Critic My Photos?

Nolan · Jun 5, 2009

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, LEAVE A REPLY

So with your suggestions and comments from past threads in mind I ventured out into my local provincial park and took some shots that I quite liked. So can you comment on and suggest things about my photos? For more of my work go to, Optical Idea | My Life Captured

Well here they are!

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, LEAVE A REPLY

William Petruzzo · Jun 5, 2009

I think you may have selected a few too many to get a really good critique on. It's also important to put spaces between them (it would also be helpful to number them).

Overall, I think they look pretty good. Very crisp. The first ones appear to be a little bit overexposed. The composure on them looks pretty good. I think it would be a big improvement for you to use a more shallow depth of field and throw the background out of focus. Since the colors are so similar, the flowers in focus get lost in a sea of other flowers.

Nolan · Jun 5, 2009

Ok i will do as you suggested and edit the post.
As for the comment/suggestion, thanks! I will be sure to keep that in mind next time i shoot!

Nolan · Jun 5, 2009

any one else got something to say?

farmerj · Jun 5, 2009

Over-exposed in 1 and 2, slightly in #3.

DOF in all of them could be tweaked a little bit more to reduce it ever so slightly.

Nolan · Jun 5, 2009

All very valid points. I will be sure to use them next time i am out shooting.
Thanks for the suggestions they are very appreciated considering I am only a amateur photographer.

farmerj · Jun 5, 2009

as are we all....

I wouldn't even call myself an amateur photographer, just a dude with a camera.

Nolan · Jun 5, 2009

very well said, I agree!

Samanax · Jun 5, 2009

What kind of camera are you using to take these pictures with? No exif in any of the pictures. Looks like you're using a P&S camera.

In your previous posts did you post flower pictures? Just wondering.

Shooting in bright sunlight is a challenge and you normally don't want to shoot flowers in strong daylight. It's better to shoot flowers on overcast days. In bright sunlight all the colors gets washed out of the flowers. When it's overcast you get soft diffused light that doesn't wash out the colors.

#1 - The flowers facing the sun are blown out. That new tree on the right is bothersome. It seems more like a snapshot than a photograph.

#2 - The flowers facing the sun are blown out. The background is very busy and distracting. This one is also more of a snapshot than a photograph...almost no sense of composition.

#3 - The flowers facing the sun are blown out. The background is very busy and distracting. This one is also more of a snapshot than a photograph...but this one had hope. If you could have shot this in a way to isolate just the two sets of flowers without a busy background it may have been interesting...almost like a mirror image type thing.

#4 - The main flowers are getting lost in the busy background. Almost no sense of composition, just stuff spashed all over the place. The color in this one is better than the others.

Next time...

Watch your backgrounds.

Get close to your subject, fill the frame.

Watch the lighting. Be aware of where it's coming from and the kind of light you're shooting in.

If shooting flowers, shoot them on an overcast day or take them into the shade.

Your web page loads really slowly. I tried to check out the images but gave up after a few minutes.

Baaaark · Jun 6, 2009

Like everyone else said, your flowers are blown out :-( But I LIKE #4! The flower petals seem very... creamy and rich!

You can try doing some spot metering with your camera by holding it in the right spot, then moving the camera with the shutter still half pressed. Either that, or manually go in and adjust the exposure compensation lower.

Iron Flatline · Jun 6, 2009

Yes, definitely over-exposed.

What matters more to me though is that the composition doesn't work perfectly. The backgrounds are very busy, and the subject gets a little lost in all of it. Two ways to solve that is to find a better angle, making sure the background is uncluttered. The other option is to use a "fast" lens with a wide open aperture. The faster the lens, the bigger the opening, which means a small number. Look for f/1.4, or f/2 or f/2.8. When you shoot "wide open" like that, the image will have a very shallow Depth of Field, meaning only a small portion is in focus. The background (and foreground, if available) will be out of focus, and the blossom would be sharp.

Your camera was able to separate the subject from the background, it's pretty blurry already. That means pick simpler background.

Andrew Sun · Jun 6, 2009

Shot #3 is my favorite because you can see the visible mountain horizon (top right corner) which makes the flowers look really grand - almost giving it a new breath of air.

Without that corner, it would not have been that good from my point of view.

Nolan · Jun 6, 2009

Thanks for all the feedback. Its very constructive and will help me quite a bit. I had some of theses techniques in mind while shooting but in had a very annoying time constraint. I was out in the "bush" and i was being eaten by mosquitos.

Thanks guys, I will apply much of what you said in future!