Thanks all for giving some good input on the last set of photos verbally and by commenting on both my blog and facebook. It was great fun!! I worked some more on the photos last night and narrowed down the field to three photos. The panoramic image of the bridge and the tower is a really fun image to look at and analyze and I had a great time connecting three or four separate images to make one big pano image, but I feel it’s not strong and sharp enough to compete. I’ll probably work at it a bit more and use it elsewhere. The image of the windows and light pattern was also cut. I personally really like this one, but I’ve taken this shot in the past and used it before in a past competition. Therefore, I based the decision on feedback and received better responses on the other three. That leaves the following three images as finalists and some filtering work was done on two of them as explained below to make them stronger.

A black and white filter was put on this image to bring out the clouds a bit more and a vignetting was added to finish off the look and feel.

The original HDR of this photo in the below post used three different images with different exposures – -2, 0, and +2. That caused some of the people who were moving a lot not look like people because each shot had them in different locations. This time I used one photo to create an HDR photo and the people came out much clearer. I also played with the color a bit to make it more “old time.”

No further edits were made to this image. I tried, but I just couldn’t make it better. This image was the overall favorite in the people who responded. I love the uniqueness of this photo. This shot was taken from the outside looking through a smoky-glass window into a bar/restaurant. I love how the eye sees these scenes.

Thanks to all who gave feedback. I believe I have the final two photos I want to submit to the competition, but I would, of course, love to hear any additional feedback.

Hello all!!  It’s been awhile since I posted something to this blog.  Facebook seems to have distracted me from keeping this blog updated.  8)  Anyway, I recently participated in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk and think that I came out of it with some pretty good photos.  The real challenge now is choosing the best two to submit to the contest.  Out of the 100 photos or so, I narrowed the field down to what I think are my best five.  I have an idea of the best two I want to submit, but I would like some input from family and friends to help finalize my decision.  Posted below are the five photos.  After reviewing them again this morning, I have a few more edits I want to do to them, but I want to get the first round out to you all.  Please let me know what you think by posting a comment or telling me directly.

If you would like to rate the photos based on the star system, please do so for each photo at my Photo Walk Gallery

Hello all, I hope everybody is having a great holiday season.  For those in the Portland/Vancouver area, I’m excited for the good chance of snow we’ll be getting this weekend.  Anyway, an opportunity came by me the other day that I couldn’t pass up.  Julie’s work is having a small holiday bazaar where part of the money raised goes to charity and I decided to participate by having my very first booth selling my photography.  It’s an exciting time for me as photography has been my passion for a long time and I’m finally sharing it with the public.  For those interested in coming, it’s on Friday, November 12th (tomorrow) at the main First Tech Credit Union branch at 3555 S.W. 153rd Drive, Beaverton, OR from 10 to 4.  I’m not expecting big traffic due to it being a small bazaar, but it’s definitely a good start.  After the bazaar, I hope to get my photography displayed at local coffee shops.  To have a sneak peek at what I’ll be selling, visit my temporary photo website at photography.fogpuddle.com, but seeing them on the web doesn’t do them justice.   If you have seen of any photographs on the blog that you really like and you don’t see them on the photography site, please let me know and I’ll review them.  Happy Holidays!!