C&C for processing and composition

[micol124]

Hi Everyone!
I am a new dSLR owner.. I have been waiting to own one since 2003 when I first bought a manual SLR camera and then took a class in college :D My boyfriend gave me a Canon EOS 50D + 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS as a random present.. so here I am in the photography forum :D
My main concerns at this point are composition and PS processing, so please feel free to murder them :D

3 Pictures, all shot RAW

This one I entered in the weekly challenge last week. Took it at Palm Beach while on Vacation, I had the camera on shutter (T) more vs P so many of the pictures were blurry.. but not all of them! I cropped it and enhanced the colors somewhat...
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/87_2/45_204/20090820_325.jpg (http://hotimg23.fotki.com/p/a/87_2/45_204/20090820_325.jpg)

This one I haven't cropped yet, wondering if I should to follow the diagonal rule... I enhanced the color of the ball just a smidge to make it pop out more...
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/87_2/45_204/20090820_462.jpg (http://hotimg23.fotki.com/p/a/87_2/45_204/20090820_462.jpg)


This on I took through a window at Bush Gardens.. Didn't realize that the weird colors reflected on the glass were caused by the polarizer filter I had on.. oops! So Turned into B/W.. I guess I would like more "oompfff!" to this image, more wow factor.. I think it has potential.. would love to have the rock look a little more "wet"... maybe have the bg be more understated.. I already decreased contrast on it and used gaussian blur on it twice! I also cropped this one to have the eye be on the diagonal...
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/87_2/45_204/20090828_0111.jpg (http://hotimg23.fotki.com/p/a/87_2/45_204/20090828_0111.jpg)

Thanks all :D

[jessica.]

I can say that photos 1 and 2 aren't worth saving. I get that there's a nice sense of movement that is trumped by the obvious blur. This is a situation where you need to understand what the lowest shutter speed would be in order to stop movement. If you were panning then you would see the object in focus and the rest would show the movement. The 2nd one may have the dog's face in focus but it is way too dark to actually see that. #3 is the best simply because it is at least in focus. #1 would be amazing had the dog been in focus.

[Acsom]

Man, I wish I had some of my sister's dog and ball pictures to share as a demonstration; she's really good at these. The hard part is to get the shutter speed where almost everything is stopped, but just a little bit of motion in the ball or a tail or a paw, so it doesn't look frozen in time. I do have a pic I took of her taking one, though :D :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Mosca/IMG_5097-4.jpg

I know, not helpful at all. Not that good a shot from me, kind of soft, etc. WTH, it's a family snapshot.

Here's one of hers, not with motion though:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Mosca/amys%20dogs/DPP_0001_5_1.jpg

[micol124]

Thanks for the C&Cs so far. Yes I would like the combo of movement vs statis... these were oops, and I am still learning to use the camera, so switching things is difficult yet :rolleyes: