#1  
08-04-2010, 05:47 AM
Sossity Sossity is offline
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Here are some of my photos, that I recently took with my new Panasonic Lumix Zs7 camera

Sossity_100801_0296.jpg

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Sossity_100801_0285.jpg

these were taken around my local harbor and beaches


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  #2  
08-04-2010, 06:09 AM
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kpmedia kpmedia is offline
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Top
Middle
Bottom

Bottom - Because I like the bottom image the best, and because I want to start this critique positively, I'll start there! The guy walking with the board makes the image. The fact that he's been silhouetted against such a nice surf is what makes it a good image.

Be careful with your horizon. In each image, you've slanted the angle of the image contrary to the horizon. Try to not tilt an image each way, unless there's an obvious reason for doing so, or an artistic interpretation that you've obviously trying to make. Otherwise, it just looks crooked, like a camera mistake. Luckily, this can be corrected VERY easily in Photoshop, using the crop tool. When cropping it, you can hover the mouse just outside the crop box corners, and the cursor will form a rotational arrow.

This particular image would also look really nice cropped down to a panoramic image, with the crop happening about halfway between the two groups of clouds.

You could pull some pink and purple out a bit more in Photshop.

That's really a nice scene. Where I live now, I don't even have a decent lake anymore. I'm stuck with mega-sized rivers at best. Although that sounds interesting, they're almost impossible to get to from highways. Shoot it while you're there! You never know when you might move across the country.

I'd consider cropping the image just right of that rock on the left side. It distracts from the subject (the man with the board).

Cloning it out would also be allowed, if this is being done for pure art or illustration. (It would be an unforgivable breach of ethics if it's being used in a journalistic sense.)

Top - Let's go back to the top image. I'd have to say that's more of a picture than a photograph. A photograph tells a story or has an artistic appeal. A picture just says "I was here" and gives proof in the form of an image.

The biggest tell-tale sign of a "picture" is that it has no definable subject. It just has stuff in the frame. In this case, parts of boats, a sort-of sunset/sunrise, and exposure that isn't great.

Middle - Now compare the middle image to the top one. The middle one is a photograph. The subject is clearly a dock scene, offset by a nice sunset/sunrise. The exposure is set to the scene, not the sun, so the scene is the dominant subject.

The palms in the sun is a nice touch!

Everything falls in place really well in the frame, aside from it being tilted. Unfortunately, I think you may crop into the masts or border elements (like the palms) to re-align the horizon. So as a photo, it's a near miss. It's pretty, will look good in an album, but it won't make a portfolio.

Definitely a good start for you.

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  #3  
08-04-2010, 06:17 AM
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Here's how I'd fix the bottom image with some cropping, slight tweak to red saturations, and cloning out the rock on the far left side.

Sossity_100801_0322_recrop.jpg

Again, that's a nice one.



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  #4  
08-04-2010, 04:27 PM
Sossity Sossity is offline
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thanks for the input, for the top photo with poor exposure, it it too dark or too light? in what way is the exposure bad? it's aperture was f 3.8, ISO 100, and shutter speed 1/800. sometimes I have the shutter speed high to get more intense color for a sunset.

how or what do I look out for to make my photos tell a story more? I like the idea of telling stories through photos.

would a photo modified like you did with cloning out the rock be ok to put in a portfolio? & how is a portfolio done? is it a booklet with prints of your photos?

is it not good for journalistic purposes because cloning of the rock would be misrepresenting how the scene was? for journalistic purposes, would simple cropping out be ok?

I may be able to tilt the 2and photo without much cropping in iphoto.

Last edited by Sossity; 08-04-2010 at 04:43 PM.
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08-04-2010, 11:28 PM
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In the top photo, the sun cast a color that off-set the white balance. It's also underexposed a bit. While underexposure is needed to more visibly see the sun (as opposed to a large white washed-out splotch), the sun was not the obvious subject. Again, there wasn't really any subject in the shot. So it was WB + exposure what was off. It's muddy brown/yellow in appearance.

For scenery, use a slow shutter and higher aperture.

Telling a story is a complex topic. I'd have to think about a way to present that one in a modern context. It's been a while since I taught a photo class. To some degree, it's an inherent gift -- it's something that can't always be learned.

Modified images are okay when presented in an art setting. You're allowed to (sometimes expected to!) manipulate images for artistic needs. It needs to be tasteful, and not over-filtered, of course. Heavily filtered artwork enters a whole different category of "digital art" that can vary from interesting to crap. Interesting = well thought-out and carefully manipulated. Crap = some fool playing with filters haphazardly.

Yes, anything outside of cropping or dodge/burn, or contrast/color correction, is considered "non-darkroom" type of work. You don't want to manipulate the image to change the reality of what was going on. Cropping would be responsible and ethical, yes. This assumes you're not purposely cropping out something to misrepresent what was going on, of course. The rock is neither newsworthy nor attractive to the overall image, so it can be safely cropped for aesthetic needs.

Journalism is about recording events and providing an objective presentation of what you've gathered, not changing it to whatever you'd like it to be. (DO YOU HEAR ME FOX NEWS?! Sorry excuse for... nevermind, side rant ... back on-topic)

I think you'll end up cropping too much in the 2nd photo, if you rotate it. Feel free to try. I'd try to keep those palms in front of the sunset. That adds something to the photo, even if it's just a tiny fleeting detail.

Portfolios can be in print or online. Everything I do is submitted digitally to publications, via email. But I do still have quite a few printed portfolios.

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