Critique please!

Mandragen · Oct 17, 2011

Mandragen · Oct 17, 2011

AGYDAL · Oct 18, 2011

The flowers before and after the sun photo, their backgrounds feel somewhat busy to me...maybe try morning or evening photo taking so you have the shadows and such to help make your primary image more pronounced in those two?

MojaveReefer · Oct 18, 2011

I agree with the busy backgrounds, more so on the 1st one. Maybe just a crop of it would help, otherwise change the aperture to drown it out.

Ltlduc · Oct 18, 2011

As with most photography, its all about lighting and composition. you need to shoot these early in the morning or late in the evening. when the sun is lower, it brings out the colors and contrast. when I am trying to compose a shot, I think to myself " Would I print this or put it on the wall?" That last shot you used a really shallow depth of field to isolate the subject really well. but better lighting would help a lot. An image needs a subject to draw your attention to. Keep it up! It's all about fun and creativity. Enjoy!

Mandragen · Oct 18, 2011

thanks guys, exactly what I needed! So would a flash work in cases where it wasn't sunny enough or the wrong time of day? I have yet to obtain a great flash. There is still so much for me to learn. So far, I get excited when the exposure is ok and the subject in focus!

AGYDAL · Oct 18, 2011

Mandragen said:
thanks guys, exactly what I needed! So would a flash work in cases where it wasn't sunny enough or the wrong time of day? I have yet to obtain a great flash. There is still so much for me to learn. So far, I get excited when the exposure is ok and the subject in focus!

IMO, a flash wouldn't help...you would be better off trying some sort of backlighting, if you are wanting to manipulate your available light...I think that if you used a flash as close as you are to your subject, your subjects will appear washed out...I'm not saying a flash wouldn't help, but as you said, you're still a beginner...don't get me wrong I love gadgets, but you're better in the long run to get a good base knowledge of your equipments abilities before adding more variabless...flashes can cause more problems than they're worth sometimes, get too close to a subject and your image can look washed out...get too far away with a flash and you get weird shadows and bounce back, are examples of downfalls of flash...also there are a ton of different flash options out there too, and each flash has its own abilities to consider too.

I will admit, I hate using flashes, so hopefully someone that likes using flashes will chime in too.

I guess the point im trying to make is learn what your camera can do by itself before adding gadgets...you never know when one of those gadgets might break and you have to adapt your setup till you can replace or repair...while in the meantime your images suffer because your base knowledge isn't what it should be.

HTH.

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

I understand what you are saying, and really appreciate everything that you are saying. No one progresses by having someone say that everything they do is perfect.

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

What's the best way to progress skill and technique? Are classes worth the cost, or is it just to keep getting out there and shooting in different scenarios?

Misled · Oct 19, 2011

Mandragen said:
What's the best way to progress skill and technique? Are classes worth the cost, or is it just to keep getting out there and shooting in different scenarios?

Shooting helps. Gigs are cheap and as long as you have a program that shows metadata, you can always see what the settings were. Classes can be good. You can also use this.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/

I'm a person that likes to use flashes. Even in full daylight if used correctly, they can help to eliminate shadows. They, (at least the newer speedlights), can be controlled more than the older types. While I agree with the shooting in the evening and mornings to keep color saturation or contrast, I also like shooting in full daylight when doing macro work. The thing you need to learn to do this is your and your camera's ability to control the available light. This can be accomplished by pretty much all of the controllable settings on the camera in some way or another.

AGYDAL · Oct 19, 2011

Mandragen said:
I understand what you are saying, and really appreciate everything that you are saying. No one progresses by having someone say that everything they do is perfect.

Okay, cool! Sometimes my tone can come off as rude when writing a critique, I don't mean to be though...I totally agree with your viewpoint on progress, I wish I could get people to critique my stuff more.

Try using a paper viewfinder...Basically it's a piece of cardboard with a square hole cut in the center, hold the paper out at an arms length and look through the center to find the subject you want to photo...what this does is help train your eye to focus on a smaller scale...eventually, you'll no longer need the paper viewfinder.

Squinting helps too...close your eyes just enough to blur your vision like your underwater...with this blurred vision you can tell where the "weight" in your photograph is.

