post recomendations

Landscape samples

Center Samples

I didn't have time to take any photos this time, but here are a few samples I pulled off of flickr.

Notice the bird, how hes perfectly framed by his environment. This is ideal, How can you use the subjects environment to "prove" a center composition.

ugh

not sure what but something kept me coming back to this image.

I can see why you like it, the soft accent of light on the bottle and contents. I think the DoF here is interesting, Over all though it has what I call "Thumbnail syndrome", thats where the photo looks interesting until you enlarge it, then it loses its appeal.

Love the detail of this chair...5th picture I know but I wasn't "in love" with any of my images.

I like this photo, good exposure, angle and composition, I would like to see all of the tacks on the top and center to be in focus, so you would have to close down a few stops to get them in. Its a great texture source and I can see you using this as a layer or background in a composite project or something. Love the silver tacks on the green texture.

Center

I've had in my head the coolness of bright balloons on the white bright snow..here is my tiny balloon reflecting the sky and clouds shrinking by the moment.

This is a great photo, one of the hardest things to do "IN CAMERA" is to fool your audience. There is no reflection in the balloon just sky, you can't tell how big the balloon is, brilliant! Great use of DoF. Exposure could be a little more punchy. Love this photo.

I know this breaks the rules..but this assignment was about breaking

them right? I love how the light is so bright around the tiny oranges and makes them stand out individually.

I too like the light, the back light that causes the glow of orange, and the soft light source surrounding the subject. Once you enlarge this photo however the it falls apart. One problem is that I want to see one orange in the dead center but its more like two. Also there is a reflection and it detracts from the photo. Reflections are hard to get around sometimes.

I loved the brightness of the pear and how the light made a nice contrast.
This photo looks great as a thumb nail. Once you enlarge it it looses its appeal. I think the main reason is because in a photo like this, you would want everything sharp. To do this you would use a few stops more DoF. Also, I think that if you rotated the chair or wood at more of an angle the cast shadow would become more interesting and make this more symmetrical.

This assignment was tough/easy since I was so terrible at comp that part was easy since I always put everything center and tough because I had to forget what I've been working hard on fixing...guess we will find out if I got it or not. I have one more image I will decide on and upload tomorrow....cheers!

Portrait beat down

Great choice of F-stop, you will notice a difference with these photos and lots of your old ones. when you use a 1.4 you might only get there eyes, and from an artistic stand point that is fine, but if you are shooting these for some friends its better to do what you are doing here. This is what they want, clear, well composed well lit shots. f 4,.5 might be the highest f-stop ive seen you use on a portrait. Notice even joshes ears are in focus.

This and the one of Loren are your best out of the group. Who ever this is im sure his parents would love a copy. Good lighting and composition. Needs just a little post processing.

Be careful about your distance, This is a clear shot and great expression but would not work in a frame, well not as good as if you were backed up a bit. Remember when shooting to allow room for frame cropping.

On something like this, and any time you are shooting out side in sun, try over exposing 1 stop or less. The meter wants to give you an even exposure and there is a ton of brightness given the sun and snow. So you are just urging it to expose more for the shadows.

This ones a great shot. Doesn't need post work. Great for a frame, don't have any negative things to say about it. Good job.

One global issue I see with these shots is a ISO of 200. You don't need it. Always when you can, use the lowest ISO possible. I would not call this a rule breaker but its a question of seeking out the best quality possible.

Lesson 1 (books) critique

Ok so you took a bunch of photos and since you posted many of them I probably wont be able to critique them all but I will choose a few of them and point out different things. I think maybe in the future I will simply go into your post and write next to the photo instead of re-posting. But for now I will just take a few of them and repost.

On a side note, something important. I want to know what you think about the photos you take, and one of the best ways for you to communicate that is by what you post(the photos). I would like to think you are showing me your best, and in the future I want you to take a minute and make those choices. I might ask you what you like about the photo, and in time you will be able to articulate exactly why you like it, using the fundamentals of what you have learned to back up your answer.

I'm glad that you didn't think the assignment boring, I think that as a good photographer you should be able to take anything, and through the use of F-stop, shutter speed and composition you will be able to make it interesting. I see that you used props from time to time, possibly to add meaning to the book or shot itself, thats fine and its your take on the assignment, so don't apologize. At the same time, your photos don't need to have meaning, they can simply be Art, as you see it. So in future assignments keep that in mind and have fun with it.

So to start, you didn't break any technical rules of photography (slow shutter or bad iso) this is great, it shows you are really understanding the basics and are probably thinking less about them and more about composition and creation. I really liked your use of light, in a few of the photos your use of light created a feeling of a kind of atmospheric perspective, giving it a strong color cast.

Books0005.jpg andBooks0004.jpg are really well done. The lighting, composition and point of focus are dead on, as well as your chosen f-stop, good job.

Books10001.jpg and Books 10005.jpg have a ton of potential but are lacking a strong angle or composition.

Books20002.jpg is a favorite because of the composition, the angles and the lighting, good job on an even exposure in and out side. This is a good example of correct exposure and use of light, something you could have used in that pool room shoot with your friends. This is good because it shows you are thinking about balanced lighting.

Books20005 and Books 20006 are interesting 5 is the strongest but 6 has more potential however your execution was off. Foreground is good to have but foreground that covers the main subject is hard to pull off. Id like to see the leaves in the shot but not covering the book, at the same time more depth of filed would help to bring the later edge of the leaves into focus which would help round this photo out.

Books0003 is a great Center composition but the lighting falls short, a strong light from the left or even behind to create that strong atmospheric perspective like i mentioned before would go along way in making this photo more impactful.

The photo I uploaded has so much potential its killing me,,lol I love the section I highlighted.

I gotta jet, we can talk more about some of this stuff on the phone.

Books2

Okay I'm done...a little overboard I know...sorry!

Books1

The all seeing EYEBALL
My take on technology..become the colorless...nameless

Books

I pulled out all the color sat on this one


I hope you don't mind me getting a little creative and adding "props" Its gay I know but it was fun thinking creatively. I have a bunch more I will post.

New weekly assignment area

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This one

flash samples

540ez Flash unit pointed at the ceiling.

Direct on-camera flash tuned to just fill, just under the value of the sun coming through the window.

Vertical Hold bouncing the flash off the wall from the left.

Direct Flash tuned down and diffused

My new little gadget

Ok so don't look at the clearness of the pics..just want to show you my lightscoop...this is using my flash but it reflects off a mirror and spreads the light love everywhere...its a cheap way to make flash pictures look much better :). I won't be using this all the time...but I have a lot of moments that don't include beautiful natural light so I thought this was a good alt.