First try using DPP

All shots using my T2i 18-55 mm IS

Water glass

1) Very interesting. Nice abstract, love the colours. Am wondering how it would look with the blurred background cropped out so it's just the glass...

2) Sharpness looks spot on to me. The horizon seems to be slightly tilted to the right - this is easily fixed. Generally not a good idea to have tilted horizons because it gives the impression the water's going to slide out of the pool Also shame your shadow's in the shot.

3) Couple of problems with this... the first is the white balance. This is easily fixable if you shot in Raw mode, but still fixable (to a degree) if you shot in jpg. The photo would have benefited from more light though. If you have a Speedlite then it's fairly easy to aim the flash toward the ceiling or a wall, or even aim it downwards, to bounce the light off a reflective surface to create an apparently larger light source. If you have a popup flash then you might be able to make something out of card to bounce the light towards the ceiling.

4) Pretty colours but I'm not sure where I should be looking. I think this would have benefited from a smaller f/number, therefore more depth of focus. Am I supposed to be looking at only the bits in focus or the whole thing? If it's the whole thing then most/more of it needs to be in focus.

Thanks jo

1. Good suggestion. I just downloaded the free trial for lightroom. I might give it a shot
2. I always forget about my shadow i just had my camera for a week or so still learning more on composing the whole scene.
3. I've never tried using flash indoors. I always thought that regular light would make the colors better but i guess lighting wouls benefit sharpness?
4. You are right. I intended to show the whole thing but I guess i failed. Lol

2. It looks like there is something you are framing out in the upper left - a brown loop of metal makes it in. I don't know what it was, but...in doing so, you lost the continuation of the pool wall around that loop. That isn't what you were asking about, though. I concur that the sharpeness looks just right.

3. Maybe I am cropping obsessed - but that is always what I notice in a photo first. In thise case, I would like to either see more or less of the cat's paw. The way you framed it, the paw is almost in the shot - and that draws my attention. As for sharpness - I want to have my eyes drawn to the cat's eyes, but they're not - the cat's eyes almost come across as background - perhaps because they match the empty doorway to the right (Try holding a sheet of paper over that portion of the photo - I think it improves the photo to take out the door.) Anyway - something to bring out the cat's eyes would be good - maybe a combination of making sure they are well lit (with a bounce flash) and making sure they are in crisp focus. Then you can play around with sharpness to make them "pop."

4. Yup - cropping obsessed - the upper right corner bugs me.

Favourite is the first shot.

OK I must be dyslexic. I can't seem to find the function on DPP where I can properly crop and align my photos..

- Tools > Start Trimming/Angle Adjustment Tool

(angle adjustment was added in version 3.8.1.0)