Elaine this is a lovely candid portrait with bags of colour and contrast to bring out the detail in the subjects face. I think the levels work on the highlight and shadow points have been well executed here.

Contrasty lighting which cannot be helped and I would suggest just a little work on the eyes to brighten a tad. Otherwise another great addition to the ever expanding travel portfolio.

If not already planned you should think about exhibiting these or putting together a photo talk show for local clubs and communities when you are back.

For me this is a good first attempt with your new toys. Lighting is quite harsh and something to consider to use reflectors and card to help shape the light in this type of scenario.

Composition is good with the bee at a strong diagonal across the frame. I would like to see a little more space around the subject however as it feels quite cramped.

Good start!

It maybe a weed but it has a nice bright yellow flower.

A couple of things here for me.

I would go for a tighter crop as the space around the bee is a little distracting and not required even to place the bee in its environment. It is a shame you have caught the bee with its back to camera as I think the strength in this would be to see the bee face on foraging in the flower.

Also you have chosen to select the widest aperture available to you, I guess for two reasons. One being to reduce depth of field to isolate from the background which is a considered choice and also to enable a faster shutter speed as I believe this would have been captured handheld and that would minimise risk of camera shake. I would say this could do with a little more depth of field to get the flower head and bee all in focus so at 18mm would suggest F8 at 1/125s may have been a better option. Equally consider where the AF point is as it looks like the flower petals just in front of the bee are the sharpest part of the image leaving the bee subject slightly soft.

You can either focus on the bee and then keeping the shutter half depressed re-compose so the AF is held or depending on your cameras AF points move the selective point to cover the subject area.

I hope that helps.

A sad but true reflection of mother natures cruel hand.

It appears that due to the slow shutter speed you have suffered some camera shake as there is nothing in the image that is pin sharp. I'm not sure if this was deliberate in that the slow shutter speed selection to allow the water motion however at 800ISO you could have come down from your f32 aperture to allow a faster shutter speed. Needs a tripod or support at slower speeds and if you were using a tripod then using a remote release or self timer option to reduce any risk of movement as the shutter is pressed. Equally the f32 aperture is not needed for the level of depth of field you would need to keep front to back sharpness.

I would also comment on the exposure as the subject is quite dark and is lost a little into the background. A little exposure compensation to the meter reading and possibly a little bit of dodging in editing to bring up the detail in your subject and make it stand out. Ultimately it is the lack of sharpness here that spoils the shot.

I hope that helps.

Not sure if this is 100% sharp and it looks like the smallest amount of camera shake. At 44mm, even at this distance you could have afforded to come down to f5.6 without effecting depth of field detrimentally to the image, increased ISO to 800 and subsequently a faster shutter speed to minimise risk of movement when shooting hand-held.

Interesting and appealing portrait all the same. I would increase contrast a little and looking at levels this was ever so slightly underexposed. I've uploaded a mod to show the effect of tweaking the levels slider. Also worth a go at different processing techniques on this to play with the mood and I've given an interpretation in mono which creates a level of eeriness.

As the subject is the rice field then the composition is good with it dominating the foreground and sweeping round from left to right across the frame. Nicely balanced with the landscape and sky in the distance.

With the rice field being your subject however I feel it needs more emphasis in tone and contrast to make it sparkle and stand out. As it is, it is a little flat in your mono conversion. Try playing with the levels slider to see if you can lift the foreground.

It would be nice to see the colour version too and if you can upload as a version it may help to pass some further views as to how you could have processed the scene to make your Rice field subject stand out.

Although you appear to be disappointed with what you found sunset wise I do think you have an appealing and colourful image here. Strong lead in lines from the railings and the light trail from what looks like a scooter rider. It is the light trail and ghostly image where the rider paused for a moment during your long exposure that adds a mysterious element to the shot. Who is the rider? What are they doing on the Jetty at Dusk? Where are they going?

The composition works and my only guidance here would have been to explore different angles to play with the long lines of the jetty and railings and even a central shot down the jetty may have worked to play on the graphic lines.

From a processing point of view, and I have uploaded a mod to show this, is to increase saturation slightly to make more of the blues and orange colour in the scene. I also would use the burn tool to lightly darken some of the shadow and darker cloud areas to increase drama.

Overall an interesting shot and a little different.

I would agree to try and photograph this at a different time of day to make more use of the light. Overall this is quite flat. Can you get closer to photograph from a different angle? If you can I would encourage you to explore different angles and closer with a wide angle lens may emphasise the decay of this caravan.

