Feedback please!!!!!

Naturegirl · Jun 6, 2007

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. I've been reading here a lot more lately, and have been admiring everyone's talents. I've also been learning a lot due to the amazing people here who are so quick and so eloquently providing all those that ask with very helpful & WELL EXPLAINED information.

Here are a few that I took recently & happen to have on my work computer

aranoid:

Critique please

KP_1421 · Jun 6, 2007

I'll give some feedback. I really dont like the pictures but the first one is OK, the second, I dont know Iam just not a fan, you'll get better though

Naturegirl · Jun 7, 2007

KP_1421 said:
I'll give some feedback. I really dont like the pictures but the first one is OK, the second, I dont know Iam just not a fan, you'll get better though

One out of 35 views better than none I guess.

What specifically don't you like about them? Is it the subject of both? The second one was more taken as a childhood memory place for me, so I can understand that one might not hit a spot for anyone else. Just being creative too.

I do much better though, and have been actually been shooting for years. Should have probably looked for something much more amazing for my first post.

Peniole · Jun 7, 2007

I'm going to comment on the second one, which I like by the way. I would have preferred to have the foreground branch in focus too. Now that doesn't neccesarily mean you need to increase your f stop. I think keeping the building in the background out of your depth of field is well done. Here's a rule of thumb you have twice as much DOF behind the subject than in front of it, so you could have focused on a closer branch, thus keeping all in focus while keeping the building blurred in the background. Hope that helps.

Also welcome to the forum, sometimes people are lazy (look but don't comment), don't take it personally, you'll find the forum a valuable place to learn and get feedback.

NJMAN · Jun 7, 2007

There is nothing wrong with these, they are just lacking some content and composition. As far as color and detail goes, they are actually quite nice. But as I have seen some people say on this forum, it really doesn't "speak to me" on any kind of level. But its nice that you shared a piece of your childhood memories with us...that much is appreciated. I like the depth of field in #2 against the white building, but the building may be a bit too busy in the background with all the windows. Best to have more of a simple background and smoother bokeh to really bring out your foreground subject. And don't be afraid to bump your post up to the top again if you really need some feedback.

Again, nothing bad about these photos IMO. Hope this helps. Keep posting.

NJ

Naturegirl · Jun 7, 2007

Peniole said:
I'm going to comment on the second one, which I like by the way. I would have preferred to have the foreground branch in focus too. Now that doesn't neccesarily mean you need to increase your f stop. I think keeping the building in the background out of your depth of field is well done. Here's a rule of thumb you have twice as much DOF behind the subject than in front of it, so you could have focused on a closer branch, thus keeping all in focus while keeping the building blurred in the background. Hope that helps.

Also welcome to the forum, sometimes people are lazy (look but don't comment), don't take it personally, you'll find the forum a valuable place to learn and get feedback.

Totally agree with the bolded part. I wasn't taking the time I should have with this one & it was one of the first I shot with my DSLR (new to digital).
Thank you

for the welcome and the feedback

Naturegirl · Jun 7, 2007

NJMAN said:
There is nothing wrong with these, they are just lacking some content and composition. As far as color and detail goes, they are actually quite nice. But as I have seen some people say on this forum, it really doesn't "speak to me" on any kind of level. But its nice that you shared a piece of your childhood memories with us...that much is appreciated. I like the depth of field in #2 against the white building, but the building may be a bit too busy in the background with all the windows. Best to have more of a simple background and smoother bokeh to really bring out your foreground subject. And don't be afraid to bump your post up to the top again if you really need some feedback.

Again, nothing bad about these photos IMO. Hope this helps. Keep posting.

NJ

And thank you

Now that I have your attention

I have done other stuff too....I've done a couple weddings for friends (most of which turned out great), and some portraits (before I had my twins)...so I just recently started making time to work more on building up my portfolio and practicing (because I do need it). So I did some shots of my best friend & her hubby....of 58 shots, this is my favorite.

One thing I don't like is all the light space above her head and how her arm is cut off but more space next to him.

And this is all kind of getting back into practice for me. I used to shoot in the green a lot (yes, evil auto-mode) and got really good results with it, so I've been working on changing that too.

Peniole · Jun 7, 2007

This helped me a lot with my outdoor portraits(http://www.shutterbug.com/techniques/portraiture/0505improve/), some nice simple rules to folow and you'll be off the evil green. You'll find yourself mostly shooting in aperture priority or manual mode most of the time.

Miss V · Jun 7, 2007

I really love the first one. :heart:

mysteryscribe · Jun 7, 2007

I liked the second a whole lot better than the first. To me it's part of the beauty of photography to be able to catch the irony of life, not create it. very colorful delicate flowers against what seems to be a cheap run down factory. It is a very nice contrast in and of itself.

NJMAN · Jun 7, 2007

Naturegirl said:
And thank you

Now that I have your attention

I have done other stuff too....I've done a couple weddings for friends (most of which turned out great), and some portraits (before I had my twins)...so I just recently started making time to work more on building up my portfolio and practicing (because I do need it). So I did some shots of my best friend & her hubby....of 58 shots, this is my favorite.

One thing I don't like is all the light space above her head and how her arm is cut off but more space next to him.

And this is all kind of getting back into practice for me. I used to shoot in the green a lot (yes, evil auto-mode) and got really good results with it, so I've been working on changing that too.

This is quite a nice portrait, even if those minor flaws exist as you say. It is nicely saturated and crisp without being overdone. And the skin tone looks good. I like it!

Oh, and also, I agree about using Manual and Aperture Priority mode. Stay away from Auto. You should be making the decisions, not the camera. ;-)

Naturegirl · Jun 8, 2007

mysteryscribe said:
I liked the second a whole lot better than the first. To me it's part of the beauty of photography to be able to catch the irony of life, not create it. very colorful delicate flowers against what seems to be a cheap run down factory. It is a very nice contrast in and of itself.

Thank you. It's actually a barn at my grandmothers house. My friends & I had a little clubhouse on the top floor when I was younger, and while it's still used as storage (mower, garden tools, etc.) the floor boards are unstable & wearing holes, and part of the roof blew off in a recent storm, so it's becoming quite a historical landmark of sorts in terms of my family. And I've found myself wanting to capture it from various angles and in ways that do create emotions such as "irony of life" as you said.

NJMAN said:
This is quite a nice portrait, even if those minor flaws exist as you say. It is nicely saturated and crisp without being overdone. And the skin tone looks good. I like it!
Oh, and also, I agree about using Manual and Aperture Priority mode. Stay away from Auto. You should be making the decisions, not the camera. ;-)

Thanks. I'm always more critical of myself, and my friend loved the pictures, but she's not seeing all the same things that I see either. There were a few that she really liked but had what I thought of as major flaws in them. But I guess when I do portraits, the "scene" is different for everyone I'm shooting. My friend, for instance, is very laid back & casual and she & I both felt that this was a much better way to capture their true nature, and I shot it in the evening, somewhere around 6pm, and under the shade with the sunlight coming from behind them to the right a bit.

Peniole, thanks for the link. I actually do shoot in aperture priority on occasion, and even less often I'll play around with shutter priority. I'm getting more comfortable "making the decisions myself" but I have trouble finding the time to practice more often.

Thanks, again, for all your comments and feedback.