Critique for a beginner please!

[garcijo]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garcijo/

Hi!

So I’ve liked photography since quite some years ago, but it wasn’t until  a couple of months ago that I decided to actually get more serious into it. I recently upgraded my old D3100 for a D7100 and a 35mm f1.8 but I haven’t got to process any of those photos yet.

In the gallery quite some of the photos were taken with both a compact Coolpix (I was afraid of taking my DSLR with me, really regret about it…) and a Film Lubitel, so editing of those ones was very limited unfortunately. I really wish you guys can check some of the photos out and give me some advise on how what to improve for my next shoots!

Cheers!

[cameraclicker]

It looks like you have been able to go interesting places and see interesting things.  Keep doing that.  The obvious, quickly noted, is to keep horizons level and pay attention to contrast, not too much, not too little.  Watch the light.  I know that can be hard when travelling and very hard if travelling with a group.  They want to move on while you want to wait for the shot.

Show us your new stuff once you have the D7100 going.

[ebi]

not really all that interesting. A bunch of landscapes, but it would be better to tell a story with your photos, unless you want to just be a landscape photographer. You need to work on composition.  Like the laguna colorada shot could be great if it hadn’t been so tightly cropped and composed in such an odd way. It’s really a shame. Always better to leave yourself more room then crop later. Also if it hadn’t be retouched to death. You’ll need to learn how to darken the sky without leaving a halo on the horizon. I see it in almost all of the photos.

Too sharp, too contrasty, need a better camera for sure…

[garcijo]

Thanks for your comments ebi! I had never really thought about writing more context to my photos, but I guess I’ll start trying with the next ones. About the pictures where I got that white halo below the sky, the photos were taken with a Coolpix S4300 so they were all JPEG’s, I was also just starting to practice the post-processing of my photos so I didn’t balance them properly. Starting from Dessert Flower and up until Spin I did use my D3100, for those ones I also think I got the hang out of pp a little bit more, although it would be nice to hear what can be improved in those ones since they were more serious photos than the Coolpix ones. Also, some of the film photos (the 6×6 ones) have weird colours and saturation because they were cross processed.

Cameraclicker, thanks too! I’ve been paying a lot more attention to my horizon lines lately and I think they’ve got a lot better, I still miss them by a bit sometimes but correct them at pp. As for the D7100 I’ll try to upload them soon, there’s still some places I wanna shoot before starting editing the photos I’ve taken so far, so I guess I’ll get that done by the next weekend!

I’ll keep an eye on your advices!

[ebi]

No I don’t actually mean writing a story, I mean create a series of images that tell a story. I look at a bunch of images of like the Uruguay set, and all i see is a bunch of cars and boats and roads, but it really doesn’t tell me anything about Uruguay. For all I know its some desolate place with old cars beat up cars. what about the restaurants, nightlife, people, other interesting sites. etc. Same with the other sets, lots of beautiful landscapes but it doesn’t really tell me what these South american countries are like. I’ve been to many of them: yes, they have beautiful vistas but they also have colorful people, customs, beautiful farms, stores, and restaurants and food. So think about the bigger picture overall.

Also not a fan of the film strip look on your images. They may be far more interesting without that.

[Brownie]

^^ I completely agree.

Too often I think people make pictures that are solely visual representations of the objects in front of the lens. snapshots are the prime example of that way of using a camera. Once a photographer begins to think critically and conceptually about their work is when you can really make some compelling photographs that move beyond just a picture of a sunset, flower, building etc. . Photographs can be fictional and are constructed by the lens and the photographer.

And I personally think in a few, you flirt with interesting subjects (llama, windy day fella) that are interesting but the photographs don’t stand as strong overall in comparison.

In ANY series of images you make, you could portray literally anywhere in the world as an Eden on earth, or you could portray it as the armpit of the world. It’s all how you choose to manipulate your story of this place.

[garcijo]

I think I get what you guys say, I do have been trying to do more representative shots of the cities lately, although I’m still quite camera shy so I keep missing some shot because of that. I also got robbed recently so I got a bit paranoic about hitting the streets with my camera. But yeah, I’ll definitely take your advices and try to do more than landscapes. Thanks!

[garcijo]

So, I finally did something different from  landscapes , I guess the new shots aren’t really spectacular either but well, I’ll keep practicing!

[ebi]

You can only have so many dead animals in your portfolio before you really repulse your audience. Instead try to focus on the people behind the carcasses. Setup some tighter portraits on them without the animals. Cutting board and knife, produce in the background, etc. Not all together necessarily but just thinking of different elements you can have in your portraits.

This is showing a little more range, and personally, it’s right up my alley so I like it. But try to tell a more complete story on San Juan with your images. Are you in Puerto Rico?

[garcijo]

I took a lot of photos of the animals since it kinda shocked me  and drew my attention, also more than a couple of people started yelling at me  or were just getting rude so I so I had to focus on the stuff they were selling rather than themselves. I also need to try more focal lengths for the portraits. These were all shot with a 35mm so sometimes it was a bit to far. Next time I’ll take another lens with me.

San Juan is a market in Mexico City. It’s supposed to  have really good food and it’s quite  famous among professional chef’s in the city.

[ebi]

oh you are in Mexico City…love that town. crazy but awesome. 35 lens is very wide. I’d have a 35 for interior and some landscape stuff, a 50 for tighter interior shots, and something around an 80 for portrait. Some sort of macro lens for tighter food type shots (finished dishes).

[ebi]

also, if you are having problems carrying stuff around might i recommend this bag or something similar. It’s a sling bag, that you wear as a backpack over one shoulder. You then slide it down and it sits perfectly on your stomach so you can unzip and safely pull out another lens. It’s big enough to carry your camera as well so you can store it when not shooting. But typically I carry the camera on one shoulder the the sling back over my shoulder at all times. The top pouch will hold cards and big enough to carry a speedlight flash as well. This is how I roll when I’m traveling.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/676053-REG/Lowepro_LP36173_PEU_SlingShot_202_AW_Camera.html

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