Thardy
Veteran
To the OP.
Here is a link that will help in composition at least. I've found my local area to be photographically uninteresting so I have to work a bit harder. But here is the link.
http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules
Good luck, and keep practicing.
Here is a link that will help in composition at least. I've found my local area to be photographically uninteresting so I have to work a bit harder. But here is the link.
http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules
Good luck, and keep practicing.
FrankS
Registered User
I thought you took issue with rules.
daveleo
what?
Rules . . . . must be learned . . . there is no fun in breaking them if you don't know what they are 
print44
Well-known
It's pretty basic but photography is about learning how to look at stuff around you and see there, lying waiting for you, an image. The disciplines of framing and composition are part of that and those of exposure processing and printing are about getting what you see into a state it can be seen by others. I mean all this in an entirely unpatronising way so don't take it wrong - seeing the image is the hardest part. Understanding why what you've been drawn to photograph is working as an image, homing in on that aspect and then trying to accentuate it. I think it's a process of cultivating the subconscious? It begins to defy definition as soon as you try to define what it is about looking and seeing something that might make it a good picture. And unless whatever you're photographing is fixed to the ground it's going to have moved/gone by the time you consciously work it out.
I think there's something there in your pictures - elements of much stronger work - you have to ask yourself what it was about the girl in the coat on the beach which made you want to take the picture, the dog, the trees. Then next time you see something that draws you, you're already beginning to home in - even in that nanosecond ot lifting the camera - to what you think is drawing your eye and brain. What could be more personal - when considering your pictures - than that?
I think there's something there in your pictures - elements of much stronger work - you have to ask yourself what it was about the girl in the coat on the beach which made you want to take the picture, the dog, the trees. Then next time you see something that draws you, you're already beginning to home in - even in that nanosecond ot lifting the camera - to what you think is drawing your eye and brain. What could be more personal - when considering your pictures - than that?
mawilliams
Member
AGREED! Find ONE mentor who's work blows you away, that you aspire to be like. Work hard for years trying to shoot like that person, talking to them, showing them your work, following them around, hanging out at their house, helping them hang shows...all the while looking at as much work as you can while continuing to shoot and you will be learning. SO many opinons on the interwebs, and what are the qualifications...course that's just my opinion...
Thardy
Veteran
No. I thought you might know of a good site, or book. OP seems to need a little help in some basics.
FrankS
Registered User
Sorry Thardy, I misread this as a challenge to the idea of learning the rules first.
:angel:
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
I don't understand the bolded part up there.
How is saying "I don't like your pictures" without any kind of explanation help you out more than those who offer you how they see the pictures and ways to improve it?
anjoca76
Well-known
The OP is either the bravest person out there, or masochistic! I'm amazed this thread has gotten so many responses, especially considering the widely varying critiques--everything from "looks good to me" to"these are poor images."
The last thing he needs is my 2 cents, which is much like what some others have said: rather than try to absorb all of these opinions, most of which seem to contradict the next, seek out the opinion of one or two really good photographer whose work you admire and listen to what he or she says.
My own feeling is that, from what I can tell, a crash course in post-processing would help your images immensely. But then again, what do I know?
The last thing he needs is my 2 cents, which is much like what some others have said: rather than try to absorb all of these opinions, most of which seem to contradict the next, seek out the opinion of one or two really good photographer whose work you admire and listen to what he or she says.
My own feeling is that, from what I can tell, a crash course in post-processing would help your images immensely. But then again, what do I know?
andersju
Well-known
Like others have said, deciding what you want out of photography is a good idea.
Take writing as an analogy. If you keep a diary, you might not be too concerned with how you write. You're probably doing it for yourself. If you publish it online, perhaps family and close friends will tolerate (to a degree) incoherence and inability to tell a story. But if you want to reach a wider audience with your writing -- with witty blog posts, or short stories, or novels, or whatever -- you better study and practice the craft intensively. Every day, for years. See what works and what doesn't. Learn about narrative structure, characterization, dialogue, point of view, etc. Learn how to make other people care.
You mention a bunch of great photographers on your flickr profile. If you look them up, you'll notice that nearly all of them studied photography/painting/design and/or worked as assistants for years. Doing the same is not a bad idea, if indeed you want to make "art" that others care about.
