Putting photos up for critique

[chrisnjulie]

I have posted some photos up today in various categories for critique .....

I enjoy taking photos and they are mainly to gather memories to look back on .
Am I getting the composition of the photos correct ?? Well some are wonky , some over exposed and some are flat !! But am I getting the subject in the right place ??

I only have a basic editing suite which came with my laptop ....microsoft gallery . I can see by editing a photo you can add warmth and crop out bits you dont need etc ....
BUT my question is .....ok you can edit the photo - but whats wrong with eau naturale ?? What if its a dull grey day ? Is that not going to capture the feeling of the day ?
Well I dont know ? You tell me ! I want to edit , shoot great photos and understand more .....so come on - tell me !!

I hope this comes across correctly .....I did put my photos up for critique and enoyed the feedback .....but I want to improve ....but in order to improve I need to understand first .....I know what you mean when you say my photo is flat .......I could see it was lacking in something ! But I didn't know what to do about it .....

 

[redddraggon]

BUT my question is .....ok you can edit the photo - but whats wrong with eau naturale ?? What if its a dull grey day ? Is that not going to capture the feeling of the day ?

There's no such thing as "unPPed" and never has been. In the digital age either you edit the raw file or the camera applies a preset (of which most cameras have many).

Even in the days of film you had to make decisions with respect to the negative when you made a print. OK so you took the film to boots (or where ever) but they still did stuff when they printed the images.

 

[chrisnjulie]

There's no such thing as "unPPed" and never has been. In the digital age either you edit the raw file or the camera applies a preset (of which most cameras have many).

Even in the days of film you had to make decisions with respect to the negative when you made a print. OK so you took the film to boots (or where ever) but they still did stuff when they printed the images.

What is PP ? Seen this a few times ......so I thought 'bite ther bullet and ask'

 

[redddraggon]

It's the processing of images. Editing. From minor levels and exposure adjustment to crazy photoshop stuff.

 

[chrisnjulie]

I've discovered the art of straightening photos ....I'm addicted

I'm going to have 100's of straight photos by the end of the day !!

 

[MartynK]

What is PP ? Seen this a few times ......so I thought 'bite ther bullet and ask'

Literally post processing. This starts in camera when you take the photograph, if you're using its presets, but usually refers to using computer software to edit or alter the image.

 

[Phil V]

....
BUT my question is .....ok you can edit the photo - but whats wrong with eau naturale ?? What if its a dull grey day ? Is that not going to capture the feeling of the day ?
Well I dont know ? You tell me ! I want to edit , shoot great photos and understand more .....so come on - tell me !!

There's the crux.

You'll soon get sick of seeing this... It's all about the light

If it's a dull grey day - and you're shooting landscapes or architecture, you're going to get dull photo's. It'll look like it did when you shot it, so will they be 'great' photo's? Certainly not, that's not how we want to see buildings or landscapes, light creates shadows, shadows show shape and form, the softer and bigger the light the less the shadows, the less the shadows the lower the contrast, the less the shadows, the more boring the landscape.

Take your Gran out :nuts:. Seriously, a dull grey day with it's big soft lightsource is great for reducing shadows and it'll create flattering images of older ladies (filling in the wrinkles).

So just like clothing, there's no such thing as 'bad' light, just inappropriate light for the subject.

On a dull day, you can take your flashgun out and shoot Macro, or you can shoot portraits.

On a bright summers afternoon, you'll get fairly interesting architectural detail, landscapes will be a bit meh, and portraits will be yucky, with hard shadows and squinty faces.

So when can you shoot interesting landscapes? When the lightsource drops a little to create those shadows, so early mornings and evenings, sometimes referred to as 'the golden hour'.

Seeing and understanding light will do more for your photography than learning about crop facors, shooting manual, hyperfocal distances and all the other twaddle the gearheads will drone on about. It's all there in the name photo graphy = drawing with light.