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UER Mobile > UE Photo Critiques > Honest Opinion on My Photos Please! (Viewed 2615 times)

post by rachelmackayy

Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
< on 8/11/2015 3:07 PM >

Hi! I would really appreciate it if y'all could tell me what you think about my photos. I use a Canon Rebel T3i. I'd love the feedback, thanks in advance!

1. Letchworth Village (with orbs...yikes)

2. Untermeyer Park (eagles nest)

3. Untermeyer Park (gate house)

4. Tarrytown Water Company

5. Tarrytown Water Company

6. Tarrytown Water Company

[last edit 8/11/2015 3:08 PM by rachelmackayy - edited 1 times]

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post by DJ Craig

Moderator

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 1 on 8/14/2015 5:16 AM >

#1: This is very overexposed. See how almost the entire sky is whited out? And there's a lot of texture on the white parts of the building that we're losing. I think this picture would have actually been better if deliberately underexposed, and maybe with a subtle vignette. I would also maybe play with desaturating it - those trees are way too green!

#2: This is really cool! Remember your rule of thirds. I think this shot would be stronger with the camera panned down just a little. And once again, try a lower exposure.

#3: The subject of this shot has potential, but it came out extremely flat for two reasons. First, because the lighting is very soft - presumably an overcast day. And second, because you're taking the shot from a long distance with a high focal length (you're zoomed in), which takes away all of the cool 3-point perspective. Of course, I realize you may not have had the option of changing either of those things...

#4: This is my favorite one! All the texture is great. It's exposed perfectly. The blue color balance is interesting, and implies early morning.

#5: The concept has potential, but the blurred out space takes up too much of the photo. If the in-focus portion of the photo was on a 1/3rd line, it would fill the frame much better. I'd also play with a slightly smaller aperture so you get a wider depth of field (more of the shot in focus). Also, it's very grainy. You may need to turn down your ISO (which will probably require a tripod if you aren't using one already).

#6: This one's really cool! It could probably benefit from some heavy editing, especially if you shot RAW. I'd say lighten up the building as much as you can without visible grain, adjust the color balance on the whole shot to be warmer - more reds and yellows - and then play with increasing the saturation, or better, "luminosity" if you're in Photoshop.

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post by rachelmackayy

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 2 on 8/14/2015 1:50 PM >

Posted by DJ Craig
#1: This is very overexposed. See how almost the entire sky is whited out? And there's a lot of texture on the white parts of the building that we're losing. I think this picture would have actually been better if deliberately underexposed, and maybe with a subtle vignette. I would also maybe play with desaturating it - those trees are way too green!

#2: This is really cool! Remember your rule of thirds. I think this shot would be stronger with the camera panned down just a little. And once again, try a lower exposure.

#3: The subject of this shot has potential, but it came out extremely flat for two reasons. First, because the lighting is very soft - presumably an overcast day. And second, because you're taking the shot from a long distance with a high focal length (you're zoomed in), which takes away all of the cool 3-point perspective. Of course, I realize you may not have had the option of changing either of those things...

#4: This is my favorite one! All the texture is great. It's exposed perfectly. The blue color balance is interesting, and implies early morning.

#5: The concept has potential, but the blurred out space takes up too much of the photo. If the in-focus portion of the photo was on a 1/3rd line, it would fill the frame much better. I'd also play with a slightly smaller aperture so you get a wider depth of field (more of the shot in focus). Also, it's very grainy. You may need to turn down your ISO (which will probably require a tripod if you aren't using one already).

#6: This one's really cool! It could probably benefit from some heavy editing, especially if you shot RAW. I'd say lighten up the building as much as you can without visible grain, adjust the color balance on the whole shot to be warmer - more reds and yellows - and then play with increasing the saturation, or better, "luminosity" if you're in Photoshop.

Thank you so much I really appreciate the feedback! Photo three was taken at night and I had to zoom because I was alone and there were people doing an EVP session in that house as it has a bad history. Not an excuse though, I'll definitely take your advice. Im glad you like number 4, I took it at night. Im going to work on number 6, thank you!

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post by tiffers

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 3 on 8/14/2015 3:34 PM >

#1 - It's not an 'orb', it's the light reflecting off your lens. A hood for your lens would help alleviate that. It's also super, super over exposed. You have lost the tops of your trees and the entire sky.

#2 - This is also overexposed. You've lost the back side of the dome...as well as your sky. I would look up the 'rule of thirds' because cropping this one, would definitely benefit it.

#3 - This one is super busy, but could be saved to be a bit more appealing because of all the lines. Look into what 'leading lines' are.

They're all super grainy, like waaaay too sharp. Back off on that sum.

[last edit 8/14/2015 3:34 PM by tiffers - edited 1 times]

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post by Steed

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 4 on 8/15/2015 1:32 PM >

Of course it's an orb, just as long as we all agree that it isn't an alien visitor from another dimension or a ghost or whatever.

I liked 1 a bit better than the other guys because I'm used to the sky looking like that where I live--blown out and undefined. But even if that were the case, it just wasn't a good time to make this capture. If the light isn't hitting the building right, it's not the right time to shoot. If possible, this would be worth reshooting at a better time of day (or even an overcast day or when the Chinese pollution is hitting you, because the sky becomes a giant reflector).

I like 2 and I don't care if this picture violates the rule of thirds. It's a sharp silhouette.

For 3 I agree with the others. Uninteresting lighting situation, and the exposure isn't as nice, with the horizontal lines not being parallel and the upper corners where lines converge being off frame. For something like this I might've taken a vertical shot. I'm guessing the point of the shot is the white graffiti on the right.

