So, am I doing Ok for a beginner?

[Intuition]

meh nevermind

[simoncookerussell]

Thanks for that, perfect response to what I wanted.

And as for composition, as I said earlier, all my pics are generally cropped 1×1 for IG, being as IG and my iPhone got me interested in photography, and working in a 1×1 environment is harder than full frame.

As for the blurred background pics, i did those before I read the book, Understanding Exposuer, and I had no idea what DOF and a apertures were about, I only ever shot on full auto, CA and P.  it’s a very frustrating hobby to have, especially when I have no other outlet to get info apart from the Internet, were you see what you want to accomplish, but are mostly left with the “how the f#%* did he do that” feeling.

I like that pic also that you posted with the drain pipe, funnily though, it’s over saturated to the hilt, that drain ain’t blue 😉 and I get what you mean about the lines in the photo, but that was taken way back when I just started, wasn’t thinking about lines and so forth. I will from this day forward post all my pics, IG and Flickr in full as shot aspects, at least then I can’t hide behind the 1×1

If you really want to see where I started and where I have ended up in this hobby, go through my IG account from begging tomost recent, and the first pic will tell you exactly when I started this hobby. At least you may get an idea on any improvements.

thanks for your time and help I hate Fauxtography. I’ll have another attempt at that Pic and see what I can do with it now.

 

[simoncookerussell]

Re: intuition “meh, nevermind”  do you really think at this point your going to make a difference, this thread will only ever move on and improve if everyone, including myself, moves on and behaves.

i get it, I need a lot of work to improve my photography, the point is well and truely taken, so you can either assist or repeat pushing the already proved point.

 

Have a nice day.

[cameraclicker]

IHF has a good eye!  The photo was rotated 1 degree ccw.  It is a breeze to rotate it back to vertical.  Here it is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54048679@N07/8613642928/

I like the bridge.  I think there is too much sky and water, but that is easily fixed too.  I think it works better as a panorama.  I retyped your copyright notice so I put it in the correct form.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54048679@N07/8612537883/

I agree with Stef, I really like http://www.flickr.com/photos/94214228@N05/8577505302/in/photostream/

 

Flowers are a subject everyone likes to shoot, and which many photographers think should not be in a portfolio.  The logic is that flowers are already beautiful, so there is little opportunity to improve the look of the flower through your photography.  Even if they are not in our portfolios, I still shoot flowers, I loaded a few into the Flickr gallery as an easy way to get them to appear here.  Here are a couple I like.  This was taken with a bridge camera in that mid-day light that nobody likes:

And this was taken after 8:00 p.m. with a Rebel and Sigma 18-250 lens, it was in a flowerpot on the street at one of the local malls:

 

 

 

[IHF]

Simon, glad I helped

I have to say though… I kind of just repeated what everyone else was trying to say, and just threw in the reason why over sat doesn’t work.  Prints.  The final product.  If they aren’t good, then what’s the point?

I just reworded, in a way I felt you would understand better.  Just know, when asking for critique/criticism,  It’s what you will receive.  Even if you are a five star, super successful, well known photographer, you will get what you are seeking.  Some people may not word things properly, or even just say “I don’t like” something about your photo, and leave you wondering.  But every single time someone, anyone takes the time to discuss your photography with you, it’s a gift, and should be received as such.  When someone says “oh beautiful!  This is an amazing shot!”  It’s wonderful, but how helpful is it?  Does it explain why they like it?  Maybe they don’t know?  Criticism almost always comes from someone paying more attention, and actually caring more about improving your photography, even if they seem to be an asshole.  Assholes, usually have something useful to say if you really listen.  Next time, prepare yourself, no one is trying to make you feel horrible.  don’t show/share or put up for critique   something very special to you, unless you are ready to handle it.

this is not to beat a dead horse.  This is just in case there isn’t someone out there next time understanding your reaction, or someone without the time to re word everything they are thinking, in the attempt to try to make it lighter.  Thank you for sharing your photography, and making me feel a little useful in the process 🙂  good luck out there

and thank you camera clicker 😉

 

[JLiu]

IHF – you inspire me.

[IHF]

Read this (I swear, I’m not trying to be redundant over here, but I think you will get a lot from this article)

5 Things You Should Know About Receiving Photography Critique

[IHF]

JLiu,

awesome!!  how did I do that?

