Flickr Users - I'd appreciate some criticism!

[LosOjos]

Hi all,

 

I know that there are a few photographers amongst you, and I hope that there are some flickr users too.

 

As some may already know, I've recently taken up photography as a hobby.

 

The problem is, I'm not getting any constructive criticism from friends or family, and I would really like some!

 

So if you're on flickr, please add me/look at my pohtos (I don't really understand how flickr works yet!) and let me know what you think of my photos, I'd really appreciate it!

 

My username (and link to my photo stream) is: JoshJohnson88

 

Thank you

[alan-d]

I've added you as a contact, I'm no expert but I'll have a proper look when I get home. Maybe we can struggle through together . It seems we live in the same city

[stevenlong1985]

Hey I've added you too. I have a few pics on there. its good to look at others to get ideas. I'm still new to photography, the Pictures of The Floozy In The Jacuzzi in Birmingham are cool

[LosOjos]

Thank you both :-)

 

Alan, are you from sunny Wolverhampton too? We haven't got much but the Great Western almost makes up for it for me!

 

Any criticism is welcome and I'll do the same for you, it's the only way we'll learn lol

[alan-d]

I do live in Wolverhampton but to be honest I don't get out locally too much with the camera. I also have a site at Alan-D-Photos which I use to publish pics. Like you I haven't got my head around Flickr and all the functions yet.

[ICT_GUY]

Most basic rules for photography that make the biggest difference when starting out.

Rule of thirds,

Compose your shot properly,

A good photo tells a story and has intrinsic interest,

If you want to be thought of a good photographer only show people your best Photos.

 

Once these are taken into account you can be more creative and learn all the tricks of using a camera,

[CHR1S]

What camera do you use? Lenses?

[LosOjos]

What camera do you use? Lenses?

 

I have a Samsung NX10, at the moment the only lens I have is the kit 18-55mm lens, I'm saving for the pancake lens as I'd like to do more/better portraits, but I love macro photography too (although there doesn't appear to be an NX mount macro lens, I may do as others suggested in another thread and get an OM adapter so I can use some of the ridiculously cheap OM lenses available)

[CHR1S]

Not familiar with the NX10 but learn how the f-stops affect your depth of field.

Using the Canadian Goose as an example, the feet and tail are blurred and head, make sure your focal point is what your shooting for and not the background.

 

The HDR is ok, how many bracketed photos did you use to create it?

 

Best bet is to just keep taking photos and learn your camera.

[LosOjos]

Not familiar with the NX10 but learn how the f-stops affect your depth of field.

Using the Canadian Goose as an example, the feet and tail are blurred and head, make sure your focal point is what your shooting for and not the background.

 

Yeah I noticed that as I was uploading it, unfortunately it was a bit rushed (the thing kept charging at me!), but I learnt a valuable lesson about using manual focus rather than relying on the camera to get it right for me!

 

The HDR is ok, how many bracketed photos did you use to create it?

 

I used 3 stops, each 2 stops apart. I'm not ashamed to admit that I let photoshop do the leg work on that one, I only later read up on how to do it manually for greater control. Also, I didn't realise that there were facilities in Camera RAW to fix lens distortion and "straighten" the photo; more lessons learned!

 

Thanks for the feedback, it confirms what I suspected were problems, so I can go back and work on them

[CHR1S]

I use HDR photography software & plugin for Lightroom, Aperture & Photoshop - Tone Mapping, Exposure Fusion & High Dynamic Range Imaging for photography for my HDR work, I find it better than the inbuilt PS tool.

 

 

HDR is very much a personal thing, people like ALOT of HDR others a little. Make your HDR pics to your liking.

 

My flickr is Flickr: mini.chris' Photostream I haven't renewed my pro membership yet, so there are a lot of pictures missing.

[LosOjos]

Love that picture, I'll take a look at that plugin when I'm at home. Dumb question time: is Lightroom a completely separate program, or is it a Photoshop plugin? I'm using CS5 at the moment but I've heard quite a few people mention Lightroom now...

[CHR1S]

I dont use Photoshop, I use Corel Paint Shop Pro... never really found the need to splash the cash on PS

[LosOjos]

I splashed for PS simply because all of the tutorials I've been looking at are based on it, and although I could probably find the equivalent features in any package (I wanted to just stick to GIMP to be honest, but it doesn't support Samsung's RAW format ) I thought for simplicity's sake while I'm learning I'll just use PS.

