Some of my nature/outdoor shots *PLEASE NO SERIOUS CRITIQUE*

[robbins.photo]

Well I do know newbies think that they are going to get slaughtered on a photo critique (we've seen it in the past), thus the apprehension. I did the same type of title before lol

Oh sure, we still have the cross.. but didn't we sell all the nails off to pay for robes?

 

[The_Traveler]

Photography is essentially communicating what you see by capturing a scene and reproducing it for others so that can experience the same thing.
There is an entire language that photographers use and there are some pretty common ways of doing things; they are common because they work to get people to understand what you see and why you are showing things to the viewer.

If something is in the frame, viewers will wonder why its there. For example, in the picture of the dog, why is there a tree and a half a car? You could have held the camera so that the long way was up (known as portrait mode) and you would have gotten the entire dog but you chose instead to include the tree and part of the car - and the viewer will wonder why. Composition in the frame is the first crucial point.

You have a long way to go and the first step is not to avoid criticism but look for it and learn.

Post only one or two pictures at a time.
Choose pictures that you think are good.
Change your profile to allow editing so someone can show you how your pictures might look better.

 

[sashbar]

Hey Leighanna, I see some good things going on here. ALL of these photos "are about light". Photography means light-writing, ore writing with light, so it makes sense that all these images have a very large component that addresses "light" and "lighting conditions". Even the flower addresses lightm, in that trhe background is composed of a SHADOW...a form of nature's light-writing.

I would suggest the books of John Hedgecoe...he has some fabulous lessons that show and tell how to FIND light that makes photos of a certain type. Like, let's take the shot of the black dog: that has al all-ove sort of soft look that is called veiling glare. That lens in that condition at that focal length suffers from/offers/has veiling glare. It's sort of like a fog filter effect, or a mist filter effect. THAT can be used as an effect.

The sun shining through the paned window, with the snow outside and the hardwood trees in their winter state...again, a shot about "light".

Your photos 1,2,3,4,5 are basically emotional responses to "light"...they have a soft-ish, impressionistic, ethereal feel to them; these are not crisp, boring, dull, direct renderings, but are more painterly, more impressionistic, more evocative. Many hobbyists never get to the point where they can deal with these kinds of images.

Keep shooting, Keep seeing the world through your eyes and keep revealing your vision with your camera!

Derrel, as always, is absolutely spot on. Exactly my thoughts, only I could not write it so well. One more book to read: "Chasing The Light" by Ibarionex Perello. I am sure his ideas will resonate with you. Keep shooting.

 

[snowbear]

The last one is nice.