Bonjour from Montreal, Canada

Hi! I'm Jake Levin, a Ph.D. student in Spanish currently living in the land of poutine and ice cider known as Montreal, Quebec! I've loved photography and birds all my life, but I only got some serious gear a few years ago and started going on Artie's IPTs to Florida and California. I'm hoping you will all be merciless yet friendly critics; without good critiques, I can't improve! Generally, I try to judge my own images on the following three criteria:

1: is it sharp?
2: really, is it sharp?
3: composition. Just kidding, triple check to make sure it's sharp.

I'm trying to improve most on exposure and image design, since the IS lenses and a good tripod do a lot of the sharpness work for you these days. I also really need to up my photoshop skills, especially in terms of skills like quick masking to remove undesirables (bands, beach flotsam, etc.). Looking forward to working with you all!

Ciao,
Jake Levin

PS. Can someone please tell me how to make a profile picture?

Hey Jake, welcome to BPN!! Looks like you know that sharpness is not everything :bg3:. Looking forward to your participation!

For your profile picture just click on "Settings" in the top right corner of the forum, then once there click on "Edit Profile Picture" from the column at left.

Enjoy the poutine, and the Molson!

Welcome to BPN, Jake. You've picked the right site if you'd like to improve. No doubt about that. Just looking at the images and reading the critiques will help your photography and your eye. Looking forward to viewing some of your work soon!