Require critique

Hi,

 

I am new to this site but wanted to dive right in.

 

I have been doing photography for little over a year now and I am starting to feel like my photography is levelling out. I feel like the people around or people on instagram all have the seem feedback "thats amazing" or "thats sick" although its nice to hear its mostly just people being nice.

 

I am looking for some truthful and constructive feedback on my photos please, my aim is to start seeing where I am going wrong and where I can improve to take my photography to the next level.

 

I have attached a few photos of mine.

 

Thanks

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by William Michael

Just to add apologies for my watermark being in these photos.

It looks like you have posted a screen grap of 4 files names

great start by me.

When I click on the links, I see one photo in each link, for a total of 4 photos. If you want a photo to embed within the thread instead of coming up as a link, size it to a max of 1000 pixels and it should appear in your post instead of coming up as a link.

OK. Right up front. I'm not a professional photographer or artist. I am therefore eminently qualified to comment on such works. Having said that I must also add that others on this site are far more qualified than I. Be that as it may, keep in mind that a critique is basically someone's opinion, and at the end of the day the most important opinion regarding the work of any particular artist (a photograph is a piece of art work) is the opinion of that artist as regards their own work. So much for the soapbox.

 

Image #1. I like it. The sort of off center framing of the bridge. The diagonal line of the river sort of leading the eye into the picture. the framing of the sun behind the bridge and using the bridge itself to split the light from the sun. The some what muted pastel like colors in the sky and the reflection of light in the river itself. So on and so on etc.

 

Image #2 Good color. Road leading the eye into the image provides a feeling of depth, but I do think cropping up from the bottom a little wouldn't hurt.

 

Image #3 Again, Use of the sun as an element of the image. Good color, Good composition. Etc.

 

Image #4 Too much foreground, Bush on the right too fuzzy. Use of the sun as an element of the image is ok as is the color. Image has potential, but needs work.

Thanks very much MrAndMrsIzzy. I like the mention of cropping up Im going to back and try that out. Also the feedback for Image 4 is really helpful. again appreciate it thanks.

I wouldn’t recommend clicking on a new member’s links (Karl joined yesterday). Better safe than sorry.

 

Maybe William can sort it out

Fair enough tbh, have seen others posting where the pic is on the actual comment rather than a link. wasnt sure how to do this.

When I click on the links, I see one photo in each link, for a total of 4 photos. If you want a photo to embed within the thread instead of coming up as a link, size it to a max of 1000 pixels and it should appear in your post instead of coming up as a link.

thanks very much Sam.

Karl, I managed to get all 4 photos when I clicked each link. That said there is more than one way to post a photo.

 

You can drag a photo straight into a post from desktop/lptop photo files- this does not work if the photo file is too large, however, an active jpg (or whatever) link will appear. I think my "bigger" scan files that ended up as links were about 11 mb or so- file sizes of 4, 5, 6 mb will drag straight in and usually are "clickable" to view the FULL SIZE version. BUT when doing this it is definitely a good idea to advise folks that the file size may be pretty big- because some have data caps at home internet, or on their phones. I noticed your links are also clickable for full size. Again, its a good idea to let people know what they are clicking into, in case of data caps.

 

I also use the "upload a file" button to post pix out of my phone photo library, and

 

you can always enter a URL if you have photo stored in (almost) any sort of host site.

 

 

Gotta dash, more later.

Karl, I managed to get all 4 photos when I clicked each link. That said there is more than one way to post a photo.

 

You can drag a photo straight into a post from desktop/lptop photo files- this does not work if the photo file is too large, however, an active jpg (or whatever) link will appear. I think my "bigger" scan files that ended up as links were about 11 mb or so- file sizes of 4, 5, 6 mb will drag straight in and usually are "clickable" to view the FULL SIZE version. BUT when doing this it is definitely a good idea to advise folks that the file size may be pretty big- because some have data caps at home internet, or on their phones. I noticed your links are also clickable for full size. Again, its a good idea to let people know what they are clicking into, in case of data caps.

 

I also use the "upload a file" button to post pix out of my phone photo library, and

 

you can always enter a URL if you have photo stored in (almost) any sort of host site.

