People Watching
by KarenG

Comment by Imagineer:
Nice concept - well composed, funny, but not too comical. Very good shot. Composition is good, but I think the chimp is just a bit too far left of the frame, which makes him seem unimportant.

Sunset over Lake Texoma
by KarenG

Comment by pitsaman:
Nice colors.
Photo is not horizontal,it's tilted 1-2 degree to the right.
I usually clone brush poles in the water because they are distracting!
Kosta

FireFly
by KarenG

Comment by jgal76:
Nice picture, I also think it might be a little tight on the bottom, maybe would've liked to see a little sky below the basket to get the sense that it is floating. There is also a white spot in the right part of the picture that draws the eye away from the main subject, maight want to clone that out with some editing software.

FireFly
by KarenG

Comment by pcody:
This is a nice sharp image. The colors are good also. I think it would have been better taken in portrait alignment. You would have been able to get all of the basket in the shot. The balloon doesn't look too bad cut off like that, but the basket looks unfinished. When you look at something and are about to take the picture, ask yourself if there are things at the side of the main subject that you want to frame, or are there things that are tall or above/below the main focus that need to be included.

Sunset over Lake Texoma
by KarenG

Comment by pcody:
I'm new also. Just entered my first two. This is a beautiful sunset. The horizon is just crooked enough to look like it wasn't planned. Try rotating it in an image editor. The thing about horizons is, if it looks accidental, it looks as if you don't care enough about the presentation to go the extra step to correct it. So either get it really off or perfectly straight. But, keep in mind, there are only a few photos that have enough impact to carry off really odd angles.
Good luck on the challenges. You look like a worthy/capable photographer.

Sunset over Lake Texoma
by KarenG

Comment by Gordon:
A good exposure and framing to make everything a silhouette. Maybe a slightly different location a few steps to the left would have given more room for the sun reflection to stretch across more of the water ? The tree framing the sun works well. Only issue is the tilted horizon, would look more intentional if this was either flat or strongly angled. If you wanted to, it is quite easy to straighten this up in an editing tool, but you'll lose a bit of the photo at each edge.

Eagle
by KarenG

Comment by Gordon:
Strong composition, with the bird looking back across the frame and the off center positioning leaving some space. The background is well controlled without any distracting breaks. Again the soft, overcast light has helped you get a lot of the subtle detail in this subject. Perhaps ever so slightly overexposed, if you notice in the white feathers the detail has been lost.

FireFly
by KarenG

Comment by Gordon:
Another good capture - maybe a little bit tight on the bottom of the basket and I would have loved to see the person looking back or down towards you, rather than the back of their head. Is that mars in the corner ?

People Watching
by KarenG

Comment by Gordon:
This is good - the off center framing works and the eye connection makes it all the stronger. The overcast light is perfect for this sort of scene.