So..what sucks about this shot?

[Marsu42]

You can achieve this with reflector or remote flash -- yes, flash, I'm discovering (late!) that flash is an essential and almost miraculous tool even in spontaneous photography. Use it right and no one will ever know a flash was there.

Indeed - luckily, I discovered the importance of a flash sooner than later myself and I'm frequently using my built-in flash for fill and a remote external one for bounce. Remember: There's only one thing better than a flash - two flashes!

 

[sandymandy]

Thanks again. Yes, im a guy. Im 27 years old but in my head im not grown up a lot. Does any1 have a good weblink about cropping photos? I think its a very powerful tool but i just feel insecure when im using it. Also, I dont wanna crop around without a clue and just get a good result by accident.

@External Flash. I got a Canon 1100D i dont know if it supports external flashes. I mean, i know i can put a Speedlite on it, but i read only the 600D and higher support wireless flashing? confused me. I just like being kinda simplistic, having a prime lense and just available light. Sutdio portraits dont give me much.
I remember i was always fascinated by the world press photo awards. I think those are the greatest photos. So real and full of emotions.

okay i feel more motivated now again and will try to take some more photos 2morrow on the easter brunch

 

[JerryBruck]

Cropping: "Pictorial Composition, An Introduction" by Henry Rankin Poore. This was intended for aspiring painters but the author had photographers in mind as well when he wrote it more than 100 years ago. This advice is golden. Don't tell anybody else, promise? There's a cheap Dover reprint of a 1967 edition you can find on-line. It's only 94 pages but you may need to re-read it many times -- at least I did. This is the river you have embarked on. "Cropping" doesn't exist in isolation. As far as the dooing of it -- DPP has a very good cropping tool.

Speedlights are indeed external flashes. So far as triggering, ETTL metering and the rest of it -- welcome to a world of complication, confusion and expense! You'll have to sort it out, according to what you have and can afford. There are many good on-line tutorials. You can take a look at SylArena.com I think it is, but remember that he's a Canon salesman and you can achieve similar results at a fraction of the cost with other brands -- at a small fraction if you're not under time pressure. I'm not partial to his results but if he gives you an overview of a range of uses.

Primes: good.

Yes don't stop. The more you take the better you'll get, it's almost inevitable. Take a good long stare at the results afterwards on the computer. Always shoot RAW. Exercise every day and get plenty of rest.

 

[JerryBruck]

PS: Don't overlook the value of a piece of glossy white card. For the photo in question, holding this with your free hand might have solved the problem.

Every kind of light can be yours to bend, you don't have to take a scene as you find it -- the photojournalists you admire so much often don't -- and directing light can be at least as useful a tool in directing the viewer's eye as the shallow DoF that draws us to large sensors. Don't be put off by Arena's pictures -- they're all about artificial. Instead imagine just a taste of "speed-light" blending with the local; you can work up from there.

 

[peederj]

To me the main missed opportunity with the shot is it's taken from too tall a pov. I would have wanted it taken from the child's height, because one of the objectives of photography is showing people something they usually can't see but would like to, and the world through the eyes of a child is certainly that.

I agree that you photoshop that hand to "pretty" and the shot drains off all power. I can't imagine the woman is hiring a photographer but this is a candid and should be edited for photographic merit and not client vanity.

The crop wasn't perfect but I don't like the suggestion of cropping in more. Cropping out more would have possibly been better.

The look is very old school iron curtain, the shot could've been taken 50 years ago in Bulgaria or something from my American perspective. I am not a retro fan for its own sake as we already have plenty of the originals to look at if we want an older look. The fact that in this time of general luxury (viz. your having a fancy camera) there are still people with those careworn hands was the news here, and the old look dilutes that impact away.