I have tried a tighter and high contrast mono mod to emphasise the subject abandoned amongst the overgrown undergrowth.

This has promise as a subject and I think a little more exploration will help you find the angle, lighting and composition to convey the mystery and even create the spooky feel you want.

Overall the image looks underexposed and I guess the centre weighted metering has been fooled by the expanse of sky in the frame. This needs to be either spot-metered or accounted for by manually compensating by one or two stops. You can see that the detail in the bird is too dark and close up the rescue in processing has caused some colour fringing.

Looking at the EXIF data I would suggest coming down a stop in ISO to 200 and shooting at f8. The shutter speed is fine as it has frozen the bird in flight enough and the movement on the wings adds to the sense of movement and the majesty and power of this bird of prey. The lower ISO helping with image quality.

I would also suggest a different crop as this is very tight with too much space above and below the subject and no space for the bird to be flying into. I have uploaded a mod to show what I mean.

Hope that helps.

An attractive and colourful subject.

Looking at your EXIF data I would suggest a couple of things here.

Firstly are you shooting handheld or on a tripod? For this type of close focus work where depth of field is minimal it is advisable to use a solid support for your camera such as a tripod. This minimises the risk of camera shake and moving in and out of focus as handheld, and even with a steady hand, the subtle movements of the body can be enough to miss focus as the shutter is pressed. It allows an improved range of exposure combinations without upping the iSO to high levels that could introduce other issues in image quality such as noise. You can focus on the right aperture for the depth of field rather than be compromised by trying to maintain a high enough shutter speed to avoid the risk of camera shake.

Here the centre of the flower is nice and sharp however the outer edge of the petals are out of focus and create a halo of softness around this central area. This is a little distracting and would make a stronger image if the petals from top down to the centre were sharp. You can always soften the background further in editing software if the background sharpness pulls in enough to become a distraction. In all I would have gone for a much smaller aperture here such as f16 to get the required depth of field. If you shot handheld you could have afforded to come up in ISO to say 400 to allow 1/100s at f16 without compromising quality.

I would also say the lighting is quite strong and you are starting to lose some of the petal textural detail as the strong yellow starts to bleed. Coming down slightly in exposure or saturation at the processing stage may pull back a little more of this detail.

My final point would be about the composition. It feels unbalanced and the strong highlights on the background leaves are a distraction. I would suggest a tighter crop to really focus in on the flowerhead which is where all the beauty in this image lies.

I hope that helps and I will upload a mod to demonstrate what I mean.

Trev B makes valid points as I too would want to see a bit more sharpness from the stamen and the main petals. As you have done you could then soften the background leaves further in editing if the pulled up in sharpness to become a distraction to the flower head.

Just watch what is in the background as already suitably softened that little splash of pink from what I imagine is another flower in the background is a little distracting against the predominately green around the main subject.

In addition I would consider lighting as it appears a little dark on the top side of the flower. Carrying a small reflector or white card with you can help in pushing a bit more light onto the subject and evening up the ambient lighting across the whole plane of the subject.

Here I also think a little tweak in levels to give a little more brightness and contrast would help.

I'm on my iPad in the airport so can't upload a mod to demonstrate however if no one does this I will do tonight when I reach destination.

Other than that I think you are making good use of your lens and this is a worthy image that with a few little considerations at the taking and processing stage would have been a great shot.

Sounds like you needs lens hood to help reduce the risk of flare. It's good practise to use a lens hood generally to help maximise contrast and reduce even the mildest flare that can occur - sometimes so subtle that it prevails only in lost contrast in the image. A hood also helps protect the front element from knocks too.

A polariser filter would not have helped here from what you tell me. It would have increased the exposure time as they lose a stop of light generally.

Sometimes (more than most) you have to accept that the light, the weather, the time of day is just not the best for the scene in front of you. That's why the great landscape photographers amongst us spend days and sometimes longer waiting for the right light and conditions. Photography is all about painting with light and interpreting what you see before you. If its not right then it's unlikely that any filters or post capture editing will turn an image from bland to glorious.

As I said in my previous post you could drop a sky in during editing but nothing doing at the time of capture if as you say the sky was a whiteout even to the human eye.

Regards.
Paul

Has promise but a little underexposed and could be lifted in levels in your editing software. Composition wise I would suggest losing the empty sky space to the right and go for a more conventional portrait format to fill the frame with the flowers.

