My pictures are so bad...

[nae]

Dear friends,

Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I am as you probably assume a beginner, a noob how some may say. I have followed a couple of online courses and invested quite some money in the gear. I know I am still missing experience but I get depressed when I continuously get bad results.

I have no friends that shares same hobby, so no close people to ask for advice, therefore I try to get my help here.

I dot't know if is because I am rushing things, am I asking too much from myself or I just suck and should sell everything and start playing poker? But there is always something very wrong. Either they look dirty, blurry, "unfinished" or the composition sucks.

Hope the thread is in write place. Below i have uploaded few examples from today.

My God, I get frustrated...

Thanks in advance, nae

.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

To help us out a bit it may be good to answer a few questions,

1. What kind of photography are you looking to get better at? By the looks of it you like landscape work if thats the case plenty of us here will be happy to give you advice on that.
2. Whats your current setup/flow. I assume you are shooting digital and post processing in some kind of software? Although its not really important what gear you are using the advice from here may be better directed if we know what you are working with.
3. What do you feel is wrong with your work? I actually like the last two photos here.


A few notes:

The first 2 shots have an aggressive red overtone on some parts, I assume you did that in some kind of post processing? Was this deliberate?

The hardest thing for many to learn and often the most overlooked thing is composition. There are lots of threads on here that cover it and a simple internet search will yield endless results. In the landscape space its worth it to check out the work and teachings of Ansel Adams. If you can get ahold of any of his books, mainly, the negative, the camera and the print, they are well worth the read even in the digital age.

It looks like you are using a wide lens, I have always found its easy to start with a standard lens 35mm-80mm range depending on the system you are working with. The more natural focal length can make composition simpler as its quite similar to what you see with your own eyes. If you have a variable lens try setting it to ~35mm ~50mm and taking some good shots there.

In the great words of Henri Cartier-Bresson "Your first 10,000 photos are your worst".

 

[vintagesnaps]

Looks like the exposure was off, and then there seems to have been some editing that didn't really help any. Maybe you need to not try to do too much at once, and practice the basics til you're getting more consistent results.

Maybe don't do so much wide angle, that can give some odd perspective, at least til you get better at framing, etc. Take time to see everything in the frame before you release the shutter. These aren't that bad, but the framing is a little off.

With the first one, next time move around a little til you get both buildings completely in the frame (the right one's cut off and the left has more than enough space off to the left). The one of the boat's not bad, if you could have taken a step forward that could have eliminated some foreground and watch where you cut off a subject - if you'd framed a little higher you might have gotten the mast at a better place so it wouldn't look so chopped off. That could use some color adjustment; it looks quite pinkish (magenta) if you look at the clouds and water.

Walk around and change your vantage point a little; you really don't need the blue dumpster in the picture and if you'd stepped left you could have gotten it behind the vehicle and not showing in the picture.

The one of the horses, same thing - move around so you'd get less space to the left and so the building isn't chopped off. Think about where you want the horses in relation to the buildings. Notice the background, wait til something like that white van is out of the scene, let him go on by before you take the picture. The color looks good and that's a great subject.

The last one can be tricky because you're shooting into the sun. The camera's meter may have been reading the light coming in from the background - you might do better to meter the light on the subject (the tall grasses) then reframe the shot to take the picture. Color looks good, some adjustment of dark and light might be better.

You seem to be seeing some good potential photographs, keep practicing your framing. Try looking up famous photographers from past eras to see what good photographs look like. Much of what's online is amateur and that's fine if it's just for fun, but it tends to be overedited, poorly framed with lousy backgrounds, etc. and it's certainly not something to work toward if you want to learn to be a good photographer. It's going to take practice so you have to love it to stick with it I think to get good at it.

 

[Derrel]

First off, these do not "suck"...there is a clear, obvious subject in each shot, and I totally,totally "get" what you were showing in each picture.

Second: STICK WITH IT, and keep shooting pictures!

You are running into some tough lighting in some of these; modern digital images can be edited, but one of the toughest things is shooting into the sun,and getting adequate shadow detail while managing to NOT over-expose the brightest areas, like clouds or sky-tones. Shooting a fancy camera in "raw image capture mode" can help a lot with getting shadow and highlights well-contained within the exposure data. Most all phone cameras shoot in JPEG capture mode, which is less good at bridging shadow-to-highlight ranges.

Anyway nae, KEEP AT IT!

 

[Overread]

Have a read of the first post in this thread
How to structure your posts to get critiques on your work (C&C)

This should give you some thoughts on how to structure and put together a post or two with your photos and how to present the information to get the best feedback. The act itself of starting to put together the post yourself will also start the process of teaching you how to self critique; how to dismantle your photo into its key components and then getting feedback on them.

Sometimes when you're new its very hard to tell what information is important and what has or hasn't worked, often because the same result can have multiple potential causes and its hard (on your own) to work out which is the actual likely cause.

 

[dennybeall]

The first thing that jumps out to me is that the shots all seem to be shot upward from down low. If you could get the camera up higher it may help some. Colors on a couple are somewhat off also.

 

[Bebulamar]

Dear friends,

Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I am as you probably assume a beginner, a noob how some may say. I have followed a couple of online courses and invested quite some money in the gear. I know I am still missing experience but I get depressed when I continuously get bad results.

I have no friends that shares same hobby, so no close people to ask for advice, therefore I try to get my help here.

I dot't know if is because I am rushing things, am I asking too much from myself or I just suck and should sell everything and start playing poker? But there is always something very wrong. Either they look dirty, blurry, "unfinished" or the composition sucks.

Hope the thread is in write place. Below i have uploaded few examples from today.

