My amature photos

kelbel1981 · May 22, 2012

Hello! I am just starting out! This is a shoot I did for practice with of my brother & his girlfriend before prom. I use a d3100 & it's a kit lens. I am working on getting a d800e eventually and an 85 mm lens with a nice filter. Some feedback would be nice. It was at 5:30 when light was harsh. I also do not have Lightroom or photoshop... Working on that too!! Thanks for looking!

pickle788 · May 22, 2012

I'm no pro but the window in the shots in front of the house are really distracting and also in number 7 her hair is Blowen right out which to me is killing the shot.
Also if you want you can download a 30day trial for photoshop cs5 might help you get started.

michael9000000 · May 22, 2012

Hi Kel! Your brother and his girlfriend are certainly a sweet couple... The snapshot of them in sitting in the grass captures a charming moment... Having said that, as a whole, your photos leave a lot of room for improvement.

Before I give a more detailed detailed critique, I must tell you that I'm concerned about all you wrote about what gear you have, what gear you want, and what software you don't have. Honestly, there is no camera expensive enough, no lens sharp enough, nor software sophisticated enough to correct some of the major flaws in these photos.

The good news is that you don't need all that fancy equipment and software right now. The camera and lens you used for these photos were perfectly adequate. You just need to focus on the basics... A strong working knowledge of technique, lighting, exposure, color, and composition is more valuable than any hardware or software purchase.

If you still want me to critique your photos, I will. I hope I didn't come off as harsh or arrogant... Thanks for sharing! We're all going to get better as we learn from the people in this forum!

kelbel1981 · May 23, 2012

Yes!! Please do critique! I need it! I do try to follow the rules but when I get out there sometimes I just start snapping. I know I need to be more patient. I appreciate you taking the time to look. Also, could you tell how I could have made them less harsh... The lighting was crazy bright especially on her hair & light skin. Thank you!

michael9000000 · May 23, 2012

kelbel1981 said:
Yes!! Please do critique! I need it! I do try to follow the rules but when I get out there sometimes I just start snapping. I know I need to be more patient. I appreciate you taking the time to look. Also, could you tell how I could have made them less harsh... The lighting was crazy bright especially on her hair & light skin. Thank you!

Good morning Kel! You know, the best way to deal with taking photos in harsh sunlight is... (drum roll)... Don't take photos in harsh sunlight! Move into the shade, shoot on an overcast day instead, or shoot when the sun is lower in the sky.

Of course, sometimes this is not possible, and you have to get the shot in harsh sunlight. That's when you need to even out the light to avoid harsh shadows. I know it might sound counterintuitive, but use your flash... You can also try using a reflector to bounce the natural sunlight onto your subject evenly, or go in the opposite direction and use a diffuser between the sun and your subject to mellow out the light.

Above and beyond all that, you really need to study exposure. After all, even the most perfect lighting conditions will work against you if you're not exposing the light properly. Also, look into the concept of white balance... It'll do your photography a world of good.

Regarding your photos... When you post on this forum for C&C, I think you really should post higher resolution images. The prom photos you posted are blurry on any screen larger than an iPhone's, and zooming in for finer details is impossible. These photos are just amateur snapshots and nothing more... Good enough for Facebook, but not much else... I'm not trying to be harsh or arrogant... It's just my humble opinion...

paigew · May 23, 2012

Hi Kel! I think you did a wonderful job!! You did really good with the light you had to work with. Sometimes we have to take photos in not so ideal circumstances and we still have to produce good results. Not every photo op happens in the golden hour :lol:

. I'm a beginner myself but here is my c&c

I think #1 and #2 are cute

.

#3 I also like but would have liked it more if you would have stepped back to include the entire dress and the boys feet in the shot.

#4 is my least favorite of the shot. We can't see the faces or any emotion, all we see is the back of heads/bodies. Plus busy/dappled lighting in the background that draws my eye.

#5 is very cute, if you would have been in front of them (with sun behind them) you would have gotten some nice backlighting and instead of blowing her arm (doesn't bother me that much btw) you would have gotten some nice light in their hair and around them.

#6, love the emotion and moment you captured

#7, love the moment, but they seem under exposed. Also it would be good to play around more with your position so you get some better backlighting instead of on the side of her face. You have some nice golden/yellow tones in the light here though which I really like!

#8 is cute, underexposed and I would crop out that mailbox too.