 

[aldvan]

My 5 cents advice...
Never ask for a judgement in this way, even less in an Internet forum. And don't be bothered if a picture (text, architecture, painting etc...) submitted to a magazine or a competition will be not appreciated. In my work (architect) I always have to submit my projects to competition jury. They will judge tens of projects in few days, Opinions are conditionated by a lot of personal factors and, specially today, the general quality is quite high, since the circulation of ideas is very large. Everybody, today, has great access to a lot of good examples and it is very difficult to break the mold with something really original and outstanding. Furthermore we are witnessing the largest complexity of points of view, trends, schools etc ever. What can seem a technical mistake for one, is regarded as a great technique by another.
I would like to quote the great physicist and philosopher Ernest Rutherford: "There is only one person who can take away one's good name, and that is oneself"... With a small grain of salt, humbleness, objectivity, and looking around for the huge selection of good examples at our disposal, we are the best judge of ourselves...

 

[JerryBruck]

Be careful what you say about Bulgaria, @peederj, because it turns out Bulgaria is full of about the most soulful photographers on planet earth. Fifty years ago they may have been restricted to pin-hole cameras I don't know, but today they have metal gear with little wires just like we do. What do you think of this?

http://photomoment.bg/photo/82375

Yes? Then I could also show you, right away, 100 more, in every style and on every subject carrying as much or more impact -- Bulgaria! Add in Russia, Belorus, Ukraine, Turkey, even Moldova and you have a feast that just never ends. 5dMkii is popular in those regions among professionals but you will see astonishing results from less rarified kit and every kind of junk, pin-holes too I kid you not.

What is the "American perspective," anyway? Is whatever's left over Socialist Realism?

 

[kdsand]

Be careful what you say about Bulgaria, @peederj, because it turns out Bulgaria is full of about the most soulful photographers on planet earth. Fifty years ago they may have been restricted to pin-hole cameras I don't know, but today they have metal gear with little wires just like we do. What do you think of this?

http://photomoment.bg/photo/82375

Yes? Then I could also show you, right away, 100 more, in every style and on every subject carrying as much or more impact -- Bulgaria! Add in Russia, Belorus, Ukraine, Turkey, even Moldova and you have a feast that just never ends. 5dMkii is popular in those regions among professionals but you will see astonishing results from less rarified kit and every kind of junk, pin-holes too I kid you not.

What is the "American perspective," anyway? Is whatever's left over Socialist Realism?

I'm not going to go all surgical on this photo example.
Its darn nice and kinda sweet (so says this manly man)!

 

[Marsu42]

@External Flash. I got a Canon 1100D i dont know if it supports external flashes. I mean, i know i can put a Speedlite on it, but i read only the 600D and higher support wireless flashing? confused me.

Well, at least this question has a definite answer with Canon tech: with your body (unlike 60d, 600d, ... thanks, Canon!) you need a "master" speedlite to control other remote "slave" speedlites. You can get either a 580ex2 for the "old" infrared remote, or the new 600ex for the bleeding edge radio remote that works better outdoors at at long distances. But considering the prices of these, you might be better off upgrading to a 60d and then using a 480ex2 slave flash like me. I don't know about non-Canon tech though.

 

[peederj]

Be careful about flying off the handle overinterpreting a comment, JerryBruck! I was clearly commenting on the look of the image, not making generalizations about the skill of Bulgarian photographers (of which I have little knowledge).

Be careful what you say about Bulgaria, @peederj, because it turns out Bulgaria is full of about the most soulful photographers on planet earth. Fifty years ago they may have been restricted to pin-hole cameras I don't know, but today they have metal gear with little wires just like we do. What do you think of this?

http://photomoment.bg/photo/82375

Yes? Then I could also show you, right away, 100 more, in every style and on every subject carrying as much or more impact -- Bulgaria! Add in Russia, Belorus, Ukraine, Turkey, even Moldova and you have a feast that just never ends. 5dMkii is popular in those regions among professionals but you will see astonishing results from less rarified kit and every kind of junk, pin-holes too I kid you not.

What is the "American perspective," anyway? Is whatever's left over Socialist Realism?

 

[Kamera Obscura]

SandyMandy,

Your picture is fine considering how little experience you have.

I hear some complaints about PP. Remember the good old days in the Dark room, were the artistic juices could flow and you could be really creative. Like putting a Ladies nylon stocking over the light. Well today, it applies as well. The idea that PP could somehow be considered cheating or not pure, is very anal.

