My pictures lack that WOW Factor :(

[daniyallashari]

Hi,
This will be my first post here on the forum and i would really like some feedback and help as how to improve my photography skills.
I consider myself an amateur and feel that photography for me can be more than just a hobby.

Whenever i look at pictures online or at 500px or other such places, i am literally blown away by some of the pictures but when i take my pictures and edit them to the best of my abilities i feel as if the picture lacks that WOW factor and is just bland. I dont know maybe i am being too critical of myself but any help would be greatly greatly appreciated.

 

[Watchful]

It looks like you are trying to fit too much into the shots. Find a focal point and make it the primary focus of the scene. Look for more interesting angles.

 

[BrettMikaluk]

REALLY wide angles. I would suggest narrowing the frame down, even in photoshop. I would also suggest trying less with lighting to start. Yes lighting can make or break a photo but as long as you can clearly see a subject and it's framed in an interesting way the lighting can be forgiven.

I do like your style though, and those three photos are a hell of a lot nicer than some I've seen in my photo classes...

 

[407370]

It looks like you are trying to fit too much into the shots. Find a focal point and make it the primary focus of the scene. Look for more interesting angles.

I disagree.
Good landscape shots (and these are good) dont need a focal point.
The process to create these pics started with an idea and they were executed successfully to meet that idea. I really like the wide angle of the light trail shots as it shows a path that was taken to a logical conclusion. To shorten the width would take something away from the balance of the pictures. These are great examples of when it is correct to apply your own rules on composition.
Great work.

 

[Didereaux]

I see nothing particularly wrong about any of the photos. The WOW you seek is your 'Wow'...that is good, do not confuse that with the quality of your work. One is objective, the other subjective. Keep shooting these scenes until you get your personal WOW, then you will have an idea as to how to repeat it, or see it in other places.

 

[astroNikon]

Maybe he's talking about HDR'ing it.
There's a trend of creating "wow" by over saturation of colors and extremes of post processing.

 

[Didereaux]

Maybe he's talking about HDR'ing it.
There's a trend of creating "wow" by over saturation of colors and extremes of post processing.

not certain if that is WOW! they are yelling....or screams from the pain in their eyeballs!

 

[astroNikon]

Maybe he's talking about HDR'ing it.
There's a trend of creating "wow" by over saturation of colors and extremes of post processing.

not certain if that is WOW! they are yelling....or screams from the pain in their eyeballs!

I have one friend that take it to an "extreme" extreme .... makes your eyeballs bleed.

 

[JBes97]

I really like number one. The streams of light really work for me. Nice photos!
As far as the wow factor, that's something to work towards. Speaking for myself, I've only ever taken one or two photos that I REALLY liked. The rest are just alright.
Pursuing greatness in each photo is what keeps us improving. It's how we keep moving forward rather than just being content where we are.

 

[Watchful]

It looks like you are trying to fit too much into the shots. Find a focal point and make it the primary focus of the scene. Look for more interesting angles.

I disagree.
Good landscape shots (and these are good) dont need a focal point.
The process to create these pics started with an idea and they were executed successfully to meet that idea. I really like the wide angle of the light trail shots as it shows a path that was taken to a logical conclusion. To shorten the width would take something away from the balance of the pictures. These are great examples of when it is correct to apply your own rules on composition.
Great work.

While your post is nice, it fails to address the question of how to improve these shots.
That is what the op asked for.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I thought too that the first one was too wide a shot, I feel like there's more of the scene there to the left that really doesn't add to the photo. I like the light coming thru the trees. I'd say from that photo it might help to learn more about composition.

To me the light trails are something of a novelty? a specialty shot? not sure how to describe it but seems to have been done an awful lot and is a matter of setting up a long exposure as cars go by - can be kind of cool but not sure how to get an idea of someone's photography from those.

Also on sites like 500px there seem to be an abundance of over edited, oversaturated, over the top photos! Take a look at the Terms on there too, some of those sites are referred to as 'photo grab sites' because they want people's photos and write Terms that allow the site to use people's photos (or sell them at such a low price the photographer doesn't make much from their own work).

If you want to learn, try looking up famous photographers and get used to looking at good photos and think about why they were considered good. You're probably looking at mostly amateur photography.

 

[The_Traveler]

Really nice ideas and great start.
However, these don't look 'clean' to me.
There seems to be too much raggedy edges look to the details and lots of color noise at 100%.
Are you denoising when you start?

There also is, imo, an ambivalence in the composition.
Where should I be looking, over here or over there?
I believe that the photo should establish, if not a single important center to look at, at least a single direction so my eye light on something or somewhere.

In the picture below, I wonder if I should be looking mostly at the curly road or past it to the city which is quite large in the frame?
And that vague overhead tree shadow is just excess and distracting.

A crop more like this, with the city smaller, would subordinate the city to the twisty road.
Maybe lighten the top edge of teh hill to distinguish it from the sky more easily.
And the light at the lower left edge only raises questions about what is causing it.

 

[Watchful]

The most famous photographers are not necessarily the best photographers, some are just very good salesmen and PR men.
Its easier to get fame than talent.

 

[Didereaux]

I disagree with traveler on this. The shot was a PANORAMA. Panos do NOT have central subjects as a rule...that rather defeats the purpose of the pano, now doesn't it? You have this huge vista that requires you to scan it from one side to another, and then go back and look at specifics which is the meat of the pano genre. Yet you want to crop it down to a normal landscape...nah!!!!! In this instance the road actually ties the valley in to the whole

Really nice ideas and great start.
However, these don't look 'clean' to me.
There seems to be too much raggedy edges look to the details and lots of color noise at 100%.
Are you denoising when you start?

There also is, imo, an ambivalence in the composition.
Where should I be looking, over here or over there?
I believe that the photo should establish, if not a single important center to look at, at least a single direction so my eye light on something or somewhere.

In the picture below, I wonder if I should be looking mostly at the curly road or past it to the city which is quite large in the frame?
And that vague overhead tree shadow is just excess and distracting.



A crop more like this, with the city smaller, would subordinate the city to the twisty road.
Maybe lighten the top edge of teh hill to distinguish it from the sky more easily.
And the light at the lower left edge only raises questions about what is causing it.

No, NO, NO! This is a panorama, not a simple landscape. The very soul of a pano is the grand vista, which DOES NOT have a hugely dominant single subject. It may have one or more subjects, but they are subservient to the vista! The road in that OP shot actually ties in the valley. Whereas the crop destroys that continuity. Panos require you to scan the entire image, they NEVER lead to a single point because then it would be just a weird cropped normal landscape. Ask yourself why you would shoot a grand vista and compose it such that no matter what the viewer did his eye would be lead directly to one object? Doesn't make sense does it?

 

[jmg703]

I quite like these photos. I actually wouldn't crow your curvy road one, as it give it a nice sense of scale, maybe just paint out the weird tree shadow in the upper right, and maybe the starburst on the right. It is slightly distracting.