# Critique?



## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

Im going to link these from photobucket..hope thats ok.
These arent anything that took substantial effort, more just me messing around with the camera, and some things in LR4. Im wanting just your overall thoughts on these. Ive been doing this for a few months now..and Im getting addicted. Ive had a few people notice some of my stuff and ask me to do sessions for their families, but it makes me nervous..not knowing if my work is at least decent. I feel like these are OK..I know more effort could have gone into some of the settings, etc.. just wants thoughts (ill stop rambling now):


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## ronlane (Apr 24, 2013)

Dave, I'm a jeep guy so #1 rocks. #2 looks underexposed a bit to me, or could use some fill. The rest aren't bad, but you will probably hear about cutting the baby's toes off in the last one.


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

Wooo! another jeep dude!
I build XJs.. But I have a soft spot for TJ Brute's like that one. I had to somewhat crop it because a bunch of fattys were hovering around it and wouldnt move off so I could get the full shot. Oh well..

Let me go back and look at the raw baby image..i may have just cropped it dumb..

As far as the underexposure went I will definitely look into it. These have all been tweaked in LR4..so its a possibility I lowered the exposure that way..


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

Same Pic.. little extra fill.


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## ronlane (Apr 24, 2013)

^^^^^ That's it right there.

I have a TJ I bought used a little over a year and a half ago. It's my daily and I keep adding stuff to it as I can. Between that, golf and photography, my wife tells me I'm more expensive than the kids. (She's right but she started spoiling me  )


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

Id like to build a TJ.. But im still young, and broke.
Thats a pic of my fiance and our daughter 

Between full time school (working on my bachelor's in computer science), full time work (IT Tech), planning a wedding, taking care of baby, building my Jeep, moderating cherokeeforum.com..and now photography. 

Im becoming addicted to the photography thing.


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## Derrel (Apr 24, 2013)

I would say watch the backgrounds very carefully, and try to get a clean, simple backdrop. Like on the baby in the back yard...classic pole growing out of head flaw + the bird feeder; indoors on the baby on the floor...the lamp's cord is just one element that's distracting. Mom and baby on the steps...not too bad, but it might have been possible to have her scoot farther over to her left, and thus eliminate the vent and the bottom of the door frame and door. The door and its frame add another depth plane, that steals from the two of them...moving the camera to the right a bit would have given a single-plane background, albeit one of bricks and siding, but still, more-harmonious than the one you got.

Background control is probably the most-critical skill to making good people pics.


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

I see what your saying. I didnt even recognize the one of the first baby (with the poll coming up behind head)..but I see it as an eyesore now... :/
That pic came from a sparatic moment of her looking at me and staring as I managed to get pictures of her.
I also see what your saying about my daughter and the lamp cord..I wasnt trying to make anything special there...just waiting on her mom to get home and was bored..so I busted out the camera when she started peaking through her moms copy of 50 shades of grey.

The one on the steps is only one I somewhat "staged"..well I told them to sit there while I took the pic. A nicer background would have been cool..but I failed to see how much that electrical outlet would come into play.

I appreciate the comments.


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## tirediron (Apr 24, 2013)

Derrel said:


> I would say watch the backgrounds very carefully, and try to get a clean, simple backdrop. Like on the baby in the back yard...classic pole growing out of head flaw + the bird feeder; indoors on the baby on the floor...the lamp's cord is just one element that's distracting. Mom and baby on the steps...not too bad, but it might have been possible to have her scoot farther over to her left, and thus eliminate the vent and the bottom of the door frame and door. The door and its frame add another depth plane, that steals from the two of them...moving the camera to the right a bit would have given a single-plane background, albeit one of bricks and siding, but still, more-harmonious than the one you got.
> 
> *Background control is probably the most-critical skill to making good people pics*.


It is impossible to overstate this!


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

I agree.
Ive noticed I am not the best at paying attention to background stuff.


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## goodguy (Apr 24, 2013)

I love the forth picture of the baby, alsmot looks like it was taken from a magazin, excellent.

