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Photos A few from a newbie

Discussion in 'Photography, Art & Design' started by NeoDude, 18 Nov 2009.

  1. NeoDude

    NeoDude Plane Whisperer

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    Hey folks,

    Pretty new here (This is my first post :D )

    Thought I would post a few of my best images from my website, comments welcome...

    Eilean Donan Castle...

    [​IMG]

    Eden Estuary...

    [​IMG]

    Blackrock Cottage, Glen Coe...

    [​IMG]

    Forth Bridges...

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Da Dego

    Da Dego Brett Thomas

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    I'll offer C&C in order of enjoyment:

    1 is a nice picture, but it's overbright on the castle and is a shot I've seen many times before outside of that. It's by far the weakest of the four you've given, and there are enough technical issues that I won't bother picking it apart in favor of some more artistic works presented.

    4 is compositionally very well done, but the exposure time has made the water look...well, odd. I'm not sure if it's mist rolling on top of it or just the water after the exposure time, but I'd have preferred a much longer exposure to let it all even out, even if it killed the sunset - or a second shot to stitch together with it so that you could have properly choppy, wavy water. It looks like a bad application of the PS "Clouds" filter right now though, and detracts from an otherwise very interesting piece.

    #3 is an EXCELLENT shot, but contrast is a bit overdone. I'd either back it off a hair or just bring up some of the shadow on the left. It wouldn't even be very noticeable if it weren't for the fact that the trees right behind/beside the cottage are almost entirely lost in the mountain shadow, even though it's clear they're sunlit from the left.

    Which brings me to #2...and all I can really say about this one is, can I have a print? :) It's beautiful - you play completely to the image's strengths with the saturation bump. The exposure makes for a water/fog combo that just screams "Scottish evening." There is nothing at all that I don't like about this piece, except that I don't have a RAW and so I don't have an ability to make a framed print. :)
     
  3. NeoDude

    NeoDude Plane Whisperer

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    Thanks for that, some genuinely useful critique. Prints available from my website ;)
     
  4. Sifter3000

    Sifter3000 I used to be somebody

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    Welcome! 2 and 3 are great; not much more to add to that.

    I think picture 4 needs cropping, though - that bit of manky grass in the foreground does nothing for the shot, other than make the interesting bit (the three bulky bridge bits) look far away.

    Don't forget to post in the Photo of the Day thread, too :)
     
  5. Cptn-Inafinus

    Cptn-Inafinus Minimodder

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    #3 is a fantastic shot! The highlights are little bit blown out, but other than that it's a very well composed shot!

    Not sure if I am enjoying #2 quite as much though. The composition in the foreground seems a bit messy, but it's a really nice shot. :)
     
  6. Da Dego

    Da Dego Brett Thomas

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    Digging through your website, there are some REAL gems. I was wondering if you'd like to tell me (well, all of us really) a bit of your technique - particularly your post-production, as your images really run quite a gamut of saturation.

    Your shots from Elgol beach at night and the Glenfinnan Monument in particular grab me - is the Glenfinnan a proper panoramic, or a cropped single frame?
     
  7. supermonkey

    supermonkey Deal with it

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    Welcome, and I also would like to say that this is a very good first post.

    I would agree with some of the comments so far: I, too, find the grass in the Forth Bridges photo a bit distracting, and I think the Blackrock Cottage photo suffers from too much contrast. But there is more about that photo that makes it my least favorite of the ones you've posted here.

    In addition to the high contrast, there is something about the composition of the Blackrock Cottage shot that doesn't sit right with me. Visually, the photo appears to lean to the right. Whether the photo is actually crooked or if it's just an illusion caused by the slope of the mountains and the movement in the frame, I'm not totally sure. Regardless, even though you have the large rock and high mountains to "pull down" the left side of the frame, the image still appears to lean right.

    Apart from that, I think there is too much going on in the photo. There's not enough of the mountains for them to be majestic, and the large rock in the foreground dominates the quaint house. In my opinion, these 3 elements are all competing for my attention.

    The Eden Estuary shot is beautiful. The colors are so bold, and the composition sits well in the frame.

