Feedback on my pictures?

[YeSnO]

Hello people. I really would only like nice and honest people to answer this 'question.'

I am a 15 year old aspiring to be a photographer. I love photography a lot and have been taking snapshots since year 7. I really would like people to tell me their opinions of my snapshots that I put on facebook. I am not fishing for likes, I am merely just asking what you guys' opinions are because I have no idea where I can ask anyone else..but here.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ad-L-Photo...310?ref=hl
Okay thanks Karen! This is the link to my facebook, not my personal one but my one i use for people on the internet: we can talk there, I use a sony cyber-shot

http://www.facebook.com/adele.uiayhel

for anyone who sees this feel free to add me as well!

[Karen]

i absolutely love your work im 14 and i would also love to be a photographer, i think the way you use close ups to make small objects look huge is really clever :] well done do u mind if i add u on facebook i really like ur stuff? :] what kind of camera are u using?

[Roxenne]

some of your photos are awesome

[Jeremy]

Your photographs are not very good at all. You suffer from poor composition, uninteresting subject matter, your lighting is not good, a lot of your images are blurry, highlights blown out, and you over process the images in post.

You should start by learning the basics of photography; get a firm grasp on them. Rule of thirds, exposure triangle, white balance, then learn to edit your images without overdoing it.

[jamie]

I like the shot of your dog & of the glass ceiling in whichever building that is. My only criticisms are that your collection of photos is a little random, there's no focus on any particular genre. You need to think more about what you want in the frame & how best to capture it, for example you cut the paws off your dog. When you start to think about composition you'll notice little things like this is a lot I your photos. Besides this, some of them are crisp, in focus & quite nice - others not so much. But you're developing & you'll learn little things like this as you go you're doing a good job on the whole & you should definitely keep at it!

If you plan to buy yourself a digital SLR camera in the future, have a think about what type of photography you want to focus on initially as all bodies have different capabilities & are suited to different areas of photography

[Ara57]

Well, I see you have removed the good image that was not yours and added a bit more. I was glad to see the picture of the dog. I guess that means you can snap a photo of something that is alive! In addition it is not an awful shot. You have a catchlight in his eye and the fur is showing nice texture. You have cut off his paw at the lower edge, but it is still a pleasant shot, mostly because the subject is endearing, unlike shots of the Dell logo or a page from a random book.

One problem is your subjects and your treatment of them. Random closeups seem to be the thing with beginner teen photographers. There is nothing wrong with shooting what you want, but these pictures will likely not mean much to you in the future. Aside from the technical problems, they are simply not interesting. They are not well executed, many have major composition, lighting, exposure and focus problems. To make matters worse, you have taken a heavy hand in post processing with excessive saturation and contrast in many of them. Massive post processing manipulation does not turn a mediocre snapshot into a work of art, and in fact often ruins what might otherwise be an OK shot. Post processing has a place in digital and film photography, but it is neither a rescue tool nor a miracle worker. Here are a couple of quick and dirty critiques, first the wooden mannequin: While the lighting is creating shadow and highlight (necessary in a 2-D image to create substance and form) , the highlights are largely blown areas with no detail, and the shadows are blocked, again with no detail. It is not quite sharp, and his hands are cut off in the framing.

This one: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
The subject is very out of focus, and again has large blown areas. In addition this one, as many of yours, is tilted. Sometimes tilt can be dynamic, but when constantly substituted for good composition tilt becomes a crutch, and not a good one. I know you may hear to always shoot from different angles and see other photos with skewed horizons, but most of the time your horizon line should be straight. The leaf is also cut off at the edges.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater
I like this one best from your group of inanimate objects. It has an abstract feel, and the spots of red add to the cubist notion.

In short, you are still at the beginner stage even if you have been shooting for several years. What are you doing to learn about the craft and advance your skill and step away from making the same old novice mistakes? Learning the basics of exposure and composition are the first steps you should be taking.

Asking for critique here on Y!A will get you a mixed bag. Many will be other teen beginners with very little understanding of the craft. These are the gushers. Then there are the meanies, who delight in tearing into beginners because they can on the anonymous interwebz. You may also get a few responses from some regulars who know their f/stop from a door stop, but many of them are not doing that so much any more because of the abuse they get in return for their honesty. The best way to get meaningful feedback is to join a group or club at your local level, or take a class at your school, or submit some of your work to local juried shows or contests. There are also many books available at the library on basic photography and composition. Lots of on-line sites for every level photographer from beginner to advanced. Here are a few I like:

http://digital-photography-school.com/

http://asp.photo.free.fr/Composition/pho...ss01.shtml

http://photography.nationalgeographic.co...NavPhoHome

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutoria...posure.htm

Here are some galleries of mostly good to excellent work so you can see what good photography should look like: First still life:

http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter

Abstract:

http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter

And everything:

http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter

Be inspired to learn and improve. Best wishes to you and happy shooting!

Also here is my Flickr, mostly my own snapshots of my daily life, kids and pets, but have at it if you wish:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12604020@N05/

In fact, you might get better responses here if you put your photos on Flickr rather than FB. FB compresses small files even further, and many people will not leave comments on FB or even go there to view. Flickr is free.

[andy w]

I will be honest but I doubt you will think I am nice.

Your photography is not very good. It is certainly not "awesome" as someone said.

They are very basic and not very good quality snapshots of random objects taken with not much thought to subject matter, composition, exposure or any of the basics of photography.

This for instance http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1...=3&theater
What is the idea behind it. Why the silly tilt? It is a nothing shot.

Or this
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1...=3&theater
Again what was the idea behind it? It is not in sharp anywhere. it is again just a random nothing snapshot.

Explain your reasonsing behind some of these random snapshots because as it stands they are just bad shots of uninteresting things.

p.s. glad you have removed the "stolen" picture.

[Ronnie]

If you have been taking snapshots since 7 then you have no talent or skills for this, you have not learned anything!