Curious. What should I have done differently?

[toddpipkin]

I have never been serious about photography, but I feel it coming over me. I truly want to be better, even to be GOOD at it. I am a RANK novice. I need and will gratefully accept all the help I can get!!

These were all shot with a Kodak DX4530 digital (point & shoot). Not much I can do with the mechanics of actually taking the pic, I guess, until I can afford to upgrade equipment..

Please critique the composition, cropping, editing, color adjustment, etc.

In other words, tell me what YOU would have done differently.
Hit me!!

Badlands National Park, outside Wall, South Dakota

Another from Badlands National Park.

Kootenai National Forest, outside Thompson Falls, Montana

After a mile-and-a-half hike UP a STEEP mountain in the National Forest, we broke out of the woods and into the open to see this: Cabin Lake.

Young bighorn ram, Logan Pass, Glacier National Park

 

[toddpipkin]

Yeah, I know.

#1. TURN OFF TIME/DATE STAMP !!!

My son and best buddy, fishing in the Thompson River, Thompson Falls, Montana

National Bison range, near Dixon, Montana

Roadside scenery, DuBois, Wyoming


If you are a western movie buff, you should recognize the next one.

Just outside Grand Teton National Park, Moran Junction, Wyoming. This view ^ was featured in the movie "Shane". (Before the house in the pic was built)

My sweetie with a rainbow trout, south of Cheyenne, Wyoming

 

[LaFoto]

Hallo toddpipkin, welcome to ThePhotoForum.

I have moved this post to the General Gallery. The Photo Critique section is reserved for more serious critique and therefore we like to keep it to one image at a time...(see FAQS), otherwise it just gets too confusing.

Feel free to post multiple images in other parts of the forum...or to re-post your images individually into the critique section, with a bit of an explanation of the shot and what you were trying to show.

Thank you.

 

[toddpipkin]

Looking back at my own posts, I have learned something about myself.

I'm a sucker for sharply contrasting colors.

 

[The_Traveler]

nice pictures
what else would you like to know?

 

[darich]

In almost all of the shots there is no subject - no item or person for the eye to rest on within the shot. That makes for an uninteresting shot.
I think for most of them you've got the horizon in the centre - this works for some shots but not all - a central horizon makes for an amatuerish looking shot. But on the flipside of that you need something interesting in the sky or on the ground to justify moving the horizon otherwise it still looks boring.

The ram shot at least has a subject to look at but it's no sharp. The other tip for composition is to leave more space for the object/animal/person to move into eg the ram is looking left so leave more space on that side so that it's looking into the picture. If you leave space on the right then the ram appears to be trying to escape from the shot, looking for a way out.

The colours seem ok but a polarizer is a must when shooting landscapes - they enhance colours and reduce reflections in water and glass.

 

[Majik Imaje]

Some of your images are just too dark. no detail in the trees etc..

ALL of your images are outstanding. DON'T EVER MAKE the mistake of thinking that just because you have P&S camera, that, that camera is of no imoportant use. Not so!

The young ram is a magazine cover ! but which magazine ? I don't know the answer to that.

Your compositon is great. for someone so new to the photography realm.

Red in the foreground always adds "depth to the image" I remember reading that over 30 years ago. The first images were great but as you went along, the darker images need to be lightened. too dark for me.

Majestic scenery is difficult to achieve.. so much to put into such a small area (viewfinder) try to fill the viewfinder with DETAIL. that has noticable texture(s). but over all I give you four stars! and the fish for supper!

 

[toddpipkin]

Thank you both for the constructive criticism.

Darich -- In the landscape photos, I guess, in my mind at the moment, the subject that I wanted to capture were the colors themselves, and the natural contrast. Since the color of the sky ( WAY different from what we see here at home) was a large part of what I was seeing, I guess the horizon thing was a way to get as much of each color as possible. Maybe. There was no conscious thought put into any of them, I just snapped what I liked. I will think a little more before pushing the button now.

Majik Imaje -- I agree on the too dark. I think it may be photobucket thing. They are much brighter when viewed on my home pc from the cd.

And the fish WAS excellent. It travelled three days, safely dry in a ziploc bag on ice from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Fairhope, Alabama (on the Gulf Coast), and we invited my parents over to share it. Nine fish that size, 4 adults, one 9 year old boy, no leftovers!!!