    I'm going to go against the grain; I like the Eilean Donan Castle photo. As Brett said, the castle might be a tad bright, but I that is easily fixed. For my part, I like the contrast of the orange lights against the blue atmoshpere, and I think the overall composition here is better than the Blackrock Cottage photo. It might have been done before, but that's OK. I only wish I had the opportunity to take that same shot.

    I checked out your website, and one thing that really caught my attention was the "About" page. I see that you use a Canon 350D and a 17-55mm lens (plus filters and Photoshop). If that's truly all the gear you use, then your photos serve as a good example of how technique and a trained eye can trump an expensive, fancy camera.

    Thanks for sharing!

    -monkey
     
  8. Pookeyhead

    Pookeyhead It's big, and it's clever.

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    Too many people getting caught up on technical issues in here... which is why I stopped posting in this forum, because I was getting angry about people who essentially know nothing about photography critically analysing others' work based on technical merits alone, and completely ignoring the critical, and contextual aspects.

    Who cares about technicalities? It's how a photograph makes you feel that matters... that's what makes it good. As a photographer, and Photography lecturer, I see so many technically perfect, well composed images that say..... absolutely nothing. I'd rather look at look at a slightly under-exposed, blurry shot by someone who knows how to speak visually than a perfect technical exercise that says precisely nothing shot by someone who actually thinks the rule of thirds should be adhered to all the time.

    The guy clearly understands exposure and framing. The fact that the water looks a little funny is neither here nor there.... in fact, for me, it makes the shot better. Who says photographs have to conform to rules about how long a time exposure should be to look make water look a certain way? It makes me feel something... especially after just reading The Bridge by Iain Banks :)

    Seriously... just leave f-stops, shutter speeds, reciprocity et al alone for a while, and go read Susan Sontag or Roland Barthes... or even Derrida or Saussure... it will do you more good. If the shots were technically terrible I'd be chiming in as well... but they're not, they're technically very good (perfection is boring, and means you're probably thinking way too much about **** you shouldn't be). So the castle is a bit bright.... again.. that makes it more interesting for me... gives it an other worldly feel... slightly uncanny. Yes.. it's that shot we've seen a million times.... but that blue, and that blown out yellow do something for me. Does it matter that it's wrong?


    2 and 3 are the weakest in my opinion, because they're just clichés. 1 and 4 are where the action is for me (4 way more so than 1)... there's something about them makes me feel something. 2 and 3 are just chocolate box meaningless pap (sorry mate... but they are... but hey I'm bigging you up elsewhere).

    Bollocks to rules.

    Here's a guy who understands how to use a colour palette very well.. but you all missed it.
     
  9. Sifter3000

    Sifter3000 I used to be somebody

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    Ok Pookeyhead, I think you need to calm down a bit. No-one who posted previously in the thread was rude about the OP's pictures; they responded in their own personal way, and offered a mix of appreciation and constructive criticism.

    Fine, they didn't cover the points the way you wanted to see them covered, but that's no reason to start raging against everyone else - for someone who is advocating a free approach to photography, you come across as awfully prescriptive. Each to his own; if you want to respond in a more emotional way, then great, do so, but don't flame others who choose to respond in a more technical manner.
     
  10. Da Dego

    Da Dego Brett Thomas

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    I just had to drop this here to defend my critique - Pook, I very well took colour and overall "feel" into question. 1 (in particular) did NOT "speak to me", and if they did to you, that's great - but it doesn't really mean that the critique is unwarranted. #1 is the same shot that Yoda posted a year and some ago with a different colour and feeling behind it, so maybe I'm holding it up to unfair comparison. And odd, distracting water is exactly that - distracting.

    #2 is an image entirely about its colour - it has no visible subject, no place to rest the eyes. If I were slamming technical details, I'd point those or talk about how the image is at 3/4 instead of 2/3 (Yes, I know there is also a 3/4 rule). And I gave it tons of props for being just that, as well as explaining that it took me to a particular place mentally.

