Desperate to move forward! CC if you will!

[Aayria]

Have you tried shooting something different ? I can be shooting sports one day and studio the next or some off camera flash and ambient shots

You know what....that sounds like a great idea. I've been pretty much doing natural light, babies/kids/families non stop for a year and a half...Maybe a change of pace would get things going again! Now..what to shoot? I'd love to try some fashion photography or something editorial oriented where I can be as creative as I want....

 

[Kerbouchard]

And I'm sorry...I don't mind CC, but you really think my standards are "good enough???" I am struggling to see where you get that impression when I'm putting my work out there for people to rip apart at will and trying my hardest to grow as a photographer. "Good enough" has never been my goal or mindset, and I'm honestly amazed that you could get that impression. Yay for internet interpretation?

The most recent were the pictures of the baby here...and I literally spent like five minutes TOPS on most of the edits! I used to spend nearly an hour or more on every.single.picture I edited, so I'm really happy with that at least.

I didn't read that as your pics used to be so bad that you had to spend an hour fixing them. I assumed it took a long time because you were still getting used to the tools. In any case, that sentence, the sloppy burning, the pointing out flaws while doing your self critique but not fixing them, the not paying attention to framing, posing, backgrounds, etc all led me to conclude that you had reached a plateau because while you are taking the shots and editing you aren't paying attention to detail and/or don't have high enough standards.

I find it interesting that your answer to my (more critical)critique is not to say that you will pay more attention, but instead is to point out how bad you used to be and how much better you are now. Makes it seem a bit ironic that you can't figure out why you have reached a plateau. If you want to reach the next level, hold yourself to higher standards. It's nothing personal against you, it's just a part of progressing in any skillset.

Just my .02

 

[Aayria]

And I'm sorry...I don't mind CC, but you really think my standards are "good enough???" I am struggling to see where you get that impression when I'm putting my work out there for people to rip apart at will and trying my hardest to grow as a photographer. "Good enough" has never been my goal or mindset, and I'm honestly amazed that you could get that impression. Yay for internet interpretation?

The most recent were the pictures of the baby here...and I literally spent like five minutes TOPS on most of the edits! I used to spend nearly an hour or more on every.single.picture I edited, so I'm really happy with that at least.

I didn't read that as your pics used to be so bad that you had to spend an hour fixing them. I assumed it took a long time because you were still getting used to the tools. In any case, that sentence, the sloppy burning, the pointing out flaws while doing your self critique but not fixing them, the not paying attention to framing, posing, backgrounds, etc all led me to conclude that you had reached a plateau because while you are taking the shots and editing you aren't paying attention to detail and/or don't have high enough standards.

I find it interesting that your answer to my (more critical)critique is not to say that you will pay more attention, but instead is to point out how bad you used to be and how much better you are now. Makes it seem a bit ironic that you can't figure out why you have reached a plateau. If you want to reach the next level, hold yourself to higher standards. It's nothing personal against you, it's just a part of progressing in any skillset.

Just my .02

I can point out how "bad I used to be but good I am now" because there is no problem in acknowledging and recognizing where you've grown vrs where you still need to go. For example, I like to pick on area to focus on and push until I have it under my fingers before I focus on another area...I might not have either area perfected, but I don't see what's wrong with saying "yeah, I do much better with x,y,z than I did a year ago..."

Also..if you think I don't pay any attention to framing/posing/backgrounds etc...then you're wrong. I worked very hard on every aspect of these shots including trying a new style of editing. And then when I was done, I looked back and tried to give myself a critical eye to point out what I'd like to do better next time or differently. And as for "not fixing them" you are also mistaken..When I go back to CC my pictures, I will often go back and re-edit the same shot 20 or more times in different ways.

So yes..I can point out how much "better I am now" because I know what my weaknesses were. They key is in continuing to work on your current weaknesses and push to overcome them as well. Some of what I still struggle with are things that I've always struggled with, but maybe at the very least am a bit more conscious of now than I once was. It's all a process, and I will never "arrive" at the point where I'm the "perfect" photographer, nor will anyone else. So, while I do appreciate your thoughts, I still feel that you are inferring far too much that was never implied.

 

[Aayria]

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to respond =)

Here's an edit I worked on this morning..I felt like my brother's picture was the most red and noticably burned of the set so I tried to tweak it a bit. Is this better, or do you feel like it's lacking something now?

 

[Kerbouchard]

Sorry, I inferred that in this thread you wanted feedback on how to move forward. If I would have known that all you wanted was a pat on the back for how far you have come, I wouldn't have replied to this thread. Just keep doing what you are doing, but don't whine about not being able to move beyond the results you are currently getting. After all, they are good enough.

 

[Aayria]

Sorry, I inferred that in this thread you wanted feedback on how to move forward. If I would have known that all you wanted was a pat on the back for how far you have come, I wouldn't have replied to this thread. Just keep doing what you are doing, but don't whine about not being able to move beyond the results you are currently getting. After all, they are good enough.

Yay, drama! There are plenty of ways to get pats on the back...Last I checked, posting pictures for people to rip apart and admitting your faults looking for ways to overcome them was not one of them.