Nice jeep but next time please give us a nice shot of an Alfa Romeo, preferably a vintage one :hail:


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

goodguy said:


> I love the forth picture of the baby, alsmot looks like it was taken from a magazin, excellent.
> 
> Nice jeep but next time please give us a nice shot of an Alfa Romeo, preferably a vintage one :hail:



Thanks dude!


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## DarkShadow (Apr 24, 2013)

I give a thumbs up for the first baby I every seen that's already reading books and has a iPhone.:hail:


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## Dave01 (Apr 24, 2013)

DarkShadow said:


> I give a thumbs up for the first baby I every seen that's already reading books and has a iPhone.:hail:



Haha.
What's funny is it was 50 shades of grey..the lady had it laying around..lyla decided to flip through it


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## Dave01 (Apr 25, 2013)

Thoughts?


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## tirediron (Apr 25, 2013)

I think the idea is valid, but I find the execution lacking - her finger placement makes it look like she has a death-grip on the boquet, the ring is turned slightly, and the perspective makes her arm look as big as Mike Tyson's!  I would also touch up the small red mark at the base of her index finger.


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## Dave01 (Apr 25, 2013)

Thank ya sir.
Her arm may be as big as Tyson's (lol)

This was shot about a year ago before I became thoroughly interested.
It was shot with a mediocre cannon superzoom.


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## jwbryson1 (Apr 25, 2013)

I generally like these but find the colors a bit oversaturated.


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## vintagesnaps (Apr 25, 2013)

The last one looks too cropped, like it brings the viewer in too close (her hand doesn't look sharply in focus, I'm not sure exactly where the camera was focused). I agree with others that the backgrounds need to be more clean - this one has a dark shape below the yellow flower to the left but I can't make it out so it just seems distracting. Try moving your eye around the viewfinder/viewscreen and make sure everything in that rectangle is what you want in the photo. If not, try changing your vantage point and/or how you're framing the shot. 

To me the photo that was brightened looks better but the pictures overall seem like maybe the exposure was off or they might be somewhat too processed, they seem to have a somewhat artificial look. These don't look like professional quality portraits but more like pictures someone took of their family; you seem to still be learning basic skills like how to frame shots so I don't see being able to take on clients quite yet. 

In a few months' time I don't know that a photographer would have developed skills yet to do professional quality work; I wonder if friends are asking about you doing photos for them in an effort to be supportive - and you might have skills with a camera that they don't have themselves. It might be better to let friends know you appreciate their support and it's something you'll keep in mind for later on when you've done your 'homework' in improving your work and in setting up your business. The easy part is making up a name/logo and sticking it on your photos, that's not what makes for quality or professional work.


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## Dave01 (Apr 25, 2013)

jwbryson1 said:


> I generally like these but find the colors a bit oversaturated.



Thanks.
Ill keep an eye on the color saturation.


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## ronlane (Apr 25, 2013)

tirediron said:


> her finger placement makes it look like she has a death-grip on the boquet



I though that it looked like she was ready to stab someone with it.


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## The_Traveler (Apr 25, 2013)

vintagesnaps said:


> * These don't look like professional quality portraits but more like pictures someone took of their family; you seem to still be learning basic skills like how to frame shots so I don't see being able to take on clients quite yet.
> *


+1 at least.

If you can't look at these and recognize the really obvious problems with composition, color and processing, you certainly are not ready to get clients.


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## TroyACantrell (Apr 25, 2013)

Dave01 said:


> Id like to build a TJ.. But im still young, and broke.
> Thats a pic of my fiance and our daughter
> 
> Between full time school (working on my bachelor's in computer science), full time work (IT Tech), planning a wedding, taking care of baby, building my Jeep, moderating cherokeeforum.com..and now photography.
> ...



I too lime the Jeep shot, could be in a jeep mag for sure. Not too distracting with the surroundings, no ones face reflected in the glass.  Nice. Doesn't hurt I that I am a Jeeper too, in the middle of a restoration of a 1966 CJ-6. I think I visited your jeep forum a few times too.  

I will pile on as it relates to background too. I think we get focused on the subject and don't take minute and look at the rest of the frame.  It's the difference in a photographer and a photo taker.  We all want to be the former, I am currently the later too often. 

