Somewhere in Shanghai

[JohnnyL]

Hi, so I was walking on a street in Shanghai yesterday and took some photos. I picked this one to be uploaded onto flickr but I'm still not very happy with the results. I feel that the things I photograph are boring. Please tell me your thoughts and share some tips.

Thanks!

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Although I like the house, kinda funky, I do agree that your photo is boring. But I looked at your flicker site and there are a few nice ideas and a couple photos that I wouldn't change much myself. Considering how few photos you have there, I imagine you must be pretty new to photo. Well, photo is like most things, there is a learning curve.

Pick up a book on design, pick up a book on exposure, read them and shoot and shoot and shoot. If you pay attention to what you read, you will get better and will come up with more interesting photos on a regular basis. Then, shoot some more.


As for this photo, as I said, I like the house but I find the downspouts pretty ugly. So I would not have taken photos that include them. I also would have picked an angle that didn't show the minivan. You could however have played easily with shapes, colors and textures. I, myself, would have started with a fairly close up shot to include the mail box and part (with the arch) of the entrance doors. 3 different colors, 3 different textures and different shapes. And I would have a nice somewhat abstract and minimalist photo.

You need to learn composition and how to mix different elements together to get a nice pleasant image. That's what the design book is for. A general design book is better than a photography oriented one. That's to take care of the boring photos.

The exposure book is because some of your photos are not exposed very well and correct exposure is the first thing to learn. You can have the best subject with a great composition but if the exposure is wrong, you have a bad photo.

Good luck and keep in mind it doesn't happen overnight.

 

[joeywpc]

I agree with cloudwalker and would also add that the photo looks flat because of where the sun is, there are no highlights to add interest. Bad luck if that was the only time of day you were in that location, otherwise if you had opportunity to come back when the light played differently on the surfaces of the building, dappled light through the trees etc to give some shadows, highlights and depth.