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Most of the photos I took this year just didn't measure up. Not in the right mood or something.
I feel these three work together as a tryptich though. What do you think?

Thanks for looking.
Ready...

Aim...

Fire...

Hey there,

Nice sequence, but to my thinking there is too little difference between 1 and 2, perhaps I'd go with 1 and 3?

It looks like your shutter speed was quite slow, at least for the first 2 shots, perhaps 1/30-1/50? Which causes the (very) slightly blurred effect on the 'conductor' , as well as the focus being a few feet in front of him (/her? is that a kilt or a skirt?)

My main CC would be a tighter crop - to the right of the orange flag on the left, I had a little play (hope that is ok) - link here http://picasaweb.google.com/JustinPhoto ... 6926900050

(I also ran a sharpen and boosted the saturation a tiny amount in Picasa2)

Thanks for that.

I had a little play (hope that is ok)

I like it when people play. I learn.
I like your crop better than mine on the "ready" shot, though the chopped sword bothers me a little.
My reasoning was to crop approx the same for all three. I left room for the smoke to billow into in the third frame, which is why there is so much room on the left in the first two. The idea was to create a sense of waiting in the first two. "Huh? nothings changed. Hey wait a minute he's moved his arm... Bang! Ahh that's what we were waiting for.
From your comments I haven't quite got there. Will keep trying.

It looks like your shutter speed was quite slow, at least for the first 2 shots, perhaps 1/30-1/50?

It was actually 1/250 for the first and 1/320 for the next two. (Aperture priority) He was moving his arm quite quickly.
They were three shots in succession in a 5fps burst.

as well as the focus being a few feet in front of him (/her? is that a kilt or a skirt?)

The intended focus was always the riflemen, not the cionductor.
& definitely a kilt

I saw that about the sword, and I felt the sword chopped off at the top is OK because it adds movement, coming into the picture.

Try cropping the 3rd the same as the first? I think there is room for it. It's just the orange flag needs to go (haha in my humble opinion) - here's my stab

http://picasaweb.google.com/JustinPhoto ... 5554440034

Ahh I see the focus on the rifle guys, the conductor is slightly OOF. A quick sharpen brings him back a lot.

I thought about that flag and decided to leave it in as a "target"
Your crop looks better though, so I will take it out. maybe leave just a little extra room for that smoke to billow into.
Incidentally, your two crops are not quite the same. The fence post at the edge of your first is actually obscured by the smoke in the second.

Thanks for the feedback..

Done by my uncertain eye, I am sure you'll do a better job!