Some Black & Whites, Give it to me straight

[kmserfes]

Some black and whites I have taken recently, let me know what you think. I am a newbie, but I can handle it!
1


2


3


4


5

 

[amolitor]

The first one looks like a kind of a snapshot, a photograph that means something to you but nothing to anyone else. The fact that the one rider overlaps the building is a problem, somehow, but I am at a loss as to how to articulate it. The juxtaposition of fences, riders, trees and cloud is definitely trying to be something, but I don't feel that it's quite there. The vignette is way too much, it feels like you're trying to force drama into an image that you know lacks it. Trying to save an image that you know isn't much is usually a lost cause. There's a good idea in here somewhere, but I don't think this photograph got it.

I quite like the second one. The rope is a nice surprise when you dig in. I wish it were more off center, I think. Extending the frame a little outward in either direction would, I think, strengthen the image. The light is quite appealing. The thing's a bit of a cliche, but so what? Placing the post and the rope right there as a nice visual center pushes this one up a little past the "horses in the mist" sort of thing we see from time to time. The centering thing is a quibble, it's basically quite a good image.

The third is, I think, clearly the best. It's pretty abstract, but I'm pretty sure it's a photograph of a Chrysler 300, somehow. It's asbtract, and yet somehow unabashedly automotive. The composition works, even with the visual center actually centered, there's enough sense of motion and tension in the frame to carry it, I think. The out of focus material, at a diagonal, acting as a frame really helps that out -- I think the centering of the... object... would fail without this stuff. I quite like this photo.

The flower is basically nothing. Sorry. No visual drama, and it's right in an uninteresting no man's land between close up for vaguely erotic detail, and far enough out to be a proper portrait of a flower. The tones are also quite flat.

The building is also pretty thin. It's got visual drama, but I find the lamp and the bit of the other building intruding in the frame to be distracting, the sky is completely flat and dull, and I think you've pushed the contrast a little far, it doesn't feel real -- the light looks diffuse and overcast, so the deep dark shadows and white whites doesn't sell. Anyways, this is a cliche, and doesn't even feel like a great example of that cliche -- it looks like you saw a photograph of the Flatiron Building and tries that visual trope out on the best looking building you could find on your street. Eh.

 

[kmserfes]

Thank you for the critique. I am a newbie at this so I am taking all the education I can get. I have to say I agree with you on a lot of it, but I guess it helps to have someone else confirm things for me or point out what I may not have noticed.

I have a bad habit of taking "cliche" photos but I'm learning. My girls take horseback lessons so while they are learning, I'm usually off taking photos around the farm and of all the horses. I love horses, and as cliche as it maybe I love photos of them, they are beautiful, graceful animals.

Photo number 3 is a Chrysler 300, a vintage Chrysler 300, though I do not remember the year. I'd have to say it is my favorite out of this group. I really liked how this one came out, I'm glad you liked it also.

Thanks again and anyone else who wants to add is more than welcome!

 

[slackercruster]

Like your direct style OP. Photos are OK.

The building may look more interesting from some odd viewpoint. Is the flower an 'in camera' diffusion? Kinda fuzzy. It may be nore interesting if it had some contrast to it. Did you want 'gray and gray' or 'black and white' for your photo?

The car does not do much for me. Were you after some reflection effect?

Take the cliche photos too. You never know when you will get a winner. Take multiple photos and angle of every shot. Nat'l Geo togs take 5,000 to 15,000 images for a spread. Just keep blasting away and send in more.

Good luck!

 

[cgipson1]

This sounds very harsh.. even to me! I apologize for that! But these are some of the problems I see..... there are other issues, but I see these as the main ones. (you do show promise.. otherwise I wouldn't bother critiqueing these.. I usually ignore the really bad ones. And please keep in mind these are only opinions!)

#1.. lose the vignette.. widen the tonal range (the only thing things that are white are the house in the background and the blown out highlights on your subjects) Subjects (horses /riders) are underexposed. You should have composed the shot to not have the house intersecting your subjects... and it is typically better to shoot horses / riders from the side or front... more interest! Most people aren't too interesting in seeing the north end of a south bound horse!

#2 .. Looks like the main subject is the fence post and gate the way it was shot. You will do better to try to isolate your subjects from extraneous foreground objects.

#3.. assuming the 300 medallion is your subject? Too bad the glare on it almost totally eliminates the image.

#4.. underexposed... muddy.. everything is gray.. no black.. no white... DOF was inadequate to capture the shot entirely in focus.

#5.. a building that has all of the verticals / horizontals crooked... not in line with the horizon. I see a small chunk of lamppost that draws the viewers eye more than the building does.Exposure is about right though.

Please read up on the Rule of Thirds, Basic photographic composition, and black and white conversion. You may also want to learn about using a histogram. Also learn to isolate your subject using your aperture, by controlling DOF.

EDIT: sorry.. I just checked your profile.. and see you are using a Sony Cybershot. So some of the things I mentioned above may not be easily achieved.

 

[kmserfes]

Thank you for all the advice and tips and yes I am only using a Sony Cybershot as of right now, though I soon hope to have a decent DSLR that would be good for a novice like me to learn with. I am doing some reading up on here and other places, I know there is a lot I need to learn and I figured one of the better places to learn it was from other photographers. Thanks!