Yet another novice C&C

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

I'd like some honest feedback,I know this leaves much to be desired. I want jump right into this C&C thing to get an understanding on where to begin to improve. I'm reading and shooting a ton in order to understand all the technical aspects of producing a quality photo. Beyond this, I'd like to know about what you think of my composition and cropping skills. Do these photos emit emotions or tell stories to you, the viewer? The photos are slightly edited, but quite honestly I really don't know what I'm doing with that either. Those of you who are more experienced photographers will notice little things I would never notice. Please let me know what you think!

Thanks everyone, and let 'er rip! (Compliments gladly welcome also :sexywink:

)

The ever-so-cliche dog shot. He's my best muse as of now. I felt like the color shot was over exposed with too many clashing light sources, so I turned it B&W. I'm sure this is kind of a cheat but I thought it looked better. I cropped this photo as well.

Drifter Wiggles by I Heart Sea Green, on Flickr

CowgirlMama · Jan 21, 2012

The dog is pretty. B&W won't fix exposure. He's still a little over exposed and the table leg that's coming up from his ear is a bit distracting. Your focus is really good.

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

CowgirlMama said:
The dog is pretty. B&W won't fix exposure. He's still a little over exposed and the table leg that's coming up from his ear is a bit distracting. Your focus is really good.

Makes sense about the B&W + overexposure, I definitely agree about the table leg as well. Maybe I'll experiment and crop the top down to remove that distraction.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate the advice!

The_Traveler · Jan 21, 2012

re: #1 there is a pretty strong feeling amongst some photographers - and I am one - that taking pictures of the homeless/poor is exploiting their vulnerability and situation to milk cheap emotion in an image - homeless porn. This one doesn't tell us anything more than he's in tough shape. The composition isn't good. He is squashed against the top margin, yet there's space on both the left and right. There's no particular dynamism or emotion in the image and, except for what you said, nothing in the picture really tells us about him.

Lew

jamesbjenkins · Jan 21, 2012

Before I begin, what software do you use to process your images? There's TONS of tutorials out there to help you get the very most out of your software. I started from scratch about 2.5 years ago, and am completely self-taught. Once you get all the basics down, work on figuring out your style, and don't let anyone move you from what you love to do.

C&C on 1: What were your settings for this shot? The colors look a little drab. Also, ask yourself what you want the viewer to focus on in the picture. Your aperture (f/number) was probably around 8-11 for this shot, it's been my experience that in a portrait like this, bokeh is a very impoartant element. I would say more, but I don't want to overload you. I like where I think your head is at here, and I think with some more thought about composition, your next image like this will be a lot stronger!

C&C on 2: I really like this one! I too am I dog person, and routinely snap my yellow lab, Duke. I think you made a good choice with the B&W conversion. The only thing I would change is to add some sharpness to the dog's eyes and up the contrast to better accentuate the light/dark relationships, and maybe add a slight vignette. Also, I think your crop was spot-on.

I'd love to see more when you've progressed.

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

The_Traveler said:
re: #1 there is a pretty strong feeling amongst some photographers - and I am one - that taking pictures of the homeless/poor is exploiting their vulnerability and situation to milk cheap emotion in an image - homeless porn. This one doesn't tell us anything more than he's in tough shape. The composition isn't good. He is squashed against the top margin, yet there's space on both the left and right. There's no particular dynamism or emotion in the image and, except for what you said, nothing in the picture really tells us about him.

Lew

Thanks for your input, Lew. First, I wasn't aware of that sentiment but it makes complete sense. My apologies if I offended, definitely not my intention.

I wasn't trying to exploit the man, but I guess that came as a byproduct of my novice skill level. I'm just fascinated with humanity and people of all kinds, always curious about where they come from and their story, how they came to be in their current situation. I guess this story was better composed in my head than it was in my camera. As I asked in my prompt, I wanted to know if the photos emit emotion or tell a story. Clearly, that one does not. I won't share this type of subject matter until can adequately capture it well enough to do so. I'll go ahead and remove the photo, the second is the better of the lot anyhow.

