Budding Lilacs

[horses_02]

Hello everyone. I am very new to both photography and to TPF. Here is a photo that I took today of the lilac bush along the driveway. Please C&amp;C as I want to improve my photography skills!<br><br><br>1.&nbsp; I have been reading/learning about the Rule of Thirds. I cropped this picture down from the original to cut out a lot of the background. I also adjusted the exposure (I hope that's right...) to make the picture a bit brighter. I like how it turned out, but am not sure about the focus. To me it looks ok..... And the background, afraid the brighter green spots may be distracting.



Thank you for looking.

 

[Joel_W]

Honestly, there isn't much here to CC. The Lilac hasn't bloomed yet. More then 75% of the photo has no interest as it's just Bokeh background. The rule of thirds is to make the composition more pleasing to the human eye. What about this picture do you like? Do you see where it falls short? What would you do differently next time to add interest?

 

[greybeard68 41]

I think that if you crop it so that the bud fills the frame it will make a more interesting picture.

 

[horses_02]

Thanks for the suggestions, Joel and greybeard. As I mentioned, being very new to photography I am really looking for help on how to make my pictures better. I will definitely put your advice into practice, and I will keep practicing

 

[Joel_W]

Spend a little time looking through some of the floral threads and read the posts as a gauge as to what others think and feel. find what you like and what you don't like, and most importantly why. I alwasy recommend using a tripod and a remote shutter release to slow you down. Take your time. Look at the entire scene as you framed it. Then DOF should be your next concern. Use your DOF preview. Once satisfied, use your LCD screen to study your picture. Redue until you're satisfied.