Christiening

[Allenc873]

1.

Ronnie by Allenc873, on Flickr

 

[manaheim]

I've looked at three of your posts now...

My suggestion to you would be drop the cute tricks (selective color, vignette, etc.) and focus on composition.

 

[Allenc873]

I've looked at three of your posts now...

My suggestion to you would be drop the cute tricks (selective color, vignette, etc.) and focus on composition.

well i wouldnt call it cute tricks.. yes focus on composition but vignette adds to it and helps focus.. and selective colour helps get the desired effect your going for, its all about personal taste on processing i suppose

 

[manaheim]

No.

Wrong.

Seriously.

I once knew a graphic designer that told me I was allowed exactly one page curl per lifetime. It's the same sort of thing. It's just cheesy. The selective color thing has become massively cliche and passe. The vignette is just a distraction. Can you use it? Yeah. I've seen cases where both can be effective, but it is EXTREMELY rare to pull it off these days without looking like either a> a dork, or b> you're compensating for poor photography... and you are very clearly in the second bucket with these images I've seen you post (except the eye one... that one was fine).

And yes, you can call it personal taste, certainly... however what I'm telling you is you might as well be saying that your personal tastes lean more towards Taco Bell. If that's what you like, fine, but don't expect anyone to be calling that a five star meal, right? Right.

 

[Allenc873]

No.

Wrong.

Seriously.

I once knew a graphic designer that told me I was allowed exactly one page curl per lifetime. It's the same sort of thing. It's just cheesy. The selective color thing has become massively cliche and passe. The vignette is just a distraction. Can you use it? Yeah. I've seen cases where both can be effective, but it is EXTREMELY rare to pull it off these days without looking like either a> a dork, or b> you're compensating for poor photography... and you are very clearly in the second bucket with these images I've seen you post (except the eye one... that one was fine).

And yes, you can call it personal taste, certainly... however what I'm telling you is you might as well be saying that your personal tastes lean more towards Taco Bell. If that's what you like, fine, but don't expect anyone to be calling that a five star meal, right? Right.

lol first of all dont get all snappy with me.. no im not wrong that is my opinion u told me yours and im telling you mine thats it you cant say no wrong to someone opinion.. and secondly ok u knew a grahics designer ok so his word is final is it he the know all about photography no.. vignette might be a distraction for you thats fine.. and how can u say that pull it off without being a dork or compensating for poor photography what planet are u on.. who calls anyone a dork over a vignette ?? no im not calling it personal taste it IS personal taste and know idea what taco bell is so ill skip that pointless comment.. anyway if u hate the photo and someone else loves which is what happens with photography. so dont you dare tel me im compensating for poor photography get some manners.. and ill have you know she has that photo hanging in a frame on her wall so what does that say..

 

[manaheim]

I'm not getting snappy with you, I'm just being direct.

If you were paying attention, you'd note that I put you in the second bucket. Not the first. In other words, I wasn't calling you a dork, I was calling your photography poor. I'm not sure if that will make you feel any better, but I wasn't insulting you so much as your results.

What I'm telling you is based off of experience. It is also a condensed version of what a good portion of people I know here and in the industry would tell you. By all means, however, feel free to rail against that advice. You'll go far... both here... and in photography in general, with that attitude.

Oh and I'll dare tell you just about anything I please... and I'll even use full words, proper punctuation and paragraphs.

For the record... I love taco bell, but I sure as hell am not going to frame it and stick it on my wall. I can almost guarantee you that you're not going to realize the point embedded in that simple odd comment, but hey... c'est la vie.

Good luck with it. I'm done.

 

[Allenc873]

I'm not getting snappy with you, I'm just being direct.

If you were paying attention, you'd note that I put you in the second bucket. Not the first. In other words, I wasn't calling you a dork, I was calling your photography poor. I'm not sure if that will make you feel any better, but I wasn't insulting you so much as your results.

What I'm telling you is based off of experience. It is also a condensed version of what a good portion of people I know here and in the industry would tell you. By all means, however, feel free to rail against that advice. You'll go far... both here... and in photography in general, with that attitude.

Oh and I'll dare tell you just about anything I please... and I'll even use full words, proper punctuation and paragraphs.

For the record... I love taco bell, but I sure as hell am not going to frame it and stick it on my wall. I can almost guarantee you that you're not going to realize the point embedded in that simple odd comment, but hey... c'est la vie.

Good luck with it. I'm done.

i was paying attention and yes i know you were calling me a poor photographer.. no what your telling me is based off your opinion.. know not in the industry im on more than this forum and alot of good photographer have complimented my work, and i didnt start with an attitude.. if you have so much experience maybe you should work on sticking to the point not go trailing off comparing food establishments to photography.. so where was my attitude all i said is that its down to personal taste in the end am i wrong.. and even if the majority disagree with me there is the minority but i think i have the majority on my side..and im not going to waste my time typing out longer words than i have to to explain my point to you.. again besides the point stick to the subject.. and u can dare say what you want where its welcome im not interested in listening to people who think they know better than everyone else and there opinion is final

 

[Allenc873]

o and from your own words "but I wasn't insulting you so much as your results" you dont insult someones results.. you can give your opinion of someones results fair enough i wouldnt mind but u took the step further and insulted my results so whos the one with the attitude here and remember they were your words

 

[GrahamPhisher]

yea man, you gotta work on your composition, and a few other things like DOF feels weird here like she was copied and pasted over the background, look into rules of third when u get a minute for composition, and yea I'd drop the effects try going more simple, I learned tht the hard way since I do a lotta heavy editing, the more you try to do it the more the execution is gonna look sloppy until you can really get it down.

