smoking man

[chiefpackman]

I'm new to these forms and photography for that matter. Just picked up a entry level dslr (Nikon d3200) to get started. I also got lightroom to edit RAW. I went out wondering the streets here in Korea. This is my favorite shot of the day. I like the black and white concept but know little about what im doing. Any input would be great.

 

[sashbar]

Welcome to the Forum ! D3200 and Lightroom = you have all that is needed for making great shots. As for you image - it is good. Sadly we do not see the man's face, but I like the busy background. The image has some vintage feeling - it could be taken in the 60s or 80s, and I like it. It is slightly underexposed to my liking, I took the liberty to correct it a bit.

 

[chiefpackman]

Thanks for the reply. I do see what you mean about the underexposure.

 

[The_Traveler]

Excellent start.
Very excellent
You have an eye for the scene; now you need to exert a little bit more control over the end product.

The image is slightly off vertical - and not for any artistic reason so it's disconcerting.
You've clipped his foot and yet there is lots of space at the other edges so there is the faint look of a miss in framing, particularly when the subject and the image has a stillness.

The subject is just off center and there is eye-attracting clutter behind him; I would have moved him more to the side so there is that space he is looking into.
The image is a bit soft, that's fine foir the background but the subject is merging too much into that for my tastes. I would sharpen only him.

 

[chiefpackman]

Thanks for the in depth advice I appreciate it. I really like your work.

 

[The_Traveler]

Glad to say anything sensible I can think of.

Are you in the service, a dependent or just a traveler in Korea?

 

[chiefpackman]

Air Force. I used to do a lot of art work mainly painting before I joined but its sort of fallen off since. I've been thinking of trying photography for a while. Now that I'm in Korea for a little while I decided now was as good of a time as any. I've been enjoying it so far. Still trying to figure out the camera. I've used photoshop before but not lightroom so I'm trying to get a grasp on that. I've been looking at tutorials. I know this really isn't a thread for this but do you have any suggestions on tutorials or guides to photography/photo editing?

 

[The_Traveler]

the technical issues of editing are secondary and easily learned.
the more important part is being able to look at your images and decide what to do.

I wrote a fairly long blog piece about this.

This below is the first few paragraphs.
If you find it interesting the actual link to the rest is there also.

The typical way to get into editing is mechanical.

People learn some photo-editing techniques or tricks and then they want to use them - soon and often. When all you have is a new hammer, everything looks like a nail.Witness the typical output of photographers new to editing doing selective color or heavy vignettes. That attitude unfortunately goes along with considering the taking of pictures as a mechanical procedure with some tiny bit of artistry spread or just sprinkled on top.

Sometimes, people new to the editing process think the solution is to find and use a 'workflow' as if having a recipe will guide them in post-processing. That's like thinking that developing a project plan to build a building is the same thing as designing it.

The first thing that must be learned about post-processing is not the 'how' but the 'what.' And deciding what to do is the difficult part, learning to look at images and understand what issues stand between as the image is currently and what it could be.

Once those issues of what to do to the image are identified then those changes can be fit into a workflow to bring the image to its potential.

The most difficult thing about editing one's own image is to be objective about it. After all, the maker identified the image as having something interesting, worth capturing and rendering and thus is tied to the image as it is in his/her mind's eye. How can the maker, especially someone relatively new to this, somehow step back and un-see the image, detach themselves emotionally and look at it with a cold, critical eye in order to identify weaknesses?

I suggest this.

Link to the rest

 

[sashbar]

Now that I'm in Korea for a little while I decided now was as good of a time as any.

Definitely use this time for your photography. And try to explore colors there. Some great street photographers were inspired initially by the colors of everyday life in Seoul and other Korean cities. You can come back with a great portfolio.