A few by the park

Ruu_Old

Trying hard to get these right. Let me know what you lot think and pointers would be useful, be nice Thanks in advance.

P.S-lady.jpg...one for the lads

Dimy

My comments:

The Lady - I think it would make a better composition if you took it from a low angle and shot it upwards, now the picture is a little dull with a boring background and sky.

Fence - Nice shot, but the colors are a little blunt. Maybe add a bit more contrast will improve the shot

Sun - I think this is the best of the three pictures, too bad about the lens-flare and the buildings but pretty good and interesting composition.

captain P

The second one needs more colour, they look very faded. Like Dimy said.otherwise i really like that one. Very nice composition.
The third one is nice too.

I won't comment on the first as its "for the lads" (and im not one)

DadaKopf

Dimy wrote:

The Lady - I think it would make a better composition if you took it from a low angle and shot it upwards, now the picture is a little dull with a boring background and sky.

I disagree. By shooting the statue from eye-height and not photographing her feet or the pedastal she's standing on, the photo looks much more like a movie still or something. That's interesting, because I think it breathes life into the statue and creates a scene full of indeterminite drama where, in reality, there isn't any. By turning her face profile, a sense of expectation or mystery is created because you are left wondering what she's looking out for, perhaps there are clues in the curling contours of her body. It's an excellent angle to choose. Also, the lighting is excellent - did you wait for it, Ruu?

I think if you angled the thing up, it'd look like just another boring amateur photo.

Well done Ruu! I don't think much of the other ones but 'Lady' is ace. One criticism: the colours are very washed out, perhaps the shot is overexposed. I'd consider increasing the saturation, and perhaps darkening the dark- to mid-tones slightly.

Yv

I think the fence one is very nice, & I like the desaturated feel; there seems to be a trend with amateur photographers (not that I'm a pro or anything :P) of just hitting "Auto Levels" in Photoshop & upping the saturation & that ensures a great image. A bit more contrast would be good though; just try to have a full range of tones in each picture, ie the blacks should be black, & the whites, white. It's a nice composition too, tho maybe rotating yourself a bit clockwise would have made it stronger - the curve of the fence would be deeper, for instance, end further to the left, & be less symmetrical. The nearest post is in a great position, though.

The tree & sun one is interesting, but I think the buildings look like they're not meant to be there & kinda ruin it; if you either knelt down & let them fill the bottom of the frame more or took a few steps forward & angled up to cut them out it'd hang together better. I'm guessing it's a digital camera you use? Makes the blue very cold...

As for the "lads" one (:P), I think it'd be better if you'd waited for evening light or sunset to add some warmth & drama; also taking it from some sort of vantage point a foot higher up would put the point of view at her eye level & personify her more. If you get me. It'd also bring up the horizon line to a better level too - it detracts from the shot leaving such an expanse of blue, which really kills the green of the statue. The grass / barley / whatever it is, on the other hand, really livens up the green, so it would've been good to try & get more of it in the shot. Look out for colour contrasts like that; if you're not naturally aware of them (some ppl are more sensitive to it than others) look at the colour wheel here: http://www.fabriclandwest.com/quilters%20corner/titles/clr%20wheel.gif - the segments that oppose each other contrast with each other, like red/green, yellow/violet, blue/orange. Or just shoot in black & white :P

I'm not trying to boss you about or sound all authoritative or anything, just trying to give some advice

Ruu_Old

Thanks for all the comments thus far

DadaKopf-I was just walking around and thought the colour of the sky would look interesting with the colour of the statue. Im far from a pro, very snap happy and just try different things and see if they work or not. Ive always done the whole "trial and error" method Then just go home and scroll through and pick the best of them, the great thing about digital cameras.

Yv- When i looked at the fence one, i knew it looked like it had a layer of dust on it, and i didnt bother adjusting the levels. Thanks for the rest of the comments, all have been very helpful.

Shrimp

ok, to be quick.. imo..

first one -

could possibly have been good, but didn't work for me..

second -

nice lead in line of the fence, in deffo need of some PS loving tho.. what cam u got? I'd say it's not just a point and shoot.. right?

third

nothing special, no redeeming qualities..

keep snapping..

Ruu_Old

Fuji Finepix A340, 4mp, i think they call it point and shoot one.

DadaKopf

DadaKopf-I was just walking around and thought the colour of the sky would look interesting with the colour of the statue. Im far from a pro, very snap happy and just try different things and see if they work or not. Ive always done the whole "trial and error" method Then just go home and scroll through and pick the best of them, the great thing about digital cameras.

Ah yeah, I know that! But that's why I think the photo works, so learn from people's comments

Shrimp

yeah see usually with many cameras you are expected to edit them..

DadaKopf

Huh?

Shrimp

point and shoot cameras have built in photo enhancers so that it doesn't require much/any editing as usually people who have them don't know how or own a copy of an editing suite.

Ruu_Old

Shrimp wrote:

point and shoot cameras have built in photo enhancers so that it doesn't require much/any editing as usually people who have them don't know how or own a copy of an editing suite.

I know how to use Photoshop thank you very much

Shrimp

whats you're point?

Ruu_Old

Eh, just stating i didnt go out and buy the camera because im too lazy to edit the piccies. Didnt know that point and click cameras had built in stuff to them, interesting.