forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




UER Forum > Archived UE Photo Critiques > looking for some advice. (Viewed 373 times)
Se7eN 


Location: Seattle, Washington
Gender: Male


coming to an elevator shaft near you.

Send Private Message | Send Email
looking for some advice.
< on 8/14/2013 5:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
so i recently pulled my head from under the rock where I've been hiding, and got around to posting some photos. i put these up in the PNW as well, but because i actually wish to get better, I'd love for you to point out my every imperfection.

first some background i guess, i am self taught, my current camera is the first camera I've ever owned and/or operated other than a disposable. i know lighting and composition are things i struggle with. these photos also span about 1.5 years some of which were taken very early on. that all being said, have at it.
1.

2.

3.

4.
[removed]
5.
[removed]
6.
[removed]
7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

[last edit 8/16/2013 6:58 PM by keti - edited 2 times]

Voted most likely to fall from great hights...
Axle 


Location: Milton, ON
Gender: Male


Sieg oder Tod

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 1 on 8/14/2013 5:46 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
17 images are a little hard to critique all of them...so I'm going to pick a handful that stand out to me.

1 - Love, Love, Love the minimalistic nature of the image. Great use of isolating the subject with the single light beam. However they need to be a little clearer, try using (if possible) spot or center weighted for the metering.

5 - Well composed and exposed. Looking up at the subject gives the image an epic stance for the overall feel of the image. However a bit of adjustment in white balance wouldn't go amiss.

8 & 10 - Good image, however you need to close the aperture a bit more, and leave the shutter open longer.



Celer at Audax
Para la Victoria Siempre Alemanes!
Se7eN 


Location: Seattle, Washington
Gender: Male


coming to an elevator shaft near you.

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 2 on 8/14/2013 7:21 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Axle
17 images are a little hard to critique all of them...so I'm going to pick a handful that stand out to me.

1 - Love, Love, Love the minimalistic nature of the image. Great use of isolating the subject with the single light beam. However they need to be a little clearer, try using (if possible) spot or center weighted for the metering.

5 - Well composed and exposed. Looking up at the subject gives the image an epic stance for the overall feel of the image. However a bit of adjustment in white balance wouldn't go amiss.

8 & 10 - Good image, however you need to close the aperture a bit more, and leave the shutter open longer.



yeah I wasn't sure how many to post so I figured I'd just shotgun it and see what happened. sorry about that, feel free to cherry pick.

thanks Axle, it really is appreciated!

Voted most likely to fall from great hights...
ahhntzville 


Location: Boston




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 3 on 8/14/2013 7:36 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Se7eN
yeah I wasn't sure how many to post so I figured I'd just shotgun it and see what happened.

http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=31637

A lot of these seem like just casual snapshots, not intended to be great photographs and rather hard to critique for that reason.

I like 17 but I would crop out the conduit or whatever that is running down the left edge of the frame.

13 the subject is out of focus.



Se7eN 


Location: Seattle, Washington
Gender: Male


coming to an elevator shaft near you.

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 4 on 8/14/2013 7:48 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by arntzville
A lot of these seem like just casual snapshots, not intended to be great photographs and rather hard to critique for that reason.


and that's almost exactly why I'm here, I haven't the slightest idea what I'm doing or what is or is not good. I only know what looks good to me, so perspective is welcome. (also, apparently what i think looks good are casual snapshots, so that clearly needs work as well)

my process at this point is find something that piques my interest that happens to lie within the visible spectrum, I then aim my camera at it and click until I like the results. I understand how my camera functions and how to get more or less what I'm looking for (my camera only leaves Manual when i hand it over to someone), it's what I'm looking for that I am trying to develop.


Voted most likely to fall from great hights...
corvettejoe 


Location: Central FL
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Abandoned Travels
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 5 on 8/14/2013 7:51 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
#1 - Cool, but not crisp/sharp. Maybe use a tripod? Whats the lighting coming from the direction the camera faces...a flash? Would look better without the lit foreground. The composition/subject is cool though. Just could be a LOT better.

#2 - Hey look im in a tunnel. Really not going comment on it, there's nothing very artistic about it. This is just one of those "Look where I was" photos. It could tell part of the story of a full set of this site, but on it's own, it is nothing.

#3 doesn't seem quite straight. LOVE the site though, all the beams, the friends climbing around. I would have sharpened it up a bit, pulled the shadows out some, and maybe played with some color enhancing.

#4 - Like #2, just another "look where I was" shot, could be part of a story of a full set, but on its own it's nothing.

#5 - Kinda cool. Needs some lighting help and either a better angle to begin with when shooting it, or a better crop post-processing. I would sharpen this up quite a bit, its too soft and looks just out of focus. Also needs to be rotated clockwise just a smidge.

#6 - Same as #2 and #4, a "look where I was" shot. I probably wouldn't even include this in a full set unless it told some hard to explain detail about the story.

#7 - love it! Needs to be rotated counter clockwise just a hair. I might play with it further in lightroom, pulling the shadows out just a hair, brightening it all up a little, adding some magical clarity or just sharpening it up a bit. Great shot! I like it!

#8, you need a tripod...or put the tripod on something that isnt vibrating. I like the composition! Great use of long exposure... but then look at the bridge, road sign, buildings, etc...they should all be crisp and clear. This is caused from whatever movement you had in the camera. Aside from that.. I might brighten it up a little, darken the shadows some, play with color settings to bring out the vehicles lights more.