You can fix exposure in any program...iphoto, picassa, etc. Good job on your first shoot!

paigew · May 23, 2012

michael in the time it took you to write two looooong responses about whether or not this post is worthy of your c&c you could have given a quite detailed one....

michael9000000 · May 23, 2012

paigew said:
michael in the time it took you to write two looooong responses about whether or not this post is worthy of your c&c you could have given a quite detailed one....

I respectfully disagree with you... I strongly disagree in fact, especially when you said "You can fix exposure in any program...iphoto, picassa, etc"

Why on earth would you encourage someone to take fundamentally bad photos and rely on software to 'fix' them up? It's better to just try and teach them how to take a better photo to begin with. That's why I didn't spend much time talking about the cuteness and the emotion... The photos were just poorly taken. I gave a few solutions to taking the photos in challenging lighting. That'll go a lot farther than any software recommendation.

Also, I never argued whether or not her post was worthy of my c&c. That's just plain silly. I directed my c&c specifically toward her lighting challenges because she asked me too.

It's nothing personal. I would be willing to bet that both you and Kel are both really nice people with loads of talent and potential. Let's all have fun and learn from each other.

GeorgieGirl · May 23, 2012

These are not fundamentally bad photos. On the contrary, the composition is quite good.

paigew · May 23, 2012

Michael I think that there is too much negativity here on this forum; everyone has a chip on their shoulder. Everyone has taken a photo that is under exposed. Especially those just starting out. You don't just know automatically everything about photography when you buy a camera. You have to be made aware that your photos are underexposed, bad comp, distractions etc. This way you know what to work on. Most people here have editing software so its easy to 'hide' tiny mess ups (exposure, wb, etc). I'm just pointing out that your posts do indeed come off as arrogant (your words not mine).

these photos are not bad, they are not awesomly amazing but we are all wanting to grow and learn aren't we?

HughGuessWho · May 23, 2012

It's not WHAT you say or the points that you make. It's about how you say it and with what attitude.
One can say "the picture is under exposed", ".. out of focus" etc, or "In my opinion, moving the subject to the right..." or "A shallower DOF....". Those are all constructive and helpful comments.
BUT, "your photos are just amateur snapshots and nothing more... Good enough for Facebook, but not much else" is NOT constructive and does not help better a person asking for advice one bit, even if you follow that statement up with ".. I'm not trying to be harsh or arrogant... ", because you ARE.

gopal · May 23, 2012

U as a learner and as they a beautiful couple, make the photographs telling a lot....However, I agree to go for techniques...
Photographer is not always at ease...Therefore, some pp is necessary where required....not in these but future takes also.

michael9000000 · May 23, 2012

HughGuessWho said:
It's not WHAT you say or the points that you make. It's about how you say it and with what attitude.
One can say "the picture is under exposed", ".. out of focus" etc, or "In my opinion, moving the subject to the right..." or "A shallower DOF....". Those are all constructive and helpful comments.
BUT, "your photos are just amateur snapshots and nothing more... Good enough for Facebook, but not much else" is NOT constructive and does not help better a person asking for advice one bit, even if you follow that statement up with ".. I'm not trying to be harsh or arrogant... ", because you ARE.

You're taking the Facebook quote out of context... I was specifically talking about how the photos are low resolution, which makes them suitable for amateur snapshots to be posted on Facebook, but not much else... Look at the phrasing... It was in a paragraph all on its own. None of us can give a true technical critique of a photo that is blurred out and pixelated on any screen bigger than an iPhone. That's constructive criticism, and it's the truth.

For all the talk of negativity, I'm the only one being attacked personally. I've made it a point to be pleasant and encouraging, and my negative criticisms were only of the photos, never the photographer.

MTVision · May 23, 2012

michael9000000 said:
You're taking the Facebook quote out of context... I was specifically talking about how the photos are low resolution, which makes them suitable for amateur snapshots to be posted on Facebook, but not much else... Look at the phrasing... It was in a paragraph all on its own. None of us can give a true technical critique of a photo that is blurred out and pixelated on any screen bigger than an iPhone. That's constructive criticism, and it's the truth.

For all the talk of negativity, I'm the only one being attacked personally. I've made it a point to be pleasant and encouraging, and my negative criticisms were only of the photos, never the photographer.

I honestly don't think you said anything bad. And you weren't rude so don't let it bother you