First thread with photos, overall thoughts and advice? :)

[Designer]

Don't be in a hurry to do your editing. You want to be relaxed and not in a hurry.

After you have had a chance to read about composition, especially in the winter, you can take your time and do your editing.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I actually like the first one, since she's peeking out and leaning over it makes sense to me that she's at an angle. However with the one of the iron fence, that in particular shows why it's necessary to practice a lot so you have your camera straight (to me that's a basic skill that needs to be learned).

I like the idea of framing the subject with leaves, branches, flowers etc. But if a leaf or flower is close to the camera (and depending on what aperture you use and what depth of field you have) then it can create big blurry out of focus blobs that seem distracting instead of adding to the composition.

I'd keep practicing, you seem to have a good eye; work on noticing your framing and how everything looks in your viewfinder (so you don't catch the edge of a shirt or jeans, try just above the waist or somewhat below but watch for shirttails and girls with long hair so nothing's getting chopped off in pictures).

I like the ideas you have, the woman in the gold sweater with gold leaves looks lovely together, and some of the fence and stone steps from the side work being at an angle (that's where you need to think about how those lines and shapes look in the composition). But I'd watch the backgrounds, you don't want half a car that's relatively close to the subject in the picture, think about where to have the subject sit/stand and where you'll stand and if that perspective works and how the background looks before you start taking pictures (if need be, move the person, move your feet - yourself).

Did Darrel already mention the book by John Szarkowski? The Photographer's Eye, not the one with the same name by some other guy. Or, if you don't have any art background, try googling 'elements of composition in art' (not photography) and that should bring up some sources of info. geared to students that cover line, shape, space, etc. and how those work together in a composition.

And go practice, practice, practice. You seem to be on the right track.

 

[Lieniitte]

I actually like the first one, since she's peeking out and leaning over it makes sense to me that she's at an angle. However with the one of the iron fence, that in particular shows why it's necessary to practice a lot so you have your camera straight (to me that's a basic skill that needs to be learned).

I like the idea of framing the subject with leaves, branches, flowers etc. But if a leaf or flower is close to the camera (and depending on what aperture you use and what depth of field you have) then it can create big blurry out of focus blobs that seem distracting instead of adding to the composition.

I'd keep practicing, you seem to have a good eye; work on noticing your framing and how everything looks in your viewfinder (so you don't catch the edge of a shirt or jeans, try just above the waist or somewhat below but watch for shirttails and girls with long hair so nothing's getting chopped off in pictures).

I like the ideas you have, the woman in the gold sweater with gold leaves looks lovely together, and some of the fence and stone steps from the side work being at an angle (that's where you need to think about how those lines and shapes look in the composition). But I'd watch the backgrounds, you don't want half a car that's relatively close to the subject in the picture, think about where to have the subject sit/stand and where you'll stand and if that perspective works and how the background looks before you start taking pictures (if need be, move the person, move your feet - yourself).

Did Darrel already mention the book by John Szarkowski? The Photographer's Eye, not the one with the same name by some other guy. Or, if you don't have any art background, try googling 'elements of composition in art' (not photography) and that should bring up some sources of info. geared to students that cover line, shape, space, etc. and how those work together in a composition.

And go practice, practice, practice. You seem to be on the right track.

Thank you for your reply!

Wow, I hadn't even noticed that half car, though now it seems very obvious. It seems that my next step is really focusing on what I do with backgrounds, since it has been mentioned most. I will certainly be paying attention to that a lot more from now on!

When you say stone steps, I assume you mean from the picture on Flickr?

I see what you mean about the blobs from leaves being too close. When taking the photos, I really didn't know much about what things would do, so I just went with it, but I will be paying more attention to framing, background, foreground, before I take the shots. Luckily, it looks like I will have some good opportunities to practice this month!

I know I've seen some people say that they learned composition and things from using film because you can't waste pictures, so you have to get it right on camera. Maybe I will try treating my camera like a film camera in that sense for a while. Would definitely make me think more about what I am doing.

I will look into the book you mentioned, as well as the others! Though I might have to pick and choose, all of them might be a bit costly!

I appreciate your feedback, thank you!

 

[Designer]

I know I've seen some people say that they learned composition and things from using film because you can't waste pictures, so you have to get it right on camera. Maybe I will try treating my camera like a film camera in that sense for a while. Would definitely make me think more about what I am doing.

You are over-thinking this.

While it's true many of us old-timers learned composition back when we used film cameras, I think you can learn composition with a digital camera just as easily. Most people don't run the thing on "continuous" shutter anyway, so just relax, take your time, make the composition, watch the backgrounds, check your exposure, and take the photograph.

Nothing to it.

Learning what makes a good composition is going to take some time, so enjoy the process, don't stress yourself out.

 

[Lieniitte]

I know I've seen some people say that they learned composition and things from using film because you can't waste pictures, so you have to get it right on camera. Maybe I will try treating my camera like a film camera in that sense for a while. Would definitely make me think more about what I am doing.

You are over-thinking this.

While it's true many of us old-timers learned composition back when we used film cameras, I think you can learn composition with a digital camera just as easily. Most people don't run the thing on "continuous" shutter anyway, so just relax, take your time, make the composition, watch the backgrounds, check your exposure, and take the photograph.

Nothing to it.

Learning what makes a good composition is going to take some time, so enjoy the process, don't stress yourself out.

You're right, I probably am over-thinking. I tend to be a perfectionist. When I used to draw, even as a child at age 11 I would spend 10 hours on a single pencil drawing, patiently, without stopping, filling in a lot of detail til I got it how I wanted. Even if it was a simple drawing. I need to work on not doing that, because now that I know what to work on with this, it might become a problem for me. Not sure I could find models willing to sit around as I slowly compose shots anyway, so I will have to be relaxed with it, as you say