Was it my critique?   I’ve been called dick, asshole, arrogant, jerk, etc so many times here with so many agreeing, that I kinda backed off for a while and stayed away from critiquing, just bit my tongue.   I really was trying to be lighter and less harsh. But this tog made it easy.  They aren’t in business and realize where they are.  Just like me, no idea what I am doing or why.  I connected with that

[JLiu]

It was most certainly your critique.  You took the time to explain your position and re-worded it such that it was easy to see both sides of the coin.

 

[IHF]

Ooooh yay me!

Thank you so much JLiu.  Now if I can just continue to say what I want to say with complete honesty, more effectively, even when a “professional” tog comes here asking the almighty question and everything they have said and shared leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth…  Baby steps… Baby steps… deep cleansing breaths…

[dont.care]

Now if I can just continue to say what I want to say with complete honesty, more effectively, even when a “professional” tog comes here asking the almighty question and everything they have said and shared leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth… Baby steps… Baby steps… deep cleansing breaths…

‘Professional Photographer’ is such a tainted malignant term now, it’s ludicrous to even associate with it anymore.

[simoncookerussell]

Thanks for the responses, very helpful indeed, and thanks cameraclicker for the re-edits, but just remember, I started photography because of Instagram (I know it’s a dirty word in photography circles) so all my editing is done specifically for IG and I never saved the “as shot” aspect, only the 1×1. Not an excuse, just a fact,  but tbh I’m getting over the IG thing and wanna start taking it a bit more seriously. Some point this week, I will reorganize my Flickr account, delete all pics and re-edit “as shot” ratios, and they will only be what I consider to be my best, and pay the pro fee so it’s a bit more user friendly.

What I have to accept to my self is that all that I have been taking recently are pictures that help me work things out. How my camera works, how PP works, and if I enjoy the process as a whole. My 7D has only taken 3500 pics, still 146500 to go before the shutter shits itself 😉  plenty of time to get things right.

Thanks I hate Fauxtogs for all your patience, and again, sorry to Brownie, you broke my criticism cheery unfortunately, so you were not going to get it without a fight, peace mate.

But it has taken a toll, I havnt for the first time, taken any photos for a couple of days, lost my mojo, so I hope it comes back.

In regards to printing and saturation, I don’t nor ever plan to print, I don’t have the space to hang stuff for my own use, so I edit to my liking for viewing on my ipad/iphone. But my flowers pics will always look like that are now, I love it and I like to make them look better or more colorful than in reality, my choice, my opinion, it makes me smile, and I shouldn’t worry if others don’t.

 

Ill take on board everything that has been said here, I’ll go out and take a shot, think about it it a bit more, PP it, and I’ll get you lot to say how it is, whether I like it or not 😉

[cameraclicker]

If you haven’t yet signed up with a paid Flickr account, you might check out 500px (http://500px.com/popular) and PBase (http://pbase.com/).  There are also free social sites that you might find are fun.  Usually they have a collection of forums and they run photo contests.  Frequently you can save a large or unlimited number of photos for free.

When I started out with digital a computer monitor was 1024 X 768, so even though my camera could take larger images, I opted to have it shoot that size.  Of course, now I regret that.  Several years ago I switched to raw files for everything I don’t need immediately.  If I need an immediate JPEG, I usually ask the camera to save both.  And, I save everything, even the bad shots.  You can never tell when you will need a specific shot and as time passes, computers, software and your skill all improve, so a shot that was marginal some years ago may be able to be salvaged.

Remember to make backups, regularly.

[Intuition]

Re: intuition “meh, nevermind”  do you really think at this point your going to make a difference, this thread will only ever move on and improve if everyone, including myself, moves on and behaves.

i get it, I need a lot of work to improve my photography, the point is well and truely taken, so you can either assist or repeat pushing the already proved point.

 

Have a nice day.

You need to stop jumping to defensive mode so quick. I wrote a long post, having accidentally skipped page 2 of this thread, and realized everything I had to say had been said. Since we can’t delete posts, I was left with an edited post, and rather then leave it blank I said Meh Nevermind.

Smile, not everyone is out to get you.

 

[simoncookerussell]

Yup, my fault and yours for leaving a comment that can lead to a wrong conclusion instead of taking a few more seconds to say something like ” had to edit as I’ve missed some further information” But “Meh, nevermind” can lead to all sorts of conclusions.

 

You know what they say about text on the screen, it’s up to you to make sure your text on screen is understood.

 

[Author]

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