Beginner | Photos + Edits

[PrimeDesignsHD]

Hey, im new to the forum, was introduced by a friend and hoping to get some feedback for some of my work. The followed 4 pictures are all taken by me and edited by me. Please leave some comments on what you think I should improve on and what was good about them. Thanks, Charlie.

1)

2)

3)

4)

Thanks for viewing

 

[chaosrealm93]

i like the first one. gives a sense of tilt-shift. i think the second one is overexposed (too bright). the other ones didnt really catch my attention

 

[PrimeDesignsHD]

i like the first one. gives a sense of tilt-shift. i think the second one is overexposed (too bright). the other ones didnt really catch my attention

Yeah, the second one is quite overexposed, I do like the first one but theres something about the third I really do like, thanks for the feedback though

 

[Rancor]

I think all 4 need some adjustments, but all 4 are great shots.

1) The skyline is overexposed.
2) The bridge, tables, and chairs are overexposed.
3) I can't make out where the focus is because the contrast is so high.
4) Same as 3

 

[PrimeDesignsHD]

I think all 4 need some adjustments, but all 4 are great shots.

1) The skyline is overexposed.
2) The bridge, tables, and chairs are overexposed.
3) I can't make out where the focus is because the contrast is so high.
4) Same as 3

My main focus at this moment in time is to improve my photography, which is why I amm really glad you said something about the shots. I really do need to work on my editing skills, but thank you for your feedback

 

[480sparky67 66]

All four, to me, are far too contrasty. Shadows with no details coupled with blown-out highlights.

 

[PrimeDesignsHD]

All four, to me, are far too contrasty. Shadows with no details coupled with blown-out highlights.

Thanks for your feedback, would you say to just tone down the contrast a lot?
Sorry but im new and dont really understand what you mean by the shadows :S

 

[480sparky67 66]

Thanks for your feedback, would you say to just tone down the contrast a lot?
Sorry but im new and dont really understand what you mean by the shadows :S

There's no details in the shadows..... they're just plain black. Not digital black (0:0:0), but still lacking any variations. The bulk of the shadow under the bridge is all 4:2:1. I doubt adjusting the contrast will do anything except lighten it to a dark gray. This might be caused by the resizing you did to post them, and the original images have more detail visible.

 

[The_Traveler]

Along with everyone, I quite like the first one. The deeply saturated colors and the white deep background.
Excellent composition, the various cars, seeming to sit and look over the fields, almost implying the cars are alive with no people.
really quite nice.
Where this falls short is the clipping of the car wheels; it feels like a mistake particularly where there is so much room in the background. These cars are entities and their parts should be respected.

IMO, the second one is a mistake.
While the overexposure might be intentional to allude to very bright sun, it doesn't fall like the sun, with brightness on top and some more detail in the shadows. It just seems too contrast.
Here is where the mannered black bars top and bottom start to look like an affect. Why are they obliterating the chairs? What do you mean by it?

Between 3 & 4 I like 3 the most. The blue hills in the distance, exactly the way it feels to be in the cold, snowy day. The completely obliterated by white ground. The indistinctness of everything but that up close. Because there is often glare through the clouds on a snowy day, we see few colors and this really looks right.

IMO, #4 doesn't have the spare simplicity of the first. The stuff on the right is both very close and further away and the blocking up of the shadows hides the dimensionality.
And then the green on the left gives the wrong impression. This one is a miss, especially compared to #3.

All in all a great start at at a style and a vision.
I see you use a Sony A90.
These shots are a great example that one doesn't need top tier, expensive equipment to produce good pictures.
Talent, skill and effort mean 99%.

 

[PrimeDesignsHD]

Along with everyone, I quite like the first one. The deeply saturated colors and the white deep background.
Excellent composition, the various cars, seeming to sit and look over the fields, almost implying the cars are alive with no people.
really quite nice.
Where this falls short is the clipping of the car wheels; it feels like a mistake particularly where there is so much room in the background. These cars are entities and their parts should be respected.

IMO, the second one is a mistake.
While the overexposure might be intentional to allude to very bright sun, it doesn't fall like the sun, with brightness on top and some more detail in the shadows. It just seems too contrast.
Here is where the mannered black bars top and bottom start to look like an affect. Why are they obliterating the chairs? What do you mean by it?

Between 3 & 4 I like 3 the most. The blue hills in the distance, exactly the way it feels to be in the cold, snowy day. The completely obliterated by white ground. The indistinctness of everything but that up close. Because there is often glare through the clouds on a snowy day, we see few colors and this really looks right.

IMO, #4 doesn't have the spare simplicity of the first. The stuff on the right is both very close and further away and the blocking up of the shadows hides the dimensionality.
And then the green on the left gives the wrong impression. This one is a miss, especially compared to #3.

All in all a great start at at a style and a vision.
I see you use a Sony A90.
These shots are a great example that one doesn't need top tier, expensive equipment to produce good pictures.
Talent, skill and effort mean 99%.

So glad you wrote in so much details to really explain what you liked and didnt like about my photos. At first, before posting on this forum, number 3 was my favourite but reading what people have wrote, I can really see the faults I have made within the photo. I do like the first photo and glad that so many people actually picked up on the composition. I actually learnt composition through my Media AS to do with filming and its had an affect on my photography.

For the second photo, I tried to bring out the colours using high contrast to emphasise the summer but without the overexposure of the photos, it didnt look that brilliant. I shall try and mess around with some settings to fix this and see if I can make a better edit.

As for my camera, I really like the Sony A290 im using at the minute, but its having some problems taking photos and keeps coming up with an error.
I've been wanting to upgrade to a Canon 550D for a few weeks now but not entirely sure if I should go for it or not.

Once again, thanks for your post,
Charlie.