Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
So I see a nice little pond with still water and lily pads, and I ask, "Is that all you're trying to show me?" You're shooting into the sun but that type of lighting serves no purpose here - like I'm not getting a ray shooting through the tree or anything so I'm left wondering why you shot from this angle except to get out of the sun. What you're showing us is a blown out sky with what appears to be a road or a parking lot in the distance. I'd throw a 5 at this and move on quickly.

As I've said in other comments when I see a shot like this I'm left wondering what it is you're trying to show us and why do you want us to see it?

Not knowing where you are or what's around you I can at least see that there's something to the right that's catching light from the sun, so why not move to the left around the pond and catch its reflection in the water, or the reflection of the library instead of the empty sky and a couple trees?

A photograph should catch and keep your eye, and there's nothing here that does. It's as if this simply fulfilled a need ("I have to take a shot for the challenge. Oh, this pond is pretty.), but it's not showing us anything. And that's the goal isn't it? Sure, every one of us has stumbled into a breathtaking scene where all we have to do is press the shutter and you're done, but the rest of the time you have the camera in your hand your job is to make a picture!! There's one there but it's hiding and your choice is do you care enough to spend the time finding it? You have the camera in your hand, so it would be a shame not to.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by agaadu:
Wide range coverage, greenery. Great shot.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by PennyStreet:
I find it curious that there are no benches as I would love to get a book from the library and bring it here to read. Nice scene and well composed.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by Janja:
There's a lot of contrast here. The sky seems overexposed especially at the left side, while the grass in the lower left side is in a heavy shadow. As the grass still contains sufficient detail, you could have tried a lower exposure (to get more detail in the sky) and increase the exposure of the shadows in pp.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by streetpigeon:
There's a comfortable amount of depth and breadth here. The reflections in the pond are appealing. The overall green and light blue are harmonious. The choice of scene seems arbitrary. It's always a personal choice. Personally, as I began to enter photos in the challenges it dawned on me that I need to ask myself why I'm taking this particular image. The quality of entries is often high and it takes some extra effort to draw out interest, enjoyment and appreciation in others. With time and practice the habit of concentration did develop for me, though I can't say my results often attained my goals. It's completely fine to find beauty in everything, though the voters' may not always share this aesthetic. Better results in terms of these challenges, if one so desires this, can come from expressing one's own feelings as gleaned from the vast world.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by jomari:
Looks like a nice, tranquil place to wander for a while or sit and eat lunch (although the shadows suggest it is not lunchtime.)

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by RyanW:
Even the fowl are keeping their distance from us...

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by GeneralE:
Looks like an excellent place for nature-study field trips if schools weren't closed. :-(

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by GolferDDS:
I would have liked to have seen more color in the sky. Maybe even clouds. Nature doesn̢۪t always cooperate. Also, since it is a nature scene, I would have cropped out the poles in the background. Taking this picture at a different time of the day might have made the shadows more interesting.

Library_pond_entry
by hkpdso

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Not doing much for me, I'm afraid. There are a lot of distracting elements around the edges of the scene that don't add anything to the subject. Getting in closer to the pond and getting the lily pads and perhaps that tree refelction filling the frame would have been appealing to me.