#9, GREAT shot...Needs to be rotated counter-clockwise just a tad from the looks of it. Good lighting and color. Great subject/composition. I might have also cropped a bit more of the bottom out a bit. and cropped the top so the sky isnt showing between the last beam and the edge of the photo.

#10 is hard to tell with the reduced image size. it looks like it could be a bit more crisp, maybe sharpen it some. Maybe brighten it up a tad, pull some shadows out a little. It would be awesome to see the stars in the sky. The lighting is stellar though, I love the coloring of this photo. Also, EXCELLENT angle!

#11 saw this before in some other thread? GREAT shot. If you're using a DSLR, a lens profile correction in Lightroom would help keep the buildings from all bowing towards the center. Looks like it needs to be rotated clockwise a bit. All the buildings are leaning to the left..especially the foreground building and then check the space needle out..its tilting. I like the lighting though and composition and angles.

#12 nothing artistic about this IMO.. just another "look where I was" shot.

#13 - all kinds of eye searing blurriness going on. This would help to zoom out more to see what it is you are looking at, or put into context better where this valve looking thing is. To save it, maybe sharpen the crap out of it, then mask off the sharpness.

#14 - I actually think this is cool, even though its just yall hanging out exploring in the shot. BUT.. I would crank the highlights down big time if you use lightroom to kill the blinding glare of the jackets. Pull some of the shadows out to get more of the metal look in the background areas. I like how busy the image is, lots going on, lots of lines! Cool shot.

#15 good comp, just needs some rotation to straighten it out a bit, Could use some post processing lighting changes to brighten it a tad and add shadows to other areas.

#16 same #15

#17 - good comp and angle. BUT needs rotation (its leaning) and I would learn to shoot in manual modes only, once you learn how, you will never touch the auto settings again. I say this because if you had taken this with your F-Stop cranked as high as you could and put it on a tripod, the whole image would be crisp and clear. Notice how just the closer parts are clearer and the rest is a blurry mush? F-stop!

Lots of good starts, some actually good shots (just needs post processing help). I think you know how to take a photo from the looks of it, you just need to learn your camera better and how to post processes better.

I hope this helps!
Good work! Keep it up!





www.abandonedtravels.com
www.facebook.com/abandonedtravels
corvettejoe 


Location: Central FL
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Abandoned Travels
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 6 on 8/14/2013 7:53 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
...and I will "advise" you that the title should be "advice" ;)

www.abandonedtravels.com
www.facebook.com/abandonedtravels
Se7eN 


Location: Seattle, Washington
Gender: Male


coming to an elevator shaft near you.

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advise.
<Reply # 7 on 8/14/2013 8:20 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
also relevant information, most if not all (some are old to the point where i don't remember) i tend to only very sporadically have access to computers with any meaningful ability to edit my photos, so a great many of these are straight off the camera.

Posted by corvettejoe
...and I will "advise" you that the title should be "advice" ;)


i hate my phones auto-correct, thanks for the heads up.
[last edit 8/14/2013 8:27 PM by Se7eN - edited 1 times]

Voted most likely to fall from great hights...
glossolalia 


Location: New York City
Gender: Female




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: looking for some advice.
<Reply # 8 on 8/16/2013 10:54 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I love number 8, even though it's been done. 13 looks creepily vaginal. 11 was a good idea, but poorly executed.

I feel like practice is key here--all these pictures have potential. Try looking for things that are less cliche, especially while climbing/exploring. Like in number three, an odd bit of the structure you're climbing that a person might not expect.

it's darker later than it was at first
corvettejoe 


Location: Central FL
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Abandoned Travels
Re: looking for some advice.
<Reply # 9 on 8/17/2013 7:15 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Se7eN
also relevant information, most if not all (some are old to the point where i don't remember) i tend to only very sporadically have access to computers with any meaningful ability to edit my photos, so a great many of these are straight off the camera.


Ahhh ok, that would be good info to post as well if they have been edited in any way or not.

It would also change a lot of what was said in some critiques too. Some people like camera skill only, some like the full enchilada. Depending on what you did, or what you're going for, people would tend to give different advice

For instance, I saw the ghost shot of you, and assumed you were familiar with photo editing and therefore all of them would have been edited to some degree.

www.abandonedtravels.com
www.facebook.com/abandonedtravels
mrcoolantspray 


Location: Seattle WA
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | 
Re: looking for some advice.
<Reply # 10 on 9/13/2013 10:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Like others, I love 1, but I'd like to see it cropped just slightly. Once it was pointed out, it bothered me: it is too light in the foreground. Crop that out a bit, but leave as much negative space as you can. The isolation makes the image, but the subject as-is is just too small.

I like 9--it's a pretty cool portrait. The colors and the pose are interesting.

8 is pretty cool. 10 shows promise, but falls a little short. I'd like the focus to be more on the pylons in the center of the frame than on the part of the bridge closest to the camera. I'd crop it differently too--there's too much negative space here.

15--I work there. Teach me what you know about exploring, and I'll teach you what I know about photography.

You say you like the snapshotty photos the best--is that because they remind you of the experience, or because of the photos themselves?

Something in general to think about when taking photos (if they're more than snapshots): What's your subject? It's hard to tell if you're photographing the people, the location, or just making a record for the family album.


[last edit 9/13/2013 10:10 PM by mrcoolantspray - edited 1 times]

UER Forum > Archived UE Photo Critiques > looking for some advice. (Viewed 373 times)



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 93 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 737017511 pages have been generated.