Critical feedback as a whole is widely missing from Flickr. It’s unfortunate because the community is so large with many talented photographers, but in general, you will rarely get a critique of an image you post.

That’s why I have decided to include three more sites to help me grow as a photographer.

http://www.naturephotographers.net  (NPN)

http://www.birdphotographers.net  (BPN)

http://www.naturescapes.net

All three sites have galleries where you post your images and receive critical feedback. In return, you have to critique five images of your choosing. Each site includes all aspects of nature photographer, but naturephotographers.net specializes in landscapes and birdphotographers.net specializes in birds (who would of thought).

For 2010 I will submit all my best landscape work on NPN and my best avian work on BPN. I haven’t figured out where naturescapes.net fits in, it’s difficult to manage all these sites! Flickr will remain my go to site.

I have submitted two images to each site and and can give some early impressions.

My first image on BPN was downloaded and re-edited by three people, including Art Morris, the site’s head figure. They went through point by point their re-edits and uploaded their versions. WOW. It doesn’t get any better than that. My next image received a few comments but no critiques. Perhaps it wasn’t an image screaming “fix me”. I’ve really enjoyed critiquing others as well. You can click on any photo, read the critiques and learn something each time. If you look through the images, typically it’s the best work that receives the most views, just as it should be.

My first image on NPN was viewed and commented quite a bit, with a key composition critique that was extremely helpful. The rest of the critiques all revolved around how to sharpen an image for web display. An important skill I now have a better understanding for. Sites like Flickr and Smugmug allow you to post your image at any size. Other sites require tiny files which then require further sharpening to resemble their normal selves. My next post received very few comments. My complaint with NPN so far is that it feels a lot like Flickr. There are photographers that post on a regular basis that are rockstars. Tons of view and tons of comments, just like on Flickr. Sometimes they do great work, sometimes they don’t, but they receive the same feedback regardless. I feel it’s a disservice to the “rockstars” as they want to improve just as much as any photographer would. I think the goal of these sites should be to react to the photo before the photographer, but that’s a difficult proposition. Birdphotographers.net does a far better job at coming close to this standard. As with Flickr, I think if you put the time in, your experience will continue to improve. Showing my ability overtime on NPN I feel with improve my ability to get critiques.

My goal is simple – Improve my photographic skill as much as I can each and every day. I will update as time goes by how my experience is evolving with these sites and how they are contributing to my goal.

Happy 2010!

Lupines on Spray Park in Mt. Rainier National Park

At the opposite end of the spectrum is intimate landscapes, which often involve using a telephoto lens. This intimate image from Yellowstone was shot with a 400mm lens on a cropped body:

Detail of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

What I want to discuss in this post is the point at which your wide angle lens just doesn’t quite cut it. On my recent trip to Grand Teton National Park I brought with me a Canon 10-22mm lens for my landscape shooting. I do a lot of backpacking and try not haul additional lenses into the backcountry. I was graced with a gorgeous sunrise at Schwabacher’s Landing, the most famous of the Teton photography spots. This is what I shot at the maximum of 22mm (equivalent to 35.2mm on a full frame body):

The Tetons from Schwabacher's Landing

Notice how distant the peaks are in the scene. It forced me to use the trees and the reflection as more of a focal point. This is how the scene is typically shot:

Schwabacher’s Landing by Stephen Oachs

The photographer next to me was using a Canon 24-70mm lens, exactly what I needed in this particular experience.

Having learned this lesson, I was able to pick up a 24-70mm lens for a trip into the Glacier Peak Wilderness and Image Lake. It was a 45 mile hike, and while I didn’t fancy carrying extra gear, I shuttered at the thought that my 10-22mm might not be enough to capture the beauty of Glacier Peak reflected in Image Lake. What an incredible sunrise I was able to witness and here is my shot at 38mm on a cropped body (equivalent to 60.8mm on a full frame camera)

Glacier Peak & Image Lake

As you can see, 22mm would not have been adequate to capture the scene. There you have it, lesson learned and image captured! I have since sold the 24-70mm as it weighs as much a baby (well almost), and I have picked up a 35mm f/2.0 prime which is ridiculously light at 7.2 ounces. Make sure you are prepared when your wide angle lens doesn’t have enough reach!

This is one of my all time favorite photographs period:

On Broken Glass

An incredible winter landscape:

From the Foothills

To the sea:

Another World

Fall colors:

Autumn Falls

A trip to the Sierra:

Over the Top

Really take your time as you look through Ryan’s photostream. Quality resonates with every single image. What are your favorites?

Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park is a short but strenuous hike to an amazing viewpoint of Zion Canyon. Many just make it to end of the trail, but if you don’t mind heights, there is an opportunity to continue along the top of the rock formation with a steel chain assisting you through the difficult sections. If you can, it is well worth it to do the hike in the early morning for better weather and less crowds. If you normally use poles for hiking, make sure you attach rubber tips as most of the hike is on concrete. When you arrive at the difficult upper section, be sure to leave your poles behind and pick them back up on the way down. I definitely recommend Angel’s Landing.

My new site went live today. By live I mean that I am more or less happy with it and ready to share it with the world. I decided to go with Smugmug with hosting and it was an overall solid experience. Intimidating at first, you have to dive into the forums at dgrin.com and learn to play with CSS, HTML, and Javascript, mostly through cut and paste. I would recommend Smugmug to those interested in creating your own photo hosting site. I hope you enjoy it!

justinreznick.com

It’s been a while I know, and it’s time to get back to bloggin’. This summer was full of hiking and shooting, an incredible growing experience for me as a landscape and wildlife photographer. Spending time in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park was an eye opening journey into the world of wildlife photography. That experience really instilled in me that I wasn’t going to just shoot landscapes for my career. I’ve been back from my adventures for a little while now and I have been busy at work on my new website - justinreznick.com. It is finally completed and now I’m going through the process of optimizing it for search engines. It was an interesting experience which had me learning some CSS, a good deal of copying and pasting different code, and relying on endless forum posts to get just the look I wanted. I am pretty happy with it so far and fortunately, being hosted on smugmug means that I can evolve it as needed.

I have numerous posts planned, from trip reports to hiking tips, there is plenty to discuss! This weekend I leave for Zion National Park where I hope the fall colors come a little early, and I can add some Southwest images to my portfolio. Until next post (which will be sooner than later!)

Here are some of my favorites:

Palouse Falls Sunrise

Snake River Dawn

Lone Tree, Palouse Hills

Grand Teton Evening

Winter Morning, Vermillion

What are your favorites?

These photos are an inspiration for me on this trip:

Palouse Falls Sunrise by Chip Phillips

Horizontal Grand Teton Sunset by Chip Phillips

Beaver Pond Reflection by Jeff Sullivan

Something Special by Leviathor