I'm new to photography... These are my favourite pictures thus far...

[mattijcowan]

I've had my camera a little over a month.

Advice would be appreciated. Tips, etc.

 

[OrionsByte]

Any specific kind of advice you're looking for? Some of them are kind of abstract and may be interesting to someone, but they're not the best examples for technical critique in my opinion.

I will say that I rather like the guitar picture, but the others really don't do anything for me.

 

[KevinPutman]

I love love loooove the first one.
The guitar as well.

But also agree with what Orion said.

 

[Juanka]

For one moth experience Id say they're pretty good. They show you've done research and have experimented with some techniques. The ones that dont do it for me are the dog and the crane.

 

[mattijcowan]

Yeah, the dog and the crane one are pretty boring. Anyways, yeah I'm just wondering how I'm doing for a month in. I live in the suburbs and am having trouble feeling inspired to take cool pictures. I don't know where to go to find interesting subjects. Maybe that's an excuse though, I dunno. Anyways, how long did it take you all to develop your eye? Do some people just have a good photography eye? Can it be trained? Ugh I feel so meh.

 

[Juanka]

A good eye finds a good picture in just about anywhere! If there isn't anything interesting then YOU make them interesting by trying different methods. Playing with the DoF, different angles, emphasizing in what makes that certain subject so interesting to you... and so on.

 

[OrionsByte]

Well, there's also more to photography than developing your eye. Finding a great subject and angle to shoot it from doesn't mean squat if you can't work your camera well enough to capture it. You need to study your camera manual and do some research on the exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO). Those are fundamentals that you need to understand very very well, or else you're not really doing much more than aiming the camera at something and hoping it figures everything out well enough to make the shot a good one.

 

[mattijcowan]

Well I understand those settings, just not very very well yet.

 

[Cfitz]

I like the dog, but not that photo. I like the guitar the best, and I don't know what I'm looking at in 1 and 3.

 

[Stryker]

My comments
1 - Its a lamp post, I think. If there was something that would draw my eyes to the branches, a silhouette of an owl maybe, that would be an interesting picture.
2 - Too many intersecting lines. My eyes keep going in and out of the frame. Background is also bare and flat. More dominant blue sky and some clouds are always the best combination when shooting with a sky background.
3 - Depth of field is a bit shallow. For shots like a group of small subjects, I prefer all of the seedlings to be clear and crisp.
4 - My eyes are drawn to the window, not the dog. It would be interesting if the OPEN sign had minimal glare and you could see through the window. You can minimize the glare if you have a CPL
5 - The mushrooms are all singing the same tune. If one of them were inverted or if you added an orange, you have a lead singer. That would be pretty.
6 - Nice motion blur effect. I like this one. Why? Pretty interpretation of lines and curves.
7 - Fog or is it smog? Anyway, it would be more interesting if the boom ran diagonal pointing to the upper left corner

Just like you, me, and the rest of us here, we were born with very good eyes. Can it be trained to become a photographer's eye? Yes. Constant practice makes us see beauty even on the most mundane thing. You dont have to go far. Maybe the subject of your prize winning photo is just sitting there in your backyard waiting for you to pick up your camera and take a shot.

 

[mattijcowan]

Wow, great. Yeah I agree with most everything you said.

 

[PhotoAlbert]

I like you try different angles to show the subjects in interesting way. Nevertheless you still need to improve the pictures composition-wise. Few tricks in photoshop would help too.

Good luck

 

[iNick]

i like the guitar shot, the others all seem underexposed IMO. not bad tho overall :thumbup:

 

[8ball]

I like the dog one the best

 

[357mag]

The first one along with the guitar are very good. The mushrooms or whatever they are is kind of interesting also. Keep in mind also that the internet is filled with what? People. And people have what? Opinions. Some of your photos are just as good as what is found in photography books. The most important thing is how you feel about yourself and your work. Sure try to improve and get better. That's okay. But don't let other peoples comments unduly drag you down.