Composition and processing help.

[OTF_Photography]

Ok so what im gathering from my other thread is my pictures are horrible, mostly because of my composition, or lack there of, and overprocessing. Now for some reason books and manuals don't seem to do it for me. I need real examples, and relevant explanations. Then maybe I will understand it a bit more. Help please?

 

[D-B-J]

i can post some examples of processing. For me, as i am or before i am taking the picture, i think of how or what processing would be most effective. If there is a high dynamic range, ill make an hdr. If not, ill just edit in lr3.

Before:

After:

Its hard to explain composition. For me, i normally pay attention to the rule of thirds. But for the above shot, i had alot of trouble. I had the idea of depicting "rough" by showing a golf ball, with rough grass hanging over it. It took me forty five minutes to get this. I took probably fifty shots of the same thing, all composed slightly differently. However, this was the clear winner. The only way i succeed is by taking a bajillion pictures. Placing the subject on the left, on the right, in the middle, towards the top, towards the bottom, landscape, portrait, looking down at it, looking up at it, on the same level, etc.

I hope this helped a little.

 

[OTF_Photography]

Ok so I can see how I overdid it with the processing...its more to liven it up than to totally change it?

 

[D-B-J]

Ok so I can see how I overdid it with the processing...its more to liven it up than to totally change it?

Thats what i try to do. I try to enhance it, not overdo it. I have a picture in mind, and i try to achieve it with post processing. I mean, as you see, the original image sucks. With a little of contrast and some other editing, it seriously enhances the image, without going over the top.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Composition seems like a simple thing, but it's not. Read lots about it. Read lots about art and design. Look for composition everywhere. TV, commercials, movies, print ads...my favorite is movies. With moving pictures you can see one composition rule morph into another in one scene. Start with the basics. Take a "rule" and then go find subject matter to fit it. Do this a lot. Then start combining compositional elements and go out and find them around you!

Nobody can tell you exactly how it works. It 's liquidous and ever changing. YOU have to figure it out and apply it according to your creative "eye". People here can only help so much. Many books have been written about it, and there are Uni courses devoted to it.

 

[KmH]

Ok so what im gathering from my other thread is my pictures are horrible, mostly because of my composition, or lack there of, and overprocessing. Now for some reason books and manuals don't seem to do it for me. I need real examples, and relevant explanations. Then maybe I will understand it a bit more. Help please?

+1 to what Bitter said. TV and movies are real examples.

The Internet has literally hundreds of pages on composition with real examples and relevant explanations.

Books on composition have real examples and relevant explanations too.

You just have to be motivated enough to find them. Self-help is very rewarding and enabeling.

I was wondering- Have you considered what other people may interpet as the meaning of OTF?

 

[o hey tyler]

Have you considered what other people may interpet as the meaning of OTF.

Here are my top 3 guesses:

1. On the Foot Photography
2. Overtly Touching Females Photography
3. Overrated Turtle Fencing Photography

 

[OTF_Photography]

Ok so what im gathering from my other thread is my pictures are horrible, mostly because of my composition, or lack there of, and overprocessing. Now for some reason books and manuals don't seem to do it for me. I need real examples, and relevant explanations. Then maybe I will understand it a bit more. Help please?

+1 to what Bitter said. TV and movies are real examples.

The Internet has literally hundreds of pages on composition with real examples and relevant explanations.

Books on composition have real examples and relevant explanations too.

You just have to be motivated enough to find them. Self-help is very rewarding and enabeling.

I was wondering- Have you considered what other people may interpet as the meaning of OTF?

Thats half the fun...anyway heres a couple I shot for you all to take a look at and give me pointers on
Picasa Web Albums - Rasham Blanding - Sample photos

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Post photos *here* and tell us what you want help on. It's also a good exercise for you to point out the things you think work or don't work. Edit yourself and decide if it's just a snapshot or if there was some intent behind the image.

 

[reznap]

Hmm. I'll embed your pics and try to give critique.

These first two are framed too tightly. The butterfly's wings are cut and the car's front and ass end are both cut off a little. They also have very distracting backgrounds. Try taking the car somewhere out of the way, without any signs or houses or people.. then turn it at an angle, crank the wheel all the way to the side the car's angled at and get in front of it. Now get nice and low.. on headlight level with the car - like this: mustang | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The shadow behind the snail hurts the image more than anything. Also, don't hesitate to get on eye level with creatures as well as cars (or children.. or whatever). The focus is a little off and the picture's kinda blurry but your point and shoot sony probably isn't the easiest camera to do macro work on so don't feel bad.

These last two are your better shots. The 'walkway' picture is nice - the weak point here is the blown out sky. Really, it's tough to capture scenes like these without multiple exposures. You either expose for the sky or for everything else (since the sky is so much brighter). I don't think blown skies are a big deal though. For composition, the walkway is somewhat of a 'leading line' which is one of the more relevant composition elements. It's also off-center - another composition 'rule.' The trees frame the image, I like that as well.

The dog photo.. I like that you're down low on the dog's level. Might be better to see some open eyes, an expression maybe.. but you put more thought into it than walking by, standing there and then just taking a snapshot.

 

[OTF_Photography]

Thank you for the reply reznap...actually he did pose after he woke up. One question though. For the walkway picture, would it look too overprocessed if I tried to fix the sky?

 

[clanthar]

Thank you for the reply reznap...actually he did pose after he woke up. One question though. For the walkway picture, would it look too overprocessed if I tried to fix the sky?

You can't fix the sky. Overexposure is the one thing that post processing can't help. The only option would be to replace the sky. For another opinion, although reznap isn't too upset about a blown sky (he did point it out) there are others who consider it a complete show stopper: blown highlights = drop photo in trash can.

The real lesson from the walkway photo is did you see that lighting condition and consciously think about it before tripping the shutter? If you did you would have known your camera couldn't handle the tonal range in the exposure.

Take Care,
Joe

 

[bigtwinky]

When you are learning photography, do not even think about processing an image more than cropping and contrast (curves or levels). Get the image right IN camera. Take your time to compose the image and get the right settings, thinking of the light and tones in the image BEFORE hitting the shutter.

Don't think that you can snap an image and then fix it in post. Post processing is NOT about fixing an image. Post processing is done to enhance an image and put a certain personal / artistic style on it.

Leave photoshop at the door, go out and shoot and make interesting images with your mind and your camera

 

[OTF_Photography]

Honestly I didnt think at all about the lighting of the sky, just how the rest of the scenery would turn out

 

[enzodm]

Ok so what im gathering from my other thread is my pictures are horrible, mostly because of my composition, or lack there of, and overprocessing. Now for some reason books and manuals don't seem to do it for me. I need real examples, and relevant explanations. Then maybe I will understand it a bit more. Help please?

First of all, my appreciation for being still here. I was on the other thread and we were a little tough, however with some reason. I also appreciate the (hopefully for you temporary) closure of the web site.

In the other thread I tried to comment some of your pictures, with concrete examples of problems. In addition, I gave you also a link to basic composition rules: 10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Amateur Snapper (brief, far from being a book). Also some small example is provided there. Look at it, and you will find some practical rule, which for starter will give you some basis.