    I know that I in particular critique technically because that's the part that's universal to explain where a shot does or doesn't speak to me. I can communicate that. That being said, many of the shots *I* consider to be my best are completely outside of the rulebook, so I can't agree more on bollocks to the book.

    And I wish you DID post more. We can all learn a lot from you (I know I have over the years)...but maybe you can provide the point of view you think we missed. :)

    Not living by these gorgeous landscapes, I don't really grow tired of seeing a well-done one. Sometimes cliché is that way because it's attractive, rounded and it takes us to places we haven't been. :)
     
  11. supermonkey

    supermonkey Deal with it

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    How do you feel about the feedback, NeoDude?

    -monkey
     
  12. NeoDude

    NeoDude Plane Whisperer

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    All feedback is good feedback. Everybody is going to have a different opinion on a photograph, that's what makes it art I suppose. The good thing about feedback is that you can choose which bits to ignore ;)

    As for the tutorials I have been toying with the idea of doing a few youtube tutorials covering my shooting and post-processing technique. I'm due to be going up to Shetland soon with my work which might be a good opportunity to start, watch this space :D
     
  13. Pookeyhead

    Pookeyhead It's big, and it's clever.

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    I never said anyone was rude. Just offering an alternative opinion. Things like saying the grass in the bridge shot is a bad thing, when patently it isn't. It would be boring without it. The fact that it's the only green thing in there... the only thing that looks alive... shaped like a little island, dwarfed by the the huge creations of human industry, and surrounded by that oily "weird" looking water is quite allegorical in my mind. Take that away and it's just another shot of the Forth bridge.

    I just think that once you know how to expose, focus, and understand metering... just leave the technicalities aside and start thinking about what your images actually say.

    Apologies if I came across harsh... that's just the way I am.

    I wish I had the time to shoot something for myself!! My paid work is unimaginably dry and boring lately... lots of industrial shots, and photos of men in suits shaking hands etc.... but it pays the bills. The rest of my time is spent teaching photography to degree students now, so what little time I have left is spent doing things like shopping for food and sleeping LOL.

    I shall have to address this issue soon.
     
    Last edited: 19 Nov 2009
  14. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    Having recently driven past Eilean Donan Castle at night on my way to Skye for a photography trip, I have to say that NeoDude's photo really does capture the mood of the place incredibly well. Had it not been 10:30pm, I'd been on the road for 11 hours and absolutely howling it down with rain, I might've stopped to try and capture the mood that NeoDude has managed. Instead, I had to put up with a day-time shot on my way back, which didn't really capture the mood in quite the same way. I would have composed a similar image to the one I took (possibly in a portrait though now I analyse my own photo more), but I would've preferred the contrast and lighting at dusk.

    I also don't think that the castle is overly bright in NeoDude's image - it's difficult to miss when you're driving past because it's so bright. Yes, people can harp on about technical issues, but I find myself agreeing with Pook here. It's probably my favourite photo of the bunch.

    Welcome to the forums NeoDude. :)
     
  15. OleJ

    OleJ Me!

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    #1 & #3 are the best in my opinion. So there you go :D I especially like the color contrast in te first one. Seing as I don't live in the UK I think this is the third time I've seen a picture of that castle. All three have been very beautiful and all on this forum :)

    All four really beautiful shots and you obviously know what you're doing.
    Welcome to the forums. I hope we'll see more from you.
     
  16. Jumeira_Johnny

    Jumeira_Johnny 16032 - High plains drifter

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    this.

    And, unfortunately, none of the images make me feel anything. The are nice, don't get me wrong. Colors are nice. Composition is nice. Blurry water is nice. nice, nice, nice, nice. But there's no wow.

    I think at this point, like a drug addict needing a bigger hit, I need wow to get me excited. Nice is just meh.

    But to be fair, I think a lot of my own stuff is just nice, too. Like pook, I need to work on that.
     
    Last edited: 20 Nov 2009
  17. fabler

    fabler What's a Dremel?

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    nice shoots.. cannot say more than that.. genius has already said their words..
     
  18. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    I love the castle and the cottage :thumb:
     

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