Beginning with a Point and Shoot: Super intemidating. C&C please :) (Picture heavy!)

[IrishGumbo]

I love this picture so much.. it just makes me smile every time I see it.
This was the very first picture i took with my Nikon S230, and this is my very first leopard gecko.

I'm bothered by the white bits in this photo, because these flowers dont have any white on them. I dont know how to controll that just yet, but other than that, this one is up there with my favorites.

I had to be SO still with this one. Its one of many dragonflies that roam during the summer in Louisiana.

This one has a face. and SO much character. I get giggles out of this one too.

This is my perfect princess, Jody. she LOVES take pictures. She's not very still, though. so its kind of a challenge.

One of those cases, where the sun did a good thing

I thought this ball that my little cousin got for Christmas was neat looking SO, i took a photo.

I dont know about this one. The dragon fly is pretty, but i cant figure out what I don't like about this photo.


And thats it! Please, feel free to C&C my photos, i plan on going to college for photography
-Page.

 

[Hybrid Designz]

Nice Leo you have there. I breed leopard geckos as a hobby as well. Looks to me as if you have a "normal" or "high yellow".

 

[IrishGumbo]

She's a doll! She tried to eat my camera though.
I have two others like her, and a blizzard leo. they're all wonderful creatures.

 

[Hybrid Designz]

Yes they are! I have right at 30 leos now. And its almost breeding time for mine as well =)

 

[Craig G]

I'm bothered by the white bits in this photo, because these flowers dont have any white on them. I dont know how to controll that just yet, but other than that, this one is up there with my favorites.

I dont know about this one. The dragon fly is pretty, but i cant figure out what I don't like about this photo.

Most of these outdoor shots are blown out. If your going to P&S flowers try a different time of the day when the sun isn't right above you.

 

[IrishGumbo]

I'm bothered by the white bits in this photo, because these flowers dont have any white on them. I dont know how to controll that just yet, but other than that, this one is up there with my favorites.

I dont know about this one. The dragon fly is pretty, but i cant figure out what I don't like about this photo.

Most of these outdoor shots are blown out. If your going to P&S flowers try a different time of the day when the sun isn't right above you.

Thank you for pointing that out. I love photographing flowers, and without the proper shade equipment this information is very useful.
I'll definitely keep this in mind the next time im outside.

 

[IrishGumbo]

Heres one i forgot to post. I like how i centered the flower, but its a tad blurry.

 

[Craig G]

I like how i centered the flower.

Be ready for someone here to tell you centering is bad, then they'll tell you to do a search or read a chapter on "the rule of thirds".

This last photo is also over exposed. Your limited in manipulating settings on a P&S but you can use the presets. Try going into scene selector menu and use a different setting. Play around with those presets for a bit.

 

[IrishGumbo]

I've been an active artist for a few years, and i've come to terms with harsh feedback, but i know my pictures are less than novice status right now. the settings on my Point and shoot actually confuse me a little bit. But i'll definitely play around.

 

[IrishGumbo]

Let me correct myself.
I've been an active Media artist for a few years.
But I've been an inactive one all my life.

 

[bigtwinky]

I like how i centered the flower.

Be ready for someone here to tell you centering is bad, then they'll tell you to do a search or read a chapter on "the rule of thirds".

How dare they say centering is bad!

Centering is fine to do as long as it enhances the images. Too many times people think that they need to align the subjet with that little middle point in the camera. Centering creates dead space on both sides of an image, which leads to a more empty image than a full image.

In some cases, this is exactly what is needed, mostly when dealing with symetry, leading lines and so on. But in many cases, specially with people/animals/flowers, this is not the best way to frame an image.

Craig G, your tone seems to indicate that you disagree with this...


Irish, you are definatly suffering from low quality equipment, which is not giving you control or even automatic proper exposure and focus. All the images are out of focus, have exposure problems, contrast problems, grain, etc. So that aside, you are showing a decent eye.

Contrary to what Craig G said, many of your images are not centered and those that are actually work.

If you want good feedback, pick 3-4 images and post those up, seperate and number them for easy reference.

The lizard shot is cute, but this one is too centered for my tastes, dead space on the right of the frame. I actually like the TV background, but zooming in on the lizard and moving him more to the right would improve composition

The dog in the fence picture is one of those that I like more centered than off. You are playing off the lines his face is creating, keeping things even and symetrical is key. Again, technically a horrible picture, but I like the basic composition. A bit tight on the framing, you cut one ear off a bit and the bottom of his jaw is tight on the bottom of the frame.

The picture of the woman is nicely composed and good job trying to get some light and shadows in there. you need to work on the expression the model has in her face, get those eyes open and hair out of her face.

The star ball balloon thing is like the dog pic, its ok in the centered, but again its too tight. You have stuff going on in the background that is distracting, so watch that. Isolate a few lines and get them off center or the whole thing centered.

 

[Insanity]

On your last photo in your first post (Dragonfly)

It looks very similar to some ones I took up in New York, it has that white haze over the whole thing.

On mine, upping the contrast a bit, lowering the brightness and upping the saturation a bit made it 100 times better.

 

[Incognito]

I've been an active artist for a few years, and i've come to terms with harsh feedback, but i know my pictures are less than novice status right now. the settings on my Point and shoot actually confuse me a little bit. But i'll definitely play around.

What are you shooting with? Is it really a P&S or is it a prepro camera with actual settings? I think you're on your way. I started with a Kodak Easyshare and got some really nice stuff with it... so it's definately possible to do ok with a P&S

 

[IrishGumbo]

In going to have to start saving for a better camera then!
Thank you, bigTwinky, for recognizing that I have a decent eye, and for all of your critique! I really appreciate it.

This is sort of off topic, but, If i'm going to invest in a beginner DSLR, which should I choose? I know you guys probably get asked this one hundred million times a day, but i had to ask. I need a college-entrant level camera, though, because I do plan on going to college for photography. (Specifically wildlife photography.)

Insanity, they're called blue racers, i belive. Thank you for your tips

 

[IrishGumbo]

I've been an active artist for a few years, and i've come to terms with harsh feedback, but i know my pictures are less than novice status right now. the settings on my Point and shoot actually confuse me a little bit. But i'll definitely play around.

What are you shooting with? Is it really a P&S or is it a prepro camera with actual settings? I think you're on your way. I started with a Kodak Easyshare and got some really nice stuff with it... so it's definately possible to do ok with a P&S

Im shooting with a Nikon coolpix s230, and that is a lovely picture.