candids

nabero · Mar 14, 2007

That's for your input :goodvibe:

JJmom....you probably do notice a flattenness to the colors in #1. I desturaated the colora a bit. I kind of liked the effect, but apparently it's not helping to making it more exciting for anyone

LaFoto...I'm glad that like (!) 4, and thanks for your advice on the editing! (off topic: i finished my paper after an all-nighter at 8:30am

)

I decided I'll post my unedited versions of of 1,4, and 5, since they are getting the most attention. Do you think I'm getting the most out of the shot with my crops/edits? (I feel like this is dangerous because I don't want to take away the positive comments--but I think it's necessary for my learning process hehe)

Thanks for all the input-- feel like I'm starting to make some progress with understanding how to bring out the better aspects of photos! (but of course feel free to tell me I'm not! :sillysmi:

#1

#4

#5

Cheers!

JohnMF · Mar 14, 2007

No.3. the sky usually gets lighter closer to the horizon. it would look more realistic if you edited it this way

ashfordphoto · Mar 14, 2007

JohnMF said:
No.3. the sky usually gets lighter closer to the horizon. it would look more realistic if you edited it this way

not during sunrise or sunset.

The_Traveler · Mar 14, 2007

IMO, all of these show some real promise; you have a good eye for composition. Your problems with focus are probably part/more DOF issues. I don't know what kind of camera you use but I use mine in aperture preferred and the exposure compensation button is right under my thumb. If look at the main object of interest and if its lighter or darker than the the overall exposure, I compensate, sneak a quick look at the iamge and histogram and maybe shoot again.

I want to 1) get everything important in focus and 2) get evrything important exposed enough. Unfortunately life is not perfect and so I often end up 'managing' images.

In your number 1., I tried a quick redo. The girl is underxposed and flat and the background is too in-focus, stealing the attention. I made a couple of layers, bottom layer I defocussed, top layer I lightened her body and increased contrast. Then I masked away the background on the top layer so the defocussed background showed. Last I made a rough selection of her face and increase the contrast of that a bit and lightened it.

This is a very very rough redo - it would be much better to work on a
high-res image.

JohnMF · Mar 14, 2007

ashfordphoto said:
not during sunrise or sunset.

Hmmm... maybe for a minute

ZyxKor · Mar 14, 2007

I like the picture of the guy in #2 but the background is too busy. Even cropping it will only work so much. I like 5 & 6 also but using DOF to blur everything else out aside from the subjects. The graffiti is busy so the DOF will help isolate the people.

nabero · Mar 15, 2007

Wow, The_Traveler...I love the redo. I'll definitely try to do something similar...I'm just trying to figure out how to work with layers, so this lesson comes at a great time

The camera I use is a fuji finepix s7000--it's not a dSLR-- but, I'm planning on buying a dSLR soon. Hopefully working with it will allow me more control over the images and I can work on my focus issues (after a ton of practice

)

ZyxKor said:
I like 5 & 6 also but using DOF to blur everything else out aside from the subjects. The graffiti is busy so the DOF will help isolate the people.

Thanks for your comments ZyxKor! The graffiti in these images is actually a really important part of it for me...they are pictures of my close friends signing the John Lennon wall in Prague...so blurring the wall would change my intent for the photo. I will give it a look though

Cheers!

ZyxKor · Mar 15, 2007

nabero said:
Thanks for your comments ZyxKor! The graffiti in these images is actually a really important part of it for me...they are pictures of my close friends signing the John Lennon wall in Prague...so blurring the wall would change my intent for the photo. I will give it a look though

Cheers!

Ah, then ignore what I said.

Sometimes it's hard for someone other than the photographer to really understand an image. A caption with "Signing the John Lennon wall" would help make the viewer understand that the wall and the graffiti have meaning and it's not just there.

NYBrit · Mar 17, 2007

I actually like the first pic. A good looking girl in a thoughtful pose. I love the 4th one too cute kids excellent lighting. 5 and 6 are excellent photos. Made even better now we know what they are about!