Newbie, C&C please :)

[tmL]

Hey all! So I just ordered my first DSLR camera but unfortunately it hasn't arrived yet...but I am so excited to get into photography that I went back to some old pictures (taken with P&S) and edited them, trying to keep in mind what I've been reading about. Please let me know what you think.

Self criticism:

The first photo I wanted to try composing a successful portrait shot. I took out a lot of the busy background, but was it enough//too much? The main thing bothering me is the white headphone cord is a little overexposed and the snow to the right of her head is overexposed as well. It's also not very focused, as you can see when you look at the larger image.

The second photo is also overexposed on the right side where the sun hits the buildings and that white stump thing (don't know quite what it is). Do you think I should have cropped out more of the top? I decided not to because I felt like the height of the picture gave it some more depth, but I may be totally wrong..

Any feedback would be really great!

 

[Raian-san]

Well #1, the angle is not good to crop out part of her head, hard to explain it but I'm new too so take it with a grain of salt.

Her left side are out of focus but just giving you an example of how it should be cut off. Although I'm not even sure if my shot quality for it but IMO it's similar to what I meant.

#2 looks like a snapshot because it's not that interesting. GL, and keep shooting.

 

[eggmanmeggan]

Hi, would not consider myself a expert but I can tell you what I liked and did not like. When I first started with a P&S I had some of the same problems.

On the portrait- the top part of her head/headphones is snipped, Iv been taught that a intentional snip of body parts, hats, arms whatever is ok- as long as it appears intended. Looks like a easy fix, you can google how to add more of the background and create a space between the end of the frame and her. Might be good practice because TRUST me someday you will take a GREAT photo and need to only do this one little tweak and you will be glad you took the time to learn it. When you get your DSLR you will have a easier time with this framing. The viewfinder gives you a much better idea of whats in frame and what isn't. I don't know why or how but it does : )

The other noticeable things are what you mention- its a bit soft for my taste so I would of done some sort of tweaking. I don't mind the cord being overexposed because the detail that would of been captured doesnt seem that important. And I didn't notice the snow at all. Later with your new camera you can do a more shallow depth of field and get rid of that distraction in the instant you took it. What I liked about it, is that you have catch lights in her eyes. And she doesnt look posed or cheesy, with social media it seems that everyone can pose for a camera in a instant and you loose what the person really looks like. I would of faced her more into the light, or placed her in front of the light to back light her. That would of been really cool with the headphones, you get this kind of hair "halo" from the light. With the light now, its not bad- but it could be better. The shadows on her face get in the way of seeing her, sometimes using shadows work really well but here its neither right or wrong in my opinion.

The bikes I like- I would of shot the same subject. You have a eye for patterns- with patterns I believe that you need focus more on the pattern- the strong graphic line of the bikes appears to be what you were going for but that line needs to lead us somewhere. Right now, your eye hits it- and it doesn't know where to go. With how the light is hitting it, I would of gotten lower- possibly from the other side. Looks like there where some people looking at you so I don' blame ya if you didn't want to crawl on the ground for a shot. But eventually the bug will get ya and you will have no choice other then make a fool of yourself to get a shot. ; ) What would of made this great is if you had caught someone riding a bike at the horizon line where the "line" of bikes takes your eyes. Also remember to keep your horizon lines roughly on either the upper or lower "third" line. Rarely can ya get away with a middle horizon line. This might of been the case if we had less shadows. If you can, go back to this place. And just shoot shoot shoot. Your point and shoot will give you a long depth of field which I feel would be best at this place (fuzzy distant bikes don't sound beautiful to me) - you don't really need to wait for the new camera to play at this location.

One thing I did to start understanding light better was to shoot the same subject in different light. So rainy days-sunny days ext and when I really wanted to understand better- I went to the same tree in a park for every 2 or 3 hours. Did the same thing with Fstops too. I have a folder of 800 something of the most boring, and only slightly different photos in the world but I learned. I compared and took notes and by all means I am not perfect but I understand the craft better then I did.

Over all, good job! Keep your camera with you and shoot like hell everyday- and you will get somewhere. You have a good eye.

-Meggan

 

[tmL]

Thank you for the responses!
I actually was wondering about cropping and when it would be fitting to crop out part of someone's head and when not. First the first photo, I wonder if I should have left all of the headphones in, or maybe I should have cropped it out some more by taking out the top part. What do you guys think? Is the tree in the background okay? I didn't want this shot to be just a close up of the face but I wish I could've gotten a better bokeh.

The second picture is really getting to me. Sometimes I look at it and I really like it, but then other time I don't. I think you're right when you say there's nothing really interesting, I think I need a more prominent and subject. My main focus when I originally took the picture was the just line of bikes in general but I don't think I shot it right. Perhaps you are right in that I should have gotten lower, I didn't even think about that and how it could change my picture.

Lastly, I would love to take your suggestion and go back to this place but I shot these when I was visiting my friend abroad in Italy hehe. Any other thoughts?

 

[Raian-san]

the 1st photo, you drop the top too much, leave a little space and it'll look better.

2nd one, you have two subject in symmetric line. Either one one or the other, you shouldn't have both. That's the reason why when people look at it, it's distracting and dunno what the photo is about. So either just the bike itself, or the building.

 

[Raigoki]

hi!

1st photo - i like... your model. (she's cute) lolz, kidding aside, the shadows creeping on the left side (her right cheek) is kinda distracting. and maybe you could center the model's face if you're going for the tight/cropped headshot.

2nd photo - i like the vanishing point. but maybe you could experiment more on the angle of taking this picture. You can still get the vanishing point of this photo and at the same time, give emphasis more on the group of bikes in front of you rather than just one bike on the front.

3rd photo - maybe you could show a bit more of the child's toy. or at another angle.

hth.