Novice Photographer Seeking Criticism

[TCPhotograpy]

Hello All,

I am new to photography, started about a week or so ago, and am looking for some critiques on my photos. I'm been overwhelmed with school work so this is what I have so far. All criticism welcomed.

Some more of my work can be seen at tcphoto-graph.tumblr.com

Thanks for looking.

 

[zach_original]

Hi! Welcome to the forum, but also welcome to the wonderful world of photography! Isn't it awesome?

Your first shots aren't all too bad! Some things to think about in terms of composing your shot:
Where do your eyes go when you first look at the image? Is there anything unnecessary in frame? Do I have a subject, and is that subject in focus? etc. I like your fourth shot (the one with the lamp and the path leading to the building) because my eye immediately went to the lamp, then the path, then the building. Certain features in a photo that encourage the eye to look around are always good, in my opinion. The trees that are obscuring the building make me want to see more of it, though!

Also, maybe try and shoot from different angles and experiment with different settings. I'm not sure what you're shooting on, but it's always fun to just mess around and see what you come up with. I highly recommend using your camera's meter if it has one. Generally, assuming you're shooting outside, aim for shooting with an open aperture (f/stop) and a shorter shutter speed on cloudy, darker days. On days with lots of sun and light, close your aperture and increase your shutter speed.

I also recommend looking at photography articles online. There's lots of them and they cover countless topics, and they're very helpful!

Again, welcome to TPF!

 

[Ysarex]

Welcome to TPF.

Here's some suggestions for one of your photos.

Joe

 

[The_Traveler]

Most of these are just snapshots of what you saw in front of you without much artistic input from you.
The one of St Agnes College is nicely thought out.
Massive building, colorful lawns, shown at an angle to give it interest.

There are weak points however.
There is some perspective distortion (note the slant in the towers) and the colors are way over-saturated. Note the fluorescent green and yellow lawn and it is very cold toned because of the shadows in the late day. (original on left)

Correcting the tilt and the saturation and the cold toning gives a more true-to-life image, I think.

 

[TCPhotograpy]

Zach,

Thank you for your response! I've read countless articles about the rule of thirds and the golden spiral and everything else but that tends to just go out of my head when I actually pull out my camera. I tend, well try to at least, have the subject be in the center of the frame, excluding any other objects or distracting items. It's still a work in progress though and I know I'll have better shots with more practice.

I appreciate the criticism.

 

[TCPhotograpy]

Most of these are just snapshots of what you saw in front of you without much artistic input from you.
The one of St Agnes College is nicely thought out.
Massive building, colorful lawns, shown at an angle to give it interest.

There are weak points however.
There is some perspective distortion (note the slant in the towers) and the colors are way over-saturated. Note the fluorescent green and yellow lawn and it is very cold toned because of the shadows in the late day. (original on left)

View attachment 85568

Correcting the tilt and the saturation and the cold toning gives a more true-to-life image, I think.

View attachment 85569

Lew,

Thank you for your response! These are indeed true spur of the moment shots and I'm trying to focus more on seeing a scenario, finding a subject, etc. I will also make an effort to tone down the saturation.

 

[The_Traveler]

Lew,
Thank you for your response! These are indeed true spur of the moment shots and I'm trying to focus more on seeing a scenario, finding a subject, etc. I will also make an effort to tone down the saturation.

TC,

I should have been a bit more explicit.
It is not necessary to always to 'turn down the saturation.'
One should look at each picture and look for issues that look unreal or inappropriate for the image.

Let me quote from my favorite photographer, me:

"These are some of the questions I ask myself when I look at a picture to decide what items need to be considered in a post-processing workflow.

• Are there bright areas of light or color that draw a viewer's eye from the real object of interest?
• Are there one or more obvious centers of visual interest where a viewer's can settle?
• Is(are) the center(s) of interest - the main subject(s) - well placed within the frame and does the placement relate well to the rest of the content so that any viewer's eye is drawn to, rather than away?
• Is there excess space that pulls the eye away and drains any tension or drama from the picture?
• Is there space that gives some weight to an important part of an image?
• Is there enough space so that nothing feels cramped or cut off?
• If the subject is a person or a face and his/her placement in the frame is asymmetric, does the asymmetry make sense to the eye?
• Are there geometric issues? e.g. are the horizontals and verticals correct, and is that important or as you want them?
• Is the skin color 'natural' to the subject?
• Are there little off-tints in the skin? (look at the sides of the nose and under the chin where these lurk.)
• Is there a bluish tint to the skin or the whites of the eyes? (Even with a custom white balance, this is all too common in portraits taken outdoors. Try adding a warming photo filter and see how this looks.)
• Is the color or tonality appropriate for the content? Saturation or lack of it? Correct hues, white balance?
• Does the color make the point that you want?
• Is the sharpness or lack of sharpness appropriate?
• Is everything that should be in focus and sharp, actually so?
• In the reverse, is there so much depth of field, so much in focus that attention is drawn away from the real object of interest?
• Are there individual small defects -points of motion, dirt on the lens/sensor, out-of-focus spots that hurt the image, unduly bright areas that draw the eye?

After doing this kind of image evaluation for a while, one doesn't need to dwell specifically on questions and the evaluation will become unscripted and automatic.

Nothing is wrong per se, if it creates the impression that you want to make.
Something is wrong if it gets between the viewer and her/his appreciation of the image."