Jelly and Fish in a field of Flowers (Photography)

Sorry, I didn't really take a picture of jelly on a fish flopping a field of flowers. But that'd be wicked cool.

Last summer I visited the Washington D.C. Botanical Gardens and also Baltimore's National Aquarium. As a normal tourist, I snapped as many pictures as I could. My favorite were the flowers and the jellyfish. Critique, if you don't mind

Hey!!! Cy here! These are beautiful pictures! My favorite ones though are the ones with the jellyfish and the first one... I think there where seahorses? I guess, I don't know I'm kinda blind, so maybe I imagined it. The flowers where pretty too, but the jellyfish get 10/10.

My favorites are definitely 2 and 3.

Hi Cynara! Beautiful photos you have taken here!

1. This is one of my favorites in your collection, because I just love the colours in this one; the deep blues against a background of black is just lovely.

2. They look so weird but in a cool way... The patterns on them are really nice. I would have zoomed in a bit more personally, as I think the dark pebbles beneath take away from the brightness of this photo.

3. This isn't my most favourite photo, the background is quite unattractive (not your fault of course!)and I do realise how hard it is to take pictures of animals in tanks, especially if they happen to be rounded. However, I like how the jelly fish to the left is central in the picture and then you have all her other jelly friends floating around in the background.

4/5. These are really nice. I love the wash of vibrant colours in both pictures. ( The ellyfish look so freakishly cool!)

(Rushed for time so I'm skipping down to 8! )

8. I like the clash of vibrant colours in this picture. However, the tip of the plant is a little cut off at the top. It would have been nice if you caught the all the yellow buds within the frame.

8. I like the intensity of the purpley/redy colour in the flowers petals.

9. Hmmm, I am not too keen on this photo mainly because the subject, the flower, is floating near the lower left corner of the photo whilst a lot of space at the top is occupied by the water reflecting the dark shadow of what I am guessing is a ledge. If you can, try moving the subject of a photo so they attract the eye.

(I'm skipping down to 11 )
I really like this. I think you got the angle next to perfect on this one. I love how the brilliant red flowers are dotted in the background and then in foreground, you have the pale peach coloured flower which still manages to catch the eye.

Overall, I think these are amazing photos. The aquatic ones were my favourite and I realise how difficult it can be to take pictures of aquatic life in tanks. You did a really good job!

PM if you post anymore pictures up!

Keep taking pictures (:

Hey there, this is Jet, here to review. Prettyful jellyfish!

1. I don't like this one so much. The focus isn't very good, and the picture seems blurred, but I assume that's because you took it with quite a low quality camera. I think there's too much background here and not enough focus on the seahorses themselves - in fact, it took me a long time to pick the seahorses out, which is a pity, because they're beautiful.

2. Possibly my favourite. I adore the colours here; the light works very well. I disagree with Onyx; I think the pebbles add a nice contrast.

3. Again, it's too blurred. I like what you've tried to do, but it would be better with a more defined image.

4. Whoa. The colours are a little bit startling here. I'm not sure if I like that or not. It makes the water look very artificial, almost, as if you'd just added it as a background on Paint or something. It's almost all one colour. However, the focus is back and it's great.

5. Same as above, but I think the jellyfish on my right is too shadowed and a bit blurred. As the focus is on both of them, I think they'd both have to be equally sharp.

6. Same again. I think it's not sharp enough.

7. This is an odd one, because you've still got that vibrant background but the jellyfish lacks the colour to stand out against it. I think you should crop more of the water out and see if you can tone it down - I know nothing about editing on Photoshop or suchlike, so I don't know how you'd go about doing that, if at all.

8. I don't like that long-reaching petal at the bottom. It stretches the picture unnecessarily. The focus is sharper than before, but not quite there still.

9. What's with the white around the centre of the flower here? It's weird. Looks like you messed up the brightness a bit. Anyway, I don't find this one particularly interesting. Not a lot to focus on, as the colours are a bit unremarkable.

10. I think you've lost the focus of the picture a bit here. It's supposed to be the flower, but we're distracted by the reflections. It's a pity, because this is again, rather pretty.

