Winter wonderland

[Arisha Zehra Photography]

20023

[theantiquetiger]

Since you are asking for a critique, I'll give my two cents

First off, your white balance is off, the entire image has a blue tint (not sure if intentional or not).
As for the image it self, there is not much going in this image. Even from someone that lives in south Louisiana and hasn't seen snow like this in 20 years, the image just has not interesting points. You are too far away from anything of interest (snow covered cars, Etc). There is too much dead space at the bottom of the image.

I do like the leading lines of the trees coming right off the top corners, nicely done. If this was mine, I would crop it to landscape mode and cut off the entire bottom of the image just below the curb on the right.

One of the best things I learned on this site as a beginner, try to shoot 100% with no post cropping. Try to make sure you frame your image in camera.

I am viewing on my phone, so I can only comment on composition. My phone is too small to comment on sharpness, etc.

[Runmonty]

Marko has a good podcast about the blue cast here White balance in photography and fixing blue snow | Photography.ca (http://www.photography.ca/blog/2012/05/03/106-white-balance-in-photography/)

[Arisha Zehra Photography]

Thanks for the feedback and the link.

[Lorey]

It brings to my mind the works of Stephen Shore. One of the most influential photographers in bringing color to the art of photography. It could loose some blue cast, but I like it otherwise!

Follow your own instincts on subject matter and shoot what you see that you like and not what you think others will like. Don't let inward sight and instinct be forced in a box.

[theantiquetiger]

Follow your own instincts on subject matter and shoot what you see that you like and not what you think others will like. Don't let inward sight and instinct be forced in a box.

I agree with this 100%, but she is a beginner and is still learning/asking for advice in the critique section. Another great thing this site taught me was to do everything technically correct when starting out. Once you mastered the rules, then you can break them.

I got my signature quote from Scott Kelbey, and it says exactly what you just said.

[Lorey]

I agree with this 100%, but she is a beginner and is still learning/asking for advice in the critique section. Another great thing this site taught me was to do everything technically correct when starting out. Once you mastered the rules, then you can break them.

I got my signature quote from Scott Kelbey, and it says exactly what you just said.
Didn't think I said anything to completely disregard your advice. I agreed with the blue cast needed adjusted. I think you always give good technical advice on members photos.

Although I see it a little different than you on the order of learning... One should go out and shoot what they want and how they want to develop their individuality in photography and at the same time check out the technicalities to see if they would be beneficial to their self defined style. Individuality and technicalities will blend naturally.

Didn't mean to offend. My apologies if I did.

[theantiquetiger]

Didn't mean to offend. My apologies if I did.

No offense taken, I was just saying I tried to do like you said when I first started. I tried everything, doing stuff other than just trying to master the basics of photography. Once I started listening to Marko, Runmonty, and others here, my shots improved by leaps and bounds. I love going back to my early post on this site and seeing some of the junk I was posting.

I was just giving advice above so she would not go through the same things I went through.

[Lorey]

No offense taken, I was just saying I tried to do like you said when I first started. I tried everything, doing stuff other than just trying to master the basics of photography. Once I started listening to Marko, Runmonty, and others here, my shots improved by leaps and bounds. I love going back to my early post on this site and seeing some of the junk I was posting.

I was just giving advice above so she would not go through the same things I went through.
Ahh... Yes. If I remember correctly you were trying to get portraits of your family, wife and daughters. I agree with you about learning the basics to do that type of portrait work. That is all about getting it technically right to get a good photo. I am referring to the more artistic, free thinking realms of photography. I guess that's why, for myself, I lean more towards what looks and 'feels' good is because I'm not a very technical type guy. I've dabbled in and out of photography since I was 11 and that was a loooooong time ago, about 52 years, and just looking and feeling is all I ever went on. I just picked up on relating f-stop, shutter speed, aperture and ISO from taking snaps and looking at the results. I never took the time to learn about histograms, guide numbers and the likes but I'm sure those things are helpful to those who know them and how to apply them.

The OP's photo wasn't a portrait or any kind of studio work so I just tried to encourage to continue and do what she 'feels' good to her in her composition and subject matter. And I think you gave her very good technical advice that she should take and follow through with the podcast that RM pointed her to!

Thanks for reading my rambling.. :)