Opinions ?

adude · Dec 29, 2008

I'm super new to photography. I got a slr for Christmas and have been taken some pictures. I lack the ability to judge if my photos are good and my family and friends don't have the heart to tell me either; so i was wondering if anyone could give my their opinions on my photos and please be brutally honest. Also if anyone has any tips for me as well.
I'll be taking a photography class in January
Sometimes I go a little overboard with photoshop.

manaheim · Dec 29, 2008

Well... I wouldn't personally call these shots "good", but that's #1 a subjective statement, and #2 from some idiot on some random forum (me being the idiot), #3 kind of what one would expect from someone who just got a camera.

Look at it this way...

I look at a lot of the shots I take nowadays and I generally think "Hey, not too bad!" and some of them I even think are good. A year ago I thought the same thing, but I look back on shots I took a year ago and I want to hang myself for thinking that crap was any good.

Oh, and a year ago I looked back on shots I took a year before that... shots that I thought were good then... and I think "Good god, what was I thinking? Those were crap!"

And on and on and on...

Take lots of pictures, certainly ask for feedback on them, take the feedback seriously but don't necessarily accept all of it.

Work with feedback as you would trying on clothes at a store. Grab it, look it over, try it on, look at yourself with it, decide if it works for you... if not, neatly fold it up and put it back on the shelf. Maybe come back and look at it again later.

Repeat this a million times.

You'll get better every day.

Some specific tips to start with...

1. Don't overprocess your images. A couple of these are way oversaturated and it looks a bit off. Start with the basics.
2. Be aware that shooting towards the sun generally has ill effects on pictures.
3. Try to keep your pictures straight or straighten them in post-processing.
4. Look up "the rule of thirds" and try to take advantage of it when it makes sense (which tends to be a lot).
5. When you have ordinary subjects, look for unique angles and lighting that might show them in an extraordinary way.
6. Best light for pictures outdoors is dawn and dusk. Dramatic light is your friend for artistic works.

Enjoy your camera, keep at it, and keep posting!

kundalini · Dec 29, 2008

#1 - The rack is superfluous, dingy and dirty. A couple of tips: 1)Clean the balls -2)think about the patterns of colors and stripes versus solids. -3) Have a PoV that doesn't have busy/distracting background -4) get a piece of white tissue/gift paper to cover and diffuse your table light and have it as your only light source (unless you have external flashes to light the scene).

#2 & 3 - Whoa.... easy on the saturation.

#4 - If the barn is your subject, the tree in the middle kills it.

#5 - Sorry, you're best to keep playing with this one to get an interesting shot. As Manaheim mentioned, shooting into the sun is tough. Waiting until the sun is behind the hill will still give you plenty of light and probably some nice colors if you wait long enough and have the right conditions.

Keep shooting and posting........ and don't forget, have fun while you're at it.