landscape/flowers critique *beware 56K*

[jeff63851]

Hi...I'm new to photography, and I have been lurking on this forum for about two months now. I don't own an Canon Digital SLR, but I am planning to buy one. I use a regular old Minolta DiMAGE G500. Just thought I should show myself and post something.

Anyways, there's this local photo contest here, and I have to choose three of my best photos. Can you help me choose three (it's too hard for me)?

Here they are:

#1

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/2359/pict0161jeff63851resized7vi.gif

#2

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6499/pict0165jeff63851resized0cr.gif

#3

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/5427/pict0166editedresized8jj.gif

#4

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/2541/pict0173jeff63851resized1ch.gif


#5

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/2637/pict0227resized9mh.gif

#6

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9229/pict0274resized0kh.gif


Thanks! (sorry if there too big pictures :o )

-Jeff

[Nidz]

I can pickup a little noise in some of them. I'm not sure if it's the JPG recompression or if it's in the photo.

[jillybean]

If #3 is actually clear- no noise I love it.

[cholmes75]

#1 is nice except for the glare from the reflected sun. #2 is very nice. #3 might benefit from a little cropping on the top - I think it might reinforce the pattern established by the row of 3 flowers.

[sugarzebra]

Hi Jeff and welcome to POTN. These are very nice photographs and I like #3 the best. Good luck in the contest and let us know how you do!

[jeff63851]

Thanks for all your response! I had to reformat the pictures since the image hosting site won't take large pictures. I also had to change the pictures to the JPG recompression. What do you guys think about #5 or 6?

Thanks!

-Jeff

[Robert_Lay]

Throw out #'s 1 and 5 as dull and lifeless due to the poor lighting.
#'s 2, 3, and 4 are your best shots. Very nice, bright colors, good composition, good lighting and good exposures. Everything nice and sharp.
#6 - Had to click the red X to get that one to show up. Throw it out also - even more dull and lifeless than #5.

#'s 1, 5 and 6 each have lighting problems with slightly different situations. The composition on these three is not that bad, but in #5 and #6 the composition is too static with everything being so exactly centered. You need to think about off-setting primary subjects to one of the classic points known as the rule of thirds. Divide the image into 9 equal rectangles using 4 perpendicular lines. Where the lines cross are good places to put things of interest.

#1's problem is that there are some bright highlights in the left hand area, but that's all crowded into the margin and the highlight is much too bright and blown out. The rest of the lily pads are almost silhouetted by being back lighted.

In #5 there is some glimmer of hope in that the breaking waves have some highlights, but the whole image has been rendered much too dark and has an overwhelming blue cast. You can't do much about the mountain in the distance, because the haze kills that but the foreground needs a better time of day to get some energy into the surf.
#6 also has the overwhelming blue cast and lack of anything being lit up to give it some life. It was either too early or too late for the sun, but the light just isn't there.

[CanonCam]

Love #4. Great timing to catch the shot with the bee still in the flower. Nice job!

[tim]

My thoughts - nothing catches my eye. Get closer. Then get closer again. Then get closer. You have to do something different to make pics like this stand out. A strong centre of attention is necessary IMHO. None of these shots have it.