 

 

Gotta dash, more later.

Excellent, thanks very much mate.

Thanks very much MrAndMrsIzzy. I like the mention of cropping up Im going to back and try that out. Also the feedback for Image 4 is really helpful. again appreciate it thanks.

Your welcome

OK thanks for posting in Critiques. So, having looked at these a few times, IMO 1 & 2 are the best of the lot.

 

Photo 1, I like the composition quite a lot, like the way you've caught the sun at the perfect moment as it ducked behind that building and the way the suns rays beam out of the bridge, although I think it'd be better served if the darkest areas of the foreground were more visible. That large dark patch in the lower left draws my eye away from the other more pleasing components in the shot and actually makes me wonder what I'm missing.

 

Photo 2, My favorite of the 4 by far, the light is nice and I like the way my eye is led into the open square. I wonder about that lone individual walking past the tall monument tho, and find myself wishing that one person wasn't in the shot. It's a very photogenic scene however, but there's something about your crop of the shot that feels just a wee bit awkward. I find myself wondering if this is panoramic aspect ratio turned on end? Nothing at all wrong with cropping but maybe a more conventional crop would feel better? It feels like you could easily crop up from eh bottom as has been suggested- I'd probably come all the way up to that yellow line on the lower left as nothing in the immediate foreground has any interest at all; that is to say that nothing would be lost in cropping up that left hand line.

 

Photo 3, The sunrise (I assume, rather than sunset) over the city "thing" seems like a good concept, but in this shot there's not enough detail in the cityscape and too much of the forested hillside. My eye seems to bounce back and forth between the two completely differing sides of the photo and the end result seems to be more confusion than anything else which is a shame because a shot like this could be tranquil and soothing. The sun itself draws too much attention here and makes a somewhat painful and overpowering presence. So there's a dichotomy between the sun's massive presence in the scene and a near total lack of detail in the cityscape, surrounded by what comes off as negative space between the hillside and the open sea. The potentially interesting subject matter here,IMO, is the cityscape and buildings, the skyline etc. but the indistinct nature of the shot doesn't lend to really bringing these elements into lay, or severely reduces their impact.

 

Photo 4, This feels completely indistinct. I find it really difficult to even see what exactly you're shooting here, its kind of a shot of everything and nothing at the same time. Clicking on it to (dramatically) enlarge it seems to help a bit, I can at least make out some element of detail in doing so. Maybe a severe crop down to simply the skyline of the city with a teeny bit of the hillside would work?

 

In conclusion, 3 of these 4 photos were shot straight into the sun. Far as I know that's problematic at best for any number of reasons. Might want to rethink that whole thing. Also the best of your photos (IOM) 1 & 2, have the most detail. 1 is a nice cityscape and I generally really like the shot. 2 is a LOT more intimate and really brings me in, I feel like I'm right there, like I know this town. Simply judging by these four phots, the best advice I could offer would be to dial it in and show us more detail. Don't let details get lost or overpowered by "other" elements within any particular scene.

 

If you're a year in, I advise you to seek out & study photographers who do similar work as that which you aspire to. Study their compositions and see if there's anything for you to draw from in their works. I'm not saying you should copy what anyone is doing, only that being what other successful photographers have done, might provide some inspiration and also learning opportunities. Work on your compositions, put more time into thinking about what you're shooting and what the idea in your. head is at that moment, what do you wish to portray in the shot. There are certain rules of thumb for composing a photo and not that everybody has to absolutely adhere to them- but it feels like a good idea to know them and get comfortable with rules of composition and then break them knowingly? Seeing what others before you have done (or are doing) is a great way to gain a deep understanding of where you can take your own photography.

 

The next thing I can say is that you appear to live in a nice city that you are fond of- all your photos are of this place. It sits at seaside, has waterways or a river, and in general, looks like a really nice city. Shoot it more shoot it often, shoot, shoot, shoot. Go deep tho and get to the more interesting details are within the city- sidewalks & alleyways, boatyards, working boats, train stations, bridges. Feels to me like there are endless photo opportunities here.

Moderator Note -

 

I wouldn’t recommend clicking on a new member’s links (Karl joined yesterday). Better safe than sorry. Maybe William can sort it out

The contents of the links were OK, but it pays to play it safe.

