Here are some more photos for you guys to criticize. I tried taking the feedback I've gotten so far into account. I've gotten better equipment since these photos were taken so hopefully my next batch will be better(because of feedback like yours!)

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The nebulae was centered in the original image but I cropped it to capture Orion's belt and cut out the unfocused parts. I didn't use a telescope, only my camera, 50mm lens, and star tracker.

You have fat toes.

In my completely unqualified opinion, the images are too "close". I want to see more going on. The "subject" alone is like yeah, great, sweet, there's a flower, flowers are colorful and beautiful, who cares...?

I feel like you're cheating taking pictures of nice things very close with good equipment. Well, how much still does it take to do this? I don't know, but I assume not that much.

I recommend you switch to photographing nekkid wimmins. The results are much better that way. And I don't mean that as an insult to your skills, hobby, or trade. I simply mean that I like photographs of nekkid wimmins.

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That's not nice. Stand up for yourself, SonOfShadowCat. It's not your fault. Fat people have fat toes, that's all.

#1 frog: Perhaps zoom down and left, since it looks like it's on a branch but the frame seems more fitting to emphasize a grounded creature. If you want to keep a really close zoom, I imagine it would be better if the frog's face were more head-on. A creature will usually demand even more space in the direction it is facing.

#2 fly: Too close crop on the bottom. Angle is a little too close to directly behind. I find the fly to be the most powerful part of this image, and it wants to move the visual flow downward, but it stops too abruptly to let the eye wander back around.

#3 purple flower: The foreground blur is slightly distracting while not not really being far enough in the foreground, composition wise. The photo has great composition and flow, though.

#4 pink flower: Awkward crop on the bottom. I like the space on the right, in the direction the flower is facing.

#5 space: I'm curious if the three stars being horizontal or completely diagonal would look good, though that's only a wild speculation and might not work at all.

I like the lighting well enough. You might tend to crop too much on the bottom? Overall, pretty good. I think the photos are pretty impressive. Below are some really rough samples adding a tiny bit more space. I probably should have separated them more now that I look at it. They are working too well together as I placed them.

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You've definitely got an eye for photography. Your nature shots are very well timed, cropped, and focused. That's the hard part.

All you have to do now is follow through, doing pretty much what ks did. Your subject matter has a vast range of color, but I don't see that come through in the final images. Bump up the contrast across the board and push the major color themes of the individual pieces.

If your camera has RAW support, you might consider using it (if you also have a big enough SD card!) and taking advantage of the extra color data in Photoshop. You might even experiment with HDR, although I know a lot of people hate HDR because it's easy to over-do it. (Personally, I love cheesy HDR, but I'm in the minority there.)

Also, as much as I love the night sky, it is a real challenge to make a compelling composition. Plus, you need to be obsessive about your equipment and environment. I can't help you with the first, but this might help with the second, if you're not already referencing it.

I got my hands on new software and the first thing I did was go back and do processing on my nebula photo. I def plan on taking everything you guys have said into account when the weather clears up and I can take photos again. I also redid the frog photo and it looks much better and more in line with what you guys have told me.

This is a before and after of Orion's belt and nebula. The next time I image this will be infinitely better as I've learned a few more things.

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