1st - I am not sure what the message you are trying to convey. The back area is blurred so you can't tell what it is and the front leads to the back (which is blurred). For me the composition does not work. Lines should lead to a subject that is in focus.
2nd is better than 2 for me with nice colors and features but for me the composition is still off. The foreground is split with the boards starting and the back abruptly ends. I think closer to the stars and end before the abrupt ent woudl be more interesitng.
Good luck with Santa. My santa says that the 5dII's elves are way behind schedule.
I appreciate the info and the questioning..... I am not sure what I am trying to convey with picture 1... and that is a big problem. So scratch picture 1... its a little to meaningless.
The big thing I don't like on picture 2 is the fact that the brown wood wall blends in with the red stripes. It makes it hard to tell when the flag ends and the wall starts. Oh well it was fun but the more I look at it the more I see how no good these two are. I have access to this flag so next time I am near it I will actually take some time and try to compose a meaningful picture.
Thanks for the help. Ryan
PS, ask your Santa very nicely to get some new elves.
Hi Syke... I have to agree with Scott on the first one - it was just a try. But the second one you better not take away! That's a lovely symbolic flag - nice colors and interesting composition.
Well done... I like it, your camera does you proud
I like the rustic "40 years ago my father made it in the shed" look. I particularly like the second image, although both would benefit from a greater DOF and post processing sharpening of the finished image.
FWIW, 400 pixels on the long dimension is rather small to evaluate sharpness and, for my eyes and my monitor in this case, color balance. I'd suggest 640 to 800 pixels for the longest side is a fair compromise size. It's a compromise between being large enough to evaluate and fitting on everyone's screen without scrolling. An image that's very large also costs extra bandwidth, although a few images need to be larger to evaluate fairly.
So scratch picture 1... its a little to meaningless.