 

[emilypchappell]

OP, I'm brand spanking new here, but there is definitely truth behind what manaheim is saying. (PS - "one page curl per lifetime" was HILARIOUS, manaheim!)

Effects like vignetting and selective color definitely can be cheesy. In my opinion, they make bad composition worse and have the capability to enhance good photography, depending on the look you are going for. That being said, I am not quite sure it works for this photo because the basics aren't there. I think it would be very beneficial to work on the technicalities of photography - composition, DOF (because there is none), etc. etc. Have you taken any classes? I've found so much online via YouTube and other photographer's blogs!

Adorable baby, and what a sweet moment! Seems like just yesterday my seven month old was christened! Glad you got to capture it!

 

[Allenc873]

thanks for the comments, not taken any classes sadly there's not many going on here in Ireland, which is a shame.. so im learning online also, YouTube and basically going out taking pictures and learning seeing what i think looks good.. but id like things to be different on this image of course, as for the effect i like it,

 

[tirediron]

o and from your own words "but I wasn't insulting you so much as your results" you dont insult someones results.. you can give your opinion of someones results fair enough i wouldnt mind but u took the step further and insulted my results so whos the one with the attitude here and remember they were your words

Whoaaaa little grasshopper! First off, you need to understand that when we offer comments and critique (C&C) on an image, we don't care about the subject matter or who took the image. Really, we don't. We're not your family, or your facebook friends. We're objective. We're trying to make suggestions, based on experience, personal taste, etc, that we feel will help you improve your work.

One of the keys to becoming a good photographer is an understanding of art. Photography and it's principles, especially those of composition and lighting are taken from the art of hundreds of years. Visit the Effuzi gallery - how many old masters do you see using selective colour and vignettes? There's a reason for that! Just because you can do something in the digital darkroom, does NOT mean that you should do it.

I would suggest researching basic portrait composition, and reading up on the term "golden mean" or "golden ratio". Also search Google Image under the names of famous portrait photographers and get an idea of the sort of work they did. There's a reason they're famous. In the mean time, keep shooting, keep posting, and try not to be so defensive. We are here to help!

 

[tirediron]

thanks for the comments, not taken any classes sadly there's not many going on here in Ireland, which is a shame.. so im learning online also, YouTube and basically going out taking pictures and learning seeing what i think looks good.. but id like things to be different on this image of course, as for the effect i like it,

And that's fine; you're the photographer, the image is your vision, and if you succssesfully executed your vision, than you done did good, BUT (there's always a 'but' isn't there?) you may be a minority of one. Understand that there's nothing wrong with doing this if you like it, but that it's something that the vast majority of the photographic world doesn't like. You can defend your vision without being defensive.

 

[Allenc873]

o and from your own words "but I wasn't insulting you so much as your results" you dont insult someones results.. you can give your opinion of someones results fair enough i wouldnt mind but u took the step further and insulted my results so whos the one with the attitude here and remember they were your words

Whoaaaa little grasshopper! First off, you need to understand that when we offer comments and critique (C&C) on an image, we don't care about the subject matter or who took the image. Really, we don't. We're not your family, or your facebook friends. We're objective. We're trying to make suggestions, based on experience, personal taste, etc, that we feel will help you improve your work.

One of the keys to becoming a good photographer is an understanding of art. Photography and it's principles, especially those of composition and lighting are taken from the art of hundreds of years. Visit the Effuzi gallery - how many old masters do you see using selective colour and vignettes? There's a reason for that! Just because you can do something in the digital darkroom, does NOT mean that you should do it.

I would suggest researching basic portrait composition, and reading up on the term "golden mean" or "golden ratio". Also search Google Image under the names of famous portrait photographers and get an idea of the sort of work they did. There's a reason they're famous. In the mean time, keep shooting, keep posting, and try not to be so defensive. We are here to help!

I do understand that completely, i just had the problem where manaheim had an opinion and that was fine then i gave my opinion apparently my opinion was wrong, and basically i have bad taste and im covering up for poor photography.. when i give my opinion and they dont agree, fine say you dont agree or that you think differently but dont say that im wrong with my opinion, because thats not true, and anyone who had an opinion and someone said that its wrong would put the person in their place,

 

[tirediron]

I do understand that completely, i just had the problem where manaheim had an opinion and that was fine then i gave my opinion apparently my opinion was wrong, and basically i have bad taste and im covering up for poor photography.. when i give my opinion and they dont agree, fine say you dont agree or that you think differently but dont say that im wrong with my opinion, because thats not true, and anyone who had an opinion and someone said that its wrong would put the person in their place,

And this is where the experience comes in. If you'd said, "I've done it because I like it." That would have been fine, and the end of the discussion, but you tried to defend it based on artistic principles, which hundreds of years of art history do indeed say are wrong.