume you're not using one?) - some bits in the photo are out of focus/blurry. In forests and places where there are lots of trees, it can appear to be bright but be actually be deceptively dark...

But I do like the composition and the lush background of trees...

[Petographer]

Can i ask some one to do me a favor can someone take this pic and play with it in Photoshop ( or something ) and let me see it?

.

Ok then. Here is my edit. I cropped the image keeping the same size ratio. Went to shadows/highlights and added shadowing at 75%. Selected the tree with the bird houses and did a high pass sharpening. Added the tree on the right into the selection and inverted. Guissen blur to the background. Inverted again and deselected the tree with the houses and added a blurr to the remaining selected tree. This was to try and create a depth of focus. I then selected the house with the blown highlites and burned it to remove the brightness and then repainted it with the same colour selected as overlay.

[Toad]

Hmmm. I played with it as well, but it is probably a little too manipulated. I was trying to bring out some of the wood textures, sharpen, and crop to strengthen the subject focus.

[Banded Drake]

Cool hangout, Shawn! Do you end up getting wet?

...

There are a few places that i get wet , but i dont mind ( as long as the cotton mouths will let me ) . I really love this place and plan on bringing my tripod next time.

And thank you for playing with the picture both of you. I like them both.
Do you think the metal " preditor guard " is distacting?

[Petographer]

Cool hangout, Shawn! Do you end up getting wet?

...

And thank you for playing with the picture both of you. I like them both.
Do you think the metal " predator guard " is distracting?

I think the squirrel guard is ok but it sure can't hurt removing it. It would be an easy clone job.
Toads crop is great. He saved a tree on the right that maybe I should have. The main thing is that both my and Toads versions make the bird houses more prominent.

[Banded Drake]

agreed , the next time i shoot out there i will keep all this in mind .

Thanks again .