Feedback on my pics

Zebrano

Hi all i have been getting more into photography lately and am looking for some feedback on the pics i took last night good or bad thanks in advance
night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr
night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr
night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr
night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr

Also there is more on my flickr page Thanks

DeVore

They are nice. Which is a horrible thing to say really

I like the third one the best because it shows some quirkiness... The others fall into a trap I often fall into, of being ordinary pictures of amazing things, rather than the holy grail of "amazing pictures of ordinary things".
Don't take that as a put-down, its part of the "growing" into this hobby.

A much more important question is "what do YOU think of them". Are you happy with them, do you think you could do better, do they make you feel satisfied with your photography? If they do, great, if they don't then what are you missing and how do you work on that...

Personally, I used to take landscape photos and I hated them. They were flat, boring, never captured what I could see with my eyes and certainly never made me or anyone else go "woaah, nice photo". When I started to play around with portraits and with lenses I discovered what I really wanted to do as an amateur photographer... and then I started practising and am still practising and getting better at it (slowly!).
For me, "photography" blurs with "art". I like to create dramatic pictures with really strong colours and sometimes quite "expressionist" style stuff. But thats me.... what do YOU want to achieve?? What pictures do you admire and would like to create? What do you need to do/practise to move towards that? Do you have the kit you need to do it? (for example, I couldnt get the portraits I like without my beloved 50mm... it frustrated me greatly until I discovered it!).


If you want specific critique of the pics above... the first one has a railing in the foreground you could have moved to avoid without significantly altering the angle of the shot. That seems like a mistake (maybe it was intentional??).
The second is *almost* symetrical but not quite which seems weird. You could make the horizon bang in the middle I guess. Thats a taste thing though. The path on the left hand side adds nothing imho and the pic would have been better if you had leaned out a little (if that were possible). You cant crop it out now because you'll lose the end of the bridge. Thats not great feedback from me on that one but its the best I can think of
Do you know the rule of thirds? if so were you breaking it deliberately? (Which is cool, I do!)... if not then you could read up on it.

Third one I like the best... I think I wouldnt have taken the railing and road but thats a choice.
Fourth one is quite pleasing on the eye but I dunno... it doesnt "do" anything for me. I like it, but there nothing there to like *a lot* if you get me.

Sorry if that all sounds kinda negative... I don't mean to be negative but its hard to give critique without the risk of that!
I guess the main question is "what were you trying to achieve" and then you can ask "did I achieve it?" and only you can really say that.
I think you took some very nice photographs now go out and take better ones ... thats the challenge that faces all of us.

Wabbit Ears

All the pictures could have done with better positioning or cropping IMHO.

Pic 1, Railing in forground, remove entire building on left side.
Pic 2, Pan left a little or crop out the bright building on right
pic 3, the ramp and railing shouldnt be there, if you were closer or found a bigger window it could be all in one or two panes
pic 4, top of building looks like its a separate but of images stuck on, did more than a doubletake on that. Would crop that and the road.

Other then that nice clear images and I love the real blackness of the black.

DeVore

I dunno about the crop you suggest on 2... I quite like the bright building on the right.. it balances the brightness of the base of the bridge... but it would be a fine crop all the same...

Wabbit Ears

if the pic was taken 200 m or so to the right the angle of the bright building would have been less as would the line of buildings and would not draw the eye so much.

Just my opinion of course, I find that bridge quite serene so the noise of the building takes from the beautiful harp-like lines

Zebrano

Thanks for the feedback.
What I'm trying to achieve at the moment is to learn how to use the camera properly and I like taking all types of pictures.
So just want to know where I'm going wrong
And yes I know the thirds thing. Just didn't think it suited the picture.
Here's a few more

night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr


night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr


night shots 13/12/13 by zebrano1812, on Flickr

And thanks again

Newcomers1

There are all really good shots, love the colours and then pitch black.

On your light trails shot, I think it's a little too busy with the poles, so the suggestion I would have would be to move out onto the island and shoot across the bridge. Here's a pic I took, it might be worth trying, unless it's not what you are hoping for.

(I don't want to hijack your thread with my pic appearing also, so I hope you don't mind me just adding a link!)

http://flic.kr/p/beuiKP

Wabbit Ears

all three could do with a skew to make them appear more level.
First one you should have stood a foot or so to the left.

the_monkey

I really like the mood of the 1st one (of your 2nd batch) that pole disappearing into the night looks great !!