Gimme Everything You've Got

Lycanimanomaly · Aug 16, 2006

Hey everybody,
I've been into photography for the past year 1/2 and everything that I've learned has been self-taught. This'll be my first photo critique and I want you to give me everything you've got. I want to get good enough to become a freelance photographer. So what do you think?

I took this with an Olympus D-595 Zoom.
This is me and my ex.
We're sitting on a large vine that's naturally endowed with 2 seats. There was a tree on either side of us (you can partially see the tree on the right) and I wanted to get both trees in the shot to frame everything but somehow i failed to get the left one completely.

Anyway, I'd love some good constructive criticism on this. Thanks!

Big Mike · Aug 16, 2006

Well the first thing I noticed was that she has a tree growing out of her head.

I can kind of see how you were trying to frame it with the trees...but I think it would work better if you cropped closer. All the stuff around you isn't adding much so get rid of it.

It's a little soft and grainy (noisy)...most of which is probably a limitation of the camera.

I do like the sepia tint you have here, and the whole concept of you two sitting on the vine. It's a nice moment.

rmh159 · Aug 16, 2006

Yeah I agree with Big Mike... I think cropping it to be a vertical shot might help clean it up a bit and put the focus of the shot and you and your ex. Not bad though...

Lycanimanomaly · Aug 16, 2006

ok i've made the suggested changes.
I was so comfortable with the original version of this pic that i'm not sure if the changes i've made look right.
In addition to cropping it i also brightened it a bit.
Don't know if i can do anything about the noise.
What do you think about the changes?

rmh159 · Aug 16, 2006

Personally I like it better just because it draws the focus to you and the girl.

Lycanimanomaly · Aug 16, 2006

Thanks alot for your suggestions. you rock.

Philip Weir · Aug 17, 2006

It's one of those shots that needed soft light to set the mood, but I appreciate you have no control of the light....or do you !!!

It would also have been better if you got further back, used a longer lens and pulled focus [shot wider aperture] to seperate the subject from the background.

Lycanimanomaly · Aug 17, 2006

ok i've given it a soft-focus effect. I'm not sure that the end result is the same as if i had manipulated the actual light before i had taken the picture (as this manipulation is digital) but I think it amplifies the mood a lot more.

Could you *or anyone* give me an example of what pulled focus looks like?

Big Mike · Aug 17, 2006

I'm not familiar with the term "pulled focus" but I think Philip means that a shallow DOF (Depth of Field) would have helped to accentuate the subjects by blurring the background.

Lycanimanomaly · Aug 17, 2006

ok. i see. i think that's all the work i'm going to do on this photo. thank you for your critiques.

MDOMINIC · Aug 18, 2006

I think if you want strong opinions post this in the 'people photography' forum on www.fredmiranda.com.

Sw1tchFX · Aug 20, 2006

Big Mike said:
I'm not familiar with the term "pulled focus" but I think Philip means that a shallow DOF (Depth of Field) would have helped to accentuate the subjects by blurring the background.

If you were using an SLR with a depth-of-feild preview you could have focused the subjects as close to the end of the range of focus at whatever f/stop you were at and that would have reduced the DOF even MORE!

What I mean is that if you shoot at say.. f/8, than you'll have about 6 feet worth of depth (probably not, but it's just for the sake of example). If you focus at the end of that 6 feet, you'll have very little depth of field and your subjects will really pop out. however, anythign 6 feet between the subjects and the photogrpaher will be in pretty sharp focus.

ksmattfish · Aug 20, 2006

I like the vertical crop (your second posting) better than the horizontal original.

Pick your backgrounds better. The brightness in the background is distracting, and it has fooled your camera into underexposing, which adds noise in your shadows. Shooting from a higher angle of view would help some by cropping some of the ultra-bright out. If you used a flash it might help by lessening the difference between the subjects in shadow and the white background. Even though it doesn't seem so to your eyes, the difference in light level between bright sun and heavy shade is too much for almost any camera, film or digital.

You aren't going to get a shallow DOF with a point-n-shoot digital because the lenses are extremely short focal length and the sensor size is tiny. This all adds up to a whole lotta DOF. You can try zooming in (longer focal length) all the way, and reducing subject to camera distance (both decrease DOF), but it may just be beyond your camera's abilities.

The subjects are also very soft. It seems like the trees beyond the subjects are in better focus.

Don't give up on the point-n-shoot digital, but you may want to pick up a cheap, used 35mm SLR to use also. You'll have more control with it.