The issue was the file sizes; they were massive.

 

Karl - sam's suggestion of max 1000px on the long side is good advice.

 

Sam's advice is based on two facts -

> the PN site not necessarily being able to manage huge image file uploads: you probably did follow the correct procedure for viewing in-line and I think there is a warning about file size and you probably missed it. The easiest way to address the file size matter is to stick to about 1000px for the longest side

> (all the) User's connections and personal devices not necessarily being able to manage huge image files to view, especially for display in-line. So even if an image appears in-line to you, it might not to others.

 

If you want to specifically discuss (for examples only) the issues of noise, post production, technical/optical artifacts of an image, etc, then you can post a tight crop of a section of the image, keeping the 1000px rule, which will then resemble viewing the original in its original, larger form.

 

I have posted an example crop of the first image below.

 

I have resized the four photos and you all should all be able see them, in-line now.

 

***

 

Karl original posted the EXIF contained in each image. This data which was (automatically) removed when I resized the images, so here is the short EXIF for each image:

 

 

File: C:\Users\User\Desktop\K\Karl01

010f Make SONY

0110 Model ILCE-7RM4

0131 Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.4 (Windows)

829a Exposure Time 1/320

829d F-Number 4.5

8822 Exposure Program Manual

8827 ISO Speed Ratings 100

9004 Date Time Digitized 27/09/2019 05:53:18

9204 Exposure Bias Value 0

9205 Max Aperture Value 2.96875 (F2.8)

9207 Metering Mode Pattern

9208 Light Source Unknown

9209 Flash Not fired, compulsory flash mode

920a Focal Length 31.0

 

 

File: C:\Users\User\Desktop\K\Karl02

010f Make SONY

0110 Model ILCE-7RM4

0131 Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.4 (Windows)

829a Exposure Time 1/60

829d F-Number 3.2

8822 Exposure Program Manual

8827 ISO Speed Ratings 1000

9003 Date Time Original 9/09/2019 05:24:55

9204 Exposure Bias Value 0

9205 Max Aperture Value 2.96875 (F2.8)

9207 Metering Mode Pattern

9208 Light Source Unknown

9209 Flash Not fired, compulsory flash mode

920a Focal Length 24.0

 

 

File: C:\Users\User\Desktop\K\Karl03

010f Make SONY

0110 Model ILCE-7RM4

0131 Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.4 (Windows)

0132 Date Time 29/09/2020 10:50:58

829a Exposure Time 1/160

829d F-Number 7.1

8822 Exposure Program Manual

8827 ISO Speed Ratings 100

9003 Date Time Original 27/09/2019 05:52:39

9204 Exposure Bias Value 0

9205 Max Aperture Value 2.96875 (F2.8)

9207 Metering Mode Pattern

9208 Light Source Unknown

9209 Flash Not fired, compulsory flash mode

920a Focal Length 31.0

 

 

File: C:\Users\User\Desktop\K\Karl04

 

010f Make SONY

0110 Model ILCE-7RM4

0131 Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.4 (Windows)

0132 Date Time 4/10/2020 11:50:24

829a Exposure Time 1/320

829d F-Number 4.5

8822 Exposure Program Manual

8827 ISO Speed Ratings 100

9003 Date Time Original 27/09/2019 05:53:18

9204 Exposure Bias Value 0

9205 Max Aperture Value 2.96875 (F2.8)

9207 Metering Mode Pattern

9208 Light Source Unknown

9209 Flash Not fired, compulsory flash mode

920a Focal Length 31.0

 

Example of crop to resemble original file size for (technical) interrogation -

 

William

Edited October 12, 2020 by William Michael

The first photo is a great shot, it's very well seen and executed, it's magic

 

Just a little cloning and spotting needed IMO, the vapor trail, the drying mark, and the dead pixels

 

Love the photos, HATE the watermark! lol

You have an artistic eye that is well represented here. Photo 1 shows good contrast and wonderful color ranges. I really like this shot. If I were to change anything, it would be to move the arched bridge away from the center position in the composition. Photo 2 is a classic, vintage street photo, perfect!