I'd like to get some opinions on some photos....

I can upload them to my webspace for you to look at and critique,
but how do you want them?
The images are around 1.5 meg each.
Do you want to view the original image in it's full resolution,
or do I resize them (thus deteriorate them quite a bit) and make them easier
to view for opinions?

What is the preferred method?

Thanks in advance

Super-T

 

upload them

kosh

 

http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/MS11.jpg
http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/MS12.jpg

Sorry, I'll create an index page at some stage, and use thumbnailed images
to link to the full photos in future, but I'm only just back from the trip,
and something about these two shots just really felt good and wanted to see
what others think.

And it's hard to judge a photos composition if you don't know the area, so
here is a context shot so you can see the whole scene.
http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/Context.jpg
This photo I know isn't great, I took it with the express intention of just
giving the entire scene for the shots that I'd already taken and knew I'd
want an opinion on.

The shots were taken the next morning after some rain out in the Australian
Desert, @ Morapoi Station, 2 hours North of Kalgoorlie WA.
And please remember, I'm asking for comments because I've only been taking
photos for a few months, so helpful suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Super-T

 

Oh, forgot to mention, the camera is FujiFinepix S5000.
Though I hope that won't sway your opinion against the photo just because of
the camera used.

Super-T

 

The images are quite good but the total balance and proportion isnt quite
right. Sometimes the most important part of an image is kept to one side to
highlight the feature. It is a common mistake to make the central element in
the centre. This makes the rest of the image look irrelevant. By keeping one
side busy you can create contrast and amplify the meaning of the objects
depicted.

That is only one way of course but I would say your images are getting close
to paintings and bush art.

 

http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/plant003.jpg
http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/plant024.jpg

Another two, these are plant photos and medium sized

Trentus

 

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback, I'd have liked to have moved the image
to one side more myself, but I didn't want to give away the fact that the
body of water is just a puddle. I was sort of trying to make it look like
the edge of a creek or billabong or something, well at least in the vertical
image I was.

And this is my daughter catching yabbies at the dam.
http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/JH05.jpg

Trentus

 

It seems like you are almost doing photography in the 1950 style. I can
sense an eye for the dramatic perspective. Dont be afraid to step back and
crop on the computer.

 

For flora you dont need much depth of field. Im sure that in your camera you
can select that mode and control the f-stop.

 

some nice shots! Very punchy colours. I've heard it can be amazing after a
bit of rain.

I would have considered trying to blur the background a bit more with he
flower shots to avoid the distraction. I know this can be very hard on
compact digi's.

kosh

 

I like that one. Contrast in colours, good framing. A little more
details in the trees would be nice.

 

35% out of the shadows in PS8 does the trick - and its a dam most of the
black.

rm

 

And this is my daughter catching yabbies at the dam.

There were about 12 people all around us catching Yabbies, I only "staged"
the shot very slightly by getting her to move the tiniest bit to one side so
that I could exclude the multitude of other peoples arms, legs, and their
"fishing" lines running into the dam. Then I just left her doing what she
was doing, came around behind her to try to frame it a bit better, and used
a 5 shot sequence. She was actually turning her head from left to right
(probably to see what I was up to) and this was the 5th (and I felt the
best) shot of the sequence. The detail in the trees wasn't in my hands at
the time, as I had the camera in auto at the time. If I'd staged the photo I
might have used it in manual, but it was a very grey and bleak day, with
only very short snippets of light, and my only way of using the camera in
manual is with multiple experiments, adjusting each setting one notch to see
what happens, and with constantly changing light that probably wasn't going
to be possible.

It is however enough of a result to encourage me to put some extra effort
into it next time, get some resources to help me learn, and eventually think
about a camera upgrade.

Thanks heaps for the feedback, it has been very encouraging. Though I was
reluctant to crop the image in an editor, due to criticism in either this,
or perhaps the digital photography newsgroup, for someone creating photos by
cropping them rather than correctly framing them in the first place. That's
why the photos are pretty much untouched, except I think for the
http://users.dart.net.au/~trentandjanet/plant024.jpg photo which from memory
I did crop a small amount of another plant out of the right hand side of,
that I hadn't noticed crept into the image when I took it. I got the
impression from the criticism of the other person that cropping a photo was
frowned upon.

Trentus