My Photos - Critique please

funkey_monkey

Hi - I'm starting to take my photography more seriously. I'm only using a Panasonic FX-35, but I intend to upgrade some time before my next foreign trip.


















Sorry - I hope these are not too many for posting. Please give me feedback on all aspect sof the photos.


Thanks.

bullpost

Good start.
In terms of compostion and impact they are good.
The lighting is a bit harsh .
Learning about DOF will bring an improvement as well.
Just my tuppence worth - good luck with it.

djgaillimh

bullpost wrote: »

The lighting is a bit harsh .
Learning about DOF will bring an improvement as well.

He is using a 4-year old point and shoot, to be fair. Not much he can do with regards the DoF and exposure.

I won't critique your photos as I'm only a beginner, and I'd feel a bit hypocritical about it since I'm still in the process of putting knowledge into practice, but I will say that I think you're getting more out of your point and shoot than many people get out of their DSLRs.

Snowie

My old man always says, there are two types of photographers those who record and those who shoot based on instinct. I dont think your doing anything wrong at all... you give a nice gut instinct feel to most of your pics. Which is the most important part of photography.

If you decide to upgrade, get a dslr, don't worry about high mega pixels just get one that will help you learn... Shoot in raw and take the time to rally get to know photoshop and youle be kicking ass in no time..

don't take things to serious youle loose the playful factor

pullandbang

First shot of the kid. The kid is the main point of interest and he is slap bang in the middle of the frame which rarely works. Rule of thirds - crop out the sign on the left which is a big distraction and crop out the dead space under the balcony. That will make for a much more interesting image.

Second shot could have worked if it wasn't for the totally out of place jeans. You have a perfect situation of traditional locals doing whatever it is they are doing but these bright blue western pair of denims ruin the whole thing. The kid looking at the camera is super.

Third one is meh. What is the shot of? The bag (I think) on the path or the house?

The fourth shot again is meh. It is an interesting shot of the locals but a crop across the top to lose the modern buildings would improve the image. Also crop out some of the dead space on the left of the girl on the wall. Pity they are looking at you and posing/smiling, but I suppose it's hard enough to get a shot sometimes without that happening.

The fifth shot of the shop is very colourful but unfortunately the shopkeeper/seamstress is in the shade and is difficult to spot. That's where the interest lies and getting in closer to her would make for a better image.

The next one is a badly exposed holiday snap of traditionally dressed locals. Their faces are in the shade and it just looks like a shot grabbed with no effort put into it.

Seventh is a landscape - meh! Nice record shot of what the place looked like in bright sunshine.

Last one again is nearly a landscape with a bird stuck in the corner. Maybe I'm wrong but the horizon is mad crooked and the bird is too small in the frame to make any impact.

Hope this helps and yes, there are too many images in one posting to get proper C&C.

djgaillimh

pullandbang wrote: »

First shot of the kid. The kid is the main point of interest and he is slap bang in the middle of the frame which rarely works. Rule of thirds - crop out the sign on the left which is a big distraction and crop out the dead space under the balcony. That will make for a much more interesting image.

I'll once again mention that I'm a beginner, but I think you are incorrect here. And if you download that photo and crop it as you suggested, you'll see how awful it is.

The rule of thirds isn't something you have to live by, and it can often look contrived and uninspired. The sign placement is unfortunate, agreed, but I think that photo works well enough as is.

CabanSail

Good that you have put up some images for C&C. I can see that you have potential and have done well for a Beginner and with a P&S Camera.

To my eye the first two shots have the most potential.




1. This is the crop I would make to this image. The child is lovely and the window behind and the balustrade echo each other. The crop removes distractions and makes it a lot simpler. Of course the crop needs to come from a full resolution image.



2. Some editing here to increase contrast and some dodging & burning along with a crop can give a lot more impact here. Of course the blown highlights have gone forever (a RAW file here may have helped) The eyes of the child are the focus here and distractions need to be eliminated

3. A pleasing image of a rustic house. The textures of the peeling paint is well captured. Not sure what the significance of the bundle outside the door is.

4.This looks like a grab shot. It does not show much consideration for composition.

5. This shot is just way too busy. There is no subject though I assume it may be the guy sewing. To make a shot like this a success you need to find a way to have him stand out. This could be with lighting, narrow DoF or in PP.

6. Once again this is not well composed and the faces of the people are underexposed. The reduced dynamic range of jpeg images has gone against you here.

7. A Landscape that does not really work. There is nice lead in along the river but the light is flat and the image lack contrast.

8. A good attempt at capturing such an amazing bird (condor? vulture?) but the limitations of gear here make it less spectacular than it should have been. You have done well with what you had though.

.

deealovr

Wow,your comments are very detailed but great.

magicbastarder

i think the first one works well *because* it breaks the rule of thirds.

pullandbang

djgaillimh wrote: »

I'll once again mention that I'm a beginner, but I think you are incorrect here. And if you download that photo and crop it as you suggested, you'll see how awful it is.

The rule of thirds isn't something you have to live by, and it can often look contrived and uninspired. The sign placement is unfortunate, agreed, but I think that photo works well enough as is.

