Mixed Bag Of Photos

[DavidM61]

Hello

Here are some photographs that I have taken, some processed through Photoshop Elements, some not. I know they aren't the best photos around, so any constructive criticism, comments or suggestions would be warmly welcomed.

Many thanks.

[DavidM61]

And another couple.

[Geoff F]

Going through them rather quickly, David.

#1. I think your camera has focused on the floor instead of the cat's head. A common problem with auto focus which prefers to focus on rather hard edged objects instead of soft round edged items, like a cat.

#2. A rather sinister looking shot. But the exposure and focus are good.

#3. You have background problems here. I would crop closer and try to darken down what remains of the bright areas. There is also a bit of background noise. I often find that running over any problem areas with a slight Blur Brush will work wonders on this issue.

#4. Just a personal view, but I think this would look excellent if totally in B&W.

#5. Once again, you have a distracting background. I would crop a bit closer then clone out the distracting spots in the water. Should then become a good shot.

And from the second upload.

I can't really see enough detail in the panorama view but there appears to be some dark areas on either edge which I would like to correct.

And it is a pity about the angle of light in the tower window. Would a little cloning help to improve it? Particularly the left window edge. I'm happy with the window being a bit bright, as long as that spot on the window edge framing was improved. Otherwise a good shot.

[DavidM61]

Hello Geoff

Many thanks for the comments and tips. I will revisit these and see how they look when cropped etc.

Photo #1 was taken using a Lensbaby Composer, double glass optic, with the f2.8 aperture ring fitted, so any focusing issues are soley down down to me!!
Photo #2 I'm glad it looks sinister, it's meant to as some parts of some the Harry Potter films were shot here, (Laycock Abbey, Wiltshire). Glad you like it.
Photo #3 Thanks for the advice. I'll crop it and see what I can do in PS Elements.
Photo #4 This is a conversion from the original colour exposure, and I deliberately left the red base stone as was. As you say, a personal preference. I may do a totally B&W version just to see.
Photo #5 Again, many thanks for the helpful comment. I'll do a cropped version and see how it comes out.

Photo #6 Oops!! The dark edges have been added by me, ( a vignette effect), in PS Elements. I thought it looked ok - well, certainly when seen much larger in a its glory. Do you feel that it doesn't need this effect?
Photo #7 I took this shot to catch the reflected sunlight in the tower window to add (or so I was hoping!!) a contrast into the image. Is it too much? I'll see how it looks when re-processed through PS Elements.

Thanks.