11. Little bit blurred, nothing really to remark on. I'm not really getting anything from this pic.

12. It looks quite pixellated. Did you resize it a lot? It spoils the effect. I love how the colour branches out from the centre, though. That looks good.

13. I think that leaf to my right is in focus when it shouldn't be. The centre of the flower has lost a bit of sharpness, too.

Okay, as a summary.

If you want to take nature pictures, I'd suggest a high resolution camera. The focus makes them look so much better, and the detail these cameras provide is phenomenal. Giving the viewer a chance to study the things they see everyday, and don't look at for long enough, is a triumph of those photographers who take pictures with natural subject matter, IMO.

Don't forget to find a subject and a focus for your picture. Sometimes, it seemed like you were trying to focus on one thing, and were distracted by something else.

Try and make your photography a little more interesting. A lot of these pictures didn't leave anything behind in our minds, and I'm particularly talking about the flowers. Though I wasn't sure about the clash of colours with the jellyfish and the water, it does present something for us to grapple with and consider whether we like or dislike. Flowers can be nice if photographed well, but thought needs to go in to the image you're trying to create.

Okay, that's it from me. Did I forget to say this? Nice pictures.

Thanks for both of your reviews

Truthfully speaking, I haven't touched these photos in regards to brightness, color, etc. I agree about the jellyfish water's color, and unfortunately, I can't do anything about it since I have no skill in photoshop and the color of the water was like that originally from the background of the water tank and the lighting they had inside the tank. I also did not use any flash for any of the photos, except number 9. Of course, if I used flash it would've reflected off the glass of the tank and making the pictures come out bad.

I can't exactly go back to D.C. or Baltimore and take better pictures since it was a 6 hour road trip. Also, my camera is not that high quality and I was walking with my family so I had to click and review fast in order not to get lost. (I was able to get all the time I wanted with the jellyfish though, the entire family loved it )

I'll only do the first three, because those are, in my opinion, the very best. The rest will get an honorable mention or something.

1st: I love it. I love it I love it I love it. The black, the colors, even the stick in front. The only thing is that it is a tad blurry, as Jetpack said, but in this lighting I'm amazed it's as nice as it is. Beautiful.

2nd: It took me a while to actually notice the jellyfish, but once I did, it was so cool. They blend in with the flora so well, it's like a really nice hidden object game. The shadows and stuff on the rocks give a slight motion blur effect, even though it's obviously not, and I love the rocks. Nice angle, great lighting. Again, beautiful.

3rd: This one is nice, too, although the first two were better. The algae on the rocks takes away from the magical feeling of jellyfish. The fish were great (don't you just love it when critters pose for you like they all have here?), but the rocks, and the fact that you can see the plastic wall behind, take away from the effect.

Honorable Mentions:

#4 The angle is so great and the picture is nice and crisp. I love how you can clearly see all his... tentacles in a bunched up position that shows them all off like a pro photo or a painting. Nice!

#7 I love the white against the blue, and the angelic pose of the fish.

#10 I just really like this flower, the reflections, the light, and the flower. Especially the flower. Did that guy who's pictures made it to the Smithsonian take a picture of that flower? Either was, it's lovely.


Overall:

The fish were amazing, but the flowers weren't my favorite. But the fish were amazing, especially considering the first three were obviously taken in low light, which can often blur pictures (all of my fish pictures in low light from the zoo are blurred, so these are great!). These are really good, and I hope you continue taking photos!

-Tex

Wow! These are really good! I especially liked the 4th picture[with just the one jellyfish] and a few of the flower ones like the last and first ones. You must have a very good camera.
The only one I have a suggestion about is the 10th picture. I think it would've looked better if you had centered it more.

I think these are all great photos; I barely have any critiques, and what I was going to say has already been mentioned. So I'll just go and gawk some more at the wonderfulness of these photos.

WOW, awesome pictures! I was amazed - I don't know much about all this photo taking stuff.. Like, oh, it's too blurry, or oh, wrong angle, or oh.. whatever. But, just amazing. I thought it was gonna show a jellyfish in a field of flowers, haha!