New to forum, looking for critique and tips

tmyprod · Oct 26, 2008

Hola,

I've been shooting for a while, but I always appreciate critiques on my photography. If it's not too much trouble I'm just going to link to my gallery rather than post a whole bunch of pics because I'm really looking for a critique on my work as a whole.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Thequestionrules/ThePast#

Thanks

-Tyler

DRoberts · Oct 26, 2008

tmyprod said:
Hola,

I've been shooting for a while, but I always appreciate critiques on my photography. If it's not too much trouble I'm just going to link to my gallery rather than post a whole bunch of pics because I'm really looking for a critique on my work as a whole.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Thequestionrules/ThePast#

Thanks

-Tyler

I would suggest picking out one or two that you want C&C on and post them. you wont find anyone who will critique your whole album, and with so many types of shots there's no way to give a general critique of them all.

tmyprod · Oct 26, 2008

As requested, here is a swath of my work.

#1
This is the blade(s) of a snowplow for trains. Its bigger than it looks.

#2
Believe it or not, all I did was up the contrast, the day was that grey.

#3
I was trying to capture the muted yet strangely vibrant color of old color photos.

#4
I'm sure we've all done a little trespassing/law bending to get a good shot.

#5
This one was a pain to get exposed. I was also letting the cave do a lot of the framing for me. It rains and drops chunks of ice, since I was not wearing a helmet, I had to move quick.

#6
It's shot's like this that I was they sold filters for my pocket camera.

#7

#8

johng25 · Oct 26, 2008

I really like your pics and the style you use. I can't give you C&C b/c I'm a noob.

John

tmyprod · Oct 26, 2008

Thank you for the compliment, but I like hearing from noobs/untrained/non-photographers because they provide a unique view and quite frankly are going to be the majority of people who see my/your work. Don't let your noob status hold you back from voicing your opinion.

Flower Child · Oct 26, 2008

im also major noob and i love them.i especailly like the 1st and last

Early · Oct 26, 2008

I'm not quite a noob, but I like your work. You have a lot of pics worth blowing up and hanging on a wall.

A4Effort · Oct 26, 2008

Just a quick suggestion. Number each picture, that way they are easier to reference. Also, try to pick 2 or 3 pictures for critique because it would take too long to critique them all.

Now, onto the critique. Overall, I love all the pictures. Each one of them has a special feeling.

1. Really love the emotion this picture conveys but I have no clue what it is (my fault).
2. Little too plain. I think I get what you were going for but the post processing (in my opinion) was overdone.
5. Love the colors in this picture. The sky is a little blown but thats an easy fix.

The last two are grainy and seem unrealistic (orange clouds). But that does not mean that they are bad pictures. The second to last one and the ice cave are my favorite.

Keep up the great job and welcome to the forum.

ViceOfFire · Oct 26, 2008

Contrary to what A4Effort said, #2 it my fav, it has a minimalistic modern feel to it. You do have a really good style, though a couple of the pics are lacking discrenable focal points (the cave on and the last one for example). Overall great work, keep on going in this direction.

tmyprod · Oct 26, 2008

Actually, all these were taken with a Cannon PowerShot A450, but many (most) were enhanced in post.

DRoberts · Oct 26, 2008

I think you are relying on your post work to much rather than your shooting technique and skills. As it's been said numerous times on these forums...Good pictures come from your camera, not from your editor. That being said...Focus seems to be off in most of your shots. This seems to be one of the main issues with new photographers, so I figure that will get better with time. The other thing that jumps out at me is they are to dark. Can't see detail, and that is what makes a photo, when viewers can see the detail that the shooter sees when taking the shot.

So in general, concentrate on the quality that comes out of the camera, use your editor to fine tune.

you have a good eye, keep practicing.

Blrdvision · Oct 26, 2008

I can give my comments but I would have no clue as to how to fix them as that is what I'm here to learn.

Since I recognize and have visited most of the places in your pictures I'm biased and love them!

I think the snowplow blade (Snoqualmie train museum?) and #8 (Gasworks Park?) are the best. The blade may be a bit over-processed as stated before.

In the view of Seattle (From Bainbridge Island?) the color looks a bit unnatural. The pilings look over saturated.

I would love to know hear from some of the experts in here as to how to deal with the snow cave shot in #5. I have attempted similar shots numerous times and can never get the exposure right. I think if I was going to try it again I might set the exposure for the valley & clouds and maybe use a diffuse flash for the foreground. But, I've never tried it that way so???

tmyprod · Oct 26, 2008

Snowblade is in Anchorage, AK. I was trying out a post technique to get it to look like some old Russian camera (can't remember what it was called).

#8 is gasworks and I was going for a grungy, jagged look.

The view of seattle was taken from west seattle.

I'll try to dig up the originals and post them.