So, last time I tried my hand at photography, I was using a point-and-shoot with nothing other than a very general idea and a whim. On a whim Since then, I've aquired a quality DSLR camera, taken a few classes, and actually planned my shots ahead of time. I'd like to say there's at least a little improvement, but I can't judge my own work. So yeah. Cnc please? :3 Here there be shots. Spoiler
You sir, like dem butterflies. Now seriously though, the fifth photo is the best of them all. I am assuming these are clean photos and weren't edited for vibrance or anything. If so, it might be a good idea to do that for some of them. My photography instructor taught us that not all photo's are perfect the way they are taken, and even a good picture can be improved with extra color definition. Also, if you use manual focus on the camera you can actually place your subject in other parts of the shot than the center and still have it be focused. It allows for more interesting pictures than ones where the subject is always in the center of the shot.
^ that, but i dont agree the fifth is best, i'd probably say the pinecone is. overall, the lighting is pretty poor in all of them. using manual focus (if youre using a digital SLR) will help with the lighting too
^This... the 5th would be good if it weren't for the big distracting shadow and the not-so-great composition, at least imo sooo: 1. Poor lighting, nice depth, composition is kinda boring (centered = ehhh..) 2. Poor lighting, nothing specific really grabs the viewer's attention, kinda boring 3. Poor lighting, hard to see details.. could stand to open aperture 4. Poor lighting, blurry, centered composition again 5. Again, would be very sweet except for the large shadow which is pretty distracting 6. Like 2 7. Possibly the best of the bunch as QKT mentioned... lighting is good and interesting as most of it shines on the pinecone, composition isn't centered (pinecone is off-centered), the branch in the background helps break up the negative space.. Imo it would look better with more light flooding in 8. Like 3. Blurry, way too much negative space... could stand to zoom/get closer! Probably the worst out of the bunch 9. Like 3, other flowers help break up space, could stand to zoom/get closer Overall: -> Pretty big improvement from your previous photos. Could stand to find a place with more light and/or change the aperture/shutter speeds. -> Look more into composition.. that's a pretty fundamental knowledge bit that's very useful/necessary for photography If you do edit your photos, try to keep it to a minimal edit... eg: vibrance, curves, etc. Nothin' too edgy as it'll often look cheesy, fake, etc. and is usually frowned upon by the photography community
Embaressingly enough, I DID use manual for most of them. Apparantly I just have nearly no perception of "decent lighting." The thing about the fifth shot is that I put into practice what little I knew about flash photography. What can I say? My little brother's friend came home wearing a hat with a dying (but not exactly dead) butterfly perched upon it, and I took the opportunity of easy butterfly manipulation. I.... think I'd better learn photography properly before I jump at editing my shots (something else I have no experience in doing). I think what I've learned is that I need to (first and foremost) practice lighting and composition, although I don't know exactly how to go about the former. :/ Any pointers?
Well, yeah. That much is a given. If you can blatantly tell it's edited, then you did it poorly. There are cases where blatant photo-manipulation is okay, but those are more often than not, a different type of project than photography altogether. As for learning lighting/composition, your best bet is to either take a course on color theory, or if you can, a photography class in high school (if you are still in school). That's all I really can think of that would help, hell, even I have problems with lighting still and I learned some of that stuff.