New To TPF

[kingbriani]

Hey Everyone! My name is Brian and I'm new here. I recently bought a nikon d40 and want to improve my photography skills. Im posting a couple photos I've taken below, please feel free to comment and tell me what I should do differently next time. I'm looking forward to improving with your help.

ps. does anyone know if i can hotlink to picassa web albums? its much easier for me to do that than upload photos to photobucket but it looked like it wouldnt work when i tried it just now. Thanks!

 

[ktm293]

You're name seems familiar....

 

[Chicagophotoshop]

I would like to see the branches on the right side edited out. but still a solid shot. I love the second shot. welcome, this is a great place.

 

[Jeremy Z]

The first one is a nice shot. The second one seems a little common.

As for advice, look through the galleries and links to peoples' online albums here. The ones that really speak to you, try to put your finger on what it is that you like about them.

Keep trying, you've got a good camera and a pretty good eye.

 

[kingbriani]

thanks for the comments so far everyone!

ktm293, have you figured out if you know me yet? do you frequent any other forums?

chicagophotoshop, thanks for the praise. my main concern with the first picture was the presence of the trees to the right and left of my subject tree coming into the frame as well. i couldnt find an angle to exclude both and retain the nice leaning angle of the subject so i had to settle. my other concerns with that first picture were the broken branch that seems to disrupt the lines of the tree but what are you gonna do, thats nature. the other concern was all the black space at the bottom of the frame. i thought about cropping it some but decided to leave it since i feel it kind of anchors the tree and rest of the picture.

jeremy z, thanks for looking at my pictures. im afraid at this point all of my pictures are a little generic. im still working on trying to develop an eye for photography so i mostly point the camera at the cliche' subjects. browsing through the galleries is helping, no doubt, but sometimes i will find pictures that just "work" for me without knowing quite what it is about them that appeals to me. i guess when i figure that out ill be another step toward creating better photographs.

one of the things i liked about the first picture i posted was that the general shape of the tree seems to repeat above and below the dark band of land on the far side of the lake. kind of like an upsidedown reflection. just wanted to know if anyone else noticed this and whether stuff like that adds to a picture or is just overlooked by most.

Thanks!

 

[kestrel0222]

Welcome to the forum!!

Nice shots!!

 

[Jeremy Z]

jeremy z, thanks for looking at my pictures. im afraid at this point all of my pictures are a little generic. im still working on trying to develop an eye for photography so i mostly point the camera at the cliche' subjects. browsing through the galleries is helping, no doubt, but sometimes i will find pictures that just "work" for me without knowing quite what it is about them that appeals to me. i guess when i figure that out ill be another step toward creating better photographs.

One of the funny things about this forum is that it raises the standards you set for yourself. Before coming here, you might think you are halfway decent, because everyone around you is so impressed with your work. Then, you come here and are among some people with real skills... all of a sudden you're more humble when you see some really good stuff.

It's good and bad. Good, because it does make you raise your standards and because it helps you to see things from different perspectives.

Bad because you're not happy with your work very often any more.

There's nothing wrong with shooting the cliché subjects. You have to remember who you're shooting for. Is it us? (maybe to an extent) or is it you? Or is it someone else altogether.

Look at portraits. Most of them are similar. Subject matter is never a concern. But since each person is unique, and since each person wants a portrait of THEIR loved-ones... You get the idea. Occasionally, I post something that I secretly hope others here will really like.