Photo Critique

[dgbg100106]

I have been taking photos for years, and of events in our life, but I am not a professional by any means.

I want to take better photos, I want to be able to capture the emotion of that day in the photos.

I tend to take more candid photos, nothing staged or set up.

So I was hoping to share some recent photos I took at get some feedback and critique.

I have never done this before, I am hoping to learn a ton from all of the wonderful people on here.

Thanks again.

I took this picture in Amsterdam, Netherlands
I loved all of the different building shapes, the canal, and the bikes.

 

[beachclub]

To gain more exposure (no pun intended) to your question might i recommend you pose this question to one of several forums you can find at dpreview.com
Over there you will most likely get more of a response to this kind of question whereas these are more geared to the hobbiest/disney photography.
Even just reading through dpreview.com you will find alot of good helpful information.
I am not affiliated with them at all but have gained a tremendpous amount of feedback on several topics.

 

[wbeem]

OK, let's start with your comment about your objective - "I want to be able to capture the emotion of that day in the photos."

With that in mind, what was it about this particular scene you wanted to express in the photo?

I'll give you some thoughts just based upon looking at the photo without knowing your intention, since that's how must folks will judge it.

To my eye, there's no particular subject. Do I look at the buildings, the bikes, the sky, or that large post in the center? There's nothing drawing my eye to anything that acts as an anchor for the other pieces in the photo.

Your photo needs to tell some kind of story. In this case, you have too many things going on here. That overcast sky is bright, so it's drawing the viewer's eye away from anything else that may be your intended subject. The power lines are never a good subject, and in this case, they don't seem to be leading you into anything.

It's easy to walk into a scene, think that it's all so breathtaking you want to cram it into a photo, and then later discover that it doesn't feel the way you felt when you were there. That's because we view photos differently than we experience being somewhere. So, you have to eliminate distractions from the scene (like the power lines, overcast sky, etc.) to give people the feeling of being there. Let their mind fill in the rest.

If you have gotten much closer to one of the bikes as a main subject, perhaps with the buildings in the background, I think you may have a more powerful image. Since the bikes aren't in a prominent part of your image, it doesn't seem like they're meant to be the subject, though. Most of them are in darkness and hard to make out.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Can we see some more of your photos?

 

[photo_chick]

I wouldn't say it's striclty hobbyist board. There's a good range of people here. Some of the guys who post know more about photography than people I know who teach at the university level.

Now how much critique do you want? It's an OK image. It's not bad but it's not anything that would make me stop and look twice. I think it could be a better image if the exposure and contrast were better. There's that blown out area of the sky then it gets so dark in front of the buildings. I know digital has a limited dynamic range, and sometimes that means some post processing work (think dodging and burning). The lines are nice, the way you follow the bikes to the buildings.

All that said, it looks a lot like something I'd take on my vacation. And that's not a bad thing in my opinion. Unless you're doing this for pay (or a grade) the only person you have to please is you, so take whatever I babble with a grain of salt. I just had my work shredded last Thrusday and I'm still bitter so I may not be the best person to form any kind of opinion anyway. LOL

 

[llrain]

with what you liked in the shot this is how I would've approached it.
I would prob have moved over to the waterway area and included that into the shot, take out the sky cause I want people to focus their eyes on the building details. I would have stayed away and kept the wires out of the shot. No matter how much I look away from your shot and look back those electric wires are killing the shot.
I may have shot this on the railing where the bikes are towards the building, Not all the buildings though, the one most appealing one that catches my eye, That red building has a cool shape to it that stands out from the others i would focus my approach to this building, its cool looking.

Mainly, if you loved the shapes of the buildings, why are they so far away.
Id have done 2 exposures with this comment, one dramatic building scape and one with the line of bikes along the bridge while incoroprating the waterway into it somehow

a good start for ya is to get the book "understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson, Its a dirt cheap book but give alot of good assistance.

 

[dgbg100106]

To gain more exposure (no pun intended) to your question might i recommend you pose this question to one of several forums you can find at dpreview.com
Over there you will most likely get more of a response to this kind of question whereas these are more geared to the hobbiest/disney photography.
Even just reading through dpreview.com you will find alot of good helpful information.
I am not affiliated with them at all but have gained a tremendpous amount of feedback on several topics.

Thank you for the site... I will go and read up.

 

[dgbg100106]

OK, let's start with your comment about your objective - "I want to be able to capture the emotion of that day in the photos."

With that in mind, what was it about this particular scene you wanted to express in the photo?

I guess that is part of the problem, I wanted it all in the picture. I really love the buildings, and I was thinking that the canal and the bikes, kind of tied it all together.

I'll give you some thoughts just based upon looking at the photo without knowing your intention, since that's how must folks will judge it.