 

[Aayria]

Oh and here's one more... I tried a new crop on the shot of my friend with her baby, so there was less dead space, tweaked the color a bit, and reduced the opacity of the burning on the background.... Is this too tight now?

 

[gsgary]

In that shot you have missed focus because you shot at F1.4, focus looks like it is in front about 1 foot

 

[Aayria]

In that shot you have missed focus because you shot at F1.4, focus looks like it is in front about 1 foot

You're talking about number 4, right? That's the one I thought was OOF too...Probably because I shot too quickly. The vertical/portrait orientation shot just under #4 was pretty much the same shot but I took a little more time getting the focus right..Is it better, or OOF too? Or do you mean the one I just re-edited?

 

[DiskoJoe]

Have you tried shooting something different ? I can be shooting sports one day and studio the next or some off camera flash and ambient shots

You know what....that sounds like a great idea. I've been pretty much doing natural light, babies/kids/families non stop for a year and a half...Maybe a change of pace would get things going again! Now..what to shoot? I'd love to try some fashion photography or something editorial oriented where I can be as creative as I want....

Go try some street photography or maybe some long exposure architectural photography. Go meet some strangers on the street and take their pics or something.

Plus I see you made some new edits. The post process editing in not your problem. It is the framing for the initial shot. that came up at least 6 times in this thread. Try not to chop arms and feet and things like that. In that last edit of your brother in law you chopped his foot. Thats a rookie mistake. pay more attention when setting up the shot in the view finder.

 

[gsgary]

In that shot you have missed focus because you shot at F1.4, focus looks like it is in front about 1 foot

You're talking about number 4, right? That's the one I thought was OOF too...Probably because I shot too quickly. The vertical/portrait orientation shot just under #4 was pretty much the same shot but I took a little more time getting the focus right..Is it better, or OOF too? Or do you mean the one I just re-edited?

The mother and baby in the garden, but most of the baby ones look like they are out of focus

 

[Aayria]

Have you tried shooting something different ? I can be shooting sports one day and studio the next or some off camera flash and ambient shots

You know what....that sounds like a great idea. I've been pretty much doing natural light, babies/kids/families non stop for a year and a half...Maybe a change of pace would get things going again! Now..what to shoot? I'd love to try some fashion photography or something editorial oriented where I can be as creative as I want....

Go try some street photography or maybe some long exposure architectural photography. Go meet some strangers on the street and take their pics or something.

Plus I see you made some new edits. The post process editing in not your problem. It is the framing for the initial shot. that came up at least 6 times in this thread. Try not to chop arms and feet and things like that. In that last edit of your brother in law you chopped his foot. Thats a rookie mistake. pay more attention when setting up the shot in the view finder.

Yeah I definitely agree about the chopping of limbs being bad..I really struggle often with cropping too tightly in camera, and ending up with things like my brother's foot chopped off >< But what I wanted to do with the re-edit was at least fix the editing issues that were possible to fix in processing..Like the color being too red, or the burning being too obvious.

I like the idea of architectural/landscape photography...might be a good, relaxing change of pace for a bit. But I'd still like to have people involved with the setting in some way, which is why I'm leaning towards some editorial work for a change.

 

[Aayria]

Hmmmm... I do see that it isnt' as sharp as the ones of my brother and his wife, but the light was totally different. I get really crisp images when I'm shooting around sunset or when the sky isn't cloudy..or when I have good directional light. But I get really flat light shooting on an overcast day like I did with the picture of mom/baby. I wonder if it's just the lighting making it look less sharp/crisp...or maybe the low aperture? I do see that it isnt' quite as sharp, but is it really OOF?

How would you go about maintaining that crisp clarity on an overcast day...would just closing down my aperture a bit have helped enough with that?

 

[gsgary]

Hmmmm... I do see that it isnt' as sharp as the ones of my brother and his wife, but the light was totally different. I get really crisp images wen I'm shooting around sunset or when the sky isn't cloudy..or when I have good directional light. But I get really flat light shooting on an overcast day like I did with the picture of mom/baby. I wonder if it's just the lighting making it look less sharp/crisp...or maybe the low aperture? I do see that it isnt' quite as sharp, but is it really OOF?

How would you go about maintaining that crisp clarity on an overcast day...would just closing down my aperture a bit have helped enough with that?

Using a smaller aperture will help, i would have shot the mother and baby at about F5.6

 

[Kerbouchard]

Sorry, I inferred that in this thread you wanted feedback on how to move forward. If I would have known that all you wanted was a pat on the back for how far you have come, I wouldn't have replied to this thread. Just keep doing what you are doing, but don't whine about not being able to move beyond the results you are currently getting. After all, they are good enough.

Yay, drama! There are plenty of ways to get pats on the back...Last I checked, posting pictures for people to rip apart and admitting your faults looking for ways to overcome them was not one of them.

It isn't drama. I point out what you need to do to move to the next level. You say you are already doing it. My point is that you aren't doing it well enough and if you think you are, your standards aren't high enough to move to the next level.

Just about everybody in this thread has pointed out your lack of attention to detail when framing your subject leading to amputated body parts. Your response:

Also..if you think I don't pay any attention to framing/posing/backgrounds etc...then you're wrong. I worked very hard on every aspect of these shots including trying a new style of editing.

This conversation is going in circles. Good luck to you.