do you think this is to ugly to post?

Make a difference?  I have tried for two weeks to make a difference and just have not satisfied.  Please look at these and tell me how.  The last one is the first one in a series that I have been working on.
Blossoms 13
Blossoms 9
Blossoms 15
New Growth 1

before
After/maybe not better but my after

before II
after II

These pictures were taken a few days apart. 042907_007 050307_036 050307_027
Two more,   042707_232 042707_235

kitzi_007_40 kitzi_007_45 kitzi_007_47 kitzi_007_48 kitzi_007_42

This shot is too dark and the subject matter is far from pleasing on the eye. Eggshell Snapshot

Slightly better, but now it's a little too soft and grainy! Not enough detail. Eggshell Snapshot II

In this shot I paid attention to contrast and detail, but lighting is too harsh and there's something missing. Eggshell Contrasts

In the end I went for gentle lighting and sepia tones. Fragile Fragile II

What do you think?

Well, I was able to take the day off this past Monday and enjoy the beautiful day we had here in Central Florida (84)humid degrees.... and walked around the gardens with about 6 friends all who are into Photography. We took HUNDREDS of pictures and it was their first time at the gardens. Let me just say that they enjoyed themselves and even brought a yearly pass to go back... Here's my attempt to "Show the Difference"
Any feedback would be appreciated as always..

Magnolia
closeup of Magnolia

Red Vein flower
closeup Red Vein

Beaded Branch
Beaded Branch closeup  

Kat's Fav Orange Plant
Kat's Fav B&W w/Color Dew

Bee on Purple
Bee closeup  

Kat's 2nd Favorite
Kat's 2nd Fav closeup

take one normal snapshot with a crappy background and just crop in on that adorable face (i took out the eye boogers with ps ) and i get what looks like a kind faced bear, meet_Timber don't be scared, he won't bite. but he'll knock you down just playing (125lb chocolate english lab)  

We've got this rock in our yard that I think is kind of cool. It's full of holes and sometimes it gets stuff growing in it or through it. Currently, violets are trying to surround it. I used this unique rock as the subject for Penny's Challenge.

Snapshot 1 For this shot, the camera was in full Auto. The focal length set to normal, or 50mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100, f6.3 @ 1/125. What’s wrong with it?  Obviously, the idiot that shot it had his own shadow in the picture, the sun is very harsh and he was shooting down on the subject. These are three common snapshot errors.

Snapshot 2 The camera was once again in full Auto. The focal length is set to normal, or 50mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100, f7.1 @ 1/160. How about this? Okay, the idiot moved so his shadow is no longer in the shot, however, there are tree branch shadows in it, the sun is still very harsh and he’s still shooting down on the subject.

The following were shot several hours later. The sun was now lower in the sky, as I lay on my belly and wriggled from place to place for different views of the Rock and Violets. You might say I was eye to eye with the subject. In other words, down at its level. Are they snapshots or photos? I’ll let you be the judge.

Shot 3 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/400
Shot 4 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/400
Shot 5 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/400
Shot 6 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/640
Shot 7 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/640
Shot 8 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/800
Shot 9 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @ 1/250
Shot 10 Aperture priority, 100mm (35mm equivalent), ISO = 100 f2.0 @  1/160

Thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed. Comments and criticisms delivered with a smile are always more than welcome.

self portrait broken wings  wintertime

america

atrium snapshot atrium

brom snapshot brom

church snapshot church reflection

dum dum snapshot dum dum

flower snapshot flower

grass snapshot grass

ground snapshot ground pounder

koi snapshot koi koi

lizard snapshot lizard

oriental snapshot oriental

pond snapshot pond

rock snapshot rock

rose snapshot rose

sticks snapshot sticks

waterfall snapshot waterfall

jeffrey

  I spotted Benjamin in the sandbox and shot all of these with my 70-300.
...  

  Sandbox   A Little Closer   Closer Yet   Up Close and Personal
 

 

Went to a concert on Sunday night with my brother.  On the drive down there I was a little nervous about taking my camera (I had a bad experience at my last concert with it) but my brother kept reassuring me that it was fine because of the establishment, which was a club he frequented before he broke his ankle.  
Turned out it was.  I got some awesome shots of people dancing and of the concert (which was freaking awesome).

But I couldn't help but think of Penny's Challenge as I took some of the shots of Voltaire that night.  All taken with my 70-300mm lens, I zoomed and croped in the viewfinder.

Show the Difference:  Voltaire Concert

DSC00097 black_and_white1

These shots were taken at our family farm Easter Sunday.

I bumped up the contrast and did B&W conversions to the shots that is it.  No cropping.

Contrast  B&W conversion
Contrast  B&W conversion
contrast B&W conversion

I picked up a new camera (Norcent DC-1020), just a little point & shoot, for when I don't feel like lugging the Nikon around. While playing with the close-up mode, I took a picture I think might work for the challenge.

First, lets see the snapshot, and after a little cropping, some saturation and hue adjustment, the world is ready to meet  Spike.

As always, all comments & criticisms are welcomed, not neccessarily listened to, but feel free to speak your mind.

Purple Wings
Purple Wing 2
Purple Wing B/W
Purple Wing 3
Purple Edge
Purple Center

Went and visited Airlie Gardens this past weekend and got some lovely shots! Did some editing and thought these would be good for the bi weekly challenge...I've been playing around with lightroom and absolutely love it!
You can definitely "see the difference"!
IMG_1414 Copy_of_Pan_cpyrt IMG_1441 fountaincpyrt IMG_1415 Pansies_cpyrt IMG_1437 daisycpyrt

While out walking last week, I found this antler, and in all the wanderings that I have done, this is a first for me:

Snap shot of an antler

Detail of the antler

More detail of the antler

Next is a field of dandelions.  I know I could have zeroed in on a single flower, but I wanted the ‘fieldness’ to be shown.

Dandelion field snap shot  Can anybody say ‘Yuck’?

Dandelion field picture

And a shot of a pine tree

Pine tree snap shot

Pine tree snap shot/picture, but improved

Pine tree snap shot/picture, flipped

Snap shot of pine tree detail

Pine tree detail, improved

And lastly, sometimes the subject matter itself needs improvement.

Lunch snap shot

Lunch, vastly improved

Lunch, overly improved