To my eye, there's no particular subject. Do I look at the buildings, the bikes, the sky, or that large post in the center? There's nothing drawing my eye to anything that acts as an anchor for the other pieces in the photo.

I understand what you are saying, about pick an object and tell the story. I should work on the anchor part of photos.

Your photo needs to tell some kind of story. In this case, you have too many things going on here. That overcast sky is bright, so it's drawing the viewer's eye away from anything else that may be your intended subject. The power lines are never a good subject, and in this case, they don't seem to be leading you into anything.

I agree about the power lines, to be honest, I don't think I even noticed them when I took the picture.

It's easy to walk into a scene, think that it's all so breathtaking you want to cram it into a photo, and then later discover that it doesn't feel the way you felt when you were there. That's because we view photos differently than we experience being somewhere. So, you have to eliminate distractions from the scene (like the power lines, overcast sky, etc.) to give people the feeling of being there. Let their mind fill in the rest.

So I would guess it is just too busy in this scene... I was trying to show everything.

If you have gotten much closer to one of the bikes as a main subject, perhaps with the buildings in the background, I think you may have a more powerful image. Since the bikes aren't in a prominent part of your image, it doesn't seem like they're meant to be the subject, though. Most of them are in darkness and hard to make out.

I will have to look through more and see what I can find.

 

[dgbg100106]

Can we see some more of your photos?

 

[dgbg100106]

I wouldn't say it's striclty hobbyist board. There's a good range of people here. Some of the guys who post know more about photography than people I know who teach at the university level.

Now how much critique do you want? It's an OK image. It's not bad but it's not anything that would make me stop and look twice. I think it could be a better image if the exposure and contrast were better. There's that blown out area of the sky then it gets so dark in front of the buildings. I know digital has a limited dynamic range, and sometimes that means some post processing work (think dodging and burning). The lines are nice, the way you follow the bikes to the buildings.

All that said, it looks a lot like something I'd take on my vacation. And that's not a bad thing in my opinion. Unless you're doing this for pay (or a grade) the only person you have to please is you, so take whatever I babble with a grain of salt. I just had my work shredded last Thrusday and I'm still bitter so I may not be the best person to form any kind of opinion anyway. LOL

Hopefully I did not offend anyone, I meant that I am a hobbyist, not that everyone on this board is one. I have seen some amazing photos on here, which is why I was asking this amazing group of people about my photo.

This is strictly a vacation photo I took in Amsterdam this year. I have never sold a photo in my life, not really something I am looking to do, I just want to take photos for my family and friends.

This was my first time (vacation) shooting without it on a scene setting or on Automatic.

I am still learning and want to get better with my camera.

 

[dgbg100106]

with what you liked in the shot this is how I would've approached it.
I would prob have moved over to the waterway area and included that into the shot, take out the sky cause I want people to focus their eyes on the building details. I would have stayed away and kept the wires out of the shot. No matter how much I look away from your shot and look back those electric wires are killing the shot.
I may have shot this on the railing where the bikes are towards the building, Not all the buildings though, the one most appealing one that catches my eye, That red building has a cool shape to it that stands out from the others i would focus my approach to this building, its cool looking.

Mainly, if you loved the shapes of the buildings, why are they so far away.
Id have done 2 exposures with this comment, one dramatic building scape and one with the line of bikes along the bridge while incoroprating the waterway into it somehow

a good start for ya is to get the book "understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson, Its a dirt cheap book but give alot of good assistance.

Thanks for your comments and yes I will look for the book...

 

[wbeem]

I am still learning and want to get better with my camera.

That's the key phrase. We're all learning and experimenting to find what works best for us.

For example, consider the photo I posted of the oak avenue the other day. I shot tons of photos there from different perspectives, with different lenses, etc. However, most of those will never see the light of day outside of my computer.

When I go to WDW, I see most folks walk up, aim their cell phone, click something and walk away. They aren't putting any thought into their photos. Instead, they're just making a record of a spot that caught their attention for a few seconds.

I tried shooting that oak avenue with my 14-24 lens, then my 24-70 lens, and I was driving away when I thought that I hadn't tried it with my 70-200mm lens. That turned out to be the key. I stopped, loaded up the big lens and racked it out to 200mm. Turns out that was the best shot and the one I posted. It compressed all of the empty space out of the photo and gave the best mood that represented how I felt when I was there.

The rest of the photos I shot were just mistakes. I learned from them, thought about 'em as I was shooting, and it finally convinced me to use the right lens for that job.

 

[photo_chick]

Hopefully I did not offend anyone, I meant that I am a hobbyist, not that everyone on this board is one. I have seen some amazing photos on here, which is why I was asking this amazing group of people about my photo.