Be creative from start to Final image. Use all tool available to your disposal.

Best,
dario.

 

[smirkypants]

The idea that PP could somehow be considered cheating or not pure, is very anal.

Be creative from start to Final image. Use all tool available to your disposal.

The vast majority of people who use "photoshop" as a pejorative are very similar to people who hate math or 19th-century English textile artisans who destroyed mechanized looms.

 

[AJ]

Hi there,

I'm a photog who's written many hundreds of critiques on photosig.com With that said, here's my $0.02

I think it's a charming photo that really shows the love between mother and daughter. I think composition is good. The hands, lips, and woman's ear are all on a diagonal, and this works well. The photo looks a tad underexposed and the blackpoint is very heavy. I'd like to see some rich dark shades rather than solid black.

The region of the child's lips is very dark. It seems to get lost in the photo, and yet this is the part that makes the photo charming. It's hard to see the child smiling. I suggest trying some dodging here to brighten this area and to draw more attention to it. The same holds true for the child's eye.

 

[Marsu42]

I'm a photog who's written many hundreds of critiques on photosig.com With that said, here's my $0.02

I didn't know photosig, but it looks interesting. But looking at this thread, I am doubtful how valuable getting your pictures reviewed online might be - you end up with tons of contradicting opinions, and I wouldn't know what to make of it because I don't see the people face2face and cannot decide what the person's personality and background is. What's your take on online photo reviews?

 

[JerryBruck]

@Marsu42: PhotoSig is a website -- mainly for what seem to be beginners -- whose business plan is the volunteer coaching of all by all. Non-paying members must write critiques (with minimum word-counts) in order to post their own photos, so everyone's a critic. I won't attempt to describe the atmosphere there -- go visit.

I thought that sandymandy got some good and useful advice here in answer to his query, plus encouragement, plus a preview of some of the vibes that often go along with photography these days. Of course he'll have to sort it out, it's in the nature of things that there's no single answer to his sort of question, isn't that so?

 

[Marsu42]

I won't attempt to describe the atmosphere there -- go visit.

... pity, might have saved my some time :-o

I won't attempt to Of course he'll have to sort it out, it's in the nature of things that there's no single answer to his sort of question, isn't that so?

The problem is: How to sort it out? If I'm attending a face2face group review session, everybody brings one picture and all get reviewed by everyone. I can see the people, get a better idea of their personality and match this with their opinions. When looking at online opinions for non-tech issues (unlike "is the 24L sharper than the 35L" etc) I'm rather lost, but maybe I'm just lacking practice here.

 

[JerryBruck]

The problem is: How to sort it out?
[/quote]

Well that is the problem. Was it Picasso who said that genius is knowing whose advice to take? I suppose a beginner can sign up for school or attach themselves to a guru or just take from here & there... For me the personality of a teacher wouldn't matter, nor the quality of their talk -- only their photos would.

I think you can make good progress from staring at the kind of work you like and trying to match it, trial and error, the long way, true, but also the way of lucky accidents. And there's nothing wrong with sandymandy's approach of throwing out an appeal for advice -- so long as you don't expect The Answer. The answering babble will harbor leads, for him in particular and his to find.

 

[KeithR]

The vast majority of people who use "photoshop" as a pejorative are very similar to people who hate math or 19th-century English textile artisans who destroyed mechanized looms.

I've said before that I use PS as much as anyone: but it's not a replacement for good photography.

 

[KeithR]

This is not a honest critique, this is you being an a**hole. I'm dying to see your wonderful shots, you might be an awesome photographer.

Don't talk such whiny crap.

And here you are - my website: www.capture-the-moment.co.uk

 

[RLPhoto]

I don't care for the B&W processing. The only time I use black and white is if the color in the photo is drawing the viewer out of photograph or color weakens the underlying primary composition. Idk what color looks like here though.

Id like to see it in color and perhaps a tighter shot with the ear not in the frame.

Id give it a 8/10. Good effort but little things like that add up to a weaker image.