Troy


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## Dave01 (Apr 25, 2013)

Again..as stated.

I didn't stage these as I was a pro. These aren't something I worked on composition to make them "professional".
I'm not trying to be a professional at the moment.

Just trying to produce pictures that are better than average joe.


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## DarkShadow (Apr 26, 2013)

Grand Cherokee here in line six 157,000K No oil burner or leaker.Not exactly the same looking but still goes through all the deep snow in 4X4. One downside is No trail hitch with my own gas station on the back.


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## Dave01 (Apr 29, 2013)

Few more of the little one, thoughts on them:


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## The_Traveler (Apr 29, 2013)

Why are parts chopped off?
What about dark eye sockets?
harsh daytime light
burnt out spots on her face


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## Dave01 (Apr 29, 2013)

The crop thing is something I need to work on. I never see it as an issue until someone points it out.
Any suggestions to fight the light?
These were shot at ISO 100, F/10 1/125


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

Her hand is not natural looking. Next time try and make it look more relaxed. And I would have used a healing tool on her hand as well. I would have zoomed out just a little.Other than that great shot.


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

Yeah def work on croping! Use the rule of thirds. Take the photo divide it in thirds. Place the subject in any one of the 3 areas.


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## Dave01 (Apr 29, 2013)

I see what your saying with the hand, but she is 10 months..and doesnt have the best understanding of how I want her to pose lol.
I was just pleased to get her to hang out and not want to crawl around and explore.

For the insane amounts of georgia sun (at around 5PM) what would you all recommend? Just waiting until it gets darker out?


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## o hey tyler (Apr 29, 2013)

Dave01 said:


> I see what your saying with the hand, but she is 10 months..and doesnt have the best understanding of how I want her to pose lol.
> I was just pleased to get her to hang out and not want to crawl around and explore.
> 
> For the insane amounts of georgia sun (at around 5PM) what would you all recommend? Just waiting until it gets darker out?



One of the best skills a photographer can have is to be able to look at shadows and see the effect that they create.

Harsh sunlight creates very hard edged shadows. You can hold your hand up or look at anything and SEE the hard edges. When the light gets lower in the sky, or it's overcast/cloudy, you'll see less definition in the shadows as well as softer (less dark) shadows. This is pretty ideal for shooting outdoors. You can also try backlighting your subjects to prevent raccoon eyes.


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

Dave01 said:


> I see what your saying with the hand, but she is 10 months..and doesnt have the best understanding of how I want her to pose lol.
> I was just pleased to get her to hang out and not want to crawl around and explore.
> 
> For the insane amounts of georgia sun (at around 5PM) what would you all recommend? Just waiting until it gets darker out?



I meant the wedding shot sorry :/ I didn't really specify


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## The_Traveler (Apr 29, 2013)

barbeegirl said:


> Yeah def work on cropping! Use the rule of thirds. Take the photo divide it in thirds. Place the subject in any one of the 3 areas.



Sorry, this is not the meaning of 'rule of thirds'

Do a web search for it.


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

The_Traveler said:


> barbeegirl said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah def work on cropping! Use the rule of thirds. Take the photo divide it in thirds. Place the subject in any one of the 3 areas.
> ...


Will do I must have been missed informed thanks for pointing that out!


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

barbeegirl said:


> The_Traveler said:
> 
> 
> > barbeegirl said:
> ...


After further research I found that my teacher is a complete idiot lol smh good thing I found this site!


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## The_Traveler (Apr 29, 2013)

Give me your teacher's location and I will send him/her an email.


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## barbeegirl (Apr 29, 2013)

The_Traveler said:


> Give me your teacher's location and I will send him/her an email.


Lurd lol I avoid conflicts 0.0 Thanks for the help thou!


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## Dave01 (Apr 29, 2013)

So just avoid the extreme sun lit shooting all together?
Or find a more shaded area I guess could be an alternative.


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## o hey tyler (Apr 30, 2013)

Dave01 said:


> So just avoid the extreme sun lit shooting all together?
> Or find a more shaded area I guess could be an alternative.



Avoid harsh sunlight and learn to see shadows. Shooting in shade is a good alternative.


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