2019 P52 - 4th Qtr - Sandy(Skitterbug)

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Originally Posted by Manfred M

+1 to what Geoff has written Sandy. The crop at the top would also remove two light coloured rocks that compete with the viewer's attention giving you a stronger composition.

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Hi Manfred - I did hesitate to take as much of a crop as I did but as mentioned in my reply to Geoff, I was trying to eliminate some green leaves. I'll take another look at the photo and see if I can incorporate your suggestions. I appreciate the attention given to my work and ideas to improve! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Sandy,

Have you had a chance to practice some rainy day shots?

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Hi John - Sadly no. The one day it actually rained, I had to attend to other tasks. In fact, I haven't had my camera out except to take a self portrait of hubby and myself to turn into our Church office for our new Pastors.......

I've been delinquent and lacking weekly photos..... the family will be here for Thanksgiving. We also have our Christmas exchange on that day so lots of things to accomplish yet to make the time together goes smoothly. I'll be using the camera but it will only be candid shots of very active kids. The lighting is horrible making it tricky to capture any decent "memory shots" but I like to try. I usually end up with a few keepers.

Anyway, once I am through all that, I'll finally be able to get back to photo work! I'm looking forward to it. We've had skunks and more opossums snuffling around under the bird feeders. I'd like to see if I can get a decent picture of the skunk. He is beautiful even if he is, at times, quit stinky!

Thanks for checking in on me! :)

Post 22 :), not sure what type of weather I'd like for Thanksgiving but without out a doubt it doesn't contain significant moisture; got a decent dose of snow already. Sorry you missed the chance to get some rainy day shots, hope to see something soon.

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Post 22 :), not sure what type of weather I'd like for Thanksgiving but without out a doubt it doesn't contain significant moisture; got a decent dose of snow already. Sorry you missed the chance to get some rainy day shots, hope to see something soon.

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Hi John - It is about time I get back "in the saddle" again! Made it through our Thanksgiving/Christmas gift exchange. I grabbed the camera for candid shots and realized that I've really been slacking. Funny how quickly using a camera becomes clumsy again when it has been left to collect dust in the corner for too many days in a row. But here I am and I'll get busy again! Thanks for writing! :)

Manfred and Geoff made a couple of suggestions about the pair of bullfrogs image so I gave it another try. Even post processing was work since I tend to forget what I want to do or remember how to do an edit. I persisted however and the image posted is a new attempt to show off the bullfrogs a bit better. So here is the first pic:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...HDShPHh-X2.jpg

And here is the second edition:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...Nphr4zM-X2.jpg

Better? or Worse? :)

Definitely better!

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Originally Posted by Rufus

Definitely better!

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Thanks for the comment David! :)

Agreed. The edit is certainly better.

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

Agreed. The edit is certainly better.

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Hi Geoff - Thanks for the suggestions and comment! :)

Nice edit although I like the tonal values of the frogs in the first and if combined with the tones of the rocks in the second would really make the subjects pop.

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Nice edit although I like the tonal values of the frogs in the first and if combined with the tones of the rocks in the second would really make the subjects pop.

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Hi John - I'm glad you mentioned that because I wondered if the Bfrogs were a bit too dark in the second one. It may be tedious to lighten only the frogs but maybe using NIK software may work? I will brood over this problem and see if I can figure out a remedy to it! <smile>
Thanks for commenting!

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Originally Posted by skitterbug

Hi John - I'm glad you mentioned that because I wondered if the Bfrogs were a bit too dark in the second one. It may be tedious to lighten only the frogs but maybe using NIK software may work? I will brood over this problem and see if I can figure out a remedy to it! <smile>
Thanks for commenting!

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Hi Sandy,

It should be easy with Nik Viveza or ColorEfex (Darken/Lighten Center and Ctrl Pts.).

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Hi Sandy,

It should be easy with Nik Viveza or ColorEfex (Darken/Lighten Center and Ctrl Pts.).

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Hi John - I used ColorEfex and then tweaked a tiny bit more in Affinity. Hopefully this isn't "overkill" :)

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...7Gfnxmf-X2.jpg

Sandy,

Not overkill at all, I like it.

Are they male and female? there is a difference in the green.... very nice image

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Sandy,

Not overkill at all, I like it.

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Thank you John! :)

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Originally Posted by Wavelength

Are they male and female? there is a difference in the green.... very nice image

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I don't know Nandakumar. The female bullfrog is supposed to be larger than the male but I don't think coloration gives us any idea about whether they are male or female. My guess is that their color depends on their surroundings. These two popped out of the koi pond from different areas so maybe that accounts for the difference in their color? Thanks for your comments! :)

I've been unmotivated. It happens to many of us, I suppose but ..... I am not happy with my last quarter of this P52. I want to post one last pic to this project even though officially it was taken today. I chuckled when I spotted my latest endeavor and the reference to another of my activities that is near and dear to me...... I do plan on continuing my exploration in the field of photography but I am not going to go forward with a 2020 P52. I've hit a wall for ideas for decent images. This one could have had a bit more clearance above the handle. Other than that, I like the photo.

So to finish..... 2019 - Comments, suggestions are definitely welcome! :)

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...NJh5FCr-X2.jpg

As an experiment, Sandy, it would be relatively easy to increase the canvas size on the top and left side then clone some background material into the new blank area.

I have also been struggling to end the 2019 challenge and begin the new year because of a lack of ideas for all the gloomy grey weather which has persisted for weeks here. Not nice misty fog, just murky gloom.

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

As an experiment, Sandy, it would be relatively easy to increase the canvas size on the top and left side then clone some background material into the new blank area.

I have also been struggling to end the 2019 challenge and begin the new year because of a lack of ideas for all the gloomy grey weather which has persisted for weeks here. Not nice misty fog, just murky gloom.

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Hi Geoff - Our weather has been horrible for giving me an opportunity for producing anything worthwhile for images. And now my animal subjects only appear when it is pitch black outside. They apparently don't want any photos taken of them! <sigh>

It was a challenge for me to add the canvas and fill in. But I do have results. I'll need to try this on some practice images until I get the technique perfected. <grin> Thank you for inspiration and encouragement. Here's my beginner's effort!

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...KkP9hj6-X2.jpg