My take on your shot would be this and I'll explain why.



The child is the focal point of the shot and is looking to the right in the image. By moving her to the left it gives her room to look into. The bright sign is drawing my eye away from the focal point. I'm wandering around the shot wondering what it's about. I also feel that the dark band under the balcony is creating two contrasting layers and again my eye is being drawn to look in the dark area to see if there is anything going on.

I agree with you about the ROT and yes it is there to be broken, but if you place your subject dead centre I think it only works if there is proper balance on both sides. Have a flick through the images of the day in today's Irish Times (online) and you'll see a couple of shots that work really well.

Or something like this where the big distracting background is part of the shot.


I think you have a very good eye for a shot and it's great to see people shooting people. Looking forward to seeing some more of your stuff.

BTW, these are just my opinions and I don't claim to be right.

djgaillimh

pullandbang wrote: »

I think you have a very good eye for a shot and it's great to see people shooting people. Looking forward to seeing some more of your stuff.

I agree. I think he has a good eye for scenes that are worth capturing, but the equipment and lack of experience are limiting factors.

You should read a few articles on photographic composition, funkey_monkey. Digital Photography School have lots of good tutorials, and you'll find loads more elsewhere.

Like I said above, these aren't rules that you have to live by, but they always say you should master them before you break them (something which I'm still in the process of doing...).

funkey_monkey

CabanSail wrote: »

Good that you have put up some images for C&C. I can see that you have potential and have done well for a Beginner and with a P&S Camera.

To my eye the first two shots have the most potential.

Thanks - glad to hear I'm not wasting my time!

3. A pleasing image of a rustic house. The textures of the peeling paint is well captured. Not sure what the significance of the bundle outside the door is.

No significance - one of the locals left it there. To me it just looked like an interesting shot that was not staged.

4.This looks like a grab shot. It does not show much consideration for composition.

It was, but I was trying to do a portrait of the locals. I couldn't converse with them very well so I just had to shoot what I seen.

5. This shot is just way too busy. There is no subject though I assume it may be the guy sewing. To make a shot like this a success you need to find a way to have him stand out. This could be with lighting, narrow DoF or in PP.

The intent here was to take a shot that you would look at and then at second glance spot the person sewing - if you know what I mean.

8. A good attempt at capturing such an amazing bird (condor? vulture?) but the limitations of gear here make it less spectacular than it should have been. You have done well with what you had though.

Condor at Colca Canyon, Peru.

funkey_monkey

pullandbang wrote: »

First shot of the kid. The kid is the main point of interest and he is slap bang in the middle of the frame which rarely works. Rule of thirds - crop out the sign on the left which is a big distraction and crop out the dead space under the balcony. That will make for a much more interesting image.

This one causes some debate with some of my photographer friends. Some think with you whereas others (actually including myself on this one) prefer the kid to be in the centre!

Second shot could have worked if it wasn't for the totally out of place jeans. You have a perfect situation of traditional locals doing whatever it is they are doing but these bright blue western pair of denims ruin the whole thing. The kid looking at the camera is super.

I didn't even notice the jeans until you mentioned them!

The fifth shot of the shop is very colourful but unfortunately the shopkeeper/seamstress is in the shade and is difficult to spot. That's where the interest lies and getting in closer to her would make for a better image.

Thanks - getting the lighting right is something I have problems with - not sure if it is the camera though!

Promac

Not a lot to add to the conversation as it's mostly been said but I agree with not going for a ROT on the first pic. Cropping it makes your eye follow what the kid is looking at which puts you on a blank wall with nothing going on so you hover between that and the kid. The centring makes me stop on the kid.

I like the landscape shot but you should learn about sharpening for the media you'll be displaying on and the size of the end image. To much detail (radius too small), like in the canyon shot here, and it actually becomes difficult to see what's there. Less detail, bigger radius, a little masking and this would've been a lot clearer. This applies to the sharpening feature in Lightroom but they're common concepts.

If you haven't got Lightroom you should give it a go. It's the digital equivalent of working your own prints in a darkroom. You can buy it or install it as a trial for a month from this link:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html?promoid=DINTM

funkey_monkey

Here is another one - Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side. I appreciate that the range of colours is limited, but imo you can see the power of the fall and I like the way that the image goes from sharp detail at forefront of the image to mist at the rear. However, I'd like some critique on this one too:

SdoowSirhc

At first I thought, as did everybody else, that the western jeans ruined the feel of the photograph of the locals in their Peruvian clothes but after looking at it again I think that it shows how far the western influence is reaching and how it changes traditional countries such as Peru. Just my opinion, I'm very new to photography :P

SdoowSirhc

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Here is another one - Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side. I appreciate that the range of colours is limited, but imo you can see the power of the fall and I like the way that the image goes from sharp detail at forefront of the image to mist at the rear. However, I'd like some critique on this one too:

That's an great shot but if you had a tripod you should have used it and lowered the shutter speed if your camera allows for that. I should show more motion and speed in your photograph. That being said, it's an amazing shot :cool: