Please critique my pictures :)

ramizlol · Nov 24, 2015

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum. I am very new to this photography thing. I currently have Nikon d3300 with the kit lens. Here is few pictures I have taken please give me any tips to improve my pictures or things to pay attention to.
1. The colors were horrible so I decided to lower the saturation and pumped up the clarity

DSC_0232 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
2.I shot this in raw and over exposed it. I felt my only options was to go B&W or lower saturation. I feel like the picture isn't as sharp as it could have been. I used a tripod. Btw I believe this was 25 sec shutter

DSC_0223-2 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
I have shown this picture to few people and comment that I got was it looked unrealistic and lacked depth.

DSC_0203-2 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
1.I feel this one has been one of the best pictures I have taken. The green look very weird by the tree tho

IMG_20151110_111343 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
I really liked this one even those it looks very edited or animated. I liked the over exposed light behind the stairs

IMG_20151107_213418 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
This is a random one lol

DSC_0035 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
I shot this in jpeg, I had the wrong WB set and couldn't do much editing to fix it

DSC_0040 by ramiz toma, on Flickr
Same thing here, jpeg with wrong WB

DSC_0049 by ramiz toma, on Flickr

CdTSnap · Nov 25, 2015

Number 1 is sick, love it. Number 5 is cool, I dont know if your doing it on purpose but I would probably straighten those images out post if you cant in camera.

jjphotos · Nov 25, 2015

Welcome! One tip I would give you is to straighten out your horizons in your pictures.
Examples:

Jim Walczak · Nov 25, 2015

These are just my own opinions, so please take them as such.

While I agree with the comments about keeping your horizon straight, the thing that perhaps draws my attention the most is the consistent lack of any central subject matter regarding your compositions. You're exposures and such look decent enough, the images are plenty sharp and I have no issues with the somewhat ethereal look of the longer exposures, however as the viewer, I find myself asking "What are these shots about...what's the point?". I'm not trying to be rude here, however to me these shots present the appearance of a novice who has no clearly defined goal with his/her images. It's been my experience that a lot of people who first get into photography...particularly those who have just gone out and got new equipment (a new camera for example), will often be eager to just run out the door and shoot something...anything...without much/any thought or clearly defined sense of what they actually want to shoot.

My advice would be to consider your compositions...whenever you put the viewfinder to your eye, ask yourself "what is this shot about". The example I frequently use is shooting critters at a zoo...let's say monkeys. You're standing there at the monkey's habitat looking thru the viewfinder...is the shot about the other people watching the monkeys? Is it about the monkey's habitat? Is it about that glob of poo the monkey just flung on the wall? Or is it about the monkey? Once you've decided what your image is actually about, then simplify and eliminate...if something doesn't add to the composition, then simply remove it/don't include it.

Likewise, my advice to a novice is "shoot what you know". For example, if you're into sports, going out and taking pictures of vintage cars probably isn't the best place to start...go shoot a ball game instead! If your interest is animals, hit the zoo or even check out a local dog park! Let your own hobbies, interests and passions guide your photography.

This is just my own philosophy, however I'm a firm believer in that good composition will take you further than understanding the nuances of your camera controls. People can and do shoot really amazing images using full auto or nothing more than simple point & shoot cameras. Conversely an image can be perfectly exposed and tack sharp, however if it's boring to look at, the rest just doesn't matter at all. It's WELL worth the time to learn about and understand the principles of good composition...what actually makes a good image good.

Again just my own opinions...I hope they help!

Designer · Nov 25, 2015

Too many photos for a good critique, and any more than two should be numbered.

The one with light behind the stairs is my pick.

ramizlol · Nov 25, 2015

Jim Walczak said:
These are just my own opinions, so please take them as such.

While I agree with the comments about keeping your horizon straight, the thing that perhaps draws my attention the most is the consistent lack of any central subject matter regarding your compositions. You're exposures and such look decent enough, the images are plenty sharp and I have no issues with the somewhat ethereal look of the longer exposures, however as the viewer, I find myself asking "What are these shots about...what's the point?". I'm not trying to be rude here, however to me these shots present the appearance of a novice who has no clearly defined goal with his/her images. It's been my experience that a lot of people who first get into photography...particularly those who have just gone out and got new equipment (a new camera for example), will often be eager to just run out the door and shoot something...anything...without much/any thought or clearly defined sense of what they actually want to shoot.

My advice would be to consider your compositions...whenever you put the viewfinder to your eye, ask yourself "what is this shot about". The example I frequently use is shooting critters at a zoo...let's say monkeys. You're standing there at the monkey's habitat looking thru the viewfinder...is the shot about the other people watching the monkeys? Is it about the monkey's habitat? Is it about that glob of poo the monkey just flung on the wall? Or is it about the monkey? Once you've decided what your image is actually about, then simplify and eliminate...if something doesn't add to the composition, then simply remove it/don't include it.

Likewise, my advice to a novice is "shoot what you know". For example, if you're into sports, going out and taking pictures of vintage cars probably isn't the best place to start...go shoot a ball game instead! If your interest is animals, hit the zoo or even check out a local dog park! Let your own hobbies, interests and passions guide your photography.

This is just my own philosophy, however I'm a firm believer in that good composition will take you further than understanding the nuances of your camera controls. People can and do shoot really amazing images using full auto or nothing more than simple point & shoot cameras. Conversely an image can be perfectly exposed and tack sharp, however if it's boring to look at, the rest just doesn't matter at all. It's WELL worth the time to learn about and understand the principles of good composition...what actually makes a good image good.

Again just my own opinions...I hope they help!

I feel like that's a part of my problem. I do have an idea of what I am shooting but don't understand how to give that object the attention in the picture. I have been looking at some stuff like 1 of 3rd rule and using leading line or such. I appreciate the comment!!

ramizlol · Nov 25, 2015

Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to align them!

Braineack · Nov 25, 2015

composition.

Derrel · Nov 25, 2015

Bringing interest to urban landscapes involves a few key skills, like being able to determine literally how close to be to the subject, and with what lens length and angle of view what time of day to find light that is appealing; knowing how to frame up a shot--tall or wide? high angle or low angle? perspective corrected or perspective distorted for effect?

What focal length is used determines how physically large or small the background objects appear, and how wide the angle of view the lens sees BEHIND the foreground area, and these things, all together, combined, determines how a photo looks and how it "feels". The ultra-short lens lengths make space appear vast, and make background objects appear small, In shot #1 for example, the feet hanging over the edge of the building--this looks like a 2-story building. If the camera had been equipped with say a 10.5mm ultra-wide angle lens, this might have looked more like a 5-story building. This is called lens work. You need to understand how to use lenses.

Like Jim said, these photos don't seem to have really clearly-defined subjects in one sense. These seem more like for-the-record shots, like factual shots showing what certain places were like at a click in time. Making the transition from for-the-record type images to photographs is a process.

After learning how the camera works, then it becomes the time to learn how to work a camera. That's the issue. It is now time to learn how to work a scene, work a camera, work a composition from a mental thought into an actual, finished image, and that is basically the artistic and aesthetic journey that every photographer needs to begin, and complete. The easy part is over. Now you need to work on aesthetics, lens work, composition, lighting, and processing.