Learning attempts

[Reverendus]

Here are a couple of shots in my efforts to learn.

This first one was inspired by a shot in this post,

eye_reflections by erichegeman, on Flickr

This one was shot at the Manatee River just outside the Manatee County Public Library in Bradenton.

River by erichegeman, on Flickr

As I said, these are part of my attempts to learn, so any comments or criticisms are welcome!

 

[amolitor]

The eye is kind of cool. I would either a) get in a lot closer, the space around the eye isn't doing much, or b) place the eye itself off-center in the frame (the center is "weak") and and balance the eye itself with something else opposite it across the frame -- a shadow, a splash of light, a nose. Something to create a little visual interest and tension in that "surrounding stuff" (i.e. the face)

The boats strikes me as a big nothing. Again, you've placed the "subject" such as it is in the weak center. Then you'ce placed the horizon dead center -- is this a sky photo with some water, or a water photo with some sky? Pick either one, but make a choice! The boat you've selected as the subject should probably be larger in the frame if you want it to be something of interest, but again, if you want it as a central point of visual interest push it OUT of the center, and balance it with something opposed to it across the center, perhaps a similarly shaped patch of cloud, or a second somewhat less interesting boat, or whatever.

 

[Reverendus]

Thank you for the suggestions.

Placing things in the center of the shot is definitely a habit I need to break.

I would have liked to have made the boat a bit larger in the scene, but unfortunately, there I was limited by hardware and the distance of the boat from me. Of course that probably means I should have shot something else instead, or at least tried to compose the scene differently. But then, you know what they say about hindsight!