I'm less enthusiastic about 4, because I feel like the picture ends awkwardly at the bottom. The lines are all straight and it's technically a good photo, but it's missing something.

5 is probably an attempt to put more into the subject. It looks like the colours are an interesting pair, though the narrow depth of focus pushes you off frame to the right. Hopefully you took at least a dozen similar photos, and maybe another worked better?

6 has nice colours, but too much of the silhouetted building. A simple crop would make this nicer. But then it would be a pretty standard sunset shot.

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post by RedBush

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 5 on 8/16/2015 6:11 AM >

I'm personally not a fan of the blues in 4 & 5? It's a pretty shade, but it justs feels like the white balance was wayyy off on those pictures.

With 3, there's no real subject to look at, but it might *possibly* work as something slightly more abstract if you rotate it so the vertical lines are - well, vertical. And then if you have photoshop, maybe monkey around with the various adjustments tools to redeem some of that lost color. Just be careful if you do the latter so that you're not over-manipulating the image.

And that orb is totally an interdimensional alien ghost wormhole. It's definitive proof and anyone who says otherwise is in on the conspiracy.

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post by nyctophilia

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 6 on 12/17/2015 4:57 PM >

These are all pretty nice shots, and everyone else covered pretty much everything I was gonna say, so I'll try to keep it brief.

#1- A lens hood would definitely help with the light reflection. If you were to take it into photoshop, you might be able to adjust the highlights and shadows, too make up for the overexposure.

#2- I really like this one. The silhouette is sharp and stands out. I'd say that you could darken the shadows, bring down the exposure in the sky and add some more contrast to bring out the details in the sky and to maintain the contrast after lowering the exposure.

#3- I really like the subject, but you could use some more exposure and more contrast.

#4- The paint here is really nice. Try filling the frame with the door, or turning the camera horizontally so the door is centered in the frame, and maybe go from a more straight on angle. It looks like you stood a bit off to the side for this one.

#5- I can tell these were taken at night, and I'm not sure if you used/have a tripod, but that would be helpful for these kinds of shots. This shot has a solid amount of noise, and a tripod would help, allowing you to bring up the shutter speed, while keeping your noise low, deep aperture and maintaining a stable/sharp image.

#6- I really like the sunset. I would darken the shadows, and look into leading lines. Look where the horizon is leading your eyes and where the building is leading into the horizon.

Besides that (all pretty minor things), you're doing really great. I hope to see more posts from you soon!

That totally was not brief.

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post by DawnPatrol

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 7 on 12/18/2015 6:11 AM >

You've already gotten a lot of really great feedback and there's not much I can add but there are a few things worth mentioning.

1. I actually can't tell in this one whether the 'orbs' are glare or dirty spots on your lens. Either way, a lens hood definitely could fix this, but you can also just hold your hand out to block the sunlight. My wide angle lens has an oddly shaped hood, it's impossible to just make a cylindrical one on those because then the hood would be in your shots. Because of that sometimes sunlight still gets in. In cases like that I will hold my hand out and manually block the light. It's a delicate balance between blocking the light and getting my hand in the frame and I look like I'm saluting Hitler, but it works.

Aside from just being a bit blown out, this one also looks a little over-saturated to me.

2. This is a really nice silhouette, but I have to agree the composition leaves something to be desired. You should also pay attention to the little details. personally, I would have tried to keep the little leaves and such at the top right out of the frame and if I couldn't I would have photoshopped them out in post. The photo would look a bit cleaner without them.

3. What DJ Craig said.

4. In shots like this composition is insanely important. The fact that this shot isn't straightened, centered, or off-centered in any deliberate fashion makes it look like a snapshot to me.

5. You ISO is too high in a lot of these, but in this one it's particularly noticeable. Steed makes a good point about where your focal is as well. If you really think about it, the vast majority of this photo is out of focus and uninteresting, which means the focal needs to really shine and I don't feel in this particular shot it does. Personally I'd like to see more in focus and sharper details.

6. DJ Craig and Steed both make different, but good points about this photo. If you were to shoot it again, I'd probably recommend bracketed shots. Expose for the building and expose for the sky. Otherwise if you want to keep all the silhouettes, I'd go with Steed's suggestion of framing it a little differently. Silhouettes are nice when they have interesting outlines. The whole side of the building is taking up too much of the frame, focus on the outline.

For overall advice I would say the two biggest things you need to do right now are work on your compositions and exposure.

Learn a little bit more about what makes an interesting composition. Rules are meant to be broken and all that, but learning the guidelines helps a bit. You never said if you had a tripod or not, if not, get one. They're cheap and essential to this kind of photography.

I think you should spend some more time messing around with exposure in manual mode. Find out your limits. For example, what's the lowest shutter speed you can personally get a sharp shot at without a tripod? What's the highest ISO you can use on your camera without grain destroying the photo? Etc. Learn your limits, your camera's limits, and then learn how to work around them. Keep in mind I'm not saying all of your photos are poorly exposed, but based on this set you still need to learn how to utilize your camera as best you can for a quality exposure.

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post by Porcelain Doll

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 8 on 12/22/2015 5:35 PM >

Posted by DawnPatrol
For overall advice I would say the two biggest things you need to do right now are work on your compositions and exposure.

This.

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post by sleeperspirit

Re: Honest Opinion on My Photos Please!
<Reply # 9 on 12/22/2015 5:39 PM >

Ghost orbs

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