simon_hickie1

For me, yes - it's too heavy top right. There's detail there, so I'd punch in a bit more light in post processing to give a wider range of tones.

Nice light and general composition here. Just a fraction tight on the left perhaps. I might also crop off a little sky from just above the cloud line - better balance with sandy foreground.

Very much what Taylor said. For the existing picture, you could usefully crop out about half to 2/3 of the sky which would put the ridge in a better position in the frame.

I love the subdued colours here, together with the general composition. It looks a bit oversharpened though and there's a rather strange dark halo round the cyclist.

Light, colour and tone are all good here & the title says it all. If I'm being picky, I'd crop a little from the right & possibly clone out the blue drum on the left. Otherwise rather nice!

It might be worthwhile trying to punch a bit of light into those shadows - photoshop shadow / highlight tool may help (or equivalent).  I think there's some detail here that would come out nicely.

Well seen and very nice tonality in the image. I'd be minded to crop out the window in the top left - it's a bit of a distraction from the main subject.

Nicely seen! If technically possible with your camera / lens, a larger aperture (e.g. f2.8) may have helped to put the background a little more out of focus. Looks a little tight on the left - just a couple more inches would let the subject breathe a little more.

Great light and mood here! There are almost two picture here - one with the top 3/4 and the other with the bottom 3/4. 

I'm wondering if a crop showing just the two towers and correcting for converging verticals would work better, thus removing distractions to the left & right. Super light!

There's nice light here and that helps. However, there are two competing elements here - the guy sitting on the beach and the hut and table. I'd be minded to make more of the latter, but that's just me! On the technical front, f22 is not going to give you the sharpest image. Diffraction will set in after f11 on the D60. F11 at 18mm gives you a hyperfocal distance of 145cm, so everything is in focus from 73cm to infnity - and it will be sharper. Your shutter speed for this image would then be 1/200th sec, so potentially sharper still! Hope this helps.

Nicely seen! Just a couple of minor things. 1. It's a bit tight at the top and bottom - clips the signs and the guy's left hand. 2. If only he was looking to the left - into the image!

First off, don't be embarrassed about using a point and shoot - it's your eye that matters! First off, try lowering your (brother's!) camera so that the verticals are parallel to the sides - you've got 'diverging verticals'. Then, try to recompose, if possible, to remove any distracting elements - just moving a few inches can sometimes make a big difference. Then crop out anything which is a distraction - e.g. the door frame on the left. By shooting your subject at an angle, you have added interest to the shot - much better than shooting head on. This is the beauty of digital - shoot away and see what works for you and each shot is (almost) free.

 

My personal view is that you are doing the right thing. Try shutting yourself in a room for an hour or two and see what you can come up with. Try to keep it simple with not too many elements in the picture which are going to compete with each other for attention. Photography is about light, colour, pattern, shape/form, texture and composition not the camera gear - it's just that some gear makes it easier than others to do what you want it to!

 

Enjoy your new hobby - it's kept me sane(ish) for over 30 years. 

I'm very keen on these kind of shots - I love architecture, pattern and colour! For me the sky is a distraction - rather a lot in the top right for example. Could you have got more of just the building?

Great lighting! Composition is almost there, but I'd lose some of the sky (about 50% as viewed on the extreme right) to raise the far water's edge a little higher in the frame. The rest of the composition is excellent.

Nice idea here but a couple of compositional issues and a couple of lighting ones. It's very tight at the bottom & needs a bit of space below the feet. I'd also crop a bit from the right to place you subject a little further right. Lightingwise, it's a bit hot on the subject. The big thing, though, is the brightness behind your subject with blown highlights being a big distraction. It might also be better if your subject's face wasn't 'straight on' and perhaps more of a 3/4 shot. The shot shows the benefit of a fast prime lens though!

Grabbed this shot in Edinburgh, 'summer' 2007.

Nice effort here. However, there are some things you can do to improve the image. (1) Much of the left side of the frame is wasted. Try the camera in portrait (upright) mode (2) Try to fill the frame and crop as tight as you feel able to. I've posted a cropped version in reply to your original thread.

No storm as I recall - just an interesting mass of cloud & some great light! Taken about half an hour before sunset as I recall.

Captured 10 minutes walk from my house. I rather like it, but would be

interested to know what others think! Taken with the Nikon D80 -

hand-held but with monopod support. I'm hoping to put this into club

competitions for next season.

This has done quite well for me in local camera club competitions. Any

feedback would be most welcome. Many thanks.

I was trying to do something a bit different (for me) & spotted these

logs at the edge of a local pool. Together with the out of focus

reflection of the overhanging trees, they seemed to make a nice

combination.

Comments welcome!

Comments welcome!

Another from a brief trip to Wastwater in Cumbria. Comments welcome!