My God, I get frustrated...

Thanks in advance, nae

.

Start playing poker. Take it easy on the post processing.

 

[nae]

Hi everyone!

To start I have to say that I am shooting RAW and sometimes I take few exposure brackets of the same shot and compile them together with an older version of Photomatix. I was reading an article yesterday and I have found out that the pictures shot with a newer camera are not completely compatible with Photomatix and that's the reason why my HDR pictures (if I can call them so) have all this magenta. - The Defender above should have been dark blue...


I've started my journey with landscape yes, because is easy to reach (don't need a model, a pass or ticket to event), but I want to experience all kind of photography in the future. I guess I'd like to shot sports.
I follow Bryan Peterson's work. I like him as a photographer and as person too, after watching some of his videos. I have a couple of his books in my bookshelf also.
I have difficulties while composing the picture ( ... I know the role of three thirds, and all the theory). I usually have a plan when I leave home, but then,when I get in the field and start shooting is so different. Probably or I think I know everything of I rush things or who knows... I get emotional, but for some reason I get everything wrong.

Then the sky, the clouds are most of the time grey. As lens, I am using usually a Tokina 16-28 FX which doesn't allow me to attach filters unless I buy an expensive adapter.
To mention also that unless I shoot brackets (when I shoot in aperture priority), I shoot in manual mode mainly with WB and ISO in auto.

The picture with horses should have been very nice, I would have wanted to see that the colors would have been much more vivid. Probably now that I think I should have isolate the subjects by choosing a wider aperture even I've shot with a F5.6. I don't know...


Thank you very much for your answers and encouragements. It means a lot!

 

[Braineack]

Hi everyone!

To start I have to say that I am shooting RAW and sometimes I take few exposure brackets of the same shot and compile them together with an older version of Photomatix. I was reading an article yesterday and I have found out that the pictures shot with a newer camera are not completely compatible with Photomatix and that's the reason why my HDR pictures (if I can call them so) have all this magenta. - The Defender above should have been dark blue...

If you think your pictures suck so bad, why not stop playing in photomatix and instead spend that time actually honing your photography skills?

 

[Designer]

I've started my journey with landscape ..

I consider landscape to be one the most difficult genres in photography in which to convey a feeling of being at that place. There are multiple reasons for that, so just let that sink in for a while.

When I look at your examples, the thing that jumps out at me is the light. With the exception of the last (number?) they all are taken in the wrong light. Learn to use the light, not fight it.

 

[beagle100]

Dear friends,

Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I am as you probably assume a beginner, a noob how some may say. I have followed a couple of online courses and invested quite some money in the gear. I know I am still missing experience but I get depressed when I continuously get bad results.

I have no friends that shares same hobby, so no close people to ask for advice, therefore I try to get my help here.

I dot't know if is because I am rushing things, am I asking too much from myself or I just suck and should sell everything and start playing poker? But there is always something very wrong. Either they look dirty, blurry, "unfinished" or the composition sucks.

Hope the thread is in write place. Below i have uploaded few examples from today.

My God, I get frustrated...
Thanks in advance, nae .

Start playing poker. Take it easy on the post processing.

I would also agree with the comments on going easy on post-processing and use of photomatix software
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[booda303]

I'm a beginner and it's taking me time to learn the basics. I see pictures I like and try to recreate them and my lighting is awful at home and I sometimes want to give up. I opened you're pix and I'm not a pro so I can't tell you about lighting , cropping or even repositioning but what I can say they aren't bad. In fact I liked the third picture a lot. Since I don't pick up my camera a lot I dont get to use different angles so I actually wanna try to get that angle of the jeep. This forum is very helpful and people will give you great tips.

 

[BigJason]

Hi nae,

Your composition is all right! Great start. I'll echo Derrel and say these are not awful.

Here are two things I recommend:

1. If you have an ultrawide or fisheye lens on, which some distortion in the first few images seems to show, take that off and put a regular 18-55 or maybe a 40 or 50 prime on. And use that for awhile.

2. If you've been fiddling with your images in post, don't do that for awhile. Work on getting the color, lighting, white balance etc. looking right in the image as you take it. I do almost nothing in post except maybe a horizon leveling on occasion. I want my images to be as I took them. Sure, I miss out on the split focus with the sky being amazing and the ground being amazing, but that's OK...I know how to get the effect I want out of the camera and lens I'm using rather than depending on a program in post to fix my lack of knowledge or errors.

Doing both these things will help you improve quickly. You're already off to a good start!

 

[stk]

I think you should try to simplify things a bit, both when it comes to shooting-style and composition.

Try to focus on having a clear subject and avoid clutter that fights for the viewers attention. Objects with a clear front and back, especially if they're moving, will in most cases look best if they have some negativ space in front of them, or else it will look like they're on their way out of the frame. Take for example the photography of the Defender; a few steps to your left and both the car in the back and the blue container would have been out of frame or hidden behind the Defender. From there you could choose to either take a step or two closer and focus on som smaller details of the car, or take a few steps back and have the car entering the frame.

 

[Sportrunner]

I think the composition is what throws off the images for me. If you are using a wide angle lens then get closer to the subject. For the defender image consider something like focusing on the grill. The dumpster in the background draws the eye. For the boat image I would suggest the same thing. Get closer to the boat. Try to get some of the foreground out of the image. For the two statues, there is too much stuff in the background. The minivan is distracting. Again, look at moving closer to the subject. Your technical skills are spot on. The images are sharp. Keep trying new things.
Lastly, try taking more images of the same thing from different angles. I find that it sometimes helps to get a different perspective.