Martin,
Per your request, I am offer a humble response. I appreciate your enthusiasm, and hope you never lose that. You mentioned that you liked every single frame, and that is very exciting. You also mentioned that you feel or think you do not know a good frame from a bad? However, I like to think of it in more terms of successful image compared to less successful or not successful images.
Most of the subjects that I photograph turn out less than what I expected for various reasons. Sometimes it is because of timing--meaning the action before I was able to release the shutter, I missed. Sometimes it is because of lighting, or lack of it, and not properly exposing the subject. Sometimes it is because the color film (when I use color) is outdated, but I experiment with it anyway, or the image is out of focus and it is one of those images that shouldn't be. However, I am learning to edit, and through editing I can make myself to appear to be better photographer than i might ever let on. I have rolls of film where every image lacks interest, and sometimes I am fortunate to have a roll of film where ten frames are amazing. I think the key is to learn to be discerning photographer, and educate yourself about what is successful image compared to what is not a successful image. And there is no one answer.
I would highly recommend, if you are interested, to rent or buy these DVD's called Contacts #1, #2, and #3. They are absolutely amazing, and you sort of can get a feel how other photographers edit there work. What you will learn is amazing. You will see some of the most famous images on this series, however, you will also the other images that were very close, but that one image just didn't make it, sometimes because of slightest of gestures, or the feeling or emotion of the image.
I would also recommend that you buy a book by Stephen Shore called, The Nature of Photography. It will provide you a concrete foundation and language for photography. My last recommendation is spend a lot of time a book stores, libraries, and online, looking at work.
In reference to you images I think enthusiastic by your enthusiasm. I will not say that any of your photos "suck," or are "bad." I think some are successful than others for various reasons.
I quick response:
#1 and #2 are not very successful for me--first, I have a biased of not liking photographs of people eating. Besides from this bias, I don't feel any emotion from that of the viewer. She knows you are taking her picture and she seems like she doesn't know what to do, or waiting for it to be over.
#3 holds no interest for me, due to a lack of action. There just looking and all we see are their backs, and there unawareness of being photographed. If they were kissing or dancing, or if their was something subtle happening in the frame it might be more amusing.
#4 Is moving more in a direction of interest, but I wondering what is this image about? Is it about the pigeons, if so I would have waited for them to do posed in such a way where it makes the frame more interesting, like waiting for them to fly in between the polls. Or is the image more about the formal elements, of the lines and shapes of the posts--if so I would have photographed them in several angles to see how visual I could make this image.
#5 works for me. I like the juxtaposition of the tower to that of the sky, and the fact that it appears to be leaning, which creates a sense of mystery. Is the building leaning, or is it the photographer?
#6 is does not peak my interest, however, number 7 does. I like how this cat seems to frozen in time, forever stuck behind this glass window, with a bunch of flowers, waiting for his owner to arrive.
Keep in mind, if you ask the question, what do you think? You will get a lot of responses, some comments may or may not be helpful, and it depends on so many different factors, for one, I never ask my mom what she thinks of my work because everything is / was great, and that was not very helpful. I even purposely showed her a photograph that truly sucked in every since of the word, and she still loved it. So, I guess learn to ask people that you trust, and spend a lot of time looking at work, and find a photographer or photographers whose work you admire. For me, like a lot of other people, I admire Josef Koudelka's work for strangeness and depth, Alex Webb's work for how he layers his images, and Eugene Richard's work because of the range of emotion he seems to capture. There are others too of course.
Good luck . . . and go use another roll of film and post some more images.
:s:
