Secret Garden

shelby16 · Mar 25, 2015

Hey all!

It's been a while since I posted and had time to take pictures because of classes, but starting back up and I'm excited.

Would love to get your thoughts!

Designer · Mar 25, 2015

I like them!

shelby16 · Mar 25, 2015

Designer said:
I like them!

Thank you!

shelby16 · Mar 26, 2015

Sorry to double post, but does anyone have any tips on improvement for nature photos? Thank you!

WesternGuy · Mar 26, 2015

On your first pictures, they are not too bad. It would be appreciated if you would number your pics as this makes it a lot easier for a reviewer to refer to one of your images in a review.

I won't say too much about the first two images, as I am not generally a fan of these "forest of flowers " images - that's just me and my quirky tastes when it comes to shooting flowers.

The third one is not too bad at all. My only comment is about the background. Although it is out of focus (OOF), there is still enough detail in it to be a bit of a distraction. As well, the flowers do not look as sharp as they could be. This may be an artefact of having to compress them for display, but maybe they need a bit of sharpening.

The last image has a bit of a cluttered background. I might have cropped it about a third of the way from the top about where the top of the bird house is. The bird house is also a distraction as the viewers eye tend to be drawn to it rather than the flowers. This is because it is quite dark in comparison to the rest of the image and thus stands out, even though it is OOF. One thing that I have learned over the years is that the background is just as important as the main subject and that as the photographer, I am responsible for everything in the frame. If it doesn't add to the image, then it probably detracts from it.

As far as improving on your nature photos, a lot depends on your definition of "nature photos". This can mean anything from birds to wild animals to flowers. My best suggestion would be to pick a particular subject and "google" it on the web. For example, if you search for "flower photography". you will get over 100 million hits (yikes!) :biggrin-93:

, which will keep you going for a long time.

The other suggestion that I would give you is to find a few photographers whose images you really like on a particular subject, such as flowers, and see what you like, or don't like about them. For flowers, I like to watch folks like Harold Davis who has written a number of books on the subject, Kathleen Clemons, Denise Ippolito, and others.

At the risk of being accused of blatant promoting, I would refer you to my blog where I have four "issues" on flower photography - Flowers Galore Inside and Outside Part 1 Basic Stuff Before you start. PhotoWestGuy - it is not all inclusive, but you will find links to the other three parts there also.

Ron Bigelow has a very good three part series on his web site - How to Photograph Flowers -- Part I . The links to the second and third parts can be found at the end of each part - Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3.

I do hope this helps a bit. If you have any further questions, then post back and I will try and answer them.

WesternGuy

shelby16 · Mar 26, 2015

WesternGuy said:
The other suggestion that I would give you is to find a few photographers whose images you really like on a particular subject, such as flowers, and see what you like, or don't like about them. For flowers, I like to watch folks like Harold Davis who has written a number of books on the subject, Kathleen Clemons, Denise Ippolito, and others.

At the risk of being accused a blatant promoting, I would refer you to my blog where I have four "issues" on flower photography - Flowers Galore Inside and Outside Part 1 Basic Stuff Before you start. PhotoWestGuy - it is not all inclusive, but you will find links to the other three parts there also.

Ron Bigelow has a very good three part series on his web site - How to Photograph Flowers -- Part I . The links to the second and third parts can be found at the end of each part - Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3.

I do hope this helps a bit. If you have any further questions, then post back and I will try and answer them.

WesternGuy

WesternGuy,

Thank you SO much for taking the time to write a thought out review! I really appreciate it. I will definitely take in all this feedback and I will check out your blog as well! I'm always interested in reading pieces on photography and getting more insight.

Again, thank you for taking the time! It's much appreciated.