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Matthew Saville The phone! :-/

Matthew Saville Hi Elaine, Yeah this is a tough scene to shoot! You can't shoot too slow of a shutter speed at that focal length otherwise the moon will start to blur, but... (show more)Hi Elaine, Yeah this is a tough scene to shoot! You can't shoot too slow of a shutter speed at that focal length otherwise the moon will start to blur, but the combines being slightly blurry is indeed a distraction.Honestly I might have just shot the scene at ISO 800 or 1600, and then used that brightness to go back and hit f/8 or f/11. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! Either that or, grab a solid tripod and see if you can get away with ~1 sec exposures instead of 1/40, and/or composite focus on both the moon and the combines. (show less)

Matthew Saville Hi Marcos,I would brighten the image overall using the exposure slider, maybe half a stop or a whole stop, then I would use Curves to add more contrast,... (show more)Hi Marcos,I would brighten the image overall using the exposure slider, maybe half a stop or a whole stop, then I would use Curves to add more contrast, instead of just trying the contrast slider itself. However you could start by seeing if contrast itself helps, or instead boosting the Whites and Highlights sliders by 10-20 each. (show less)

Matthew Saville Hi Raahul,  Super cool shot, I only wish we could see more into the shadows around the subject!At ISO 64 that D810 should be able to really dig, so I'm... (show more)Hi Raahul,  Super cool shot, I only wish we could see more into the shadows around the subject!At ISO 64 that D810 should be able to really dig, so I'm assuming that you left the shadows this dark on purpose. If that is the case, and you really wanted to emphasize the fire and the subject's face, I thin a closer-up shot would have worked better, composed vertically, so that the face and the fire fills more of the frame. (show less)

Matthew Saville Very nicely done, Abiel, I like how you were bold enough to let the sun hit the subject's face! I almost tink that less fill, and softer fill, would have... (show more)Very nicely done, Abiel, I like how you were bold enough to let the sun hit the subject's face! I almost tink that less fill, and softer fill, would have also worked, to highlight the dramatic light from the sun. I'm not sure what light source was used but it does look like it was decently soft to begin with. (show less)

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Matthew Saville The flare on the other side of the image looks great, but I think that this left side of the sky is getting a little too dark to the point that it looks like... (show more)The flare on the other side of the image looks great, but I think that this left side of the sky is getting a little too dark to the point that it looks like there is a smoke or haze in the sky, and not just sunlight / blue sky. Just dial it back a teeny-tiny bit, and it'll probably be perfect!  (show less)

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Matthew Saville Oh the left of this composition there is a much darker portion of shadow in the background; if you had framed her hair against this, it would have "popped".... (show more)Oh the left of this composition there is a much darker portion of shadow in the background; if you had framed her hair against this, it would have "popped". It would have also dramatically changed the mood of the shot as a whole, and BOTH styles of photography are awesome, so it's really up to you. Personally I do prefer to frame a brightly lit subject against a dark background, to make the hair light look awesome, but that's just my style.Overall, if you wanted to actually control the light on her hair, you'd have had to use a "scrim on a stick", and have an assistant hold it high above the subject. That might have helped change the overall vibe of the image, but again that would be a personal style decision, and both styles can work great. (show less)

Matthew Saville Hi Islam,Solid shot here, love it! Like Chris said the first thing that comes to mind is the umbrella and the couple not being perfectly centered. If this... (show more)Hi Islam,Solid shot here, love it! Like Chris said the first thing that comes to mind is the umbrella and the couple not being perfectly centered. If this had been a much wider angle shot and the couple was way off-center, like near the rule-of-thirds area, having them not be perfectly centered wouldn't have stood out as much, but when you ahve a symmetrical shot like this on purpose, the couple definitely must be centered. Other than that, love the processing, great choice of exposure, etc. (show less)

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Matthew Saville While I like the pose of her other arm going behind her head, having this arm (he right arm) with a straight elbow pointed straight up, is not necessarily... (show more)While I like the pose of her other arm going behind her head, having this arm (he right arm) with a straight elbow pointed straight up, is not necessarily making sense, especially considering her hand that looks like it was maybe supposed to be holding something. For some reason her thumb and fingers make me think like she has an invisible Harry Potter wand or something. Anyways now that I've exposed the true depth of my dorkyness, I'll just leave you with that critique- the pose is awesome, hips and smile and everything, but that straight-up arm and the hand / fingers at the top aren't really working.Looking forward to seeing your next shoot results! The absolute best thing for improvement is to get right back out there, while thoughts are fresh in your head, and shoot again. (show less)

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Matthew Saville The strip / side lighting is cool and dramatic, but there is also some shine on her skin that I wish had been eliminated either by getting a little more... (show more)The strip / side lighting is cool and dramatic, but there is also some shine on her skin that I wish had been eliminated either by getting a little more poweder in the makeup, or by softening the light sources a bit.  (show less)

Matthew Saville Hey Howard,The B&W does fit, it's a nice (partly cloudy?) day and I think even more contrast / brightness overall might help too, maybe a  faint... (show more)Hey Howard,The B&W does fit, it's a nice (partly cloudy?) day and I think even more contrast / brightness overall might help too, maybe a  faint radial brightening over the subject's face.Having said that, I don't think the tilt should be this steep. If anything, a faint tilt might work, but as a general rule a tilt has to have a very obvious creative purpose, like a strong leading line or something else, otherwise it just looks like a crooked photo. (show less)