Kids are good at giving feedback too...my Mom used to be an elementary school teacher, I used to have her show her kids my artwork when I couldn't figure out what I could do to make it more interesting...adults with short attention spans are good too if you don't have kids around

IslandCrow · Oct 19, 2011

I think everyone has hit on the technical, so I'll focus more on the artistic. For the most part, these pictures just aren't very exciting. . .which can be very difficult with flowers, because everyone takes flower pictures (myself included). The ones I do like are the first and last photos in your second series. The first because you show us the flower in a way that's a little different from how we would see it every day. Also, the outer petals and stems serve as a nice frame to draw your eye into the center. The second photo, I like for its simplicity. There's really not too much that's special about it, but you have a nice, clean background separated, possibly by mistake, but well done nonetheless, by the stem of the flower with green on the right side and brown on the left. Subtle, but it provides some dynamic. The flower is clean, simple, with nice use of bokeh. Personally, I would have had it a little further to the right side of the frame, but overall very nice.

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

Excellent feedback! I've got some more shots I need to get up here of knights fighting at the festival this past weekend, would like some help on those as well.

I would much rather hear honest answers and pointers like this than someone saying, "ooo nice picture"! I know, I thought so too, that's why I took it! I mean, compliments are great, but they only boost egos, there is no progress there.

Reef Bass · Oct 19, 2011

Have you calibrated your monitor? Many of the shots look over saturated or over exposed to me, the first couple in particular.

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

AGYDAL said:
Try using a paper viewfinder...Basically it's a piece of cardboard with a square hole cut in the center, hold the paper out at an arms length and look through the center to find the subject you want to photo...what this does is help train your eye to focus on a smaller scale...eventually, you'll no longer need the paper viewfinder.

How big does the hole need to be?

AGYDAL said:
Squinting helps too...close your eyes just enough to blur your vision like your underwater...with this blurred vision you can tell where the "weight" in your photograph is.

I tried this, messin around and you seem to pick up where more of the light is coming from, is this what you mean?

AGYDAL said:
Kids are good at giving feedback too...my Mom used to be an elementary school teacher, I used to have her show her kids my artwork when I couldn't figure out what I could do to make it more interesting...adults with short attention spans are good too if you don't have kids around

lol that's why I have you guys!

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

IslandCrow said:
I think everyone has hit on the technical, so I'll focus more on the artistic. For the most part, these pictures just aren't very exciting. . .which can be very difficult with flowers, because everyone takes flower pictures (myself included). The ones I do like are the first and last photos in your second series. The first because you show us the flower in a way that's a little different from how we would see it every day. Also, the outer petals and stems serve as a nice frame to draw your eye into the center. The second photo, I like for its simplicity. There's really not too much that's special about it, but you have a nice, clean background separated, possibly by mistake, but well done nonetheless, by the stem of the flower with green on the right side and brown on the left. Subtle, but it provides some dynamic. The flower is clean, simple, with nice use of bokeh. Personally, I would have had it a little further to the right side of the frame, but overall very nice.

I really like artistic feedback, and I'm glad you jumped into the mix. Do you have any pointers of how to make things more exiting in general? I get what you are saying about the first one in the second series. I hadn't even notice that on the last one in the second series, but now that you have pointed it out, I will look more for things like that. I sorta like the last one the first series, so what you are saying is that's not a good picture? lol

Mandragen · Oct 19, 2011

Reef Bass said:
Have you calibrated your monitor? Many of the shots look over saturated or over exposed to me, the first couple in particular.

I bounce around from my desktop, laptop, and two work monitors, they have all been calibrated at one point or another, but then again they are all different. Usually I have an under exposed problem, but you then there is an over exposure? I'll work on that too, thank! :bounce2:

AGYDAL · Oct 20, 2011

Mandragen said:
How big does the hole need to be?

I tried this, messin around and you seem to pick up where more of the light is coming from, is this what you mean?

lol that's why I have you guys!

Try googling it, viewfinders are used a lot in beginning drawing classes...really drawing and photography are kinda the same thing, except the camera is capturing an image an not you.

Have you read up on composition and rule of thirds? The squinting helps a lot with that.

Mandragen · Oct 20, 2011

rule of thirds yes, composisiton a little, but you can never read and learn too much.... will continue with my research.

IslandCrow · Oct 20, 2011

Honestly, flower pictures are hard. Flowers are pretty, but they're just so overshot it's very rare I'll actually display any of mine. I'll see if I can dig one or two up, but it's all about giving the viewer something that they probably wouldn't see or notice on their own. For instance, when we usually view flowers, we're looking down at them, so some of the more interesting flower photos I've seen have been with the flower at eye (or camera in this case) level or even looking up at the flower. Also, focusing on the details can give you a unique view. That's a big part of the reason why I like your first shot in the second series, but don't particularly care for the previous photo of the same flower.

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