Go to a library and find books on composition. Or google it. Study the principles (lines, shape, proportion, perspective, contrast, lighting, negative space, etc etc.). Study paintings, pictures, and see the principles at work (or not). Borrow books by your favorite photographers and actually study the pictures. Not just individually, but also how series of pictures work together.
You write that you have a Leica and shoot film. How about doing taking Mike Johnston's advice and doing the "a year with a Leica" exercise? (See also here.)
Again, all this depends on what you want to achieve with your photography. (But even in a Facebook status update, a well-formed sentence doesn't hurt.)
Take writing as an analogy. If you keep a diary, you might not be too concerned with how you write. You're probably doing it for yourself. If you publish it online, perhaps family and close friends will tolerate (to a degree) incoherence and inability to tell a story. But if you want to reach a wider audience with your writing -- with witty blog posts, or short stories, or novels, or whatever -- you better study and practice the craft intensively. Every day, for years. See what works and what doesn't. Learn about narrative structure, characterization, dialogue, point of view, etc. Learn how to make other people care.
You mention a bunch of great photographers on your flickr profile. If you look them up, you'll notice that nearly all of them studied photography/painting/design and/or worked as assistants for years. Doing the same is not a bad idea, if indeed you want to make "art" that others care about.
Go to a library and find books on composition. Or google it. Study the principles (lines, shape, proportion, perspective, contrast, lighting, negative space, etc etc.). Study paintings, pictures, and see the principles at work (or not). Borrow books by your favorite photographers and actually study the pictures. Not just individually, but also how series of pictures work together.
You write that you have a Leica and shoot film. How about doing taking Mike Johnston's advice and doing the "a year with a Leica" exercise? (See also here.)
Again, all this depends on what you want to achieve with your photography. (But even in a Facebook status update, a well-formed sentence doesn't hurt.
)mdarnton
Well-known
I said earlier that I thought the idea of not wanting to communicate anything to anyone else was a bad one, but I do want to say that one of the things I saw that I really liked was the attention to composition and balance. If something could be brought into the photos to make them more than compositional exercises, you could do some powerful stuff.
jordanstarr
J.R.Starr
...my initial response was going to be, "if you want a portfolio review, find an curator, photographer, printer, professor or someone whom you admire and pay them for their time to do a portfolio review. For $50/hr the insight you would get would set you ahead immensely. Asking for opinions and critique here will come from photographers whose photographs are barely better than yours is like asking the elementary school custodian how to clean your house. Asking people who spend more time on RFF than producing photographs doesn't seem like a good idea to me."
HOWEVER, after I looked at your photographs it is obvious that you're trying to take your photographs to a level above snapshots and are starting to call it "art" and this is a stage you are struggling with. No offense, but it's obvious you're kinda just starting out in photography or at least starting out in taking your photographs seriously. So, my actual response would be to take all the advice in that you can, but don't take it too seriously....take it in on a subconscious level, except for a few bits that you can really relate to. Shoot lots, develop a vision and don't copy. Any idiot can buy a digital camera and push the button. The best photographs come with a combination of knowledge, vision and artistic technique. If you can push a button, it might be worth it to hit the books, study some photographic concepts, philosophy, etc. and see what direction you want to go from here.
HOWEVER, after I looked at your photographs it is obvious that you're trying to take your photographs to a level above snapshots and are starting to call it "art" and this is a stage you are struggling with. No offense, but it's obvious you're kinda just starting out in photography or at least starting out in taking your photographs seriously. So, my actual response would be to take all the advice in that you can, but don't take it too seriously....take it in on a subconscious level, except for a few bits that you can really relate to. Shoot lots, develop a vision and don't copy. Any idiot can buy a digital camera and push the button. The best photographs come with a combination of knowledge, vision and artistic technique. If you can push a button, it might be worth it to hit the books, study some photographic concepts, philosophy, etc. and see what direction you want to go from here.
sdotkling
Sent through the ether
The point of photography is right there in the word: writing with light.
Writing has to be about something, or it is just random letters in a line. Your light-writing has to tell me something. If there is a message, I'm not getting it.
Writing has to be about something, or it is just random letters in a line. Your light-writing has to tell me something. If there is a message, I'm not getting it.
Damaso
Photojournalist
I think ten might be too tight of an edit. What I will say is you have a fairly good, if conventional, sense of composition. What I think you need to work on is telling a story through your images. Take on a small project and try to create a series of images out of it. That will help you tell stories through single photos as well.