Although the background is soft, opening up the aperture would reduce the depth of field sufficiently to completely blur the background. Ideally at the taking stage consider what is in the background and how does it add or detract from the scene.

Allowing mods or uploading in the critique gallery may be something to consider if you would like any advice as this allows the team and others to modify the image to demonstrate the comments.

A nicely composed portrait of your cat and absolutely a little stunner. I guess the speed of creating your image for the Monday night challenge has caused you to shoot quickly. The focus point has missed the critical area as the eyes are soft and the focus has hit the ears. I haven't checked to see what the subject of tonights challenge was so I don't know what your aim was.

Just one to watch when the camera is on autofocus and needs you to focus on the eyes, keep the shutter button half depressed to hold the focus as you recompose and then take the picture. Also check the focus is set for single shot and not tracking as even with the shutter button half pressed, on tracking the focus will continue to alter as you recompose.

Lighting was low as at 1600ISO you are down to maximum aperture and 1/30s which if hand held you have done well to avoid camera shake at 90mm. Ideally a slighter smaller aperture would have helped with the Depth of Field to keep the eyes and nose/whiskers in focus. Difficult without increasing the ISO and then you are into potential noise issues.

Has promise and a pretty subject to work with and try again.

A very tight crop showing off the headpiece on what I assume is a member of a Mayday procession. Looking at the EXIF data I would suggest coming down to 100 ISO and opening up to maximum aperture to soften the background as much as possible to maintain attention on the subject. The hint of the crowd behind is part of the placing of the subject but is a little too strong and subsequently distracting for me.

Brian is right about that highlight too as it takes the eye completely.

I think a little tweak in levels too to lift the brightness, saturation and contrast to pull out the detail in the subject and her headpiece will strengthen the image.

Nonetheless this is a nice observation of a larger event.

A fun shot however it's the detail that lets it down. The green chair just creeping in and out of focus and the brass lamp (?) running out the top of the picture don't add anything but distraction. Something to be mindful of at the taking stage and saves odd cropping and cloning at the computer to tidy up.

I also wonder if the models arm cutting across her neck would be better in a different pose as the arm separates her head from the body?

Nonetheless a promising and slightly unusual nude study.

This is very good. A strong composition with the bird slightly to the left of the frame and looking/walking into the additional space you have left to the right. Detail excellent and sharp where it needs to be.

Not sure what your maximum aperture could be however it looks like from the exif data you could have opened up a touch more. It wouldn't have made much difference but would have just softened the background a little further and helped emphasise the subject more.

That said this is a great shot. Well executed and very appealing.

As it is the crop would be fine for a magazine style double page ad spread with the left hand space allowing type to be overlaid. So the crop could be determined by the end use for the image. If this was for printing and framing I would come in much tighter on the left to lose that black space. Also may be worth trying to rotate this 90 degrees clockwise with the crop taking away the black space.

Nice image with detail captured well in the white petals.

As I see it a really well taken and composed travel image that continues the delightful series of images you are creating.

Could you have come down on the ISO to reduce the noise, which is not intrusive but visible?

Colours look natural and well saturated and I think it would be personal preference whether to warm the image up. Does it reflect the scene as you saw it? For me it looks and feels like a morning shot as you state it was.

Background is not distracting and the muted blues and brown of the land and water compliment the subject as well as show the environment.

As a viewer I am intrigued as to what has caught her eye. What is she looking at with that determined expression? Also, and difficult to say as not having been present, would there have been a different composition with the subject and her full reflection in the water, ripples and drips distorting her reflected image? This is not a criticism of the image here which I like a lot and for me works very well but what else was available to re-compose and shoot to squeeze out other options from the scene in front of you.

Really enjoying the series. Next please : )

Overall a pleasant scene. The mono conversion is an interesting choice and I imagine it suited the mood of the day with the dark clouds and rain you were experiencing.

I would lift the levels here to bring out the tones and the mod uploaded should demonstrate the difference for you. The original here is a little flat, overall very grey and little separation between tones. Using the sliders on the levels option you can maximise the range of tones captured by the sensor. A little burning in to darken down the sky to retain the detail in the clouds and the feeling of the weather and a little dodging to bring back some detail in the rocks in the left lower corner as I find this a little too dark a mass and becomes a distraction in the corner of the eye as you view the image.