Thanks very much for your advice, very much appreciated!

jamesbjenkins · Jan 21, 2012

SeaGreen said:
As I asked in my prompt, I wanted to know if the photos emit emotion or tell a story. Clearly, that one does not. I won't share this type of subject matter until can adequately capture it well enough to do so. I'll go ahead and remove the photo, the second is the better of the lot anyhow.

Thanks very much for your advice, very much appreciated!

An alternative might be to communicate with your intended subjects. A lot of homeless people have incredible stories and many of them are more than willing to share their stories if they feel that you're genuinely interested. After you've spent time and energy getting to know someone, the likelihood is much higher that they'd be willing to be photographed. Especially if you communicate your desire to tell their story through your images. Besides, I've found that pictures of homeless people are usually much more powerful if you can see their eyes and the expression on their face. That face tells a story...

Just my take...

mishele · Jan 21, 2012

His eyes pull me in....=) So it's a win for me. :thumbup:

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

jamesbjenkins said:
Before I begin, what software do you use to process your images? There's TONS of tutorials out there to help you get the very most out of your software. I started from scratch about 2.5 years ago, and am completely self-taught. Once you get all the basics down, work on figuring out your style, and don't let anyone move you from what you love to do.

C&C on 1: What were your settings for this shot? The colors look a little drab. Also, ask yourself what you want the viewer to focus on in the picture. Your aperture (f/number) was probably around 8-11 for this shot, it's been my experience that in a portrait like this, bokeh is a very impoartant element. I would say more, but I don't want to overload you. I like where I think your head is at here, and I think with some more thought about composition, your next image like this will be a lot stronger!

C&C on 2: I really like this one! I too am I dog person, and routinely snap my yellow lab, Duke. I think you made a good choice with the B&W conversion. The only thing I would change is to add some sharpness to the dog's eyes and up the contrast to better accentuate the light/dark relationships, and maybe add a slight vignette. Also, I think your crop was spot-on.

I'd love to see more when you've progressed.

Thanks for the input! I don't know the settings for this shot off the top of my head. I just threw the camera onto Auto. I was just going for something I just don't have the technical or comp skills to capture quite yet. Thank you for seeing where I was headed though!

I'm just using iPhoto right now for edits. I'm starting to look around and see what kind of free editing software is available. I'm also going to check out the Canon software I got with my camera. Once I learn down how to manipulate everything I'll come back to this photo and take your advice.

Thank, James!

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

mishele said:
His eyes pull me in....=) So it's a win for me. :thumbup:

Thanks so much! He is such a very sweet soul, and a wonderful model.

paigew · Jan 21, 2012

I love it! I would say that you should try not to have distractions (table leg) coming out of his head. I know it is so hard when you are shooting in your living room though, isn't it

mishele · Jan 21, 2012

paigew said:
I love it! I would say that you should try not to have distractions (table leg) coming out of his head. I know it is so hard when you are shooting in your living room though, isn't it

It wouldn't hurt to crop it a little tighter. The connection w/ the eyes is nice that you could lose some of the head and not worry about it.

SeaGreen · Jan 21, 2012

I tightened it up a bit. Let me know what you think. At first I didn't like how it cut off part of his head but now it's growing on me.

IMG_0003 by I Heart Sea Green, on Flickr

jamesbjenkins · Jan 21, 2012

SeaGreen said:
I'm just using iPhoto right now for edits. I'm starting to look around and see what kind of free editing software is available. I'm also going to check out the Canon software I got with my camera. Once I learn down how to manipulate everything I'll come back to this photo and take your advice.
Thank, James!

Since you're on a budget, Photoshop elements may be a great choice for you. Also, if you are a student or educator, you can get a full version of Adobe Lightroom 3 for $89 here.

Also, try to get away from AUTO as soon as possible. Find any of the hundreds of good tutorials on the internet to teach you about the "exposure triangle" and how to get used to Manual on your camera. "Real" photographers never use auto.