Don't hold back critiques wanted

[svenny]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum. I've enjoyed lurking. Now I'd like to get some critiques from you. Everyday is a learning day! Here's a few of my favorite pictures.

picture 1. An old enamel drug store sign.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/obersat/steve/visual_art/drugs.jpg

picture 2. A pool side view.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/obersat/steve/visual_art/Palm_Springs_backyard_lounging.jpg

picture 3. From my wifes garden.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/obersat/steve/visual_art/garden.jpg

Thanks!

[Marko]

Hey Svenny,

These shots are okay imo.

In general, taking a photo requires forethought;
- why am I taking this shot
- what about it is interesting to me
- what is the focal point(s) of the shot
- Are there distractions in the shot
- How best should i take and render the shot technically

At the beginning, asking these questions take time and the acual time spent shooting any given subject increases. Then after we practice for a few months to a few years it becomes far more intuitive.

Shot 1 - This is the somewhat interesting shot of the bunch. I like the linear shadows on the sign. and i like how the sign is broken in two. It may suggest a story about drugs in general. The sign is slightly crooked.

Shot 2 - Unfortunately I don't find anything interesting about this shot. It's your shot though, so what did you find interesting about it?

Shot 3 - is a good shot to suggest elements that are distractions. You cut the head of the flower at the left edge. Why? Wouldn't the shot have been better if it weren't there. The scene is your canvas so you decide what stays in and what stays out. If this were my shot, the way it is, I would crop it in between the 2 flowers on the left side. Then the image tells a different story - Then maybe the story is little bud at top right trying to grow into a flower. Objects in the dead center of the image are rarely as compelling as using the rule of thirds. These decisions are best made at the time of exposure but can also be made in post processing by cropping. (here's a good thread on composition (http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?p=21896) in general) I like the sharpness on the central flower, though it could be a wee bit sharper. Hope that helps - Marko

[Iguanasan]

Marko said everything I was thinking (and more). I just thought that I would add my :twocents:

Definitely do some research around the rule of thirds. The old saying is that "Dead centre is dead awful". Note that every rule has it's exceptions and sometimes you want your subject dead centre but generally it's a bad idea as it leaves the image kind of flat and uninteresting.

I expect #2 is one of your favourites because it reminds you of what it was like to be there by the pool that day. For those of us that weren't there, though, there's nothing to grab our attention. Now, if you had a man or a woman (or both) lounging in those chairs with a cool drink then it might have been a more interesting shot.

Overall the focus seems good, the exposure is fairly good except for those very white chairs. The last piece of the puzzle is composition. You might want to focus in that area for a bit. You seem to have the technical stuff under control.

[casil403]

I think some of these shots have potential, but you need to work on composition as Marko and Iggy stated. Composition is what can make or break a shot....think about where you want the attention of the viewer's eye to go when you take a picture. Generally, as Ig and Marko stated., if it's in dead center, the eye will first go there and not anywhere else or not pay much pay attention to anywhere else. When you look at a painting, a picture in a book, or even a plate of well presented restaurant food, notice what your eye does, where it goes and that is what composition is all about. A great photograph, with great composition, leads the eye in a direction all around the photo to eventually tell a story, or to give an impression, feeling or mood.

With the pool shot, try getting down on a different angle and shooting several different scenes..the white chairs in a row interest me and I think would lead the eye in a certain direction. Change the shooting angle of the sign and get down on your knees and shoot that tulip....think about the big picture and i think you will have much better suceess!

Hope that wasn't too long winded and it helps! :)

[Chantelle]

Ok here's my opinions/critiques:

Picture 1: The colours seem good in this image, not sure what to critique here, signs aren't my thing.

Picture 2: Nice blue sky, it's light but looks natural. Can you get more detail in the dark trees and bush areas? And it looks like the 3 white chairs in a row are blown out, if the detail is still there, can you bring the chairs back into detail? They look just too white with no detail in them. The sunlight seems a little bit too bright on the grass also.

Picture 3: This shot is nice, can you take this shot again a bit closer to the flower and get the flower sharper also? Seems too soft, the sharpness in the flower just isn't there. I like the Depth of Field in this shot however, the leaves look good blurred, shows the viewers of this image that it is the flower that is popping out of the image to them not the whole image.

I agree with Casil with changing the angles of the images also, this will give more interest in your images, always try shooting from different angles when taking a photo, you will always find other angles are more interesting than the first angle you choose.

[svenny]

Thanks for the critiques. Being away from art for so long I've forgotten all about composition...duh...My mind is coming back to the first lesson when we'd draw thumbnail sketches to set up the composition in a class.

Picture 2. I think I initially liked because of the huge contrast difference between the shadows and the whites, but after doing more reading about histograms and other items on this forum I'm starting to like Picture 2 less. :)

Picture 3. I uploaded as is, and the thought did come to mind about cropping after seeing that photo in the podcast of the guys hands up and he was off to the right. It is much more stunning of a picture, than dead center. I just wasn't sure where to crop it, but I like the bud and the flower story.

As for sharpness, I've noticed a lot of my snapshots are focused but not dead sharp. There might be a setting that's softening the image. I'm using a Fuji 3100. It's lower end equipment for now, but with your help it'll give me time to work on some of my other skills before getting a better set of equipment.

Again I appreciate every comment. I'm seeing the pictures from your eyes, and now that I look at tons of other pictures I've snapped, I'm being more critical, and I'm noticing I'm discarding a lot of pictures that I may have kept before.

Cheers,
Svenny

[Iguanasan]

Don't forget to come back and post some more. I'm interested to see more of your work.