 

Expect another thread sometime in the future on the pro's and con's of different packages...

[CHR1S]

I shot in RAW for a while, saw no advantage as I was post processing more than relying on my own skill with the camera. Try shooting in jpeg while you learn and then swap to RAW.

[CHR1S]

Also, depending on your type of photography, the sun can be your enemy.

As you can see in the Wolves Pub shot, there is a large dark area that isnt exposed well.

 

For close ups and portraits invest in a decent flash early on and learn how to use it! Larger shots and landscapes with static subjects you can HDR.

 

Learn what effect different ISOs have and where your moving subjects start to blur at what ISO/shutter speed.

[edumoto]

I shot in RAW for a while, saw no advantage as I was post processing more than relying on my own skill with the camera. Try shooting in jpeg while you learn and then swap to RAW.

 

That's interesting Chris, particulary if you work a bit with HDR stuff. I'd have to say I can see why you say it, jpeg does seem a bit less intimidating, but I'd advise always shooting RAW for anything you plan to post process simply because of the extra data you retain which might come in useful for "rescuing" things.

 

Personally, I do struggle with the volume or processing assocaited with RAW shooting, I have 120Gb+ of family/holiday photos, Bournemouth Air Show etc etc pictures that I've never really fully processed down to jpeg or tiff for archive but I just can't bring myself to go back to jpeg'ing and throwing all that data away as there is always new software or techniques coming through that will sometimes allow you to do something new with a shot. I am a bit of a hoarder though.

[LosOjos]

I tend to shoot in RAW+JPEG, that way I can get the quick snaps I want straight from the camera, but if I want to process, I have been doing it in RAW. One thing I have found incredibly useful is the ability to correct lens distortion with RAW; even if I don't do any other processing before I convert to JPEG, that alone seems to really improve the quality of the shots, it's incredible how "rounded" the photo's are, they look absolutely fine to me but then there's a massive difference when Photoshop corrects them!

[pauljonze]

Just gonna jump in and put a comment about the pub shot (I know it as I used to live in Wolves and even worked on renovating the old Low Level Station nearby - many years ago) on the basis of that one photo I'd say you need to get more foreground detail and use the local features to your advantage. To be honest the pub shot looks like something from an estate agent window, you could experiment with taking some shots from under the bridge so its cutting into the skyline, there are quite dramatic effects if you make shots black & white too. The cropping is quite important as well, sometimes its what you can't see that gives a photo that bit extra, maybe you don't need the whole of the frontage in frame for example. Just a few ideas but nice to see

[LosOjos]

Thanks pauljonze, I'll bare that in mind

[CHR1S]

I'm not saying don't shoot in RAW, I'm saying hone your skills in the camera before relying on PS to save you. I never had PS when I learned to shoot on 35mm film, you got it right or that was that.

[LosOjos]

I'm not saying don't shoot in RAW, I'm saying hone your skills in the camera before relying on PS to save you. I never had PS when I learned to shoot on 35mm film, you got it right or that was that.

 

I was misunderstanding you, that makes more sense

[alan-d]

I very rarely use PS (I only have CS2), I'm a bit 'old school' and like to try and get the shot I want direct from the camera. Occassionally I'll use cropping, resizing and autoleveling but not much more. I'm going to have a look at HDR at some point as it does have its uses when you get a conflict in the light.

 

The Panda shot - I would probably moved to the left and lower down for that shot

[ICT_GUY]

All photos can benefit from processing in photoshop and from raw format, as you decide how the photo looks not the programmer who wrote the processing software. I usually like my photos to have a processed look as they stand out from snaps.

 

As for raw verus jpeg, no question, I always shoot in Raw, I can easily export to jpeg later, and if I do get that one perfect shot, then I can always process it later.

 

I learned my lesson with a family portrait I took two years ago in Jpeg. I got the exposure wrong , which I could have easily fixed in PS from a raw file but in the jpeg the clarity and ability to fix was lost. My grandfather passed away shortly after and the so did the option of taking the photo again.

 

Shoot raw, process manually the best ones, export the snaps automatically.

[edumoto]

HI Josh,

 

Just read the start of your post again and you were askign for constructive crit and here we are talking data format!!

 

RAW+Jpeg = good plan.