Oh, I didn't mean what you said... I meant the person after you who posted about this being more of a hobbyist board. There are some really awesome photographers on here who shoot as a hobby that have more talent than people I know who've made a really good living with photography. And there are some pros on here, too. You're posting in a good place to get some feedback without getting too shredded.

 

[traylorc]

That's the key phrase. We're all learning and experimenting to find what works best for us.

For example, consider the photo I posted of the oak avenue the other day. I shot tons of photos there from different perspectives, with different lenses, etc. However, most of those will never see the light of day outside of my computer.

When I go to WDW, I see most folks walk up, aim their cell phone, click something and walk away. They aren't putting any thought into their photos. Instead, they're just making a record of a spot that caught their attention for a few seconds.

I tried shooting that oak avenue with my 14-24 lens, then my 24-70 lens, and I was driving away when I thought that I hadn't tried it with my 70-200mm lens. That turned out to be the key. I stopped, loaded up the big lens and racked it out to 200mm. Turns out that was the best shot and the one I posted. It compressed all of the empty space out of the photo and gave the best mood that represented how I felt when I was there.

The rest of the photos I shot were just mistakes. I learned from them, thought about 'em as I was shooting, and it finally convinced me to use the right lens for that job.

Great insight...you have given me some things to think about before taking my next picture.

 

[Warren W]

Great pictures,I like them very much.

 

[reimero]

Disclaimer: I am terrible at taking pictures. For every 100 frames, I might get 5 or 6 that I consider decent. I'm working on that.

Photographer Ken Rockwell (who has a really helpful website) offers some great advice, even if the acronym is a bit, erm, juvenile. So I'm going to try to hit the bullet points without invoking the acronym.

1. You get the feeling that something is photo-worthy - that sense of, "I ought to take a picture."
2. Stop and ask yourself what it is exactly that catches your interest. "It's a nice building" doesn't cut it. Is it the color? The light? The angles? The surroundings? A certain (in)congruity or balance? He uses the example of a Ferrari. You don't photograph it because it's a Ferrari, you photograph it because of the color, the lines, the style, the proportions or something similar.
3. Refine the image to emphasize what it is that catches your interest. This generally means taking time to compose the picture to maximize what it is that you find interesting and minimize everything else.
4. Take the picture.

 

[dgbg100106]

That's the key phrase. We're all learning and experimenting to find what works best for us.

For example, consider the photo I posted of the oak avenue the other day. I shot tons of photos there from different perspectives, with different lenses, etc. However, most of those will never see the light of day outside of my computer.

When I go to WDW, I see most folks walk up, aim their cell phone, click something and walk away. They aren't putting any thought into their photos. Instead, they're just making a record of a spot that caught their attention for a few seconds.

I tried shooting that oak avenue with my 14-24 lens, then my 24-70 lens, and I was driving away when I thought that I hadn't tried it with my 70-200mm lens. That turned out to be the key. I stopped, loaded up the big lens and racked it out to 200mm. Turns out that was the best shot and the one I posted. It compressed all of the empty space out of the photo and gave the best mood that represented how I felt when I was there.

The rest of the photos I shot were just mistakes. I learned from them, thought about 'em as I was shooting, and it finally convinced me to use the right lens for that job.

I mostly shoot with an 18mm to 200mm lens, but have a a couple of others, but I find that when I change my lenses I get dust on the sensor. SO tend not to change them out much, but agree that different lens make the shot.

I really love my Marco lens.

 

[dgbg100106]

Oh, I didn't mean what you said... I meant the person after you who posted about this being more of a hobbyist board. There are some really awesome photographers on here who shoot as a hobby that have more talent than people I know who've made a really good living with photography. And there are some pros on here, too. You're posting in a good place to get some feedback without getting too shredded.

Thanks....

I have seen some amazing photos...

 

[dgbg100106]

Great pictures,I like them very much.

Thanks

 

[dgbg100106]

Disclaimer: I am terrible at taking pictures. For every 100 frames, I might get 5 or 6 that I consider decent. I'm working on that.

Photographer Ken Rockwell (who has a really helpful website) offers some great advice, even if the acronym is a bit, erm, juvenile. So I'm going to try to hit the bullet points without invoking the acronym.

1. You get the feeling that something is photo-worthy - that sense of, "I ought to take a picture."
2. Stop and ask yourself what it is exactly that catches your interest. "It's a nice building" doesn't cut it. Is it the color? The light? The angles? The surroundings? A certain (in)congruity or balance? He uses the example of a Ferrari. You don't photograph it because it's a Ferrari, you photograph it because of the color, the lines, the style, the proportions or something similar.
3. Refine the image to emphasize what it is that catches your interest. This generally means taking time to compose the picture to maximize what it is that you find interesting and minimize everything else.
4. Take the picture.

Thanks for the insight and then link...