 

to cover a couple of points you brought up before moving onto pics, lightroom is a stand alon bit of software that does basic editing, but also allows you to keyword, manage, export and do a load of useful other stuff. Possibly the single most useful bit of software you could own and not terribly expensive. try the 30 day free trial from adobes site. I have CS5 which I do use for more complicated edits, layers etc but unless it's wedding pics or a pro shoot I've done, I barely open it now. The latest version of it includes a shed load of lens profiles and if your lens is in there, you can set it to apply corrections on import, or batch correct once in rather than working files individually. It's designed for workflow and it's brilliant. Finally, it's non destructive meaning it doesn't touch the original image, it edits a preview which it creates a siecar file for, then when you export the image it calls on the original data, (raw or Jpeg) and applies the changes to the output file.

 

Tips, Chris has given you a lot of useful info about cameraskills to master, these are all ace and as you master and understand each one, you'll find new ways to be creative with them. It can get confusing as everythign inter-relates but concentrate on one aspect of a function and learn it well. Read too, i learnt most of what i know from magazines. I'm no expert by any stretch but there's lots to learn from reading.

 

My tip would be effort. I went to see David Noton a few weeks back and he said it best, "you don't take great pictures from the car park". what he means is, being in the right place at the right time with the right light doesn't happen by accident. If you want landscape stuff, be prepared to get up early before it gets light, and go home late after it gets dark. the "Golden hour" for landscaping is an hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset. If you are out and see something you like but it's midday, make a note to go back another day when the light is right. Factor in where the sun rises and sets, for example most shots of durdle door are taking in the evening as the light at sunset shines in the right direction. Sun rise doesn't work as well at that location. Related to your images: The pub, difficult to shoot with the distracting surroundings and contrast in the scene. why not try going back at night after it's rained. used a tripod to shoot a longer exposure and use the lights from inside the pub reflectin on the wet ground for foreground interest. Bracket a few exposures so you can cut and past the windows in to avoid burnout or hotspots (PS layers good for this) It'll add atmosphere and maybe even help tell the story of the buildings role.

 

Shoot lots too, different angles, crouch, climb on something. digital is cheap and the more versions of you a scene you have, the easier it'll be to visualise what works next time. i don't mean get trigger happy, think about each shot but work the angles. often what worked in the viewfinder looks different on the big screen. when i look through the view finder i try and distance myself from the scene and pretend i'm looking at a postcard. do the lead in lines work? is there a focal point? anything distracting in the background. I find it easier to compose doing this. Relate: your panda shot, currently a record shot of a panda with too much depth of field and the subject is getting lost against the background. A higher vantage point would have made a feature of the volume of the panda's there (think or google Arlington cemetery and lookat the way the gravestones have been captured). Getting closer would have decreased the depth of field at the same aperture, or open it up some more and moving round the subject would have helped you isolate that one as the subject. Also, in the leaf shot, if you had got lower and put it against the blue sky, it would isolate the subject. The current image uses depth of field nicely but the background is such a similar colour the leaf is getting lost.

 

Shoot less. (A contradiction I know ) set yourself a target of x images so you really have to think about what you are trying to capture. Relate: Your building in HDR, it's an ok shot, the light is pretty good but with a bit more thought you may have spotted the horizon is wonky. You can crop this straight but the school of "camera craft" says get as much right in camera as possible. As the lens is pointing up, you can't do much about the converging verticals but alwaus make sure your horizon is level

 

Finally, as i need to do some work, think light. All the images on your flikr site could have benefited from better light. That's not a dig, I have hundreds of grab shots taken where i was, when i was there. My point is, to improve your images, put some work into being "there" at "the right time"

 

Mostly though, enjoy taking pics and learning from your successes and failures. Worry more about what you think than what others do. Plenty of people love David Bailey's work, plenty don't. Take advice/crit on board, but never to heart (easier said than done). I recommend subscribing to chase jarvis's blog. He's a commercial 'tog based in seattle but he shares info, technique and advice like no-one else I've ever met.

 

I'm not sure what my flikr username is. I think it's motothephoto but i've never uploaded much. My site is down (trying to decide on a wordpress theme atm) but davidshepherdphotographic.com will show you some things I was recently approached by an image library to buy (shows you don't have to be great to sell), there's some wedding stuff hidden up there too, i think it's /wedding_gallery don't expect to be impressed though

 

Have fun

Moto